Month: September 2011

R.E.M. calls it quits

This story on R.E.M.’s official website announces that the band is amicably splitting up after 30 years together. So it turns out Bill Berry quitting did break the band up, as he had feared it might, it just took 14 years longer than expected!

As I said on Quarter to Three’s forum, this makes me sad but it’s not too surprising. They seemed to be drifting since before Bill Berry left the band in 1997.

They did their ‘rock’ album in 1994 with Monster, a deliberate change-up from their previous sound but the follow-up to that album, New Adventures in Hi-Fi felt at times like an awkward blend of the two previous albums, Automatic for the People and Monster, suggesting the band was unable to settle on a direction.

Once Berry left they got more experimental and production-heavy, with dense arrangements that were pretty much the antithesis of their IRS records. There was some good stuff in there but some of it felt labored or worse, was forgetful. The latter albums also felt (to me, anyway) as if an individual band member drove each one — Accelerate was Buck’s album, Around the Sun was Mills’, Up was Stipe’s, there was a sense that the group no longer shared a vision, they just worked agreeably together.

I quite liked Accelerate, their self-described attempt to stay relevant. In all the years since 1986 it’s the album that most recalls my favorite, Lifes Rich Pageant. In retrospect it was a penultimate last hurrah.

Still, 30+ years is a hell of a run.

And I’ll admit, I’d pick up a Mike Mills solo album.

Annual birthday post, 2011 edition

Today is my birthday.

The good: celebrating it with a loving partner, getting a nice present and eating a couple of apple fritters.

The bad: getting older.

The bad is also part of the good, as the alternative is a lot worse.

Silent running

Distance: 11.08 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20ºC
Wind: slight
Calories burned: 774
Average pace: 5:19/km
Total distance to date: 1053 km

I have discovered of late that the longer I go between runs the harder it is, as if I lose my conditioning faster by not running as frequently. On the plus side I have also noticed that I recover quicker than before in terms of soreness/achiness and the like.

And so with four days off since my last run I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and it wasn’t. In terms of discomfort it was probably the worst run I’ve had in quite awhile — and yet I still managed to beat my previous run by three seconds on average, probably due to the lower temperature and running Burnaby Lake clockwise, which slopes more downwardly. And despite the lower temperature I still felt hot and sweaty. A rare light breeze came up but only long enough to be a tease. It felt like a portent of changing weather.

Along the way I felt a nagging pain in my right shin but has subsided dramatically over the course of 24 hours, leading me to cautiously believe that it was sore and not hurt. I also had a weird phantom twinge of pain flare up during the first half of the run in my left upper thigh. It came out of nowhere and left the same way. I think it may have been responsible for the absolutely huge drop between my first and second km — 8 seconds, which may be some kind of record. By the end of the run I had my stamina back and was starting to feel a bit better but overall it was a dismal affair.

I knew things were not going to go well when I could not select a playlist at the start of the run. Apparently my iPod did not sync properly so I had to run for 60 minutes with only the sound of my own wheezing to serenade me. I did not prefer this to music.

Here is hoping the next run is an all around more pleasant experience.

Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):

km Sep 12 Sep 7 Sep 2 Aug 31 Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8
1 km 4:49 4:52 4:52 4:51 4:51 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04
2 km 4:57 4:56 4:57 4:53 4:55 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05
3 km 5:02 4:59 5:00 4:57 4:58 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07
4 km 5:05 5:02 5:02 4:58 5:01 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09
5 km 5:07 5:06 5:03 4:59 5:05 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11
6 km 5:09 5:08 5:04 5:01 5:08 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12
7 km 5:12 5:11 5:06 5:03 5:10 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14
8 km 5:14 5:13 5:07 5:05 5:12 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16
9 km 5:16 5:16 5:08 5:06 5:14 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16
10 km 5:17 5:18 5:09 5:08 5:16 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17
11 km 5:19 5:20 5:10 5:10 5:18 5:12 5:14 — 5:17
12 km — 5:22 5:10 5:11 — — — — —

The weirdly warm early September run

Distance: 12.73 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 890
Average pace: 5:21/km
Total distance to date: 1042 km

It seems summer was shifted forward one month. After a tepid and cloudy July, August was pretty nice and September so far has been spectacular, with temperatures well above normal for this time of year. That’s the good news. The less-good-news is the run at Burnaby Lake was very warm (25ºC when I started), very humid and generally uncomfortable until the final few km when the lateness of the hour meant it finally started to cool a little.

