I am officially a slave to technology (but it’s okay)

Two and a half years ago I got a Fitbit One. It’s one of only two trackers Fitbit makes that doesn’t strap to your wrist. I keep mine in the watch pocket of my jeans (or just in the regular pocket of my shorts when the summer weather is actually summer-like). This had the effect of making me treat its goals casually. If I made the 10,000 step daily goal it was nice but I never felt inclined to push toward it.

About eight months ago I picked up an Apple Watch. It has an activity app that tracks three things: Move, Exercise and Standing. The stand goal is pretty simple, as the Apple site states: “The Stand ring closes when you’re up for at least one minute in 12 different hours during a day.” This is pretty easy to achieve unless you spend 15 hours of the day sleeping. Move tracks active calories, so simply walking will contribute to this, albeit not super quickly. Exercise is defined as activity that is at least at a pace of brisk walking. This is set to 30 minutes by default and is usually the first goal I hit each day because the 30 minutes don’t have to be consecutive and I pretty much walk briskly all the time, varying only in the degree of briskness.

Now that I’ve explained what the Apple Watch activity app does, I’ll explain the crucial feature that separates it from my Fitbit One: the watch is on my wrist and the activity ring is on the watch face I’ve selected, meaning I can at a glance always see how close I am to the three goals. I see the incomplete rings and they bug me, just as they’re supposed to. The visibility makes all the difference. The activity app will also occasionally make the watch chirp or tap my wrist to remind me to stand or egg me on for one of the other goals. And I obey.

Take today, for example. I normally do about a 5 km walk each day and that, combined with other moving about and generally existing, is usually enough to get me the exercise and move goals. Today, with the full effect of vacation settling in and no run scheduled, I was feeling lazy. I did some walking for about 20 minutes but that’s not enough to fill those rings. I lazed away most of the afternoon. I had dinner. I looked at the time. I looked at those incomplete rings. I got up and went for a brisk walk. I kept walking until my watch happily dinged, confirming I’d reached my move goal. Then I walked a little more before coming home just because.

I also stopped and scratched the ears of a tabby cat that lives a few blocks from my place on the way back. Bonus calories burned, rewarded with purring.

Another insidious feature of the activity app is it tracks consecutive days and rewards you for streaks. My move streak is currently 176 days. As it grows longer I get more anxious about breaking it so I keep walking, I keep moving.

One night I went out in a rainstorm at 10:30 p.m. and circled a four block area twice to reach my move goal. I did this after calculating that walking briskly in the restricted confines of the condo wouldn’t get me to the goal before midnight, thus leading to the horror of the move streak ending. Unacceptable.

And here’s the thing: I am a self-admitted slave to this technology. It works exactly as it is designed to, providing just the right level of incentive to keep me going. But it’s good because it keeps me moving, prevents me from calcifying in a chair for hours at a time and is keeping me generally aware of the importance of remaining active and specifically bugging me when I’m not. I’ve even started adjusting the move goal higher, forcing me to do more to hit it.

Now, if all of this turns out to be a sneaky way to get humanity to lay down the groundwork for SkyNET or the Matrix or something, I’ll be miffed. But I’ll be miffed and in shape.

Run 446: A detour to 10K

Run 446
Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10:05 km
Time: 57:15
Weather: Sun with occasional high cloud
Temp: 18-20ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 156
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3559 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I’ve been sticking to a counter-clockwise pattern at the lake since the trail resurfacing began in order to minimize my having to dodge heavy equipment and awkwardly-placed piles of dirt but today the urge to mix things up overcame my concern over awkwardly-placed piles of dirt, so I went clockwise.

I again set the run officially for 7K, planned to do at least 8K, with 10K as a special bonus if I was up to it.

I started out right at the 0 marker to easily track my distance (I don’t like looking at the fitness app on the watch while running–it’s weird, I know. I’m afraid I’ll see my pace, become discouraged and then slow down even more, or some other weird psychological thing) and headed off under a sunny morning sky. On the Avalon trail I spied a group of people but I couldn’t tell what they were doing. Were they a group of walkers pondering the map? Searching for someone’s lost keys? They started moving as I got closer and turned off onto the Southshore trail. Drat. This meant I would have to deal with them shortly.

