First, the good news: I got through the entire month donut-free. Hooray!
A tiny bit more good news: My body fat percentage went down slightly from 18.5% to 18.3%. Yes, it could be a rounding error (there may be a fat joke in there) but I’ll take it. Especially when you consider…
The not-so-good news: I started the year at 162.3 pounds. Not great, but 160 and below was in sight. Today I am improbably up to 165.3 pounds and that goal seems buried under layers of fat.
Still, I will not be discouraged! I am still running and working out on the elliptical, and I’m probably going to get regular road running shoes so I can run at lunch when the golf course trail is a gross mud pit of doom, which it is now most of the time.
One last bit of sort-of good news: In January 2017 I started at 165.9 pounds. I’m still down from that. Yes, by 0.6 pounds, but still–down, not up. So there’s that.
And the official fat tidings:
January 1: 162.3 pounds January 31: 165.3 pounds (+3 pounds)
Year to date: From 162.3 to 165.3 pounds (up 3 pounds)
And the body fat:
January 1: 18.5% (30.2 pounds of fat)
January 31: 18.3% (30.4 pounds of fat)
We went to the Canada Games Pool twice on the weekend, around 5 p.m. on Saturday and today (Sunday) around 1 p.m.
Saturday it was pretty quiet, most likely because it was around dinner time and people go out to party on Saturday night, not exercise.
Today was the opposite. The pool was packed. The swirl pool looked like one of those rocks that has a thousand sea lions on it. The other pools were bustling. Every treadmill, elliptical and all but two exercise bikes were in use. I had to wait my turn (though only a minute or so) to use an elliptical. I chalk this up to the earlier time of day, it being Sunday (“I must now work off my sins”) and the fact that it was not merely raining, it was a downpour, making any outdoor activities doomed to extreme sogginess.
I also really noticed for the first time that most people walk on the treadmills. I did see one guy actually running and felt a little bad for him, as (I have recounted before) running on treadmills feels alien and wrong. This isn’t a huge observation, I’m just not sure why I never really noticed before. And a surprising (?) number of people leave their stuff in the lockers without actually locking them (the key costs a quarter). Maybe the only thing they leave in the lockers are smelly clothes. I’d be a bit nervous if I had anything more valuable than some stinky socks in there, though. There’s nothing to stop someone from pretending a locker is theirs, plundering anything of value, then sliding over to the next one, providing a “whoops, haha, that wasn’t my locker” shrug to anyone who might glance their way.
Then again, most of the guys in the change room are in various stages of undress and eye contact, while not frowned upon per se, rarely happens because guys get nervous around other guys, especially when in various stages of undress. For both right and wrong reasons.
Anyway, I had a nice workout. The new training shoes work well and look spiffy, so I’m stylin’ while I’m sweatin’.
Can a story about a murderbot be funny, charming and even a tiny bit touching? Yes, it can.
In the short novel All Systems Red Martha Wells presents a story told from the point of view of a SecUnit–an android designed to protect humans who, in this case, are mapping out an unknown planet on behalf of their corporate masters. Events take a turn for the deadly when a neighboring habitat’s humans are found dead, victims of an unknown assault.
Despite the grim setting, Wells presents the partly-organic and sex organ-free (“If a construct has those it’s a sexbot”) android as a delightfully fretful being that really wants to protect its humans, even if it is kind of afraid of interacting with them (it prefers opaquing its helmet to avoid making eye contact).
The story, such as it is, is really just a stage for the murderbot to act on, and while it gets the opportunity to use its arm-mounted cannons, it spends most of its time consuming serials and other media it’s downloaded, and pondering what–or who–it is and what it wants to be.
It’s not as profound as it sounds. But it is consistently amusing, thanks to SecUnit’s droll telling of the tale.
My only real criticism is minor–the story ends a bit abruptly, setting up the next chapter of The Murderbot Diaries. Otherwise, very much recommended.
