The Dream Circuits

I awoke this morning to find that a super-rink appeared overnight in front of the building, extending down a couple of blocks. I first guessed that it was a water main break, but seeing the sheer volume, and the evidence of pressure for such coverage and the characteristics of the ice, I'm now figuring that perhaps a fire hydrant line burst open instead. No water restriction notices or advisories have been issued as of yet, so I'm reckoning (and hoping) the main line wasn't actually affected. The large of piles of remaining snow in front of the building from last Saturday's gong show were saturated and now frozen hard. The sidewalks around the front and sides are now slicked up with a sheet of ice that is about eight centimeters thick. I suppose the "blessing" of having the huge dump of snow earlier on Saturday was that it managed to block/dam the water, and the deeper ruts on the street helped to channel the water away from flowing into the lower parkade. The drainage below there wouldn't have been able to handle this type of inundation. If it froze down there in the sub -30 temperatures from last night, there could have been a fresh new hell to deal with.
 
This new glacier around the building adds a greater burden to spirits that are already bogged down enough by this bleak and miserable winter that has long outstayed its welcome. The extra shoveling at work and home, and even just the tension from bracing oneself while cautiously traversing the deep snow and now the ice, has stricken me with some new pains and soreness. This has all dissuaded me from trying out a morning run out there like my original plan was. However, in my mind I was still set and geared for it. Rather than confront this new obstacle and wallowing in disappointment, I turned toward some fantasy thoughts in my richer inner life. I was considering all the international marathon races that I would like to try out. Here is the list of options I made as the ones that I would like to participate in; if not for this year, then maybe I'd be in shape and better able to partake in any one of these (if any are annual) in 2016.

Race: Rock n' Roll Raleigh Marathon - Raleigh, NC, USA
Date: April 12th, 2015
Distance: Half Marathon
Reason/Attraction/Significance: It's simply because anything pitched with Rock n' Roll in the title has to be fun. I would guess the weather in Raleigh in April would be close to the same as what it would be here at the end of May when the Saskatchewan Marathon is, thus endurable. It would be a low-key event I'm sure, and not so competitive. It would be a nice beginner marathon for the year. It would be also great to have the chance see a family member living there. While there, I think I'd like to check out the Pirate Museum which I believe is also there. It would be my international half-marathon that would be closest to home.


Race: The Midnight Sun Run - Iceland
Date: June 23rd, 2015
Distance: Half-Marathon
Reason/Attraction/Significance: Iceland is the closest non-continental nation to home* and it wouldn't be right not to explore it a little more. I believe the registration is closed for this one already; it would be one to consider for 2016. The physical challenge and interest in this one would be to see how well my circadian rhythm and the constitution of my running self would be able to handle a 24 hour period of daylight at that latitude. There is no place in Canada where I would want to be that far north given the lack of some conveniences. Iceland would be more civilized to say the least. There would be a certain sense of satisfaction in proving myself as a tough old bugger if I could compete and keep up with people who are for the most part the direct decedents of Vikings. 
 
Race: The Wellington Marathon - New Zealand
Date: July 5th, 2015
Distance: 10 km
Reason/Attraction/Significance: It would be technically my first "winter" race (it will be in that hemisphere at that time of the year) if I were to do this one. Being that it would be the furthest location from home, jetlag would be the major impedance to performance, so a 10 km race would be long enough. Having an Anglophone culture there is convenient, and as it's a lesser opted for tourist destination, it makes it attractive in being perhaps reasonably unspoiled.

Race: The Stockholm Half Marathon - Sweden
Date: September 12th, 2015
Distance: Half Marathon
Reason/Attraction/Significance: As I said before, Sweden would be the first nation I would probably move to if I couldn't live in Canada anymore. I would consider this a perfect birthday present to myself. However, it would also be the most expensive place to travel to. Running through the beautiful city of Stockholm would probably actually be the cheapest way to tour it. What would I do after this race? Probably have a genuine Swedish massage.

Race: The BMW Berlin Marathon - Germany
Date: September 27th, 2015
Distance: Half Marathon
Reason/Attraction/Significance: If I were still in Europe after Stockholm, I would hope that this would be enough time to recover for this next go around. I would hope that the course there would be such that one could see Berlin on both sides of where the former wall would have been, and see how much change there would have been since then. The perfect post-run treat would be heading out to a good old traditional beer hall.

Race: Tamarindo Beach Marathon - Costa Rica
Date: September 12th, 2015
Distance: 10 km
Reason/Attraction/Significance: Should Stockholm not be an option, a cheaper destination may be here. Being that it's tropical, I would most likely dial it back to only 10 kilometers. The attraction of it is that I have contacts there already who could give me insights on things that are off the beaten path and yet safe to tour.