Here’s the thing with walking groups. I’ve mentioned before they tend to blob out all over the trail, actively blocking others in both directions. It seems also that the larger the group, the more oblivious they will be to, probably, anything. Other pedestrians, joggers, wild horses, coyotes, low flying planes.

This was one of those groups. Rather than sow confusion by announcing my impending arrival (usually with “On your left!”) I opted to scoot by on the left, where the trail did not dip into a ditch or anything. It was a tight squeeze and one of the walkers helpfully blurted out “Jogger!” as I was passing through, but I got by and continued on my way. I made it past the first boardwalk but then hit the same detour as Wednesday and had to move onto the Freeway trail. This also rendered me starting at the 0 marker pointless, as I now had no way of knowing exactly how far I’d run. Oh well.

When I returned to the Southshore trail a few minutes later it wasn’t quite as treacherous as Wednesday, though I did get close to an excavator that was backing up down another trail. I felt a little bad jogging over the freshly packed gravel two men were still raking and fluffing up, but hey, gotta break it in sometime.

As I passed the 4K mark it seemed plausible that I might be able to do 10K. The right leg was behaving, I’d found a rhythm that found me breathing comfortably (BPM was down to 156) and then there was a second walking group. This one I met head-on and several dramatically leaped out of my way even though there was no need to. I appreciated the sentiment that I was some unstoppable force.

I continued on and by the time I hit 8K I knew that short of sudden bear attack/walking group consisting of large immovable metallic men, I would hit 10K and I did. The walk home also came in at under 9:00/km, so overall it was a good effort.

The second half of the run was slower and the pace was inconsistently consistent. That is, each km was never more than a few seconds off from the one before or after, but the actual times were a veritable roller coaster, up and down, up and down. The overall pace of 5:41/km was only five seconds off my 8K pace and still ahead of some of my earlier 7Ks, so I’m pleased with that. For some reason my opening km was 5:09/km, one of my fastest yet. I wasn’t even trying to run fast. This also includes where I was slowed by the first walking group. Weird.

Anyway, I’m pleased that I hit 10 km at last. Now I have the weekend to recover, with the next run on Monday, when I’m sure winter conditions will return once again.

Run 445: Detours and the art of slug dodging

Run 445
Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 8.07 km
Time: 45:20
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3549 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

The weather was a replay of yesterday, though without the rain. The conditions were actually nice for running–cool but not cold, overcast but not wet, with just enough of a breeze to be refreshing.

Mindful of having run the last two days, I started out at a deliberate pace and overall held pretty steady after the inevitable 2K adjustment and the 6-7K dip. I finished strong (partial reason below) but just as I came up on 8 km, I started to feel the upper right leg getting stiff/sore, so I called it there. By the end of the walk home the leg was fine, so I’ll aim for 8 and push for 10K again on Friday.

My overall pace was the best for a lake run this year at 5:36/km and I felt pretty good throughout. Surprisingly, I still managed to sweat a fair bit, probably due to the humidity and in spite of the relative chill. I was also surprised by the number of people I encountered on a gray weekday morning. The trail wasn’t packed but there was a relatively steady stream of walkers and joggers. The most annoying was a walking group. These groups that one might imagine would know more than the average person about trail etiquette and unspoken rules, often seem to know the least and tend to spread themselves across the trail in a giant unpassable blob. To their credit, this group was a little more on top of things.

Despite earlier showers, I didn’t have to dodge any puddles, though the trail was still wet in spots. What I did have to dodge were slugs. Lots and lots of slugs. At times I had to exercise great dexterity to avoid sending slugs to their maker, but I think I got through without any slime-trailing casualties.

