Today’s conditions were pretty dismal for early May — the temperature merely in the single digits at 9ºC and a steady rain falling. Fortunately there was little wind, so it didn’t feel cold.
Week 3 of the C25K program involves two reps of 90 seconds jogging/walking and 3 minutes jogging/walking. It went by fairly quickly and on the 3 minute segments it felt a bit closer to a regular run, completing an entire lap before ramping down to a brisk walk.
Apart from a dog walker or two, the only others taking in the park were two sets of other runners, one a trio of guys being led by a guy with a cap and a whistle (‘I’ll stand here and tell you if you’re running too hard, because watching you run makes me tired’ and a pair of women who seemed to be doing some kind of mixed run/exercise thing. Despite the proliferation of joggers on the muddy course, there were no collisions.
Jeff was keyed up enough that he kept jogging after the jogging part had ended but I told him to stick to the program and he grudgingly agreed. It will be interesting to see if his enthusiasm keeps up as the jogging stretches from 3 minute segments to 5 and 8 then to 20 minutes over the next two weeks.
Which is to say that we will now only have an election once every four years, if Harper sticks to the election law (that he already ignored once).
With a frankly pathetic 61.4% of registered voters turning out and the Conservatives slightly budging their percentage of the vote up to 40%, the Conservatives won a majority, picking up the seats they needed when the Liberal vote collapsed in Ontario, with every Liberal defeat turning into a Conservative victory. With only about a 2% boost in the popular vote, the Conservatives picked up 19 seats. Such is the way of our first-past-the-post system.
The whole campaign was odd in how it started out with people predicting nothing much would change, though there was some thought given that the Conservatives might get a majority. As it turned out, a lot changed:
the Conservatives got a majority, passing the 155 seat threshold to get (with current projections) 167 seats
the NDP, thanks to a huge surge in Quebec, got a record number of seats (102) and for the first time ever will form the Official Opposition
the Bloc Quebecois collapsed, going from 49 seats to 4
Elizabeth May’s strategy to focus on getting elected vs. having a national campaign was successful, getting the Greens their first MP, even if their share of the popular vote dropped by half
the Liberals, going in with 77 seats, got reduced to a mere 33 and less than 20% of the popular vote — their worst showing ever
Ignatieff and Duceppe both lost their seats, with the latter immediately announcing he would step down. Ignatieff will probably quit or be given the boot shortly.
Mostly, though, I’m glad the ads are over.
UPDATE: As of the morning after, Ignatieff has announced his resignation as leader.
2008 and 2011 results side by side (charts courtesy of CBC):
It was about 12ºC today, which felt downright balmy after the ice-hands run on Wednesday, with the sun out and a light breeze blowing.
While the trail had dried out and the puddles were gone, someone had driven the mower along it, leaving deep ruts along the southern stretch. These ruts are deep enough to actually be a tripping hazard. I mostly ran around them, though the muck is still pliable enough that it’s easy to smoosh down the parts that stick up. I am still hoping that they add fresh bark mulch to the path, several stretches are in dire need of it after the relentless rains of the past winter.
The run itself went well. Unlike Wednesday I found myself with sufficient energy and Jeff maintained his pace for the first four of the six 90-second running segments before slowing. I inadvertently got way ahead of him in the second half when I glanced behind me, saw what I thought was him and kept going, not realizing it was another jogger and that the segment had, in fac,t stopped. Oh well.
Today’s run ramped up to 90 second running segments and conditions were pretty lousy for late April. It was raining, which in itself is not too unusual, but it was also unseasonably cool — only 6ºC. We donned our jogging jackets and set off for the muddy mire of China Creek Park.
I actually found myself not exactly struggling but definitely feeling the short distances more than I should have. I chalk it up to my energy level still being lower than normal after recovering from the flu bug yesterday. Jeff managed to keep up a decent pace and for some parts was able to keep ahead of me. My competitive side rose up just enough for me to not let him get ahead for long. He still beats me on the walking segments, though. He cheats by having longer legs.
And at long last I finally took a picture of the COYOTE ALERT sign (click image to enlarge). I cheated because the photo was taken with my phone when I was not actually running. Since mentioning the sign about two years ago the Parks Board has since added a no-smoking sign below it. On our run we did encounter one smoker — an older man with a large belly who stood out of the rain under the shelter of a pine tree just on the park’s edge. He knows how many cigarettes that $250 fine would buy (six or seven, I think)!