Race: The Dublin Marathon - Ireland
Date: October 26th, 2015
Distance: Half Marathon
Reason/Attraction/Significance: This is probably the most feasible one to register and attend out of all these I've posted so far. If I have the medical all clear in May, the amount of training time I  would need will coincide perfectly for this one. If I live through it, an intimate tour of the Guinness brewery would be my number one priority to clear off the bucket list.

*- Actually, I just realized that the closest nation to Canada after the US is not Iceland. Technically, it's France, or rather French possessions. The islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon are just off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, and are principalities of the Republic of France. They are within our territorial waters, so then maybe that makes the US actually the second closest national neighbour. Then there is Greenland to consider, which is a possession of Denmark, and is only 50 km or so from Ellesmere Island, and they are actually attached by ice to each other for part of the year. Svalbard Island, belonging to Norway, is close too if you readjust your perspective. I suppose to be more accurate, Iceland is perhaps the second closest landmass that is a fully autonomous self-governing nation neighbouring Canada after the US, but then again, our distance from mainland Russia across the Arctic Ocean is probably a lot closer than we think. Things always get weird when contemplating the geographies of the Polar regions, because we generally hold the Mercator projection in our heads when we think of the world map, which greatly distorts landmass size and distance. Given that, I can easily forgive myself if I'm wrong this time. I imagine that I already opened a can of worms of debate for any of the readers who take this kind of shit seriously. I would consider it a job well done if my question ends up starting a couple of bar fights out there somewhere. Maybe Google Earth will help straighten things out later.

Pre/Post Birthday, Welcoming Fall

The best summer day I think I experienced this year was on this last Thursday evening. It's futile for me to struggle to find the right words for it: I can't describe perfection. The beach for the most part was great, the way the light hit the water on the lake as I was paddling around it made it both serene and surreal. The yellowing leaves along the shores reflected a golden aura around everything as the sun began setting. It was just a perfect way to close out another year of living, as it was the eve of my birthday.

The details of how I spent my birthday are too personal to share. I had quality time for solitude, and better moments with the company I did have. I was just happy to have the kind of time needed to do some navel-gazing that couldn't be impeded by any interference that remotely resembled work. Sitting still and giving myself time to think and reflect was about all I was capable of doing for a long while after the morning of that day. I tried to make some glorious (foolish) attempt that morning to break my all-time distance record for running; but the gaps between hydration stops were too large, and I was beginning to get some cramping and sciatic seize-ups. It forced me to limit myself to doing just a bit over a half-marathon distance. However, I did achieve my secondary goal of crossing all six bridges in this town. I'll need about another day from now to recover soundly after all that before I hit the trails again.

An Irish folk music band at the
Farmers' Market. Worth the
extra effort to shop locally.

The one thing I will comment about of what I gathered during my moments of sitting still and brooding on my birthday is just how much my tastes for some things have changed over time. Now, if I want an adventure, I seek something cultural or culinary rather than trekking on some weird expedition. I look at the value of objects with a more practical and larger-view attitude than with what their supposed monetary value is. Some pictures I took as I ambled around the Farmers' Market and Broadway Street Fair yesterday illustrate this point better.

My thinking today. . .a total
White Elephant.

For example, years ago, I may have been impressed and amazed to actually find a Lotus convertible, like this one shown here that I found yesterday, on the streets of this town. Now, my manner of thinking automatically comes to, "Someone has way too much money to waste on exposing and maintaining this lovely machine in the environs of this wretched climate." My attitude now is such that if you really want a sense of freedom and power, don't get a luxury sports car, or a palatial home, or anything else signifying ridiculous excess. Why get an over-powered car when you can only drive as fast as the idiot in front of you in traffic? A bigger home only compels you to waste time and energy filling it up with shit* you really don't need. I really can't be troubled with keeping up with the Joneses. Opulence and affluence doesn't really impress me anymore, I'm not sure if it ever really did. My idea of what real wealth is has changed radically, especially upon the realization of how the actual 'value' of money is established. I learned much while dabbling around the FOREX markets. It's completely arbitrary, and stupidly assigned and regulated through the means by which ultimately there is a shortage or deprivation of something for someone else, and is maintained by a system that keeps others in debt and impoverished. The drive for the super/hyper-accumulation of monetary wealth ultimately signifies one's willingness to take part in creating suffering of someone else and depletion of resources. The greed of an affluent few makes slaves and prisoners of too many.