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:40 am
Distance: 10.05 km
Time: 58:51
Weather: Rain
Temp: 5ºC
Humidity: 91%
Wind: light
BPM: 168
Weight: 163.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4415 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8
I was bad and did not run during the week, so this was my first run since last weekend’s 10K. The good news is I’m still in decent enough shape to continue running 10Ks.
I dressed today expecting rain: two layers on top, nipples secured and shorts instead of running pants as the temperature was hovering around 5-6ºC.
Surprisingly, the walk to the lake was dry, though the sky looked somewhat ominous (the forecast called for winds up to 70+ km/h in the afternoon as a storm over Vancouver Island made its way east, but I was confident I’d be finished my run before it hit).
Also surprisingly I didn’t have to immediately relieve myself upon arrival at the lake. I set my music, started off…and the first few drops of rain began to fall. I pressed on, unconcerned. Within a few km it was a downpour and remained as such for the rest of the run. It was fine, really, though running in the rain is not my favorite thing.
The only issue was the condition of the trail. I’d noted on the river trail that the river was perhaps the highest I’ve ever seen it. It looked almost menacing. At the lake the trail had a lot of water on it. In the areas resurfaced over the past few years it wasn’t too bad but elsewhere there were plenty of trails-spanning puddles and mini-lakes. It felt more like a technical run, often having to carefully choose the rout forward. Or maybe it was more like a jumping puzzle in a video game. It kind of sucked in the same way that most of those do, too.
My pace still ended up slightly faster than last weekend, 5:51/km vs. 5:53/km and the iPhone 8 still seems to be messing up distance, though this week it was maybe a touch better. Still not sure what’s up with that. My BPM was also up (possibly due to the effort needed to maintain pace while navigating the puddles) but still below the 170 threshold at 168.
My knee didn’t bother me, possibly because my legs were sort of red and numb by about the mid-point of the run. The knee still didn’t hurt after I got home and thawed, so it seems the lack of running and walking in general may have given it some time to heal. Oddly, it got a bit creaky when I was slumping in a chair at home, but I shouldn’t have been doing that, so I consider the knee just acting as an EWS.
Overall, I am content with how the run went. Conditions were not nice, but I pressed on and got through without any problems.
As with most anthologies, the quality of the individual stories varies in Lost Signals and while a few didn’t do much for me, the collection overall is well worth reading if you enjoy horror.
A lot of enjoyment comes from how the authors make use of the broad theme of the book, with the inevitable stories about weird radio transmissions, and others that get even weirder, darker or both. There are references to the Cthulhu mythos, Twilight Zone-ish dead people calling on phones, jovial electronic devices that seem to enjoy killing, time displacement and enough electrical discharges to put your hair permanently on end.
“All That You Leave Behind” is a haunting tale by Paul Michael Anderson in which a couple experiences the sorrow of a miscarriage and the surreal joy of birth simultaneously. Keeping with babies, Damien Angelica Walters’ “Little Girl Blue, Come Cry Your Way Home” will make you look twice at baby monitors.
David James Keaton’s “Sharks with Thumbs” (apparently you needed at least three names to get into this anthology) nearly lost me up front as it’s written from the second person perspective, but the off-kilter story of a man and a fly that acts as a supernatural transmitter is so daft the unusual choice of perspective ends up working.
While I normally don’t give much thought to the actual order of stories in a collection, I had expected the long “All That You Leave Behind” to be the concluding tale, but it’s followed by a rather glib tale presented as an epistolary of a video game that inspires many of the children in a small town to kill themselves. The quiet, powerful conclusion of “All That You Leave Behind” would have been a nice conclusion for the book, but “somethinginthecode” feels like an attempt to abruptly lighten things up (weird, I know, given the plot of the story). It’s a minor thing, and others may react differently (or indifferently).
Overall, the range of styles and subject in service of weird horror and the specific theme are strong and varied enough to warrant a recommendation. Just be advised that the tinfoil hate probably won’t help.
(My previous look at Apple’s line-up was done in August 2016 and can be found here.)
