Book review: Ready Player One

Two of the last three novels I’ve read have been first-time efforts. The previous one I’d read was Brian Keene’s The Rising, which I found mediocre and fairly filled with first-time authorisms. Ready Player One has its share of flaws, too, but as a debut I felt it worked much better.

The main character of Wade/Parzival seemed a little too prone to silly actions and emotional speechifying. The most cringe-inducing moments in the book were usually when several characters engaged in dialogue. But as they are mostly teens or near-teens I found this forgivable, even realistic. Having been a teen once (that was enough for me) I can attest to the propensity for silly actions and saying Very Serious Things Stop Laughing At Me, so in RPO it works, for the most part.

The key concept of the OASIS was fleshed out just about right — the technical ins-and-outs of this proto-holodeck are presented with enough detail to make it seem plausible without descending into unnecessary Star Trek-level technobabble.

This is very much a niche book. While a movie version would be more accessible, simply due to the visual experience, the novel’s constant and key references to all things 1980s (or thereabouts) makes the story best-suited for those who grew up in that era. Being a massive nerd is probably essential, too. Since I qualify in both regards I enjoyed the nostalgia trip, even as I stopped to wonder if the occasional detail was right or not.

The ending is a bit pat and as others have said, Wade has a whole lot of coincidental knowledge that turns out to be precisely what he needs. The ability to memorize countless movies, books and games is a stretch, too — you pretty much have to handwave it or the whole story collapses on itself.

The character of Art3mis didn’t quite click for me. Her actions felt more like they were in service to the plot than organic or natural.

Still, there’s no denying the spectacle, the villains are suitably over-the-top and it’s a fast-paced, effortless read. If you’re at all nerdy and know your 80s references, you’ll probably have a good time with Ready Player One.

Book review: Majestic

Since it was just recently reprinted ans I missed it back in the day, I read Majestic, Whitley Strieber’s ‘true fiction’ account of the Roswell Incident. It’s partially epistolary in nature, as some chapters are told directly from the memoirs of the (fictitious) character of Will Stone, an ex-CIA officer who was deeply involved in the Roswell crash recovery and subsequent cover-up and who ultimately confesses the secrets of what happened to a reporter for The Bethesda Express (in 1989, the year the novel was originally published). The remaining chapters are told from the first person perspective of the reporter as he recounts the stories he is told and the material he uncovers in his research.

The story starts out fairly grounded (ho ho) but as it moves beyond the initial discovery of the crashed disk it gets progressively weirder, with Strieber projecting the behaviors of the ‘visitors’ from his book Communion onto the aliens. Said visitors go on to seriously screw around with the minds and bodies of several people, some of them actual historical figures. The government stuff is handled believably, with everyone up to the president appropriately freaked by the potential an alien invasion could have — and the orders to both shoot first and cover up the whole thing not only works perfectly for conspiracy theorists, it’s plausible as something the government would probably do in such a situation.

My biggest disappointment with the story is probably in regards to the details of what is found. There are several scenes with scientists and military men gathered to discuss findings and propose strategies but the emphasis is clearly on the military side of things, leaving a lot of potentially interesting bits on the alien technology only hinted at.

Still, this is a short and breezy read. For those looking for a (fictional) take on Roswell, it may be worth checking out. Just be prepared for more emphasis on trippy happenings and less on government shenanigans as you get further in

Silent running

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The weirdly warm early September run

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The 12.33K run

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

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

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

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

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

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

Book review: My Work Is Not Yet Done

Thomas Ligotti’s My Work Is Not Yet Done is a book that was recommended by several readers on Quarter to Three and I’m always willing to try a new author, so I gave it a go recently. The experience was a bit confusing, not because of Ligotti’s prose, but rather the borked formatting of the Kobo ebook version I was reading, which presented incorrect jumps to the wrong chapter or section. Fortunately the table of contents worked properly and I was able to complete the book without going totally mad.

The heart of the book is a short novel in which the protagonist faces off against seven other ‘swine’ in an office where he correctly figures himself the lowest of the low. He ultimately plots revenge against his co-workers via copious amounts of gunfire but when he suddenly finds himself with supernatural powers he plots out more (extremely) grisly and imaginative ends to the people who demean and mock him. The story is told in the first person and the time spent in Frank Dominio’s mind is at turns fascinating and amusing but ultimately without reward. None of the primary characters in the story are remotely likable.

