The all weather run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.03 km
Weather: EVERYTHING (cloud, sun, rain, hail)
Temp: 11ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 771
Average pace: 5:01/km <– PERSONAL RECORD
Total distance to date: 1245.15 km

Not quite déjà vu this time: another run, another personal best for the year to date (and overall!), but Joan congratulated me for the latter rather than another 500 km completed.

The forecast today was 11ºC with a 40% chance of isolated showers (< 1 mm). It was indeed around 11 and it felt rather chilly for early May (average would be 15) — I could see my breath as I walked to the lake.

It started to shower as I got to Hume Park and by the time I was ready to run it had turned into pretty much a downpour. I’m fairly confident the 1 mm total precipitation was reached in about 30 seconds. Since I had to pee I crossed over the dam and used the port-o-potty at the parking lot and opted for a clockwise circuit. Technically I started my run in the outhouse because when I stepped out of it my iPod was already wet enough that the clickwheel had gone into Not Working No Way mode. I went back in, grabbed some toilet paper, wiped it down and managed to get the workout started.

I kept the toilet paper clenched in my right hand in case I needed to use it at the end of the run. It turned out my hand is not waterproof.

After about a km of solid rain the weather changed to solid hail. Unlike the last time this hail meant business and came down hard. It actually stung a little. This made me miffed, which improved my pace. The sooner I finished the sooner I could get out of this miserable weather. The hail changed back to rain and continued for the first half of the run. It eased up and finally stopped by the end of the run, allowing the wad of toilet paper to dry sufficiently that I was able to wipe down the iPod again and stop the workout on time. There was also a bit of sun in there, too, sometimes with and sometimes without accompanying rain.

I took the Piper Mill trail but skipped the other two optional loops. Because of this I didn’t hit the 11K mark until after I had passed the dam and was running on pavement. Not optimal but not horrible, either. I’ll know to take at least two of the three loops for future runs.

Pace-wise, my fear of not keeping up with Wednesday’s run was unfounded as I not only kept up, I eclipsed my previous best pace by five seconds, coming in at 5:01/km. The soggy first km was a mere 4:42/km. I apparently really wanted to get out of that weather.

Overall I am very pleased with this week’s runs. I may ease off a bit next week as I was pushing a little harder this week but we’ll see. The left foot was a very minor issue on the walk back.

Chart:

km May 4 May 2 Apr 30
1 4:42 4:58 5:02
2 4:50 5:00 5:11
3 4:54 5:02 5:13
4 4:55 5:04 5:13
5 4:56 5:05 5:13
6 4:57 5:05 5:12
7 4:58 5:05 5:12
8 4:59 5:06 5:13
9 5:00 5:06 5:13
10 5:00 5:06 5:13
11 5:01 5:06 5:13

Book review: The Exorcist (second reading)

Actually, this may be the third time I’ve read The Exorcist but the first time as an adult.

The paperback copy I have dates from January 1974 and I tried re-reading it last year but it’s one of my few books that is falling apart. Fortunately the book has been re-released in a 40th anniversary edition in 2011 and was made available in ebook form for the first time.

While subversive kids a generation before read EC comics late at night I read stuff like The Exorcist. Reading it as a child it scared the living heck out of me and I was curious to see how it would hold up with nearly 40 years of pop culture baggage tied to it, not to mention experiencing the story as an adult.

I’m pleased to find it holds up quite well. The events depicted — the demonic possession and exorcism of a 12 year old girl — are no longer frightening but the story is told with grace and economy. In its more reflective moments William Peter Blatty adopts a lyrical quality, heavy with the use of metaphor. Some passages read almost like poetry. And much as he did in the screen adaptation, Blatty lets the story unwind slowly, ratcheting up the tension nicely.

I’ll be damned if I couldn’t help but see Max Von Sydow as Father Merrin, though. He was perfect for the role.