Today is the 10th anniversary of the MacBook Air, so it is perhaps appropriate to take stock of Apple’s product line as we look back at the debut of the laptop that ushered in many of the design choices (thin, light, etc.) Apple still follows today.
In recent times Apple has faced criticism from a couple of fronts: neglecting certain devices, abandoning standard ports, raising prices to new extremes, introducing “gimmicky” tech and so on. Are the criticisms fair? In some cases yes, in others it’s more complicated.
Here’s a breakdown of where every Apple product is at.
Disclaimer: I am not an industry insider, Apple evangelist, tech guru or even a love guru. I’m just someone who has long been fascinated by Apple and its products, decisions and impact on the world of consumer technology.
I’ve gone from owning a single Apple device–an iPod Classic–to the following (I’m excluding obsolete devices like my iPod nano, may it rest in peace):
Phone 8 (just acquired)
iPad Pro 10.5″
MacBook Pro without Touch Bar (2016 model)
Apple Watch Series 2
Apple TV 4K
Basically I own nearly everything Apple currently sells. I don’t have a Mac Pro, but I do have a 2011 iMac 27″ from work I use for PD.
On to the products:
iPod
As expected, Apple killed off the iPod nano and Shuffle last year, leaving the iPod Touch as the only iPod (which got its last significant hardware update in July 2015). I will boldly predict the Touch will get the axe in the next year or so, finally ending the iPod line.
iPhone
The bulk of Apple’s revenue continues to come from the iPhone, now over a decade old. I remember when we had fuzzy 3.5″ screens–and we liked it!
Last year Apple made the controversial move to eliminate the headphone jack from the iPhone 7, even as the rest of the phone was just an iterative design on the previous 6s, which was an iterative design on the 6. Some phone manufacturers have followed suit with the jack removal, notably Google with the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. It remains to be seen if the rest of the industry follows through. My prediction is the headphone jack will be a scarce thing on most smartphones within two years.
Meanwhile, Apple released three new phones last September. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are again iterative designs, with some tweaks, like glass backs to allow for wireless charging, along with the usual processor and camera improvements. More attention was given to the iPhone X, a near bezel-free design that forsakes the home button and Touch ID for Face ID, introduces an OLED display and, of course, adds animated poop in text messages. The most controversial part was probably the price–$1,000 (over $1300 in Canada with exchange rate).
Scuttlebutt suggests the X sold very well in the first month, with sales falling off notably after, mirroring what happened with the original iPhone in 2007. Back then Apple responded with a price cut. Would they do it again? There’s certainly enough of a gap between the 8 and X to allow for one. Apple hasn’t been cutting prices much lately, though.
Also, the iPhone line-up is a bit bonkers right now. Apple is selling:
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
iPhone 8 and 8 Plus
iPhone SE
iPhone X
No iPhone SEX yet, though.
That’s still eight models to choose from. I expect the 6s and 7 to be culled when the next phones come out in September. There are rumors the SE will be updated, which seems entirely plausible.
I think Apple will forge ahead with its iPhone plans regardless of sales for the next year or two. Price cuts are possible, but I think they’ll only happen if sales begin to fall off significantly.
iPad
Last year Apple made the difference between the regular and pro versions of the iPad more distinct, by introducing an iPad (called…iPad) that was in some ways better than the iPad Air 2 (faster processor) but in some ways worse (the screen, size and weight are closer to the original Air). The big change, though, was the price. Instead of the usual $499, it now sells for $329. Apple refreshed the iPad Pro 12.9″ and ditched the 9.7″ Pro, replacing it with a 10.5″ model that is only slightly bigger, thanks to slimmer bezels. The Pro iPads can in some cases equal the performance of decent laptops. The refreshed 2017 line-up saw the first increase in revenue and sales in years, though the difference between revenue and sales gains suggests more people were buying the $329 model.
The overall line-up has been simplified, too, down to four:
iPad
iPad mini 4
iPad Pro 10.5″
iPad Pro 12.9″
For the first time, each iPad offers a different size.