Braised Beef Tendons from the
Mandarin Restaurant, my lunch after
my tour of the Farmer's Market.
Years ago, I wouldn't have been
so daring. This cured my aching knees.

The "wealth" I'm most impressed with and interested in now is that by which knowledge and resourcefulness is focused to use that which is deemed unusable, and puts it into a whole new light: quite literally in one case. For this instance, I was amazed by a Facebook post of a Chinese artist who took discarded drinking boxes, and created them into functional and aesthetically pleasing geodesic designs for lampshades. I've been totally enthralled, after reading articles, about the ingenuity of those eccentrics who can build homemade robots out of stripped down laser jet printers, and a crafty application of open source Arduino boards and Raspberry Pi circuits. These, plus those who can grow and produce actual foodstuffs, are the people I'll be seeking out when a global financial meltdown, energy crisis, or some other kind of apocalyptic collapse comes; not the buggers with the shiniest toys.
Gastronomically, I'm becoming more fascinated by chefs who are using entrails and offal and turning them into gourmet cuisine. I think I freaked my brother out a little bit when he phoned me to offer me a birthday greeting. Because he is a meat inspector, I presented the question to him as to where I could find a clean source of hog's blood for making my own homemade sausages**
I'm seeing innovation in what is simple and traditional (for others), and seeing the value of salvaging, and viewing those who squander and waste stuff with a lot more disdain. What I seek more of are truly Zen moments, like I had at the lake last Thursday. That's how I'm changing as I get older.

Along with this fall's harvest of fine fresh, and unconventional food, I welcome the prospect of discovering more unconventional, yet stunning, innovative ideas. I heard a rumour that there is a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) expo coming to town sometime this month. I hope I'll get a chance to check some of it out.


* - I love that observation made by George Carlin: something akin to . . . "Have you ever noticed that as you accumulate things that your shit is "stuff", and other people's stuff is "shit'?

** - Blutwurst, boudin noir, black puddings, kishka, morcilla . . .whatever foreign or euphemistic name you give "blood sausage", it's damn delicious, and lately I've been having weird cravings for it. I first sampled it in an Argentinian parilla joint in Valencia. I can't find a source of it around here, so I'm relegated to try making my own.

Vacation Day X: Brooding, Brewing, & Planning for a Better Escape Next Summer

I quit counting the days off that I've used since this past Tuesday. There has been nothing eventful since then, except for sobering issues that I had to address on Wednesday evening, all of which were work related. Other less than favourable circumstances have me restricted to being a homebody. So, I settled with converting the kitchen into a laboratory, to start brewing some beer, and then I continued to monkey around with other wildly experimental ways of cooking and food prep that just run shy of me using liquid nitrogen and explosives.

The brewing project is going well so far. The yeast culture is alive, activated, and doing what it loves to do best: making alcohol. I love hearing the initial rhythmic released bursts of CO₂  escaping from the fermenter's airlock, as it matches the same cadence and frequency of a person's heartbeat at rest . . . a tell-tale sign that this life form is being well-nurtured and content. Yeah sure, I suppose that sounds a little flaky . . . but I'd rather share this little blurb with an embellishment of romanticism than describing it all with the more accurate scientific explanation of what is really going on through this process: the synchronous expulsion of gas that is an expended metabolic by-product of digestion from micro-organisms. In other words . . . a pulsating release of the collected billions of tiny yeast farts.

I had to force myself to settle down, and let my ankles and knees recover from the shock of using my toe shoes (Hobbit boots) for running again. These things are a delight to run in, but they play havoc to the leg muscles when doing any extended period of walking in them. I became so seduced by how wonderfully I was performing with them on my run that I overshot my training range by a hell of a long way, and I'm paying for it now.

My review of last entry led me to search through travel sites for getting ideas for cheap packages for next summer. I figured that I'd extend my running to hitting a race or two out of province, or even out of country. I'd be doing neither races further south of here, nor any around the great lakes region in summer*: I don't handle heat and humidity very well as it is now. I figured that I could do a marathon in Quebec, or the Maritimes, or someplace in Northern Europe which would be suit me better: maybe somewhere between the latitudes of Reykjavik and Zurich. I have more research, and whittling down of options, to do.

*- Maybe in mid or late autumn.   

The River Run Classic 2013: 10 km Results

The Night Before: I made Spaghetti alla Vongole for supper, fell asleep around midnight. It was fitful. I was awoken not by ambient noise, but by the stench of a smelly old skunk waddling somewhere around the neighbourhood close to my place. The stink remained in the air a long time after I shut the windows.