The story is dated only in a few minor ways. The character Chris MacNeil works on a film that features a student protest scene that has a strong late 60s/early 70s vibe to it and most of the characters smoke like chimneys. There’s also a weird thing with Father Karras viewing psychokinesis as plausible and documented and I’m pretty sure it’s still considered unproven, since I’ve not noticed any real-life Carrie episodes on the news of late.

Overall, this is still an excellent book, highly recommended for any horror buff that has somehow managed to miss it.

The nearly run down twice run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.02 km
Weather: Overcast, some light rain
Temp: 13ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 771
Average pace: 5:06/km <– PERSONAL RECORD (tie)
Total distance to date: 1234.12 km

Yes, it’s déjà vu yet again: another run, another personal best for the year to date, another ‘500 km’ completed according to Joan Benoit Samuelson.

The left foot is a minor annoyance now, so it seems to mending nicely.

The wind made the walk and start of the run a bit chilly but I warmed up soon enough. I extended my run a bit by adding in the Conifer and Spruce Loops. I got to the halfway mark a short way past the bridge, just alongside the start of the athletic fields. I always feel a bit intimidated doing a follow-up to a run where I knock a good chunk off my average pace and today was no exception. I pushed a little harder than I might have in the hope that I could at least equal Monday’s effort and at the end came in at a pace of 5:06/km, knocking seven seconds off Monday’s run and tying my best runs to date. Now I’m really intimidated for Friday’s run — but in a good way!

Weather-wise it was cloudy and a light rain began at around the 6K mark that persisted for about the next four km. By the end it had stopped and the sun came out so I arrived home as dry as I’d left. I liked that.

Vehicles were my bane today. The construction of the Brunette River habitat continues and as I approached the construction site a dump truck with trailer was trying to execute a tricky back-up around a tight corner, occupying the entire roadway in the process. The woman guiding the driver asked me to move back a bit at one point and I happily obliged, as that was preferable to being smooshed by a giant dump truck. The third time was the charm and I continued to the lake.

On the run itself I got onto the long straight stretch of the Cottonwood Trail that parallels the train tracks. I heard a rumble behind me and glanced back, thinking it was a train (I’m all logical like that). It was actually a park vehicle bearing down on me. I nimbly moved further to the side of the trail and let it pass. It stopped to collect the garbage from a nearby trashcan and I stepped on the gas a bit to gain some distance before it could terrorize me again. Okay, I was more startled than terrorized but go with it. The same vehicle sneaked up behind me at the end of the run. It was the stuff of nightmares. Very mild nightmares. Mostly I don’t expect vehicles on the trail.

Some additional remedial work has been done on the trail, shoring up parts where pipes allow water to pass under it. The parts that get boggy in the rain haven’t received the same treatment but here’s hoping.

Chart:

km May 2 Apr 30
1 4:58 5:02
2 5:00 5:11
3 5:02 5:13
4 5:04 5:13
5 5:05 5:13
6 5:05 5:12
7 5:05 5:12
8 5:06 5:13
9 5:06 5:13
10 5:06 5:13
11 5:06 5:13

April 2012 run summary

I’m going to start doing a brief monthly summary of my runs because I loves me some stats and it will help to make improvements, etc. easier to see.

In April I ran 10 times. I missed a full week of runs after hurting my back, otherwise I’d have had 13 runs. Showing nice progress, my fastest run was the most recent.

My slowest opening km was done on a run that was also my second fastest overall for the month, reinforcing that the key is to not have a fast start, but to find a good pace and stick to it.

Stats:

Total runs: 10
Fastest run: 5:13/km (April 30)
Slowest run: 5:59/km (April 16th — this was after a back injury 9 days prior and a 15 km hike the previous day)
Difference between average pace of fastest and slowest runs: 46 seconds/km
Fastest 1st km: 4:59/km (April 23)
Slowest 1st km: 5:17/km (April 4 and 27)

The soggy new shoes run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.03 km
Weather: Overcast, occasional sun
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 771
Average pace: 5:13/km
Total distance to date: 1223.09 km

Déjà vu! Another run, another personal best for the year to date, another ‘500 km’ completed according to Joan Benoit Samuelson.