I don’t anticipate any dramatic developments for iPads this year, though Apple will continue to push the Pro models as replacements for laptops. I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance the mini will get killed, It hasn’t been updated since 2015.
Apple TV
Apple introduced a 4K version of the Apple TV last year, alongside the current model. It costs a little more and is the priciest Apple TV to date. Unless you’re deep into the Apple ecosystem and have a lot of media purchased through iTunes, there remains little reason to pay the premium when other streaming devices can do what the Apple TV can at much lower prices.
The app store is somnolent. Not dead, exactly, but not particularly alive, either, but it is Apple TV’s biggest differentiating factor compared to other streaming boxes.
Apple Watch
The watch went from an ill-conceived fashion accessory to a fitness-focused device and in the process has claimed most of the smartwatch market, setting companies like Fitbit back on its heels. Last year Apple introduced the Series 3, which includes LTE, making the watch more independent of the iPhone. Overall, the Apple Watch has found its niche and is doing well after a slow start.
I don’t expect any big changes this year, but a redesign is a small possibility. Additional sensors may be added, but I’d expect those to come in 2019 or later.
HomePod
Originally scheduled for December 2017, it’s been bumped to early this year. Many are already declaring it a failure in the making, overpriced ($349) compared to the competition and saddled with inferior voice recognition (Siri vs. Amazon’s Alex or Google’s Assistant). I tend to favor this view. I think the demand for a premium speaker with voice activation is even more niche than something like the watch. It’s kind of like Apple TV–you’ll pay more but if you’re deeply invested in Apple products, the high price might be worth it.
I’m hedging on a prediction here, but leaning toward flop, with a retooling within the year or quiet exit from the market. Then Apple will buy Amazon. 😛
And the Macs:
First, my one BOLD Mac prediction: Laptop Macs will support touch no later than 2021.
Mac mini
Nothing has changed since my last overview in August 2016. These aging machines are still selling at the same prices as they did when they were actually new, an embarrassing low light in a line-up that has mostly seen updates over the past year. Apple’s made vague comments indicating support, but nothing more.
I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance the Mac mini will be killed off in the next year. If not, I’d wager on a radical redesign (even smaller and completely sealed).
Mac Pro
Last year Apple admitted the “trashcan” Mac Pro was a mistake–a cool-looking design that was self-defeating because it couldn’t properly dissipate heat. So not so cool after all. They have promised a new modular Mac Pro, but so far no specs or release dates have been forthcoming. The current Pro has seen price reductions but it still isn’t exactly cheap.
iMac
Apple made a few improvements to the iMac line last year, updating processors, displays and including new options in some standard configurations, such as a dedicated graphics option for the 21″ model and fusion drives as standard for the entire 27″ line. The core design remains unchanged and was last updated in 2012.
I’m not expecting any big changes this year, but I am reasonably confident that sometime before the end of 2019 the iMac will get a full redesign–and be even less user-accessible as a result.
iMac Pro
Who wants a $5000 all-in-one? Apple thinks professionals will, so they’ve stuffed professional-grade components into the standard iMac case. It’s only been out for a month, but one retailer has already offered a $1,000 discount, which seems a bit ominous for a new product. Also, unlike other iMacs, users can’t upgrade the ram themselves, it now has to be done by a dealer.
This seems very much like a stop-gap until the revised Mac Pro debuts. I predict the iMac Pro will never see any updates and will be killed off sometime after the new Mac Pro debuts (in Apple time this could still be years).
MacBook Pro (non-Retina)
This was finally killed off, long after it had become outdated. This was the last Apple laptop to ship with an optical drive.
(Old) MacBook Pro (Retina display)
Only the 15″ model survives, the last Pro with a non-butterfly keyboard. I expect it to be axed from the line-up within the year, joining its 13.3″ brethren in the Mac graveyard.
MacBook
Still the only Mac available in four colors. Get your Rose Gold fix on here. Not much has changed with the MacBook, though it got an improved version of the butterfly keyboard. A processor update and optimizations added another hour of battery life.