Bad dog
As you can see, years of weather or possibly coyote sabotage have left the alert sign largely unreadable. Since the photo has been sized down a bit, I can confirm that the instructions regarding coyote interaction include:
Shout in a deep and loud voice
Throw objects at the coyote
Do not maintain eye contact
Something else unintelligible but hopefully not critical to know, like ‘spraying a coyote with water will enlarge it to 5x normal size’
There’s also a short bit on how they moved into Vancouver in the late 1980s, no doubt as part of the big post-Expo boom. They’re probably living in condos on False Creek now.
I did actually see a coyote once, in an alley somewhere around West 10th Avenue, not too far from City Hall, now that I think about it. Maybe they came to lobby as official mascots for the city, trying to displace whatever it is we have now (an orca? black squirrel? Inukshuk?)
Anyhoo, back to running. Week 2 wraps up on Friday. Here’s hoping for the return of spring!
It may be a coincidence that services like Netflix and the other video on demand providers are becoming more popular when a night out at the movies no longer considered a cheap evening out. Or maybe it’s because the theater chains aren’t even trying anymore.
Witness this shot taken at Oakridge Centre a few days back. You can see which movies are playing. Good. You also get the ratings. Er, handy if you have young kids and are wondering if Saw 8 is appropriate for a five year old, I suppose. But where are the times?
Look at all that white space on the sign, it is mesmerizing in its starkness, like gazing upon the fields of permafrost at the Arctic circle. At one time this white space was filled with the times they were showing the movies. Now they don’t bother because I guess they figure you’ll just look up the times on your ‘Aren’t you fancy?’ smartphone. Or maybe they figure you’ll actually schlep to the theater box office and check the times there and if they don’t line up for you, you’ll just shrug and walk away, happily thinking about how you were glad to get that little bit of extra exercise walking over to the box office for what turned out to be no reason!
Anyway, lazy theater owners. Bad Empire, bad. Not evil, which would actually sound much cooler, but still…bad.
The two most striking things about the federal election so far are:
1) The strange surge in popular support for the NDP, especially in Quebec (see this poll as one example; note: for your own personal safety/sanity do not read the user comments)
2) The uniformly awful ads, which seem to be almost exclusively negative and regardless of affiliation, insulting to the intelligence
And speaking of ads (segue ahoy!) here’s an example of what I can only consider to be someone unclear on the concept. In general, I dislike businesses putting political ads in their windows. I don’t want nor need to know your politics if I’m just buying a loaf of bread or a pack of gum or whatever — even if we agree politically. But along Kingsway I have noticed a number of stores and restaurants with political ads slapped up for all to see. My favorite is featured in the window of Wing Shing, which is a fun name to say out loud, if nothing else:
On the left is a poster for the local Conservative candidate. To the right is a photo of the local Liberal candidate. The two parties aren’t exactly clones of each other in terms of platform so this seems a bit odd. Maybe both candidates shop there. Money is money, after all. I’d say the shopkeeper was trying to be inclusive but there are seven candidates running and I’m not seeing any posters for the NDP, Green, Libertarian, Communist or Marxist-Leninist party candidates (talk about splitting your [in some cases ultra] left wing vote). Maybe the Conservative and Liberal candidates have nice hair and the shopkeeper votes based on the niceness of hair. That may explain Don Davies’ absence. While he has done a fine job as the MP for Vancouver-Kingsway, his hair does weird me out a little.
This one is a quick update because I didn’t run. Woo!
I didn’t run because yesterday I came down with some kind of 24 hour flu bug that left me alternating between feeling like a furnace and an ice cube. Good times.
Jeff did run — his first in the rain and first along the river trail out near his place in New Westminster. He reports the jacket was needed as it was rather chilly and running on the gravel path was harder on his knees than the mulch used at China Creek.
I shall be partaking in Part 5 (of 27) on Wednesday.
Today, with the weather forecast promising showers, we opted against Jeff’s planned trip to Dog Mountain, as it would take us up into the snow and snow with rain is one of the suckiest weather combos around. Instead, we headed over to the Coquitlam River Trail for a little under 3-hour hike. Unlike Baden-Powell, the river trail features little elevation gain and is relatively flat, so it was not as strenuous a workout, though I did pick up the pace a fair bit on our return.
With an overcast sky but mild temperatures, we set out sans jackets, with the plan to walk the trail to the point where one must ford the river. As it’s a bit deep this time of year and neither of us were carrying any portable watercraft, we would then reverse direction and head back the way we had come.