The main difference today was my left foot felt better but still a bit sore after resting for the weekend. It did not hurt on the walk to the lake, bothered me on for the first few km and was not an issue on the walk back. I’m hoping by the end of the week it will be back to normal or close to it. My left calf is a bit sore — not sore in the muscles torn/rent asunder sense, more sore in that I think the soreness of the foot is making me compensate a bit with the lower leg muscles, so they’re being worked a bit harder than normal. This, too, should ease up over the week.

It was overcast but never rained, so conditions were close to ideal for the run. I had to use the loo first and opted to run clockwise since I was already on the southern side of the lake, anyway. I had a good start with a 5:02 pace, expectedly fell back a bit to 5:11 for the second km, then hit 5:13 for the third km. And then something weird happened — with the exception of two km where I was actually faster at 5:12/km (an that itself is unusual) I maintained that 5:13 pace for the rest of the run — 7 of the 11 km run. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a remarkably steady run.

I pushed myself a little but not much, certainly nowhere close to the ‘lungs on fire’ pace I’ve tried a few times. Mostly I just pushed to maintain my pace and it appears I succeeded!

It had been raining prior to the run and so the trail, especially around the athletic fields, was a bit waterlogged. In fact at one point the entire trail was underwater and with nowhere to turn I had to go straight through, giving the new shoes their first official dunking. They seem to have come through fine. I am liking how light and flexible they are. The minimal padding is probably helping my form.

Having lopped off a full 13 seconds from Friday’s run, I am skeptical I can hit the same mark on Wednesday but it was certainly a nice way to round out the month.

Chart:

km Apr 30 Apr 27 Apr 25 Apr 23 Apr 20 Apr 18 Apr 16 Apr 6 Apr 4 Apr 2
1 5:02 5:17 5:06 4:59 5:09 5:12 5:15 5:12 5:17 5:03
2 5:11 5:21 5:15 5:11 5:12 5:21 5:23 5:19 5:19 5:17
3 5:13 5:23 5:19 5:17 5:18 5:25 5:31 5:23 5:24 5:25
4 5:13 5:22 5:20 5:20 5:22 5:28 5:36 5:25 5:26 5:30
5 5:13 5:23 5:22 5:22 5:25 5:29 5:41 5:26 5:27 5:33
6 5:12 5:23 5:24 5:22 5:27 5:30 5:45 5:28 5:29 5:37
7 5:12 5:24 5:25 5:25 5:29 5:31 5:49 5:29 5:31 5:41
8 5:13 5:25 5:26 5:27 5:33 5:32 5:53 5:30 5:33 5:46
9 5:13 5:26 5:28 5:29 5:35 5:33 5:57 5:32 5:35 5:50
10 5:13 5:26 5:28 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:59 5:33 5:36 5:53
11 5:13 5:25 — — — — — — — —

How not to do DLC and a lament on IAP and other current gaming acronyms

In my continuing ‘How Not to’ gaming series, here’s how not to do DLC (Downloadable Content) for a game:

Stamp it out so frequently that you overwhelm and confuse the casual player and create resentment in the hardcore players who feel compelled to purchase all of it to have a ‘complete’ experience.

I give you Exhibit A:

Dungeon Defenders

I would not be surprised if Dungeon Defenders is one of the games that prompted Valve to offer a ‘SHOW DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT’ checkbox for its list of new releases. Released on October 18, 2011 the game has 20 DLC items available (two of which are free). Purchasing them all will set you back $45.82. The game itself costs $14.99. Of course, all of the DLC is optional — the game works just fine without it and some of it is pure fluff, things like costume packs and the like. But that’s still equivalent to new content every 10 days and while the inclination may be to think more is better, it’s often not, especially in a game that offers a solid co-op experience where not having the right DLC can lock other players out.

