I read the short story “Throttle” by Joe Hill and Stephen King. It was originally part of a tribute to Richard Matheson called He is Legend (which I’ll likely get to soon) but was recently made available as a standalone ebook. It’s inspired by Matheson’s classic “Duel” (best known as the 1971 Spielberg TV movie) but this variation of the theme, in which a group of bikers led by a father and son are chased by an anonymous trucker through the desert felt a little flat. Unlike the original story, the motivation of the unseen trucker is eventually revealed. Not only is it a huge coincidence but it also makes the story feel a little pat. The father/son conflict among the bikers seemed more to provide a B plot when the truck wasn’t bearing down on them than anything else. It’s not a bad story but it doesn’t really capture the tension of the original. But hey, 99 cents!
A.D. After Disclosure by Richard M. Dolan and Bryce Zabel is one of those speculative books I loved as a kid and still enjoy as a world-weary and skeptical adult. The premise of the book is simple: What if there are intelligent non-humans on the planet right now and their presence is revealed to the world, whether through some undeniable event (a mass sighting of UFOs) or through disclosure (a presidential address in which all the conspiracy stuff of the Majestic 12/Roswell, etc. are all but confirmed)? Through nine chapters the authors explore how disclosure might be handled and what the effects on the world would be. Most scenarios are fairly grim, with long-term social disorder, riots and turmoil as people panic at the thought of an undoubtedly superior species being here alongside us. The book also explores in detail the purpose and motives of the ‘gatekeepers’ who they believe already have confirmation of the ‘others’ as the authors call them and go into detail (and conspiracies!) over how the mass media, working alongside and sometimes taking direction from the government, has stuck to a narrative of ridicule and scorn, to insure the public never takes these ‘little green men’ seriously.
At least we have UFO Hunters on G4.
While the authors clearly believe that the government or some shadowy part of it is concealing the presence of aliens/intelligent non-humans they admit to being uncertain as to who exactly these aliens are and offer speculation that covers everything from time travel to sentient machines. They also believe there is more than one species here and each group may have different purposes or motivations. Some may be here to help, some to harm. Why are they being so secretive? The authors never provide a firm answer but suggest that the repeated sightings and encounters over the last 70 years may be part of a campaign to acclimate us to their presence before the big reveal. They also suggest that our own rapidly advancing technology (singularity by the mid-21st century, baby) may force the hand of the aliens and/or government.
The speculation put forward is interesting, if not revelatory, and fun to think about. The authors get Very Serious regarding secrecy and clearly mistrust government and the media, so if you’re inclined to be a distrustful sort this may resonate with you. I found it a mite overbearing at times but if you assume the authors are being honest, you can understand their conviction because they paint a picture of a government system that has been willfully misleading its people for many decades.
As a popcorn book, I had a decent time with it. Now I must go stare at the sky and ponder.
(This review was originally posted on Broken Forum.)
Average pace: 4:53/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 11.45 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 18-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 777
Total distance to date: 1940 km
It is fitting that today is Thanksgiving because I ran a bit like a turkey. And when I got home from the run (and Jeff from a day of dirt biking) we were both too tired to cook anything except a big frozen chicken lasagna. So technically we did have some bird, anyway.
Two days ago I was just coming out of 17 hours in bed after being struck Friday evening by one of those flu bugs that drops on you like a piano. I had chills (no thrills), no appetite, no energy and no desire to do anything but lay there, still and sweaty (despite the chills). By the end of Saturday I was feeling human again, yesterday I felt mostly normal so today I went on my run as I had planned.
I started out a bit slower than I have of late at 4:35/km then dropped an impressive 5% for the next km, something I’d repeat two more times during the run. By the 7 km mark I was coasting on fumes and save for a blip of energy in the latter half of the 10K stretch, muddled through to the end and a sluggish pace of 4:53/km, a full 20 seconds off last Tuesday’s run (which was admittedly a record-setter for me).
On the plus side, I did complete the run and I had a rare mid-run spike when another runner caught up from behind. She appeared to my left and a few paces back and this immediately kicked in my competitive side. I found a reserve of energy and slightly picked up the pace. She was not deterred. As we raced neck and neck along the Cottonwood Trail she eventually pulled beside me and said, “I like the pace you’re keeping!” We ran together to the bridge at Still Creek, where she cut left (the short way) and I went straight (the less short way). This gave her the official lead and I was out of gas. About a km later she turned a corner and was out of sight for good. I felt good for keeping up as long as I did and bad because I simply lacked the stamina today to keep keeping up.