Ligotti does a good job keeping a consistent and clear tone with the narrative. You may not like Dominio but you will understand him and the frustrations he feels, even as you remain unconvinced that he is not just, as he fears he will be remembered, a kook. More broadly, My Work Is Not Yet Done serves as a philosophical statement on the corporate realm, its inhabitants constantly referred to as swine, its goals and purpose consistently derided. The frank exchanges between the characters in their numerous meetings are simultaneously amusing and depressing.

I enjoyed the craft of the story more than the actual story itself. I’ve not read Ligotti before and have heard this collection may not be fully representative of his work. He is a fine writer but My Work Is Not Yet Done is unrelentingly bleak. The sarcastic, droll observations of Dominio lighten the tone but only slightly. Still, I can’t deny Ligotti’s imagination and skill, so I may seek out some of his other work.

Just not right away.

The 12K run

Distance: 12.04 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 841
Average pace: 5:11/km
Total distance to date: 1017 km

This was the first time I’d done back to back runs in, well, so long that I don’t recall the last time I did it. Sometime during the Jurassic era, I think. I was curious to see how I would feel and happily the consecutive run days did not have any negative effects that I can detect.

With my energy level improving I opted to shake things up a little at Burnaby Lake by running the loop in reverse. Overall it didn’t feel much different though it may be slightly easier in reverse as the ground tends to slop more downhill this way. I took one minor wrong turn but it only extended the run by a very small amount. I almost made a wrong turn down the path to the Nature House and while it sounds terribly quaint it is also very much the wrong way to go. I made a quick u-turn and felt a bit like one of those tankers having to turn in a narrow strait. This was more due to my speed and limited space than girth, however. I barely missed stepping into the ditch. That also would have been the wrong way to go.

I was at the 5 km mark before I started to feel anything at all in my legs and the achiness was fairly minor tonight. I pressed on and did my first 12K run, finishing with an average pace of 5:11 (5:08 for 10K). I’m pretty pleased with the result.

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

km Aug 31 Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4 Aug 1 Jul 27
1 km 4:51 4:51 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51 4:51 4:56
2 km 4:53 4:55 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54 4:52 4:54
3 km 4:57 4:58 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59 4:56 4:55
4 km 4:58 5:01 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04 4:58 4:56
5 km 4:59 5:05 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07 5:00 5:00
6 km 5:01 5:08 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09 5:01 5:02
7 km 5:03 5:10 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11 5:04 5:04
8 km 5:05 5:12 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13 5:06 5:06
9 km 5:06 5:14 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14 5:07 5:07
10 km 5:08 5:16 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15 5:09 5:09
11 km 5:10 5:18 5:12 5:14 — 5:17 5:16 5:10 5:10
12 km 5:11 — — — — — — — —

A wee run

I opted to do a sort of remedial 5K run today, basically to see how the legs/body would feel without putting as much stress on them as a full 10/11K run would.

For a change of pace and because it’s conveniently close, I ran along the Brunette River trail as seen in this BlurryTech™ iPod nano video still:

The run gently slopes uphill on the way in but it’s so gentle it hardly counts. It’s otherwise flat and mostly shaded by the trees. The sun was just coming out as I ran and in the exposed parts of the trail where the sun hit it was hot as all get-out. Other than that, it was comfortable enough.

The first km was fairly brisk — 4:47/km — but after that my times fell off a cliff. At the 2 km mark I felt like I was plodding along. Mostly just tired and still feeling the effects of the cold. I finished with a pace of 5:01 which, if extrapolated over a full 10K would probably have ended up as a decent 5:11 or 5:12.

The legs seem to be holding up after the run, which is the main thing I was looking for, so I rate this one a qualified success.

Times:

km time
1 km 4:47
2 km 4:52
3 km 4:57
4 km 5:00
5 km 5:01

How to not be eaten by a grue, as revealed by me 26 years ago

I’d like to say I grew up on text adventure games, even though that would identify me as olde, but in reality the genre was already well-developed when I was in my teens. Still, I fondly recall getting nearly all of the Infocom games for my Commodore 64, during the period between 1984 and 1988. By 1989 the market had shifted, Infocom was making games with actual graphics and the text adventure pretty much died. It would be many years before freely-available interpreters and languages for writing text adventures would lead to a minor renaissance of the genre.