I don’t expect any changes in design, though processor updates seem to be happening on a yearly basis, provided there is an appropriate CPU available. This will be the eventual MacBook Air successor (see below).
MacBook Pro (2016/2017)
In October 2016 Apple introduced an all-new design for the 13.3 and 15″ MacBook Pro. The changes:
dropped all legacy ports in favor of USB-C
added an OLED Touch Bar to replace the function keys on all but the base 13.3″ model
changed the keyboard, using an updated version of the butterfly mechanism featured in the MacBook, with firmer keys and very little travel
the usual display and processor updates
thinner and lighter
touch pads the size of the landing deck of an aircraft carrier. In the case of the 15″ model, two aircraft carriers.
Both models were refreshed less than a year later with newer processors, but no other notable changes.
The revamped models have been controversial. The Touch Bar has its advocates, but seems underwhelming 15 months after its introduction. The new keyboard mostly inspires love or hate (I find it strangely unsatisfying to type on–not bad, just kind of joyless).
Apple is unlikely to retreat from any of the design choices made (USB-C, for example, is now on nearly all notable PC laptops, albeit often with a legacy port or two still included), though dissatisfaction with the revised keyboard, as well as production problems plaguing both the 2016 and 2017 models may lead Apple to further revise the butterfly mechanism.
The Touch Bar may live on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets quietly dropped in a few years.
MacBook Air
Today, the MacBook Air is 10 years old and it’s been almost that long since its last update, ho ho. It did get a minor speed bump last year (some believe this only happened because the slower CPU Apple was using was no longer available), but has seen no significant updates since 2012. Most assume it lives on in the line-up as the “affordable” MacBook.
It will likely linger on until Apple is willing to drop the price of the MacBook. The difference is currently $999 vs. $1299. It seems unlikely Apple will reduce the gap soon. Maybe by the end of 2019? There’s also the possibility Apple will just kill off the Air and force people to move to the $1299 MacBook (or $1299 base MacBook Pro).
Other stuff
There are no strong rumors regarding other new Apple products, though they continue to work on Augmented Reality and the retooled car project (shrunk down from an entire Apple car to merely making other cars more Apple-ish).
Summary Apple updated a lot of their devices through 2016 and 2017, to the relief of the faithful, but many of the updates came with controversy and some products still linger around as reminders of the bad old days (hello Mac mini).
Apple’s next quarterly call is coming in a few weeks and while they should report record revenue and profits, it seems likely it will come in the shadow of slowing iPhone X sales. Apple has raised the prices of almost all of its devices–the iPad Pros cost more, the phones cost more, the new MacBooks cost more, the iMac Pro requires you to sell body organs–leaving me to wonder how sustainable it all is, especially when there are indicators that people will scoop up more affordable Apple offerings (the new iPad) while largely staying away from ones that offer poor value vs. the competition (Apple TV).
My hunch is that Apple is poised for a downturn. Nothing like the near-bankruptcy that preceded Steve Jobs’ return in 1997, but something significant enough to prompt the company to react. How it will do so–or if such a downturn even happens–remains to be seen.
My first thought is: I’m too young for dementia, followed quickly by: But I’m not too young to be hearing things. I grab the phone and shove it into the same pocket with my glove. I leave the glove there because I know if I try to take it out and put it on, it’s going to just plop into the snow, guaranteed.
I stand upright and turn around toward South Street to face who or whatever is walking toward me, even though I know there is no way someone could have come from that direction without me seeing or hearing them.
There is, of course, no one there. The footsteps stopped as I turned.
My mind is playing tricks on me. I don’t like this. It’s happened before and it will happen again, but it’s annoying and also I know my great-grandmother actually had dementia, so there’s a history of it in the family and every time something like this happens it terrifies me a little, because it reminds me that the same fate could await me in my later years.
It’s too cold to be thinking about such things. I put the glove on and resume the trudge up to South Street and, hopefully, a firmer entry back into the world where phantom footsteps do not occur.
You know what happens next.