This seems to be the future for at least some games, though. Whether it’s a free iOS game with In App Purchase (IAP) to flesh out/further the experience, Facebook games that require you to pony up real money to make real ‘progress’ (the classic example being Farmville) or games like Dungeon Defenders with a relatively low price buttressed by a ton of DLC, more developers and publishers are opting for a model where you get some of the game up front for little or no money and have to pay to get the rest — with the final price often ending up higher than the old-fashioned retail box that gave you the whole thing at time of purchase.

It makes the days of Epic giving away gobs of free content for its Unreal Tournament games seem positively quaint. I’m not ready to cry doom or shake my cane at these young whippersnappers just yet, though, but it’s a trend that definitely bears watching.

How not to play a single player game

A week or so ago I decided to actually start playing one of those single player computer games. You know, like they used to make back in the old days before the Internet and MMOs and Farmville. For this bold adventure I chose Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, a slightly older title I had picked up for a pittance ($2.49) during last winter’s Steam sale.

I set all the controls to my personal and wacky preferences, then dove in. The opening level serves as a tutorial, instructing you on the basics of fighting (tip: kick, a lot), climbing ropes, mantling, using your handy night vision and so on. At the end I am treated to a cutscene in which the wizard Phenrig (who narrates your journey through the tutorial area) instructs you on your task, which is to journey to the city of Stonehelm and deliver a magic crystal because Plot Device {magic crystal}. Accompanying the protagonist will be a slinky spirit named Xana because this is a video game and the designers are obligated to include a ‘sexy babe’. As long as she doesn’t get in my way, I’m good.

I have not saved at this point because it’s just the tutorial. I expect the game to auto-save after the cutscene, when the story begins proper.

Instead the game crashes.

I have not tried playing since.

This is one of the reasons my backlog of single player games is immense.

I’m going to try Portal 2 next.

The dusty run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.02 km
Weather: High cloud, some sun
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 770
Average pace: 5:26/km
Total distance to date: 1212.06 km

Another run, another personal best for the year to date, another ‘500 km’ completed according to Joan Benoit Samuelson (she has congratulated me on the last four runs, which, if accurate, would mean I had completed 2,000 km. As you may suspect, this is not entirely accurate) and more sore feet. So mostly good news.

Although it started out mild, high cloud and a strong breeze convinced me to wear a long-sleeved shirt for the run. This was the right call for the first part of the run but overall I’d have been fine in a regular t-shirt.

With the sore feet it went like this: no real issues on the walk to the lake. Once at the lake the right foot was pretty much fine but the left foot was sore. It took several km to get past the initial soreness to where the bloodflow/endorphins/magicke started kicking in and I could more effectively ignore it. This is reflected in my slow first km — 5:17. However, I hit my plateau fairly quickly (I don’t recall the last instance where I posted the same time for three different km) and ran steady from there forward, so I ended up two seconds faster than Wednesday and five seconds faster than Monday. The incremental improvements are nice.

Knowing from the last run that the feet would be feeling it more once I resumed walking I pushed on for an extra km, turning in my first 11K run since last summer. Even better, I shaved a second off my 10K pace in the process. The walk back was a bit of a trial but once more my feet recovered quickly after I got home and was able to get off them. I’m hopeful that a weekend of relative inactivity will go a good way toward the healing process.