Wake up/Breakfast on Day of Race: Alarm set at 6:00, hit snooze once. Breakfast was a plain white bagel, with almond butter, and a banana.

Ten kilometer race start time: 7:30 AM, arrived 20 minutes early. Biked there, and grateful for the valet station for cycles.

Weather Conditions: It was only 7 degrees when I arrived there before the start, and it deceived me in thinking that I was hydrated enough. The temperature rose rapidly after 7:00 AM.

Start Position: I was probably somewhere between the 40th and 50th person to cross the starting line.

The Goal: To try to beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race from earlier this year. It would be great if I could put my time under one hour.

Most Challenging Part of the Race: Getting a strained knee after the sixth kilometer, it became tough to just charge up the inclined stretches of roadway beneath the University and Broadway bridges coming back to the timing gate. I would have done better had it not been for that stupid knee.

Things I'm Most Pleased About:  I met my goals, 3 minutes and 49 seconds under an hour, and beat my time from the Saskatchewan Marathon 10 km race by 11 minutes and 44 seconds. Although it didn't feel like it during the last three kilometers, the numbers show that I'm improving. At least I wasn't last in my age/sex division.

Final Results: 



 

• Time:  56:11
• Rank: 83rd out of 166 racers, just within the upper 50 % 
• Average Pace: 5'38"/km
• Average Heart Rate: no reading taken
• Place in my Age/Sex Division:  9/10   

My reward(s): Finally taking a road trip out of town, and finally getting to test my car's performance on the highway. Getting to reunite with an old friend. Seeing how happy Ella became when visiting her Grandma and Grandpa. An afternoon nap, and having a beer with my Dad.
 

Saskatchewan Marathon: 10 K Race Results

I initially registered for the Half Marathon, but then decided to downgrade to the 10 km race given the bits of adversity I had to contend with in the past couple months.

 

SRRA Pasta Supper

The Day Before:  Attended the Marathon Expo at Prairieland Park. Ran some drills and a light 30 minute run with MJ. Napped. Went to the SRRA Pasta Supper at 5:00 and listened to talks from two Canadian Olympic Marathon runners. Soaked in Epson salts, and watched TV for the remainder of the evening. Ate more carbs in the form of bread and popcorn. Went to bed at 11:00. Very fitful sleep. Maybe the material from the documentary I was watching was giving me nightmares.

Wake up/Breakfast on Day of Race: Alarm set at 6:30 but was awake by 6:00. Breakfast was a banana, and orange chopped up in Greek yogurt with a scoop of Kaizen Protein powder, and one cup of decaf coffee. About 480 calories.

Ten kilometer race start time: 8:00 AM, arrived 20 minutes early. Thankful that I was walking distance to the event. Traffic access and parking was hell for those who drove there.

Weather Conditions: I thought they were perfect: only 11 degrees Celsius, cloudy and cool, no wind. There was a sprinkle of rain the previous evening that tamed down some of the dust. The humidity was ideal for my best conditions for breathing well.

Start Position: I chose the 1 hour  to 1:15 goal part of the pack.

Most Challenging Part(s) of the Race: The nagging fact in my head that I'm eight to twelve pounds over my ideal body weight. The only thing notable that was a challenge was dehydration after 7.5 km, but I did OK with managing it.

Things I’m most pleased about with my performance: I initially gave myself a goal pace of 7' 00" to 7' 30" /km to work around; I exceeded that. I didn't stop, nor did I walk at anytime throughout the course. This race was the best running performance I had since the year began. Neither the injured foot, nor twisted ribs, nor erratic heart rate, nor respiratory bugs, nor the recent food poisoning, managed to conquer me. My resilience prevailed, and after this, I feel even more driven to take on my full regimen of training for the Half Marathon of the River Run in July.

Final Results:

• Time:  1:07:55, last year I was  55:49
• Rank: 753rd (out of 1306 racers).
• Average Pace: 6'48"/km (honestly, better than I expected after doing so little training).
• Average Heart Rate: 168 BPM
• Place in Sex Division: 269th (out of 393 men racing).
• Place in Age Division:  54th (out of the 71 male runners in this race who were between 40-49 years old)

Post Race: Soaked in the tub, started blogging a bit of this, and pursued my rewards.

What I’ve Learned: The great exercise in patience in trying to heal.  Even the best have upsets when trying to reach goals, as in the case of last night's Olympian speakers.

My reward(s): Planning on checking out a Sunday matinee (Star Trek: Into Darkness) with a leisurely walk to the downtown ( to keep from stiffening up), dining on some spicy protein, grabbing a beer at Hudson's. Given that extra distance in walking to there and back in addition to what I ran, I can say that I did actually then do a half-marathon distance today.