The detour came right near the end of the run. I decided to call it at 8K and at nearly the same moment came up to a sign directing me onto the Freeway trail, as part of the trail was again closed for resurfacing. The last few minutes prior to my exit via the detour were a tad hairy. I first encountered a park worker raking the sides of a freshly-surfaced section of trail. He had his little gravel-flattening machine parked just past him up the trail (I have no idea what these are called. They’re basically little hand-operated steam rollers except they don’t have a roller, just a flat belt that presses down and flattens the ground or whatever is below it). After this section of the trail came the in-between section that had neither the old surface nor the new surface. Instead it had been gouged out by an excavator and was filled with a number of piles of dirt (base layer) that had not yet been flattened.

The gouging left deep ruts and holes and the dirt piles were giant obstacles. I approached this stretch at full speed and unaware (there is a reason why cyclists are not permitted here and numerous blind corners are one of them). I managed to stay upright through this patch and entered another gouged area that did not yet have dirt piles in it. I passed a side trail and spied an excavator with a huge pile of dirt in its scoop trundling toward the same trail I was on. When I next glanced behind me it was on my trail and seemingly gaining ground. It occupied pretty much the entire width of the trail, so having it catch up would have been awkward or possibly fatal. I fired up the jets to make space between us and that is how the final km of my run was almost as fast as the first one.

Overall, I am pleased with the results, though wary as always of the right leg. I think it’s fine and I’ll have a full day’s rest tomorrow, save for a likely 5K walk, but that shouldn’t affect things. At any rate, this is already a million times better than last summer’s disastrous August.

Book review: Warday

WardayWarday by Whitley Strieber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first read this book back in 1984 when the Cold War was still a legitimate threat–just before Gorbachev started the policy of Glasnost and Reagan was still joking about bombing the Russians. It left an indelible impression of how even a limited nuclear attack could have devastating, world-changing consequences that could stretch on for decades. Reading it now there is a certain sense of distance with the old U.S./USSR rivalry long dead, Putin’s efforts to turn back the clock notwithstanding, but the reality is most of these nuclear missiles still exist, with more than enough firepower to ruin your day and then some.

The book is written as a first person account of the effects of a limited nuclear war five years after the bombs fell. The authors, Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, place themselves into this fictional scenario set in the year 1993, starting a journey across America that takes them to both coasts before heading back to their adopted hometown of Dallas, where they work as reporters.

The story opens in October 1988 with Strieber’s recollection of being on a bus in downtown New York when the bombs fall. New York is one of three cities targeted in the first volley (the other volleys do not follow due to U.S. retaliation disabling the Soviets’ ability to counter-attack), the other two being Washington and San Antonio. He survives because the bombs miss New York proper, landing over Brooklyn and off the coast. He still gets dosed with enough radiation that he is later classified under the triage system as not treatable, as the radiation is expected to kill him within years and those with better survivability are given priority.

Bombs exploded in the upper atmosphere create an EMP effect that blankets the country, disabling nearly all electronics, ranging from computers to vehicle ignitions and most forms of communication. The final blow comes in the form of volleys aimed at missile silos in the Dakotas and other states. Winds sweep the radiation from these blasts across the bread basket of the U.S., devastating crops and leading to widespread famine.

Against this grim backdrop–the book suggest 7 million die on the day the bombs fall and up to 60 million die from the effect in the following five years–the authors find that some places have prospered, others have become uninhabitable, and assistance has been offered from other nations, albeit with a price.

The bulk of the story captures Strieber’s and Kunetka’s journey from state to state–mostly by rail, as air travel is still rare five years after the attack–conducting interviews with government officials and ordinary folks, supplementing these accounts with official documentation of the effects of the war. The level of detail in these mock documents is impressive and help paint a picture of a country that has been split apart, where deflation has reduced most items to cents, gold is the favored currency and the federal government, now in L.A., is a stunted shadow of its former self.

The narrative works because it presents its fiction so plainly, even when specific scenarios seem absurd when taken out of context. At one point the authors are escaping authorities in California–which was spared attack but has emerged as a near police-state, locking down its borders–dressed as priests. They make a daring escape from a prison bus to continue their journey through the devastated heartland before heading to New York and then back to Texas. It sounds ridiculous and yet the details that are drawn of California, at once prosperous, yet cold, allow these occasional dramatic embellishments to at least seem plausible.