This was a nice, even relaxing hike. The trail at times moves far enough away from the river and any obvious signs of civilization to create the illusion that you are out there all on your own. We actually never encountered anyone going in, only on the way back. The most distinctive part of the hike–apart from several large and ripe patches of skunk cabbage growing in pond water–were the numerous points where parts of the river crosses the trail. One especially big one (check the photo gallery for more) probably discourages the casual types from proceeding farther, especially at this time of year when non-waterproof footwear means cold and soggy feet. I was happy to just make it across without falling in.
The red arrow on the sign is a bit confusing, as it points away from the trail but if you cast your eyes to the left there are no immediate private property signs that I could see, either, so I dunno. Mystery red arrow!
There are several fish traps near the start of the trail with big ol’ warning signs. This is part of a conservation effort, as the signs explained. I just like the incongruity of something as innocuous as ‘Fish Study in Progress’ being prefaced with DANGER.
We had some light snacks at the point where the river intersects the trail then stopped for lunch at Crystal Falls, where a mother/daughter biking duo and another group with a small dog were also taking pictures/resting. Jeff posed for a pic up close and personal with the waterfall and picked out his steps so carefully I could practically hear the calculations for each footstep in my mind.
As we got back to the truck the first few drops of rain began to fall, but the showers held off until we had packed everything up and headed out. All in all, a nice little excursion. The only downside was me apparently incubating a nasty flu bug the entire hike, which struck a couple of hours later. Weird how that sneaks up on you like some clever sneaky thing.
Conditions were once again very mild for the run/walk today, with a weaker breeze and occasional sun. T-shirts and shorts were fine for the 10ºC or so.
The run was unremarkable. I jogged a bit ahead a few times on the 60 second running segments (which ramp up to 90 seconds next week), as the pace felt almost too slow for my comfort zone. Weird, I know.
This completes Week 1 of 9 for the Couch to 5K program. Jeff is progressing well, already moving from the initial “Oh god my lungs are on fire!” phase to “This feels pretty good.” We’ll see how things go on Monday!
The second workout went well, with Jeff looking snazzy in his new running shoes and running faster through a combination of new shoes, music and endorphins. I also picked up the pace a bit on the running segments, falling more into my normal pace. No stupid injuries to report yet.
And today marked the first baseball practice taking place, as the clink of metal bat on ball was oft-heard while we jogged around the path. I have already begun watching the batters after the several close calls of the last two baseball seasons.
Weather-wise it was mostly overcast and a bit breezy but mild, otherwise. The fountain is working again and as usual has been stuffed so it isn’t draining properly. I may fix that if no one else does. Finally, I’m hoping the Parks Board puts some new mulch on the path as the past winter has been especially brutal on it, stripping it right down to the clay in some spots and exposing numerous tree roots (tripping hazards for joggers and walkers alike). We shall see.
While digging through my man purse for no apparent reason a few days ago, I found myself pulling out the digital camera I thought had been stolen. While it is possible that I managed to avoid seeing it in there even though I turned the pack inside out several times over multiple days, I’m slightly more inclined that bringing the pack to work as usual without the camera convinced someone with a guilty conscience to return it.
In either case, I am glad to have it back. Ironically, I had planned on having a replacement in time for my next hike so I could take some snazzy photos and then with my camera back in my possession I ended up taking no photos at all. But I could have!
In which I join my partner as he goes from the couch to…5K.
Today was the first of the planned 27 outings and all went well at my old familiar haunt of China Creek Park. There were no bees in the fountain, no dogs getting under my feet and tripping me, no meteors suddenly crashing down from the sky. It was, in fact, sunny and mild (around 10ºC), if a bit breezy. We both lost something during the run. At the very start Jeff’s iPhone spontaneously detached itself and went tumbling to the ground. Fortunately he has it inside a plastic case designed to withstand the impact of a nuclear bomb, so it came out unscathed. The aforementioned wind whisked the cap off my head, forcing me to retreat to pick it up. Luckily it didn’t turn into one of those tragicomic episodes where the cap keeps getting rolled along the ground by the wind until it eventually ends up in traffic and smooshed by a series of 18 wheelers passing over it.
No official times/distances to report yet. This week’s workouts consist of alternating 90 seconds of jogging with 60 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Here’s hoping I manage to avoid yet another injury while getting back up to speed.
