Yep, April 22nd, and forest fire season is here….there’s fires already all over western Canada…this is going to be a horrible summer…..

Managed a pretty okay 6K this morning….not too fast, but felt good to get out and get it done….felt better done then at the start…but a good way to begin a Monday..

When I woke up I wasn’t even sure if i’d even get out…..a rough night’s sleep, and didn’t feel like I had a run in me…but it was on the schedule.

It was a route I’ve done before, a million times maybe…..and I like the starting spot. And if I drive there, I’m definitley going to run.

There’s flat parts, a good climb, and it was a beautiful sunny day…

A run always feels good…….and the best run is a run, the worst run is the one you didn’t do right?

Legs felt really tired, for some reason it doesn’t feel like I’m recovering between runs, maybe….

Such a great day out, I had to get the bike out for a quick spin….the good old mountain bike….just a short 30 minute spin through the ‘hood, but felt so good…windy, but good….there’s a lot of sand and gravel on the roads, but on the mtn bike was safe….not ready for the skinny tire tri bike yet….but felt so good to get out for that spin.

The hot dry weather has me concerned, along with everone else…some smaller communities have evactuation orders on them..in April….it was +17C today, again in April….

Last year was bad..lots of ash and smoke covering most of North America….managed to run and bike throughout, but right now too, a water shortage……..

Better strike up the air conditioners..

Oh yeah…did an on-line clinic thing tonight that was a bit of a challenge……tonight attempted Facebook live instead of Zoom, was an adventure………..for some reason couldn’t get the live part to connect for some reason, Facebook Live doesn’t seem to work on my laptop, so ended up using the Iphone…..

it finally worked………..

Every day was an active day…..loved that. Run, walk, strength, something every day…making it a habit, a great habit…

I dread the day I’m told I have to do this…..I’d probably just stop///

Monday, a great start….a 6.67K run….that was amazing, followed with a little core work, and foam rolling…

Tuesday I hit the gym for some strength training, with a walk afters…

Wednesday, Run Club…6.09K

Thursday…back to the gym, and another walk

and today, after much debate,…headed off for one of my fave routes for another 5.72K…

and I feel GREAT!…despite the nose blowing and the wheezing…..what I noticed today was that my heart rate was a higher than normal…is it the hay fever/allergies…or the antihistamines….but a little concerning

got home, I’m drinking wine after putting together dinner..chicken, rice, with a ton of veggies….it’s amazing how good some red pepper flakes makes everything taste….and yeah, red wine!

and now music

This actually made me smile and cry….singer John Mann the band Spirit of the West….I first crossed paths with the band when I moved to Vancouver, they were my soundtrack, a huge part of it…..when Mann passed away after a grueling battle with early onset Alzheimers in 2019, I felt a shadow cross my heart….I know that line from a song somewhere….but yeah…some people it’s the Beatles or the Stones…but this band spoke my language…a happy sad..

Tomorrow Saturday…a rest day?…home for a rest….time to catch up on the yard work, and keep track of our bird feeder…this morning, sparrows, sharing the space with the neighborhood squirrel and suprise surprise a blue jay…I tried to get a pix, but even though I set my camera up on a tripod, they were all camera shy!

I’ve actually become a regular walker….yes, I still question along the way every time I walk….why not run?

I still run, I’m still running, I’ve commited to every 2nd day, every other day, Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays….strength and cross training on Tuesdays, and Thursdays…..I include cross training on other days as I can and feel okay with….and Saturdays…..a rest and recovery day…or, a long bike day…

Walking whenever is just for recovery……just relaxing, getting fresh air, moving….and yes, keeping that metabolic rate a little elevated.

Strength training has been going well..and has become something to look forward to..

This morning, after my car was serviced, I pretty much raced to the gym….did my usual workout…with a few variations…..sometimes it depends on what’s free and available, or if a change will feel and work just as well…

Weird thing…my allergies have gotten worse, I started my day today with two Aerius antihistamine pills, which I guess is one more then the recommended dosage…..

This may be why towards the end of my two hour workout I was starting to feel a little odd, light headed, a bit of a headrush……I had to take a few breaks and let my head clear….must have been a combination of exercise and the medication..but at the end, I felt really good…..right.

After lunch, time for a walk……it was a little, refreshing…….about +4C…..it felt warm actually at the start, walking with the wind at my back….crossed paths with a neighbour/friend out walking her two puppies, and a few other people….just about 5K, and yeah, when I turned around for the walk home, that breeze was brisk……

Does that walk make me a stronger runner? It can’t hurt, it’s still endurance based, so a benefit, but the benefit to the head I think is just as important…..relaxing.

It’s interesting how many people in this ‘hood have dogs, walking their dogs….some look a little put out having to do so, some, well, it’s a lifestyle I guess…but you have a dog, you have no choice but to walk..

Sort of like a forced fitness plan?

It’s been a pretty good week….so far. The goal is to make this all a lifestyle, a habit….at one time of my life, it was…..now to get that back.

One week is a beginning…..one step at the time…..

I’m struggling with something….walking helps me think about what is right, what is wrong and how to deal with thing that I don’t know if is okay or not……I’m still struggling with that……so, I’ll have to walk some more

A day that started out okay normal, ended up pretty great…….