Wednesday’s run should be both faster and slightly cooler. Our freakish summer weather is continuing but it looks to be closer to seasonal by mid-week with actual normal weather (cool, damp) possible by the end of the week.
Average pace: 4:33/km <– ties record for personal best (under 10K) Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 9.28 km
Weather: Clear
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 630
Total distance to date: 1928 km
This past week has been a bit of a bust for running.
I missed my usual Saturday run because I went to the island to visit the family. I had planned on doing a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule the following week. Tuesday (today) I ran as scheduled but come Thursday I was feeling tired and unmotivated and opted to ksip the run. I felt like I had been on the go all week with no time to relax.
Late Friday afternoon I was struck by a 24 hour flu bug that left me in a weak, kitten-like state and I ended up missing Saturday’s run as well (it is Sunday morning as I write this, though I’m, posting it on the day of the run, October 2).
I’m now planning to go back to a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule this week. We shall see how it goes.
As to today’s run, I didn’t quite plan the route as efficiently as possible so I came in a little under 10K. My ankles also felt a little sore around the 7K mark, what I believe is lingering issues from the uber-walk. On the plus side, I finished with a record-tying pace of 4:33/km, my best for under 10K and I believe I would have maintained that had I been able to push the small distance needed to get over 10K. I think I may have been running faster to stay warm. 😛
It was only about 12ºC for the run, the coolest since before summer. It actually took a few km before my hands warmed up. I also wore my long-sleeved t-shirt and didn’t feel that was a bad call (although a short one probably would have been fine, too). The sun had set before I finished the run and despite the clear sky the light faded fast.
My runs this week should be different, as for now it appears I will have the option of running in the day. I’m actually curious to see what Burnaby Lake park will look like after being away for a week or so. I predict many fallen leaves.
Speaking of the park, one thing I’ve neglected to mention is that back in August they put up temporary signs at key points on the trails that read thusly:
FIRE DANGER STAY ON TRAIL
No Smoking
It is interesting to note that a week into October those signs are still in place, there has been no precipitation this month, almost none last month (driest September in Vancouver in over 100 years) and just a few days ago — again, in October — the forest fire danger has been elevated from High to Extreme, the highest level in goes to.
I am expecting winter to be unusually unpleasant as payback for this very dry summer and early fall. It shall make for interesting runs.
Average pace: 4:37/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 10.83 km
Weather: Clear
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 734
Total distance to date: 1919 km
I forgot to post this run so details are a bit sketchy. Going from my notes on the Nike+ site, I headed out around 6 p.m. and by the end of the run it was getting dark enough to be downright spooky. Such is the way of fall. The weather continues to be unusually pleasant, though, so it remained clear. The difference now is that the sun is now low enough on the evening runs that I never actually see it. It’s also a bit cool starting out, so the warm-up is really a warm-up!
I was still a bit stiff from the uber-walk but it didn’t seem to affect my time much. I came in at a relatively peppy 4:37/km pace.
As it turned out, this was also my last run of the month as I visited the island on the weekend and missed my usual Saturday run. I still managed 13 runs for September, though two of them were only 5K. Still, the monthly total was a respectable 140.99 km.
Average pace: 4:36/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 10.58 km
Weather: Low cloud
Temp: 16ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 718
Total distance to date: 1908 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
It was a pleasant 16ºC as I set out tonight, starting my run at Lower Hume Park and heading off to Burnaby Lake from there. The bridge on the Brunette river trail is finished and feels very sturdy. It also smells pleasantly woody, much like the new boardwalk at the lake.
The nice thing about tonight’s run is my glasses did not fall apart and only two bugs plopped onto them. Other than those, I did not notice any others land on me, unlike the previous run where they were festooned all up and down my arms and everywhere else.
As it turns out, I got back right around the same time the sun was setting so there was still plenty of light. In fact, the sky began to clear toward the end so it paradoxically got brighter as I was wrapping up the run. The parts of the trail where the canopy is thickest definitely had a gloomy aspect to them, though.