I decided to run counter-clockwise (the usual way) and after having done the previous two runs clockwise I can now say with certainty that clockwise is easier. The south side of the lake has a low but steady uphill slope which serves as a braking mechanism in the latter part of the run. Going in the other direction, the north side of the lake has one much steeper but shorter climb and nothing else noteworthy, being mostly flat. I suspect my sluggish pace would have had a few seconds lopped off it had I run clockwise.

And sluggish it was. Despite starting with a typical 4:52/km I immediately gained four seconds on the next km and added three or four seconds for every km after until the 5 km mark, dooming my overall time (at 5 km my pace was a lowly 5:06/km). I plodded on and on the plus side my shins did not feel nearly as tender as on the previous run and I’m only experiencing some minor soreness now. I also managed my longest run once again, adding 400 m for a total distance of 12.73 km, so that was pretty good. The number of slugs was down, too.

I also had a train running alongside me on the north side of the trail for the first time. Weird that it hasn’t happened before. The clacking of the wheels on the track is oddly soothing. I also jogged by a horsey near the end of the run. Yes, a horsey. And apparently there is a law forbidding men from having horses now because every one I see has a woman attached to it.

Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):

km Sep 7 Sep 2 Aug 31 Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4
1 km 4:52 4:52 4:51 4:51 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51
2 km 4:56 4:57 4:53 4:55 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54
3 km 4:59 5:00 4:57 4:58 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59
4 km 5:02 5:02 4:58 5:01 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04
5 km 5:06 5:03 4:59 5:05 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07
6 km 5:08 5:04 5:01 5:08 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09
7 km 5:11 5:06 5:03 5:10 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11
8 km 5:13 5:07 5:05 5:12 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13
9 km 5:16 5:08 5:06 5:14 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14
10 km 5:18 5:09 5:08 5:16 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15
11 km 5:20 5:10 5:10 5:18 5:12 5:14 — 5:17 5:16
12 km 5:21 5:10 5:11 — — — — — —

The 12.33K run

Distance: 12.33 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 862
Average pace: 5:10/km
Total distance to date: 1029 km

I knew I would feel more discomfort in my shins tonight because of the two back-to-back runs a few days back and sure enough that is how tonight’s run began. In fact they felt so tender I wondered if I would even complete the run at all. You can see this early on where despite starting with a decent time I add an impressive five seconds after the first km. The achiness never got worse so I managed to keep my pace stable. Then something weird happened.

The endorphins kicked in, I found my zone or something clicked because I managed to make up for that slow stretch over the rest of the run and recovering from a sluggish start is something that doesn’t happen very often. By the end of the run I not only managed to match my previous pace, I ended up exceeding it (the iPod actually said my average pace was 5:09/km before the Nike+ site cruelly rounded it up to 5:10). With the pain receding and my energy bursting I felt like I could have kept on going strong (my pace for the 12-12.33 km stretch was 4:44) but knowing I might regret this performance in the coming days I cooled my jets.

I ran the loop in reverse again and am almost leaning toward preferring it this way, though I can’t say exactly why just yet. During the 12+ km stretch there is only one small spot where you have to cross a road that leads to the rowing center and it’s usually dead quiet there. Tonight as I emerged from around a blind corner (carefully, as it is a blind corner) a motorcycle came roaring around with the driver evidently one of those “There can’t possibly be anyone else ever on the road!” types, as he came far too close to me for my liking. I later nearly had a fellow jogger smoosh into me doing the same thing on another blind corner. Pay attention, people! Please. 🙂

Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):

km Sep 2 Aug 31 Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4 Aug 1
1 km 4:52 4:51 4:51 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51 4:51
2 km 4:57 4:53 4:55 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54 4:52
3 km 5:00 4:57 4:58 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59 4:56
4 km 5:02 4:58 5:01 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04 4:58
5 km 5:03 4:59 5:05 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07 5:00
6 km 5:04 5:01 5:08 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09 5:01
7 km 5:06 5:03 5:10 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11 5:04
8 km 5:07 5:05 5:12 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13 5:06
9 km 5:08 5:06 5:14 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14 5:07
10 km 5:09 5:08 5:16 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15 5:09
11 km 5:10 5:10 5:18 5:12 5:14 — 5:17 5:16 5:10
12 km 5:10 5:11 — — — — — — —