You can find information about a lot of the resultant games and more at The Interactive Fiction Archive.

Information on Infocom games can be found at Infocom – The Master Storytellers (and, of course, Wikipedia).

A text adventure was simple to learn–type your actions at a command prompt, read the results, repeat until you have solved all the puzzles in the game–but often the biggest puzzle was figuring out which words or commands the game could understand and the proper way to present them.

Back in that mid-80s era when computer graphics were less sophisticated (ie, crude, terrible) I spent many hours working through Infocom’s games. This was also my first bit of co-op gaming as I usually had a friend assisting me. Two brains will theoretically solve puzzles more capably than one. Until both brains get completely stuck, that is. That’s when you mail order the Invisiclues hint book and wait weeks to finally get an answer. It was the gaming equivalent of walking to school uphill in the snow both ways. And we liked it!

One of the key requirements of playing an Infocom game was making a map. Sure, you could try memorizing the game world and with some simpler titles it might even work, but making a map was essential for nearly all Infocom games. I’m fairly certain that utter madness was the only reward for successfully mapping out all of Zork I and its mazes.

I took to making most of my maps in a sketchbook and recently scanned in some of the more detailed maps. By the end I think I was playing the games more to make the maps than to play the actual games. Going back and looking through the maps also made me realize there are more than a few of these games that I left unfinished. Now they taunt me and I consider re-playing them using programs like Gargoyle or Windows Frotz to help make the experience more pleasurable than those halcyon days of yore with my Commodore 64 displaying 40 whole characters of text on a single line. 40! And I always knew I had successfully solved a puzzle because the 1541 disk drive would start grinding away madly to fetch a new chunk of game. Today I can use Trizbort to automate the mapping process entirely but I know if I do go back I’ll have that sketchbook at hand and start doodling again because it was part of the magic.

And a game without magic is just a game.

Here are the maps I’ve scanned so far.

First up is Zork I. The maze in this game (twisty passages, all alike) requires you to drop items in order to successfully map it out. Following all of these lines still gives me a headache. I never finished the game but I did finish the maze!

Next is Infidel, featuring ASCII hieroglyphics and even a start and end date for the game playthrough. How nerdy.

I have two Enchanter maps, the first image being from the start of the game and the second being the next area. I like the turtle.

And the follow-up area:

Finally the maps for Spellbreaker even includes 3D shading. Fancy!

1000.27 km!

Distance: 11.66 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 815
Average pace: 5:18/km
Total distance to date: 1000.27 km

I didn’t run for a full week due to a persistent energy-sapping cold. I approached tonight’s run knowing that I was not going to be anywhere close to fast. I only wanted to reach Nike level Blue — 1,000 km logged. I needed to run about 11.39 km to do it.

I set out and was immediately struck by how very humid it was. Not good, since humid conditions tend to sap my energy and my reserves were already low. Despite a decent first km my time fell off in big chunks over the middle part of the run, due to both conditions and light cramping. The latter half was steadier as the cramps eased and I established a workable pace. I finished with a sluggish time of 5:18/km. It’s funny how a year ago that would have been a record-setting time and now it’s a disappointment.

By the end my shins, especially the left one, were tender enough to give me pause. But I did achieve two milestones as I evaluate whether I’ll be in shape for the next scheduled run:

1) I did my longest run to date at 11.66 km. My next goal, logically, is 12 km. That would only require a minor extension of my usual run, so it shouldn’t be difficult.
2) I reached the Nike level Blue, which means I’ve now tracked 1,000 km on my Nike+ sensor. Not bad for a lazy slob who didn’t run at all for over 20 years! The next Nike level is Purple at 2,500 km. It will be…awhile before I reach that.

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

km Aug 26 Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4 Aug 1 Jul 27 Jul 20
1 km 4:51 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51 4:51 4:56 4:53
2 km 4:55 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54 4:52 4:54 4:56
3 km 4:58 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59 4:56 4:55 4:55
4 km 5:01 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04 4:58 4:56 5:00
5 km 5:05 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07 5:00 5:00 5:01
6 km 5:08 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09 5:01 5:02 5:02
7 km 5:10 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11 5:04 5:04 5:03
8 km 5:12 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13 5:06 5:06 5:05
9 km 5:14 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14 5:07 5:07 5:06
10 km 5:16 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15 5:09 5:09 5:06
11 km 5:18 5:12 5:14 — 5:17 5:16 5:10 5:10 —

The longest run

Distance: 11.61 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 811
Average pace: 5:12/km
Total distance to date: 988 km

It was warm and a bit on the muggy side as I set out tonight. While I experienced no cramps or weird tendon issues, the heat and pace left me tired and dried out. You know it’s going to be a dry run when you start smacking your lips less than 1 km in.