I’ve got to stop doubting life……today was kind of just a chill day for most of it..just another Wednesday around the house, binge watching, and chill..

I think I’m over-thinking my allergies, or paying too much to them….tonight, there was no guarantee I was going to show up for Run Club….but, well, it’s my Run Club, so I have to show up….

I even showed up for the run without my handy dandy actual camera and hydration……I just didn’t feel all alright…..

It was interesting going into my old running room store….it was stupid busy, I almost jumped in and started working, like as I was still working there…and helped out…I did a bit, because, well too many people know and trust me I guess….I’m almost interested in going back….but, nah, I like the freedom of being retired….my time, is my time only…but I do still like being there…

The run was great….we had a great crew, and few new members, and a few that we hadn’t seen forever..

We broke up into four different pace groups…a few went further, our crew went a fun 6K…..and it felt perfect, a perfect night…..not fast but steady…yeah, I spent a lot of time blowing snot rockets, but felt really good..and as with every run, it felt right and good…..the only run that never does, is the one you do not do, right?

It’s been a great week so far..I’m on a roll! And still not minding being 65…..

Who knew..? maybe this is a new me? Have I finally found my mojo?…..

The trick today – after a night of no sleep – was to wake up and head into the gym before I had a chance to think…Just go and work out…

The drive was interesting….I’m finally starting to get clued in and understand that I’m retired and have all the time in the world.

So when I’m just driving to the gym, there’s no reason to speed, to weave in and out of traffic, to race to the gym……it’ll still be there whenever I get there…..I can take my time, not..so this morning, I made a point of that….had a coffee in the car, listened to the radio…and yeah, turned into the parking lot, it was pretty full, and thought the club was going to be packed, but managed to find room in the very first stall, close to the doors…

The reason so busy, and a full parking lot, there are classes, spin, yoga…….me, I just want the gym…there a few people in their, but the nice thing about that place, there’s a lot of equipment, machines and weights, that if what you want is busy – say the lat pulldown machine – well, leg presses or squats it is….

I am not a huge fan of the change room……it’s never busy enough to be uncomfortable, but no a lot of room….most of the lockers are rented, and this morning, I for some reason forgot my lock!

But all good…..today was leg press, lat pulldowns, leg curls, db bench, leg extensions, lat pullovers, incline bench, db curls, side lats, calf raises, upright rows,hyperextensons, and to kills some time that chest fly machine thing……took me about an hour, and felt so good.

A weird collection of others, a nice mix of ages, male vs female….I wasn’t the oldest in the room, and not everyone is superfit….yes their some, but I know why I’m there…not to become Arnold Schwarzenegger, but to be a stronger runner and a few steps away from injuries…..

A post smoothie and I was gone….groceries – that was an interesting story, a shortage of produce, in a grocery store, a major grocery store..I guess a delivery was late, but well, I got what I needed for a veggie and steak stirfry tonight…….

After sitting around the house for a bit…..it was time to get out and walk-about…

Something I’ve been doing for a few week….whenever I catch myself mindlessly watch the tube, go for a walk…nothing far, today just about 40 minutes, some fresh – cool – air….a little exercise, lift that metabolic rate a bit…..and yeah, even though chiily, and windy….it always feels so good…

It’s still taking me a bit to stop asking myself why I’m not running, but running was yesterday. Today’s the legs feel a little sore, some built up lactic acid (and yeah, if my legs were sore, why did I do legs this morning?)…….

Why I like where I live, lots of paved, a few unpaved trails, away from the city roads and streets, no wildlife today, lots of birds (Canada Geese!) I know there are coyotes around, but didn’t see any this afternoon…but whenever I do, they’re pretty cool….they seem more afraid of me..and just yell, or even just tell them to get out of the way, they usually do…

it’s actually kind of a beautiful area…..

Tomorrow….the goal is an easy relaxed day until the 6PM run club…..but gotta go for three in a row..

The toughest thing about today, not running.

I’ve commited to running every other day, and I want to commit to sticking to that…..like today, to get that cross training in, and the rest and recovery days….and things should be fine.

And oh yeah, I’ve commited to doing a 10K race/run Sunday with really not the amount of training I should have..but, it’s 10K, I’m going to stay back of the pack, use it as a training run…..I like and know the route so it should be good…..it just means I have to wake up really early Sunday…but, no matter what, I need 10K Sunday, so I either get a bib or do it on my own…..so why not?..I need the t-shirt

I think this is the first time I’ve been able to watch the broadcast…..usually too early, or a challenge figuring which station was carrying it…so I’ve usually watched the live feed on YouTube after…

This morning, two friends were running, they did great, Karen, who I train with a lot and is usuall super quick was 4:12…her first half was amazing, under 2 hours at the halfway point, but maybe went out too quick for her first Boston….and Claudette, 3:35….she’s a vet, and at one time she’d go to races as an elite, not now, but still amazing……I can dream…I started running at the same time as Claudette, she eventually just started kicking my ass….another amazing friend….it’s nice having fast friends…

This is going to sound weird, odd maybe, but I don’t really page a lot of attention to the male runners, even this morning….yes, it was interesting to see Sisay Lemma win, but the race to that finish line, Hellen Obiri, and Sharon Lokedi was amazing, and to see Obiri sprint ahead in that last mile, unreal….and then her post race interviews…she’s an interesting and humble person

Yeah, those are two older pictures, but wow…….maybe because it’s always been a man’s world, the world of marathoning, but their race, the women’s race always just seems more exciting….

and to see American Des Linden, she finished back of the top 10, but she’s a legend, and someone who just seems like, normal?