Chart:

Apr 27 Apr 25 Apr 23 Apr 20 Apr 18 Apr 16 Apr 6 Apr 4 Apr 2
1 km 5:17 5:06 4:59 5:09 5:12 5:15 5:12 5:17 5:03
2 km 5:21 5:15 5:11 5:12 5:21 5:23 5:19 5:19 5:17
3 km 5:23 5:19 5:17 5:18 5:25 5:31 5:23 5:24 5:25
4 km 5:22 5:20 5:20 5:22 5:28 5:36 5:25 5:26 5:30
5 km 5:23 5:22 5:22 5:25 5:29 5:41 5:26 5:27 5:33
6 km 5:23 5:24 5:22 5:27 5:30 5:45 5:28 5:29 5:37
7 km 5:24 5:25 5:25 5:29 5:31 5:49 5:29 5:31 5:41
8 km 5:25 5:26 5:27 5:33 5:32 5:53 5:30 5:33 5:46
9 km 5:26 5:28 5:29 5:35 5:33 5:57 5:32 5:35 5:50
10 km 5:26 5:28 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:59 5:33 5:36 5:53
11 km 5:25 — — — — — — — —

Exhibit C on why I do not write poetry

(You can see Exhibits A and B here and here, respectively.)

Back in ancient times I wrote poetry because I had to.

Which is to say in my college creative writing class one term consisted of writing poetry. Though we had computers even back then (with snazzy dot matrix printers) I chose to write most of my poetry on one of the clunky typewriters in the library. The typewriters were all in a sealed room for obvious reasons. Just one of those 50 pound behemoths clacked thunderously, let alone a room of them. With my typing style (three fingers, strongly) the noise level was that much higher. BANG BANG BANG POETRY.

This is a scanned copy of the original. An unfinished draft of another poem called The Island is visible on the other side of the paper. As with most of my poetry, Pretty Bunnies and Happy Flowers was written in a single session with little thought and no attention paid to rhyme, meter or really anything that a poet should pay attention to. It was also not one of my submitted projects, probably because I knew better than to cultivate an unwanted reputation as a weirdo by letting others read it. Twenty-three years later the poem strikes me as less creepy and more stupid, a mockery of ‘serious’ poetry, which was my secret way of admitting I couldn’t write the stuff worth beans!

The soggy gosling run (not Ryan Gosling)

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 10.03 km
Weather: Rain, light to heavy
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 701
Average pace: 5:28/km
Total distance to date: 1201.4 km

The good news: the new shoes continue to hold up well, even in squishy wet weather like today’s run featured.
The bad news: my feet are still sore.
The better news: this isn’t affecting my times.

I hit two milestones today. I have now crossed the 1200 km mark with the Nike+, finishing today’s run at 1201.4 km. I also had my best run of the year, finishing under 5:30 for the first time, ending with an average pace of 5:28/km.

It was already raining when I headed out so I wore a long sleeved t-shirt and it worked fine. The rain eased up to a light shower partway through, so it wasn’t so bad. To keep the iPod nano functional (the clickwheel may be innovative but it doesn’t take much for it to stop working) I put in in a plastic baggie then put it in my shorts pocket. This actually worked!

My feet were sore again and it bothers me but not enough to slow me down. With the left foot in particular I had to make an effort to keep the toes splayed out flat instead of bunching them up. After getting off the feet for a bit post-run it doesn’t take them long to feel okay again so I’m hoping they’ll toughen up/recover fairly quickly.

As for the goslings, there were two geese families on the trail. The first I came across around a corner where the trail abuts the lake directly — they were at the water’s edge and heading in. The mother briefly did that COME AT ME BRO thing but I dashed by too quickly to cause much concern. The second set I saw from a distance and I eased off my pace a bit so as to not alarm them. I don’t know why I did this as I doubt the geese had a clue what I was doing, I was just a scary biped running toward their precious young. They ambled a bit to the side but did not otherwise panic.

Given the weather, it is no surprise I covered 4 km before I saw another person. What was surprising is it wasn’t a fellow jogger, just someone out getting drenched on a walk.