My only misstep was in terms of calculating distance. Once I hit 5K I jogged an additional 500m or so, hoping to end the run just over 11K. I goofed and came up about 500m short so next time I use this route I’ll run to the 6K mark before turning around and heading back. Other than that the run went well, with a fast 4:36 pace, showing that the soreness from Sunday’s power walk didn’t slow me down. I also passed the 1900 km mark and if I stay on track will hit 2000 sometime in October.
Average pace: 4:38/km Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.36 km
Weather: Low cloud
Temp: 14-15ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 771
Total distance to date: 1897 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
Ah, the first day of fall. Temperatures were appropriately cooler and the sun was tucked away behind some low cloud. Conditions were actually quite nice for running.
And in terms of the actual running part, today’s run was fine. I expected to be a bit slower than Wednesday’s zippy pace and was but finished a respectable 4:38/km. I had a much slower start (off by seven seconds) as my body clearly preferred the idea of sleeping in on Saturday morning over getting up and jogging.
If you read the previous entry you may note I had complained about the proliferation of flies. Today was like that multiplied fivefold. I already complained about this at length on Broken Forum so I’ll just repeat it here in slightly modified form:
Have you ever wished for the extermination of an entire species? I haven’t — until now!
The last few runs at Burnaby Lake have been a bit buggy, with the occasional cloud of those itty-bitty black flies hovering in place across the trail in such a way that they are impossible to avoid. Except today the clouds were mega-clouds and instead of occasional they were omnipresent. At times I felt like I was jogging through a driving rain and the rain was flies. At one point I looked down to my right arm and more than a dozen flies had glued themselves to its sweaty surface. Every time I wiped at the sweat on my forehead my finger came back with the corpse of a fly stuck to it. I lost track of how many landed on my glasses, dancing around in front of my eyes in Blur-O-Vision. I ingested more than I’d like to have.
I audibly gagged. I thought of abandoning the run, finding the quickest escape route from the lake. But I pressed on.
Once I got out of the infested area and into the last few km where it was just pleasant woods and not some insect-flavored take on Hitchcock, I began to relax a little and focus back on the run. That’s when the left lens of my glasses popped out. The tiny screw holding the frame together simply decided it was not going to work anymore. The lens fell onto a section of trail that consists of mixed gravel and leaves, the perfect camouflage for concealing anything. I retraced my steps and to my surprise, I actually found the lens in less than thirty seconds. The screw remained lost so one can legitimately claim that I now have a screw loose.
I pocketed the errant (and undamaged) lens and continued for the last km of the run. I walked home sans music as the mood did not lend itself to such entertainment. I wanted to stew in silence.
I am quietly dreading the next run. My only hope is that the flies really hate late afternoon and early evening.
Sinnick over on Broken Forum found the perfect animated summation of my run, courtesy of the National Film Board of Canada. I present it below.
UPDATE: A kind fellow at Visions Optical at Lougheed Town Centre fixed my glasses for free. Nice! They have decent prices so I may look there for a new pair of glasses soon and pay it forward.
Average pace: 4:34/km<– personal record (for runs over 10K) Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.50 km
Weather: Sunny, warm
Temp: 17-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 780
Total distance to date: 1886 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
I had two goal for today’s run:
Start earlier to beat the heat (for real, this time).
Improve my sluggish pace of 4:44/km on Monday’s run.
Related to #2 was the fact that today is my birthday and I wanted to reverse the trend of getting slower over the past four runs to prove that turning one year older did not mean I was actually slowing down.
The good news is that I not only beat Monday’s pace, I came in at 4:34/km, my fastest 10K+ time to date, besting my previous best of 4:45 on September 9th.
I set records for:
fastest 1K: 4:19
fastest 5K: 22:15
fastest 10K: 45:23
fastest mile: 6:57
It was already warm when I started out but fortunately the earlier start meant it only got as high as 20ºC by the time I completed the run. My energy level remained fine throughout.
My only real issue again was bugs, specifically giant clouds of them that are impossible to avoid. I actually lost count of how many landed on my glasses or got stuck to my sweat-covered face. Bleah. Why can’t these things find a nice pile of poop to socialize on?