The footsteps resume behind me, coming from the original direction. For a moment this is oddly reassuring. The reassurance is tossed aide quickly and replaced with annoyance. No fear, no terror, just plain annoyance. I’m moving through the five stages of something. I don’t stop. I don’t look back. I just walk. South Street is only a minute away, less if I continue my imitation of The Little Snow Plow That Could.
The wind abruptly picks up and whips in from the east, blasting my face. It’s cold enough to take my breath away. I pull my chin in and adjust the collar of my jacket up. The wind almost sounds like it’s chuckling. Mocking me. And freezing my ass off.
The gust dies down as suddenly as it started and the air is so still and quiet I realize I have stopped moving.
The footsteps have stopped. Not just mine, all of them. Good.
The collar of my jacket flutters. The wind is picking up again. Probably a fresh storm moving in. I seem to recall hearing that on a radio playing somewhere. Time to get moving and get out of here. I resume my seemingly eternal trek to South Street, ignoring the creepy chuckling sound the wind makes. That’s not true, actually, part of my mind is wondering how the acoustics can produce something that sounds so near to a human voice. Maybe the same thing that makes phantom footsteps.
Stupid access road. Next time I’m sticking to the nicely shoveled sidewalks, even if it adds another kilometer or two to my walk. At least I won’t get home sopping wet from the knees down and wondering if my senior years will feature my mind turning into pudding.
I reach the small hill leading up to South Street and begin my ascent, imagining I’m scaling the peak of some mighty mountain. Not Everest, I’d die about ten times on the way up. But still, a mountain of some sort.
I slip and nearly fall. I shoot out my hands for balance and stop to adjust my grip in the snow. I look up and around, flakes are starting to fall again. Even though the rest of the way is plowed and shoveled, home and hot chocolate feel a long way off.
I take another step and this time my foot lands on an ivisible, ice-covered banana peel. My arms pinwheel fruitlessly, though no doubt it would look hilarious to a passerby, then I land hard on my back. Because I’m on a slope the effect is enhanced and I feel that sick whump as the air is knocked out of me. I lay there on my back, flakes gently landing on my cheeks and melting, then make my first attempt to get back up and slide a bit back down the hill. This would still prove hilarious to a passerby, I’m certain.
I’m not hurt, but the disorientation is making it difficult to focus. The wind switches back to roaring and the gentle snowflakes turn on me, pelting into my face.
This is when the chuckling I hear in the wind starts sounding more like a person and less like a byproduct of acoustics. It sounds like it’s coming from behind my head, which is currently smushed down in the crumpled snow made by my footsteps. I see a shadow fall over me. I’m not sure what to think. It’s too cold to pee my pants, so I hold my bladder tight.
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:51 pm
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 59:04
Weather: Sun and fog
Temp: 7ºC
Humidity: 86%
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Weight: 162.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4405 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8
I got off to a late start today, waking with a headache and unsure whether I would run at all. I took some Advil, had a bath and by noon had changed into shorts and a dual layer up top. I thought I’d do a 5K at the river but on the way changed my mind and instead did a full 10K at the lake.
In hindsight I probably would have been okay with a single layer, possibly even just a regular t-shirt, but certainly a long-sleeved one. Having two layers did not leave me excessively warm, though. I did sweat more than I normally would given the cooler temperature.
Conditions were interesting. The temperature hovered around 6-7ºC, but with little breeze I was fine wearing shorts. The first three km it was quite foggy, with everything in the distance obscured by mist. Kind of cool. Also literally kind of cool. Beyond that the sun burned through and it remained sunny for the remainder of the run. Puddles were minimal. The occasional goose honked.
This was the first run with my new iPhone 8 and while I assumed the GPS would be pretty close to that on the 6, it seemed off, as I had to run well past my usual stopping point and didn’t hit 10 km until I was at the dam–nearly a full loop around the lake. A full loop is officially 10.3 km and I run three side trails that extend it even more, so it seems the phone was still calibrating or some such. We’ll see how it compares over the next few runs.