The bulk of the story is in the interviews, where survivors talk about living through famine and flu, abandoning cities and entire regions killed by radiation, some drifting, others settling, with a general sense that the people are banding together and helping each other where they can. International aid comes from the British and Japanese primarily, but both seem willing to only do so much, with a strong suggestion that the other nations of the world are not exactly eager to see the U.S. re-assert itself as a global power again.

One especially chilling interview is with a British naval officer who works as part of a crew of sub poppers, so-called because their job is to find nuclear-armed submarines that are still at sea–and thus presenting a threat–and disabling or destroying them. He recounts taking out subs with enough firepower on board to cause devastation many times greater than what happened on Warday itself, a grim reminder of how terrible and terribly effective nuclear weapons are.

Although the specific scenario of Warday is no longer plausible–the Soviets launch a first strike due to the U.S. being on the verge of putting together a seemingly indestructible space-based defense system (how Reagan would have approved!)–the story remains as powerful now as it was over 30 years ago, simply because nothing at all has changed regarding the almost incomprehensible effects of nuclear bombs, and as mentioned, there are still an awful lot of them sitting silent in their silos, one launch code away from unleashing their destruction.

View all my reviews

Run 444: A bonus 5K run with bonus summer rain

Run 444
Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 26:40
Weather: Light rain showers
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 151
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 3541 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Today marks the first official day of my vacation. It rained, of course.

Seeing that the weather was poop and yet wanting to hit my 10,000 step goal on my Fitbit and meet my three activity goals on my watch (exercise, calories and standing), I mulled what to do. Normally on a non-run day I’ll go for a walk for about an hour but the thing with walks in the summer when it’s raining is there’s no good way to dress. First, I don’t carry an umbrella because I hate them and if I could I’d go back in time and uninvent them because they are obnoxious latent eye-pokers. Second, because it’s summer it’s not really cold so you don’t need to bundle up as you normally would in inclement weather. You wear a jacket and go for a brisk walk and you’ll be sweaty and gross (and wet) in no time.

The alternative was to go for a run because I don’t care about getting wet/muddy when running. I rarely do next-day runs and was especially hesitant as I still consider myself in recovery mode, but around 1 p.m. the steady rain had eased up to a steady but light shower and the decision was made. The one nod to the weather was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. Off I went on a short 5K run along the river trail.

During the entire 5K run I only encountered a single person, a man walking two dogs, one very large and one rather small. Perhaps the small dog was a snack for when the big dog got hungry. Happily, both were leashed and no trouble.

I worked to keep a steady pace, not wanting to push things and the right leg emerged unscathed. Being that it was only 15ºC and the glare of the sun was only affecting jetliners above the clouds, conditions were surprisingly good, despite the ever-present lack of windshield wipers on my glasses. My pace at the end was 5:17/km, which seemed quite decent. I checked my last 5K back on July 20 and my pace then was 5:28/km, so my timing today was not merely decent, it was significantly better. I think the weather played a major role, much as I hate summer rain on principle. My BPM was also lower at 151.

It’s supposed to be sunny again tomorrow, though not too warm at 21ºC. My plan is to head out earlyish in the morning while it’s still cool. I’ll be planning 8K and pushing to 10K if I feel up to it. It will be interesting to see how today’s run may affect tomorrow’s, if at all.

(I met my step, exercise and calorie goals, the stand goal I’ll hit in a few hours since it’s the one goal that is strictly time-based.)

Run 443: 8K and better than the same time last year

Run 443
Average pace: 5:45/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 8.05 km
Time: 46:21
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3536 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Last year I famously set out on the first Monday of my vacation on a 10K run. You can read about it here. Spoiler: it ended in horrible pain and I didn’t run again until January of this year.

Today’s run was started with some trepidation, not just because of the anniversary of that Titanic-like run, but also because when I woke up on Friday morning that same hip/hamstring/whatever it is was aching again. I had felt fine after Tuesday’s run so it again seemed to be associated with something that happened in the night as I slept.