My shins felt a bit tender after and I am now seriously considering strengthening exercises on my off-days, especially as I’m focusing more on distance and form for the next while rather than just improving my speed. To that end I ran my longest run to date tonight, coming in at 11.61 km. It was also my first run to come in at over an hour at 1:00:26 to be precise. Despite theextra distance and not running with the aim of setting a PR I finished with a decent pace of 5:12/km (5:11/km for 10K).

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

km Aug 19 Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4 Aug 1 Jul 27 Jul 20 Jul 17
1 km 4:50 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51 4:51 4:56 4:53 4:56
2 km 4:54 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54 4:52 4:54 4:56 4:54
3 km 4:57 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59 4:56 4:55 4:55 4:58
4 km 5:00 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04 4:58 4:56 5:00 4:58
5 km 5:01 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07 5:00 5:00 5:01 5:00
6 km 5:03 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09 5:01 5:02 5:02 5:02
7 km 5:05 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11 5:04 5:04 5:03 5:04
8 km 5:07 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13 5:06 5:06 5:05 5:06
9 km 5:09 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14 5:07 5:07 5:06 5:08
10 km 5:11 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15 5:09 5:09 5:06 5:09
11 km 5:12 5:14 — 5:17 5:16 5:10 5:10 — 5:10

The could-have-been-worse run

Distance: 11.41 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 798
Average pace: 5:14/km
Total distance to date: 977 km

With my shins feeling a bit tender after the last run I planned on a deliberately slower pace tonight. What I didn’t plan was a pulled tendon partway through that guaranteed a slower run and almost an early finish. I finished with an average of 5:14/km, which is perfectly acceptable given the conditions and as a bonus I did my longest run ever by taking on all three extra loops along the north side of the lake, coming in at 11.41 km. Joan even correctly congratulated me! The shins and in particular the right one, did start to hurt a bit partway through and you can see how my pace slowed down a notch or two when this happened but I persisted and as my legs armed up the soreness diminished. Stamina was never an issue. Somewhere between the 6K and 10K mark a tendon in the back of my left knee got pulled. There were a few times where it hurt noticeably as it stretched out again and I seriously considered stopping the run at the 10K point or even sooner. I risked giving it a bit to sort itself out, reckoning that it wasn’t a serious pull and happily it settled down and I finished without a precipitous drop in my pace. I’m going to focus less on speed and more on distance over the next few runs. Since I’m only 23 km from reaching 1,000 km (blue on the Nike+ site) I’ll need to cover at least 12K to do it in the next two — a reasonable goal, I think. It may also be time to start working on some leg exercises to give my calves extra strength.

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise; purple= Burnaby Lake):

km Aug 15 Aug 11 Aug 8 Aug 4 Aug 1 Jul 27 Jul 20 Jul 17 Jul 14
1 km 4:55 4:54 5:04 4:51 4:51 4:56 4:53 4:56 4:45
2 km 4:57 4:55 5:05 4:54 4:52 4:54 4:56 4:54 4:47
3 km 4:58 4:58 5:07 4:59 4:56 4:55 4:55 4:58 4:56
4 km 5:02 5:00 5:09 5:04 4:58 4:56 5:00 4:58 4:54
5 km 5:05 5:02 5:11 5:07 5:00 5:00 5:01 5:00 4:54
6 km 5:06 5:03 5:12 5:09 5:01 5:02 5:02 5:02 4:59
7 km 5:08 5:04 5:14 5:11 5:04 5:04 5:03 5:04 5:00
8 km 5:09 5:06 5:16 5:13 5:06 5:06 5:05 5:06 5:02
9 km 5:11 5:08 5:16 5:14 5:07 5:07 5:06 5:08 5:04
10 km 5:13 5:08 5:17 5:15 5:09 5:09 5:06 5:09 5:06
11 km 5:14 — 5:17 5:16 5:10 5:10 — 5:10 5:01