Because of the extra length my run extended to 59 minutes and my pace was 5:53/km. I don’t think it would have been blazing fast otherwise, as I was trying to keep to a more moderate pace, but it would have been a bit speedier.
The run went fine, with the left knee feeling mysteriously untroubled. Perhaps the Advil worked its dark magic on it. Regardless, it was nice. The left butt muscle got a little stiff well into the run, but proved only a mild issue at best.
Due to the later start the trail was fairly busy, with lots of walkers, joggers, dogs, kids and flitting birds, but there were no problems with navigation at all, even when on the boardwalks with multiple people.
One saucy young guy did run past me early on. I stuck my tongue out at him as he went by, my way of wishing him well in his jog.
The more moderate pace did have a notable effect on my BPM, which dropped to a downright calm 156. Other than wondering briefly if I’d have to complete more than a full loop to hit 10K, the run went well. I am pleased.
Here’s Part 3 of this writing exercise. I have no idea how many parts there will be or how it will end. Or if it will end. Like real exercise, you never know until you get to the gym and start sweating. Okay, that was a terrible analogy.
I am not surprised, but neither am I especially pleased, because I was certain there was someone behind me and the acoustics in the area are not likely to lead me to mistake my own footsteps for those of someone else.
But even as I think this the whole experience begins to muddy in my mind. I am cold and a little tired and in no mood to play games with my own brain. I give in, give up. Yes, I imagined the entire thing. No one was following me. No one was there.
Instead of trudging forward and that much closer to the delicious steaming mug of hot chocolate that would be mine, I pivot around and face the way I came from. I retrace my steps, peering down into the trodden snow, examining my shoe prints and looking for others. There’s not enough light and given that letting my imagination fill in the blanks is quite possibly the reason I am now walking opposite my destination, I stop, pull out my phone and turn on its flashlight function (I wonder if it’s called Torch mode in the UK). I crouch down, my knees creaking unhappily from the cold and the damp, and wave the phone across the path I’ve made. I can see my prints clearly. I don’t see any others.
My imagination, that’s all. Time for hot chocolate and some apparently well-needed rest.
I continue to backtrack just a little more, having not quite reached the point of total satisfaction. It’s kind of like art–I’ll know it when I see it. Or in this case, when I get there.
The not-terribly-impressive beam of light sweeps back and forth from the phone and suddenly it slips through my gloved hand, landing in the snow with a soft plop. It sinks a little. I mutter a choice epitaph, then reach down to scoop it out, but the glove endows my hand with the gift of clumsiness and I instead push it further into the snow.
More cursing ensues. I pull the glove off and stuff it into a coat pocket. I begin fishing with my bare fingers, already numbing from the cold.
It is then that I hear the footsteps coming from behind me.
Part 1 can be found here or if you hate clicking and being whisked away by the internet, it’s also available in the spoiler tag below.
[show_more more=”A Walk in the Snow, Part 1 (click the expand)” color=”#1e73be” size=”110″]
A Walk in the Snow, Part 1
It is very quiet in the snow.
That’s how I hear the person walking behind me. I stop and a moment later the person stops. It is silent again.
I am walking down a service road that’s about two kilometers long. Its main function is to provide access to railway workers and park staff, but there’s little vehicle traffic on it most days. Tonight it’s covered in virgin snow and I’m up to my knees in the stuff after an early winter blast. My breath frosts in front of me, a steamy cloud that drifts up into a clear, dark sky and disappears.
I’m about halfway down the road, heading toward South Street, the main road that runs through my neighborhood. I live a few blocks east of South. I like telling people that, then watch their faces as they try to process it.
It’s bright enough to make my way without a flashlight. There is no artificial light here, just the stars dotting the black above and the snow shimmering around me.
I became aware of the footsteps–more the sound of someone pushing their way through the snow, really–a few minutes earlier. Twice I’ve tested by stopping and the person following has also stopped. It’s hard to escape the sensation that I am prey being stalked. The snow is just deep enough to make a quick escape impossible. The closest things to weapons I carry are my house keys and smartphone. I keep my breathing calm, knowing this person is probably close enough to see the puffs. Don’t show signs of panic. I gaze up at the sky, as if I’m looking for a constellation. Casual. Curious. Inconspicuous.