Thankful for: A relatively flatter course compared to last year; exceeding my expectations, the ideal weather, the close starting point,

 

Immobile Again, Spectating The Police Marathon

I've been rendered immobile and useless again, with more physical injury and pain. I won't go into any more specifics: the instances of irony are so complicated, and just too ridiculous to relate, and if I did write the whole story out this entire entry would just turn into a great big whine-fest. I'm forced to sit still again for another stretch of recovery time, back on pain medication, and now including muscle relaxants for this time around (so I feel especially feeble). I'm going absolutely crazy with having all this time off, without being able to do anything useful, or be fit enough in body or the senses to do anything else productive or enjoyable.


I wish this picture showed it better, but the river ice in the
background is still at least 30 cm at it's thickest.

I'm tired of analyzing and cramming my head full of details of vehicle consumer reports, engine specs, and car adverts. It's all pointless since I'm now too groggy to do any objective test driving. I switched over to reading science journals and technology magazines for a bit of change: stuff that normally interests and impresses me, but it's just not sticking in my head right now, and I'm only giving myself eye strain. I'm alright and better in the mornings, and today I've had enough lucidity to check out the Saskatoon Police Marathon 2013. It's a shame that I am this way, or else I would have registered. However, given the weather conditions today, I'm glad I didn't. It was minus four Celsius, but with the wind chill and the humidity blowing off from the river, it felt more like -18; I was very underdressed for it. It has been the coldest beginning of the third week of April that I ever experienced in my life. Ella was with me, and she was almost putting crawl marks into the sidewalk, as she tried to drag me back to the car after fifteen minutes of being around the unsheltered part of the landing along the north bank. Despite her small size, given my current state, it was really painful to restrain her. She would make a good midget sled-dog: if she could tolerate cold better.



My friend, Marilyn, was a real trooper to endure
the five km stretch of this race.

I went to be inspired, so as to not lose hope for myself. If things don't get any worse, and if I just learn to have enough patience to sit still long enough to heal right, and endure a few chiropractic and massage treatments, I hope to be back training again by this coming Wednesday.

I don't know what I'm going to be supplementing my time with to prevent me from snapping into to doing something rash to quell my boredom. On these meds, my brain feels the same way now as it does after being tossed around after a night shift, so I feel especially vulnerable to being stupid and allowing myself to be a victim of my own poor choices. Shopping for cars should thus be definitely out of the question.




The Boston Synchronicity, Baby Turns Seven

I think I'm about 90% healed; still walking with a slight limp. After a couple extra days of healing time, I'll have an indoor trial around the track to see how much my foot can handle the rigours of a casual jog, and then amp it up to a harder run if it's tolerable; all within half an hour to start. The adage of "No pain, no gain!", doesn't apply for proper training in running. The adage of "Once there's pain, settle your ass down", does apply if one ever hopes to temper oneself enough to last through at least 10 kilometres: what I consider as the marginal point between the end of being a casual runner, and the beginning of being a long distance runner.

It's kind of strange to introduce the subject of long distance running in light of what happened yesterday at the Boston Marathon. Strange, in regards to the way in which the convergence of things happened that I was involved with yesterday, just before I found out what happened there. I had the day off, and given that I finally felt free of being under the influence of pain medication, I decided to at least catch up on my correspondence, as I relaxed to watch a movie for the afternoon. The movie I selected was The Hurt Locker, a movie about everything bomb related, from diffusion, to their degree of destruction, to the stress imposed on those dealing with them. At the same time, I was messing around online, dealing with changing some details with my registration at the Saskatchewan Marathon. Then, just as I was closing that matter up, I received the newsflash on the CBC app on my phone about the explosions at the Boston Marathon. This experience of noticing these three normally independent things in the news and media related to marathons and/or bombings, all at the same time, was just too much of an eerie coincidence for me to ignore. I'm not superstitious, nor do I believe in the supernatural, but that realization at that moment made my hair stand on end. I hope the event series of cause and effect of the result of extra policing and reprisals doesn't become too much more dramatic or tragic than that.


She finally found the first patch of grass large and dry enough
 to roll on today. The best way to start a new year of life.

It just dawned on me that my dog turns seven years old today. Time sure does fly. Given that I'm more mobile, we'll celebrate it with a trip to the dog park, finding new chew bone for her, a few head and belly rubs, and a couple beers for me, now that I don't have to worry about more goofy side effects. It will be at least a day of contentment, and being thankful and happy that we at least live in a place where people aren't so crazily driven with the intent to harm others with indiscriminant mass destruction.