Month: January 2026

Run 998: Loose laces sink shoes

View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Not as gloomy as this photo makes it look.

I was busy in the morning and almost pondered skipping today’s run, which would have been bad, because the weather was actually decent. Instead, I ran in the early afternoon and still went to the lake, as the sun is no longer setting at 1:48 p.m.

And it was pretty close to the same performance as Friday’s run on the river trail, except for a few notable details:

  • The lake is a somewhat more technical trail, so a similar performance here means I was actually performing better, woo.
  • My BPM was an average of only 140, maxing out at 151. This is unusually low, but not so low that it can simply be written off as a wrong reading. Still, it suggests something. Stronger heart? Better shape? Phase of moon?

The trail was not too busy and conditions were pretty decent–no big puddles or debris to dodge. In the last km I even passed another couple running ahead of me. I didn’t really want to, because they weren’t running that much faster, but I wanted to slow down even less. Once I was past, I felt an urge to be kind of macho and keep a strong pace up to widen the gap, which led to my best km. My overall pace was 5:44/km.

Also, my training status is now back to Productive. I am back onboard the Running Train.

My lower heart rate may have been helped at the 1K mark, where my right shoelace came untied. I tied it before the run. I tied it again at the 1K mark. I tied it at the end of the run. This is the most wanting-to-be-untied shoelace I have ever encountered. It’s getting a tiny bit annoying now, and I may have to look into alternate methods of securing the laces on these shoes.

Otherwise, a good start to the week.

View from the dam, opposite direction. Spot the heron.

Stats:

Run 998
Average pace: 5:44/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop)
Start: 1:15 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:50
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 6°C
Humidity: 77-75%
Wind: light
BPM: 140 (!)
Weight: 168.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 6,820 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 15 (80/129/209)

Music: Songs in the Attic, Billy Joel

About that 2025 summary

I’ve decided to skip writing up a post about 2025. It was not a complete disaster, but it was not a good year–for me, or for the world. My bookends on the year both involved getting IVs and CT scans. You don’t do these things for fun. Or if you do, your conception of fun is very different from mine.

But I also kept running throughout the year (that is, jogging, not running away from things). And other good things happened.

I’ll skip the bad, skip the summary, and focus on the year ahead instead.

And of course, cats.

At long last, my website is recognized

Along with approximately 1 million other small websites! Here’s the link to the giant mosaic of thumbnails you can pan around and zoom in on:

One million (small web) screenshots

I found this link in one of Andreas’ weekly link dumps here.

That’s me in the middle. That’s me in the…uh…spotlight?

It captured the site on August 25, 2025, when I posted about having 30 apps on my iPhone that needed updating and how I refused to update them.

That number is now 38.

Run 997: In the year 2626… (actually 2026)

Brunetter River, pre-run. Calm and cool.

Today is the first day I’m back to a regular run schedule. Because my watch claims my HRV is off, I opted to run the river trail, which saves me a bunch of extra walking. My training status is currently Strained, but that should hopefully change soon.

As for the run, it was generally fine. A tendon near my right knee is a bit stiff, but not sore. At one point, I felt like some cramping was imminent, but it never materialized. I plodded a bit in the middle, but thanks to my right shoelace coming untied around the 4.5 km mark, I got a brief breather, which allowed me to post the zippiest km in a while to wrap up–5:26. My overall pace was 5:43/km, BPM was 149. Overall, very average, and acceptable.

There weren’t many people out, and I feel that two layers may have sufficed, but three was not overly warm or anything.

For the first run of 2026, it was Not Bad™.

The river, post-run.

Stats:

Run 997
Average pace: 5:43/km
Training status: Strained
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 11:19 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:48
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 6-7°C
Humidity: 88%
Wind: light
BPM: 147
Weight: 169.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 6,815 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 15 (75/121/196)

Music: Ta-Da, Scissor Sisters

This blog of mine (in 2026)

I have tried adding various dark mode toggles to the site and all have not looked quite right, which keeps me from sticking with them. If you read this site and find it too bright, it actually looks pretty good in the reader mode of most browsers. Reader mode will work on individual posts, but not from the main page.

I’ll continue to look into better light/dark solutions. And I may tweak the colours (again) for 2026. Maybe I’ll go dark mode.

I’m also playing around with how to display categories and such. The dropdown menus are space efficient but look a bit utilitarian. On the other hand, they almost have a retro charm now. Another thing to ponder.

Here is a cat celebrating the new year.

I like the personal touch of it being signed by Cat.