Friday’s walk at lunch was slower than normal because of this and when I ran my time again retreated back to my previous slower pace (though it was also quite warm). By Sunday the achiness had mostly cleared up but I was not to be lulled into a false sense of security!

The walk to the lake this morning went briskly and with no achiness, but the moment I started actually running it hit. The good news is the run did not end like last year’s. The ache modified and by the end of the run had mostly dissipated. The walk home was fine. I don’t think I am in for a repeat of last year but man, I’d love to just run and not have to worry about this stuff.

I may have made matters slightly worse by forgetting to stretch before the run. Oops.

Onto the run itself. I officially set out to do a 7K run, feeling I was still not up to a full 10K yet, with the idea that if I felt good I would run farther. The whole hip thing made me think I’d stop at 7K but I was actually feeling decent by the time I’d covered 7 km, so I pushed on to do 8K and stopped there. Surprisingly, my pace was slightly better than Friday, coming in at 5:45/km. I started to feel a little slothful around 6K but kept pushing and got a nice second wind. I stopped at 8K simply because I didn’t want to push it. I’ll probably set 8K as a goal for Wednesday and see if I can make 10.

Much as it was last year on BC Day, the trail was fairly crowded, with a particularly large number of joggers, including one who was aiming for a head-on collision with me because he wasn’t following the stay-on-the-right rule. Perhaps surprisingly, nearly every runner at the lake does this. The naughty left-side runner darted out of the way in time. And again, no cyclists. Yay!

I am not really sure what to expect on Wednesday. I just hope I can emerge intact, however far I run.

Run 442: Hot, tired and snakes

Run 442
Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 40:47
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27-24ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 154
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3528
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I skipped my usual Thursday run so to keep on track I ran today instead. It was sunny and quite warm, so I expected to be slower and was duly rewarded with a pace of 5:48/km. On the plus side my BPM was down from 160 to 154. On the snake side, I had my first snake of summer slither across the trail in front of me. It’s funny because I had just been thinking about how I hadn’t seen any snakes this year. On my next run I’m going to think about how I haven’t seen a pot of gold this year.

My right calf was stiff and a little sore heading out but I don’t think this affected my pace as much as the heat and copious sweating as I worked to maintain a respectable pace. I never struggled, exactly, but much of the run felt labored. Did I mention the sweat? I sweated a lot.

The calf was sore even before the run, so I think I had one of those weird night things where your body contorts unnaturally while you’re sleeping (yes, sleeping). It doesn’t feel bad now so I’m not overly concerned.

The trail was sparsely populated tonight, possibly due to the people having vacated for the long weekend or maybe just the “it’s finally hot, let’s stay inside and bask in the AC” effect.

I’m now on my summer vacation so I’m switching my run time and days to mornings and Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The first run of last year’s vacation resulted in an injury that ended my running for the rest of the year. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen again this year. Or ever again. I’ll even trade a pot of gold to make sure it doesn’t.

Overall, not a bad run given the conditions, but I’m looking forward to running mornings when the temperatures are more temperate.

Run 441: A detour, that rabbit again and a big stink

Run 441
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.04 km
Time: 39:34
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20-22ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3521
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I changed things up a little today, running another 7K but starting at the river trail and carrying over to the lake. I also started earlier, with the run beginning around 9 a.m. (I had a commitment later that meant I had to take the day off of work, so chose to use the time for a run, though the pull to watch cat videos instead was strong).

The early start meant I successfully dodged the hottest part of the day, with it being warm but still comfortable. I also dramatically improved my pace over the previous 7K, lending credence to the idea that something about the river is either really easy or something about the lake is really hard, though the last km at the lake matched my general performance at the river. I slowed in the middle, as has usually been the case this past month. The overall pace of 5:37/km was an 11 second improvement over Sunday’s.

The right leg felt slightly stiff to start but was fine otherwise.

