Happy (?) April Fools Day

April Fools Day, especially in the era of the Internet, seems to be split between clever and obviously fake ads, stories and such, along with other ‘pranks’ that are mean-spirited, insulting or deliberately meant to confuse and/or falsely raise expectations.

I’m glad it only comes once a year.

On the plus side, today was another sunny, mild day. The weather is expected to change tomorrow but I’ve taken advantage and walked or run over 40 km in the past three days. My feet may not be on speaking terms with me at the moment but I plan to bribe them with new comfy shoes next weekend.

A walk on the windy side

Yesterday I walked around Burnaby Lake in anticipation of actually running it again (hopefully sometime in March–once I resume jogging I’ll have to ramp up slowly before I can tackle the lake’s 11+ km circumference). There was a wind warning in effect that I was unaware of–until my cap whipped off as I strolled around the athletic field. These are the only conditions under which it’s okay to wear my cap in dork mode (backward) because that’s often the only way to keep it on my head.

The walk went quickly (two hours for 14.5 km) and apart from the wind it was decent, with mild temperatures and sun for about half the way. Most encouraging, though, was the first tentative appearance of buds on tree branches. I am calling this the first confirmation that spring is on the way. I approve.

That is all.

Ready for summer now

It’s mid February and today was cool and showery. This means it’s time for my annual ‘ready for summer’ post. And here it is.

I’m at least glad it’s no longer dark when I leave work. There’s something mildly depressing about wrapping up a shift to find it looks like midnight.

I conclude this post with a yearning-for-summer haiku:

Inviting summer
How I miss you and your warmth
Winter sucks corn dogs

Bad weather running: the list (updated)

If you have a look at this post from July 13th of last year you will see me list off my 14 least-favorite running conditions. I figure it’s time to update the list, so here we go. Changes are noted accordingly.

As before, the list is presented from least worst to just plain bad. The four options outside the top 10 aren’t really bad at all.

14. Overcast and light breeze. This is actually ideal conditions. It is usually never too cold or warm when the weather is like this.
13. Moderate wind. Moderate wind is fine. I have a cap that stays in place now.
12. Warm sun. Warm is no big thing. I’m talking about 20ºC or thereabouts.
11. Light rain. The only issue with light rain is that sometimes my iPod gets wet straight through my shorts’ pocket. If rain looks likely I put it in a plastic baggie.
10. Snow. I’ve only run once in light snow and it was fun. I’m thinking a foot of snow would probably be less so.
9. Cold rain. Cold rain means cold hands and if you wear gloves they need to be waterproof. Cold rain is never fun.
8. Hard rain. Getting soaked to the skin is kind of refreshing. Unfortunately if it’s raining hard, it’s almost always cold, too. Not so refreshing.
7. Extreme cold. I’ve run in sub-freezing conditions and been fine. I’m thinking Arctic tundra-type cold here.
6. Heavy wind. The resistance means you work a lot harder to achieve the same result and my cap has to be on tight enough to cut off circulation so it doesn’t fly away.
5. Hot sun. My body feels like a furnace and I’m left parched as all get-out. Dry mouth and lips are yucky. I’ve improved my stamina to where it has to be close to 30ºC to really affect me, though.
4. Hard rain and heavy wind. Likeliest weather to make me wonder to myself, ‘What was I thinking?’ when on the run.
3. Hot sun and heavy wind. Heat dries you out, the wind makes it harder to run and dries you out even more. Bleah. This combination is, however, very rare.
2. Hail. Getting pelted by little ice rocks is unpleasant! I’ve been caught in hail twice now and did not like it either time. Hail has moved from #7 to #2 on the list as a result.

And the worst weather to run in is:

1. Dogs. See here. I’ve had a dog knock me down while running. The weather has never done this.

I wore shorts today!

Yes, I wore shorts today. Outside, even. I was worrying they would start to moulder in the chest drawer.