Chart:

Apr 25 Apr 23 Apr 20 Apr 18 Apr 16 Apr 6 Apr 4 Apr 2
1 km 5:06 4:59 5:09 5:12 5:15 5:12 5:17 5:03
2 km 5:15 5:11 5:12 5:21 5:23 5:19 5:19 5:17
3 km 5:19 5:17 5:18 5:25 5:31 5:23 5:24 5:25
4 km 5:20 5:20 5:22 5:28 5:36 5:25 5:26 5:30
5 km 5:22 5:22 5:25 5:29 5:41 5:26 5:27 5:33
6 km 5:24 5:22 5:27 5:30 5:45 5:28 5:29 5:37
7 km 5:25 5:25 5:29 5:31 5:49 5:29 5:31 5:41
8 km 5:26 5:27 5:33 5:32 5:53 5:30 5:33 5:46
9 km 5:28 5:29 5:35 5:33 5:57 5:32 5:35 5:50
10 km 5:28 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:59 5:33 5:36 5:53

The New Shoes run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 10.04 km
Weather: High cloud
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 702
Average pace: 5:31/km
Total distance to date: 1191.01 km

Today was the first day running with my New Shoes. I am tagging this post so I will be able to track how many kilometers I end up putting on them but I think it’s probably safe that regular running will make replacing them in six months a reasonable proposition.

With high cloud, a light breeze and mild temperatures I opted for my first run wearing a t-shirt. This was the right call as it was pleasantly warm throughout, though it cooled a bit on the walk back. The Brunette River trail in particular felt almost muggy heading toward the lake.

My feet were still sore going in so I knew I wouldn’t get a completely accurate feel for the new shoes but I ended up turning in my best performance of the year, with a 5:31/km average and a first km that broke the 5:00/km mark for the first time in quite awhile, coming in at 4:59/km. I was not trying to run harder than usual (that marathon vs. sprint thing) but hey, new shoes, you get excited. I think they’re going to work out fine.

I felt the ghost of a cramp a few times but moderated my pace and came out fine there. There was a lone goose on the edge of the trail at one point but he merely took a single step to the side rather than hissing and acting like I’d just eaten his entire family for dinner.

I’m hoping that with the new shoes my feet will recover quickly and I’ll have a better assessment of how they are handling but first impressions are decent.

Chart:

Apr 23 Apr 20 Apr 18 Apr 16 Apr 6 Apr 4 Apr 2
1 km 4:59 5:09 5:12 5:15 5:12 5:17 5:03
2 km 5:11 5:12 5:21 5:23 5:19 5:19 5:17
3 km 5:17 5:18 5:25 5:31 5:23 5:24 5:25
4 km 5:20 5:22 5:28 5:36 5:25 5:26 5:30
5 km 5:22 5:25 5:29 5:41 5:26 5:27 5:33
6 km 5:22 5:27 5:30 5:45 5:28 5:29 5:37
7 km 5:25 5:29 5:31 5:49 5:29 5:31 5:41
8 km 5:27 5:33 5:32 5:53 5:30 5:33 5:46
9 km 5:29 5:35 5:33 5:57 5:32 5:35 5:50
10 km 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:59 5:33 5:36 5:53

I am excited about new shoes

According to this article, running shoes are generally expected to last 300-500 miles or up to six months. The pair of New Balance shoes I am using are the same ones I started with back in May 2009 (three years ago) and I’ve put about 1200 km on them (roughly 745 miles).

Which is to say I am way past the point where they should have been replaced. With my feet actually getting sore in the last two runs (the first time this has happened in three years of jogging) it was time to finally get some new shoes.

By coincidence, Mountain Equipment Coop had just sent out a newsletter highlighting running gear and when I followed the link a vibrant pair of New Balance trail running shoes were staring back at me. I went to the store, tried on a pair of New Balance size 8½ MT110s and fell in love with the stubby soles. As a bonus, the laces are not three times longer than they need to be. The laces are orange and bright enough that the inclination is to avoid making direct eye contact with them.

Unlike my current shoes, these are designed specifically for trail use, which should help with the somewhat uneven terrain I typically face. Also unlike my current shoes, these are a more minimalist design, with less padding and bulk. They are noticeably lighter, something else I should appreciate.

I shall be trying them out on Monday.