My entrance into Burnaby Lake Park was memorable in that the sewer (there is a sewer that parallels the course of the Brunette River and at certain key points you can often catch a whiff of it–it smells just like you’d expect a sewer to) was producing a barf-inducing stench not unlike a metric tonne or two of rotten eggs. Keep in mind that at this point I am nearly 2.5 km into the run as I go by and am sucking in air greedily, except now the air is foul beyond description. Once I passed the dam the odor disappeared but it was literally gag-inducing at the time. I’m not even using “literally” in the bizarre new opposite sense where I actually mean “figuratively.” I did actually feel my gag reflex kick in. It doesn’t seem it should ever smell that bad when you’re outside of the actual sewer but I’m no sewerologist.

As expected, getting out in the morning on a weekday meant I encountered far fewer people, only a couple of other joggers and the rest mostly people with their dogs, many off-leash but strangely well-behaved. The trail definitely had a different vibe.

Speaking of the trail, they started work on another section of the Southshore trail. In fact the li’l earth mover was still there, idling at the side of the trail as I scooted past it. A lot of the new gravel had been dumped but not spread out, making for semi-tricky navigation that would have been a lot trickier had I still been running at that point. The section of the trail that splits off Avalon and was closed for a few weeks a couple of years back was again closed, apparently for replacement of the surface and a bridge. The same bridge they replaced a few years ago? That would seem odd, given how new the current bridge is. Either way, I was forced to detour onto the Freeway trail, just like back in 2012. I got impatient with the unexpected extension of my walk back and ended up jogging most of it. This meant my total walk back came in at just over 10 km, which is a pretty decent hike on its own. By the end I was definitely ready for a refreshment and the option of sitting/laying down/napping.

And the rabbit? Along the same stretch of trail as Sunday, although possibly a little farther along, I again encountered a brown rabbit sitting on the trail. Was it the same rabbit? Was I constantly invading his favorite spot to sit and contemplate bunny thoughts? This time the rabbit was more decisive and immediately peeled off into the brush.

I definitely felt I had more energy at the end of today’s run. I’m undecided on what to do for Thursday’s but it is interesting to see more verification that the river trail is apparently a lot easier to run than the lake. With the work on the Southshore trail, I know I will probably stick to running counter-clockwise for the next couple of weeks at least because the idea of running the Freeway trail under the glare of the summer sun does not make my socks roll up and down in delight.

Six more things I like

Here’s a list of six more things I like. The original six can be found here.

  • Pizza. It can be sweet, savory, crunchy, hot, cold. You can have it delivered to your door. It’s the perfect food.
  • Chai tea
  • Lazing in the grass on a warm summer day
  • Reading a page-turner (defined as “I can’t wait to stop [name of activity] so I can get back to this book!”)
  • Mechanical keyboards, especially with blue switches. Clack clack clack!
  • Low travel keyboards because sometimes I prefer the immediate feedback and not waking the dead with my typing
  • New pillows

The list is seven items since I mentioned keyboards twice. I could probably make a list entirely of keyboards I like. It’s a little weird (as I look around I can see five keyboards for two computers. There’s a sixth keyboard in another room).

Run 440: Farther and with bunnies

Run 440
Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 40:49
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-24ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159 pounds
Total distance to date: 3514
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Although it was actually slightly cooler for today’s run vs. Wednesday’s, it felt warmer and I had sweat trickling down my face a little over a km in. After a fairly brisk walk to the lake, I saw the same weird shift in pace that has happened the last three times I’ve run at the lake, where my time is significantly slower, even when running the same distance.

Today I at least had the excuse that I was not running the same distance, as this was my first post-recovery run where I went beyond 5K, choosing to do a 7K run. The good news is I finished with no pain or discomfort (the right leg was a little stiff, especially to start but fine after and on the walk back). The less good is by about the 6 km mark I was beginning to feel the extra distance. I never quite fell to plodding along but the last two km were markedly slower than the rest. I slumped on the second km, too, though that was more by design as I was trying to conserve energy for the longer distance. The third to fifth km my pace actually improved and stayed fairly steady.