Update on the Nike sync issue: Doing a Google search for the Nike sync issue gave me a link to my own blog post complaining about the issue. How circular! Today the iPod successfully synced to the Nike+ website. Yay. But Wednesday’s run still didn’t show up anyway. Boo. My second Twitter message ever has been sent to Nike Support (yes, tech support over Twitter) and I am awaiting a reply but it appears the solution will likely be for me to provide the basics of the run after which they will manually update it for me, hopefully with all of the data intact (splits, etc.) The new Nike+ site is definitely much improved over the old one but it seems they are still having the same old problems with the back end of it. Bleah.

But still, I wore shorts today!

Today is a SAD day

Today is the Winter Solstice, the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year, which is not to say it’s less than 24 hours long or is increasingly diminutive in nature, merely that the number of daylight hours is a mere eight or so, with the remaining 16 cast in darkness, near darkness or dammit-I-stubbed-my-toe-going-to-the-bathroom-at-midnight  darkness.

For me it is not so much a SAD day as the weather has been surprisingly decent. So far the goat entrails predicting a colder, drier winter are proving correct, much to my delight. You’d think after growing up in a region where rain is as common as air or crooked politicians that I’d be used to it now, perhaps even find it oddly reassuring. You would be wrong. Plus Jeff gave me a toque that I look all sexy-like in and if it rains I have to switch to something more waterproof and definitely less sexy-looking. Rain interferes with my good looks, see?

I’ll report back in a few months on whether La Nina holds up and keeps us dry or if, as is usually the case, the last week of December heralds months of rain, more rain and in case you missed it, here comes the rain again.

Bad running weather: the list

Here is a list of the worst types of weather to run in, according to me (since I’m the one who has to run in it), from least worst to worst worst:

14. Overcast and light breeze. This is actually ideal conditions. It is usually never too cold or warm when the weather is like this.
13. Moderate wind. Moderate wind can be a tad annoying, especially if I don’t have my cap on securely.
12. Warm sun. If it’s warm, I get hot and sweaty but it’s manageable.
11. Light rain. The only issue with light rain is that sometimes my iPod gets wet straight through my shorts’ pocket.
10. Snow. I’ve only run once in light snow and it was fun. I’m thinking a foot of snow would probably be less so.
9. Cold rain. Cold rain means cold hands and if you wear gloves they need to be waterproof.
8. Hard rain. Getting soaked to the skin is kind of refreshing. Unfortunately if it’s raining hard, it’s almost always cold, too. Not so refreshing. iPod also gets drenched.
7. Hail. I’ve never run in hail. I imagine getting pelted with little ice rocks is less than pleasant.
6. Extreme cold. I’ve run in sub-freezing conditions and been fine. I’m thinking Arctic tundra-type cold here.
5. Heavy wind. The resistance means you work a lot harder to achieve the same result and my cap has to be on tight enough to cut off circulation so it doesn’t fly away.
4. Hot sun. I wilt on hot days. My body feels like a furnace and I’m left parched as all get-out. Dry mouth and lips are yucky.
3. Hard rain and heavy wind. Likeliest weather to make me wonder to myself, ‘What was I thinking?’ when on the run.
2. Hot sun and heavy wind. Heat dries you out, the wind makes it harder to run and dries you out even more. Bleah.

And the worst weather to run in is:

1. Dogs. See here.

Complaining about the weather is always good fun

This CBC news story outlines what most people in BC already know — April and May have sucked, weather-wise.

So far in April and May, the mean high daily temperature has been 9.2 C, which is 3.5 C below normal, while total rainfall of 183.1 millimetres is 120 per cent above normal, [CBC meteorologist] Martin said.

While writing this I heard a sudden clatter outside — hail! Again. I go out and take a picture:

The weird streaks in this image of a tree out back are not photographic artifacts. They are weather. At this time of the year one should not be hearing the weather, one should be feeling it as the warmth gently caresses your skin, rather than assaulting it like God’s BB gun.

I’m sure June will be better, assuming the ice caps don’t melt in the meantime and just flip the switch right over to GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE RIGHT NOW and the joke about Canadians living in igloos becomes a sudden reality.

Hooray for Spring!

Today marks the spring equinox.

Boo to winter, I say. I have had my fill of snow and bleak, rainy, short days. Today it got to double digits. Woo to spring! The sun even came out.

And naturally half the population was wearing shorts and t-shirts, thinking that sun = summer. People are weird. Or impervious to cool temperatures.