Maybe.
I resume walking and count one thousand one, one thousand two. The footsteps resume behind me, shushing through the snow. It will take at least fifteen minutes to reach South Street, where the road is plowed, the sidewalks shoveled and regular traffic passes by. It seems very far away. I strain to hear cars but it’s late and all I hear are my steps and the ones mirrored behind me. [/show_more]
A Walk in the Snow, Part 2
It’s nothing, I tell myself. Well, obviously it’s something, but it’s just someone who happened to hit the service road shortly after I did, probably using it as a shortcut in the same way, and the only reason they stop every time I stop is they don’t want to close the gap between us and get awkwardly close, which would be even creepier than simply walking a respectable distance behind.
This is logical enough that my mind clicks over from “stalker with knife will paint the snow with my blood” to “thinking about inane activities to engage in once home and the kettle of water is boiling for a big mug of hot chocolate.” I feel tension is my shoulders and neck ease up, the knots loosening. There’s a long lazy S in the road up ahead and once I’m into the second curve of it I’ll be able to see South Street. If it turns out I’m wrong I can start screaming like a little girl and plunge ahead in the snow, waving my arms frantically to catch the attention of drivers. I can hope the brushed aluminum casing of my phone is more solid than the drop test videos on YouTube suggest if I must brandish it as a weapon.
I enter the midway point of the S and realize my heart is racing and the shoulder and neck muscles have turned taut, but not from fear–from excitement, the excitement of having made it through whatever it was that has been happening on this snow-covered service road. I am likely excited because of an overactive imagination and that produces an actual giggle, one I stifle almost immediately. He might hear it. Or she. Or it.
I pick the pace up a bit, fancying myself an inefficient but determined snow plow. I’m in the bottom of the S now and there it is ahead, the light standard at the entrance of the service road, casting its alien yellow light over the gate that is locked and piled on with snow, looking like a Christmas diorama. Beyond it is South Street. The angle means I can’t quite see it yet, as the service road climbs a short hill where it connects to the main road, but I hear a vehicle go by.
Feeling brave, if not totally victorious, I lurch ahead a little more than stop and dare to turn around and see who has been following me.
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 1:18 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:23
Weather: Cloudy, some sun
Temp: 7ºC
Humidity: 92%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 170
Weight: 163.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 4395 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 6
I wore close to my summer gear today: shorts, but a long-sleeve rather than short-sleeve t-shirt. Even with a bit of a breeze it was fine at 7ºC. The longer sleeves helped to keep my hands and arms warm.
I managed to beat the rain, with the sun actually poking out a few times. A couple of hours later the sky turned gray and scary and The Rains returned. It’s always nice to dodge the rain bullet.
The first few minutes the left knee was creaky again and even the right ankle briefly joined in providing a sort of stereo effect of pain. The ankle cleared up quickly, though, and the left knee was fine after a few minutes of warming up. I think stretching may be beneficial as it occurs to me that the relative inflexibility of my legs may be contributing to the issue or at the very least slowing potential recovery. And maybe I’ll toss in a compression sleeve, as I mentioned previously.
Looking at my splits, I started out at my finishing pace of 5:14/km–much faster than I was planning or expecting–but really took off for the second km where the pace dipped to 5:03/km. Looking back, I can’t think of what inspired me to turn on the afterburners here. I eased up for the next few km before finishing with a zippy 5:07/km for the last stretch. The higher speed also meant a higher BPM, though I managed to hold it right at 170.
The run even inspired me on the walk home, resulting in my first walk under 9:00/km in awhile.
Overall, a good run, though I should probably be a little less zealous and focus more on stamina, a lower BPM and all that. It’s always so weird to run so much faster than I plan to, like my legs have little minds of their own and these minds are all, “RUN FASTER LOL!”