Oh, and in all the time I have run at Burnaby Lake I have never seen a rabbit, until today. A cute brown bunny was sitting out on the Spruce Loop trail, soaking up the sun. My approach sent it into a panic and it initially hopped down the trail, then, perhaps realizing I was catching up, began to dart back and forth, as if unable to decide what to do. It finally pelted left into the bush, just safely out of reach. I can now add rabbits to the list of wildlife encountered while running at the lake, which also includes snakes, turtles, coyotes and possibly a bear. And maybe Bigfoot, who knows.

While I’m not thrilled with my pace of 5:48/km, I realize I am still a ways off from getting back into peak form and finishing the run intact should be enough. And it is. Mostly.

I’m going to try to stick to a regular schedule now, with the next run on Tuesday. I am undecided on 5K or 7K. I’ll probably ask my watch to flip a coin, because it’s the future and my watch can totally do that.

Guilty pleasures

A few weeks ago I moved a notch higher on the “yep, gay” scale when I bought Barbra Streisand’s album Guilty. Actually, it was more like I had gone up a notch back in 1980 when the album originally debuted (I had it on 8-track, of course), then dipped when I got rid of my 8-track tapes because it was a horrible crime of a music playback medium. So really, I’ve just returned to my 1980 level. As befits someone getting older, I’ve recently gone trolling through the music of my youth, buying a clutch of albums from the olden days when CDs were new and novel (or yet to exist). Here are a few quickie reviews of each in this modern and scary year of 2016 (all albums save Guilty I had not owned previously):

Guilty (Barbra Streisand), 1980. Collaborating with Barry Gibb and his brothers, at times this album sounds exactly like what you’d expect–a Bee Gees album fronted by Streisand. Some of the musical flourishes are very much of their time but in the end Streisand’s vocals elevate the production. “Woman in Love” is the highlight here. The lyrics are merely serviceable, the music, apart from a dramatic organ chord, is nothing special, but Streisand’s singing is powerful.

Boston (Boston), 1976. There’s a lot more organ on this album than I expected. This isn’t a bad thing, it’s just a thing. This is arena-friendly rock, its power chords anchored by Brad Delp’s dexterous, soaring vocals (which turned “More Than a Feeling” into a massive hit). The music flirts with a more prog rock sound at times but never strays far from being manly man rock and roll. It’s fun and a bit silly.

Reckless (Bryan Adams), 1984. The album is appropriately described on its iTunes page as “so overstuffed with classic-rock-radio perennials, it practically qualifies as a greatest-hits collection.” This is Adams refining his sound and style and getting everything right. The album barrels along, with a pause for the ballad “Heaven” so you can catch your breath before it speeds off again. It’s all catchy as hell and Adams rough-edged vocals add just the right amount of grit to this rollicking effort. It’s an album whose ambition is to be nothing more than solid rock and roll and it delivers big time.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Elton John), 1973. Amazingly, this was already John’s seventh album, a sprawling double disc (remember “discs”?) that shifts musical styles throughout, effortlessly switching from prog rock to reggae and on to simple ballads and arena rockers. Some of the subject matter is a bit odd (Roy Rogers?) but the sheer variety and the way John confidently blazes through every song holds it all together. As with Guilty, it is often John’s vocal work that lifts the material to a higher level.

Run 439: Faster, hotter and nicer (?)

Run 439
Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:32
Weather: Sunny, humid
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 158
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3507
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Back to the river trail and my pace was almost identical to the previous river run, coming in at 5:28/km vs. 5:27/km previously. Conditions were warm and humid, though not as humid as Sunday’s run. My right calf was a little stiff before the run but oddly enough it limbered up and actually felt better after the run.

As I write this later in the evening the effect of a day of walking and the warm run have left me pretty tired. I think it’s a good tired.

There was a fair amount of activity on the trail, with a mix of other runners, cyclists, people walking dogs and people walking themselves. All were well-behaved, even friendly. It was weird but pleasant.

I felt no discomfort during the run, save for it being warm but it stayed tolerable, probably in large part to the sun not shining directly down on me for most of the run. I am pleased to see a bounce back to a better performance and now I’m curious as all get-out how the next run at the lake will be.