I also came close to crushing a dog under my foot. A woman was walking a tiny black ball of fur that on closer inspection turned out to be some kind of dog. As I jogged by the unleashed dog decided it wanted to playfully run alongside me. I didn’t see it until it was beside my right foot. If, at that point, a root had appeared in front of me, I would have automatically stepped to the right and smooshed the dog. Dear dog owners: the leash bylaw is not there because the city hates dogs or enjoys being mean to dog owners. It is there to protect everyone — including the dog itself!
Other than that, the run hummed along nicely, with a low, steady decline instead of a lot of hills and valleys.
I find it both cute and creepy that when I went to google.com tonight I was presented with this:
My birthday cake, presented by Google.
While the ‘Big Brother knows who you are’ aspect is mildly off-putting, it’s still nice to be given what appears to be 20,000 calories worth of virtual birthday cake.
Even if Google did jump the gun by being a day early.
Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.71 km
Weather: Sunny, warm
Temp: 20-25ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 794
Total distance to date: 1875 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
I got off to a later-than-intended start for my morning run and didn’t get started until 11 a.m. By then it was already 20ºC and climbing rapidly. Rather than risk getting blocked by construction equipment on the Brunette river trail, I opted to take the SkyTrain to Production Way and walk to Burnaby Lake from there (it’s 11 minutes from the station). I headed off counter-clockwise and the only hitch during the run was a close encounter with a trail-hogging Metro Vancouver mower. The driver kindly gestured for me to go around on the side without the whirring blades of death. I did so.
The first half of the run felt fairly close to my pace as of late, somewhere in the 4:35-39 range but the second half I began to really feel the growing heat and started to wilt like the delicate flower I am when it comes to running in warmer temperatures. By the end my pace was 4:44/km. That would have been a personal record in July. Now it’s decidedly average. Such is the way of progress. On a more positive note the soreness in my legs is all but gone now.
This was also the first run in awhile where I actually stopped and drank at the end. The well water near the Cariboo Dam is always cool and yummy after a run. Less yummy were the huge numbers of bugs once again. I had four hit and stick to my glasses and one refused to budge even after I blew hurricane force wind on it. That ain’t easy when you’re running, either! I’m pretty sure I swallowed a few, too and had a couple more glue to my face for good measure. I can definitely do without them.
The bear mentioned in the title is because the bear signs have reappeared along the trail, like so:
I did not and do not wish to see any bears while running. The bugs, birds, squirrels, snakes and occasional coyote are already enough.
Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.47 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 16-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 778
Total distance to date: 1863 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
Knowing that the bridge on the Brunette river trail would still be out, my plan today was to walk as far as the bridge, cut right, head over the train tracks and down another path that eventually loops back to Cariboo Road and the entrance to Burnaby Lake park. All told I estimated it would add about 15 minutes of walking each way.
With the forecast abruptly changed again, the temperature was rapidly climbing, from 14C when I got up to 16C as I began the run an hour later to 20C by the time I returned. Summer is really giving it for the last week. Still, the shady parts along the Brunette river were pleasantly cool. When I reached the bridge I suddenly changed my mind and instead of turning right, I turned left, following a short trail down to the river bank. There had to be a similar trail past the bridge that would lead me back up. Due to the lack of rain for some weeks the river is quite low so I had no problem walking along the bank while keeping dry. I got to where a large pipe was emptying water onto a concrete slab that funneled it down to the river. The flow was just narrow enough for me to hop over. On the other side was another trail, though it was steeper and took a little more mountain goat-like maneuvering to climb up.
This change of plan ended up shaving close to half an hour off my walk. Nice!
The run was clockwise and I set off on a strong pace but eased off and this time I meant it. I even thought to myself at least once how the run felt relaxed. Knowing my pace would be slower I was hoping to still break 4:40 and I did, coming in at 4:39/km. The soreness in my legs eased up considerably, too.
After doing a reverse of the bridge two-step to get around it I realized I really didn’t want to walk the nearly 2 km of the river trail back to East Columbia Street. Not because I was lazy or tired but simply because of the time it would take. I the, all unofficial-like, began running again and ran right to the end of the trail. This is the first time I’ve ever resumed a run like this. It felt zany and good. I may do it again.