Her story, and her book, Choosing to Run, she just did….and won 2018, possibly the worst weather for any marathon, but she won….not wearing the skimpy gear women are usually dictated to wear…..

The best thing about watching Boston? It got me off of my couch and out for a just over 6K run…a really good and fun run….

I seriously needed that, I hadn’t run for 10 days…I took a little time off?

Maybe it’s the time of year….I have spring allergies, or the 65 year old body needed a break, so I took a frustraiting break…..but that may be why today felt so good, the pass, a bit of a new route, a friend recently started looping the lake, so I figured why not?

Okay not this lake, this one..lots ducks, but also still lots of ice…the ducks didn’t look so happy…

It was a bit gloomy, but very warm….it was a shorts day, so warm I may have to shave the grey beard off…maybe

Dad’s dinner…the kids wanted hot dogs….so we had hot dogs, fried..and the kids are now quiet, so I guess it worked…

Back to the run….back hurt at the start, but as I went along and felt okay…and it seems my right calve was feeling a bit sore too…maybe time for new shoes…..Obiri was on Ons, Cloud Boom Echo 3s….they sell for just under $350 Canadian……do I need a $350 pair of shoes..not…..but, am thinking time for more cushioning….I guess high impact repetitive may need a little more of something…..

The lack of pods tells me this isn’t that shoe….would it make me faster? Nah, training, running and strength does that……but a guy can dream?

Today…listening to a lot of music. and yard work…..

I was going to just leave all the leaves and thatch for th bees and butterflies..but seriously some of it had to be done….the birds and the neighborhood squirrel seem to be fine with what I’ve done, and if I have their approval…that should be good enough right?

This makes be cry everytime I watch/listen to it………the reason for the vid…heartbreaking….

Music….playing, listening……pretty much is my life..

There’s a movie with John Cusack called High Fidelity, where the main character shelves his record collection not alphabetically, but based on when that music came into his life…..and it’s significance..I could do that easily…

Recently, I’ve been digging through the music of my teens…

What I listened to, and what I played when I was in high school…..good memories…

actually great.

I was an awful student…..but looking back, sorry Dicken, it was the worst of times, but the best of times…like anything, there’s so many stories, some horrible, some good, some adventurous, some worth remembering, some I’d like to forget…..some as a simple after school walk home with a friend, someone saying something I put together was really good…….some was me just trying to find me, to be me, some just me wondering what the heck I was……or why I was..who I was…..

Memories are important….history is important….pictures, old scrap books…….friends, family, they all make us what we are, but they also teach……what is and what was good and evil…..what’s right and what’s wrong..

This past week, my parents sold the home I grew up in …..move in when I was 3, celebrated my 4th birthday in that dining room…..

63 years later…..gone

There are so many stories in that yard, that house…..again great and awful…..

Funny…I save everything, and I thought my mom did too…but for some reason she threw out albums and boxes of family pictures….I was lukcy enough to have grabbed an old album with the pictures from the first 4 years of my life, but the rest all gone…..sad and, we don’t even have the negative…

Lucky for us, my dad saved his old home movies…..twenty 200 ft rolls….I’ve been busy converting/digitizing all…..the worst thing about doing that, a lot of friends, family friends, relatives, uncles, aunts, grandparents are in those rolls, and a lot of them have passed on, the majority of them…and yep, it’s good to see them…because, again, good memories…..and good memories make you feel good, positive even…

The yard work was good….just raking, sweeping, cleaning up…..and just spending time out in the sun.

Yeah the snow mold has me blowing snot out my nose constantly, but still, that felt good too.

It’s been 44 years today, since Terry Fox took his artifical leg, dipped into the Atlantic Ocean off of Newfoundland, and started a journey, the goal, simple, to raise $1 from every Canadian as he ran across the country from sea to shining sea.

He didn’t finish, he made it to Thunder Bay before cancer returned and took his life.

Still, he ran for 143 days, covered 5,373 km, before he passed away on September 1st 1980, but his legacy continues….the Terry Fox Foundation has raised many $1 bills since with the annual Terry Fox Run which takes place around the planet every September…..I’ve even heard that some on military navy ships continue that tradition.

He never made it across the country, but along with a lot of statues, memorials, schools, as well as mile 1 in Victoria BC

I was living in Jasper, Alberta, Canada while he ran…..I was 21, one year younger…it was unreal to follow his struggle…the prosthetic was designed for walking, one hadn’t been created for running yet at that time….his story, is struggles, and bravery, doing just what he thought was right, inspired from his time in hospital with kids, kids as he lost his leg, thinking something had to be done….and he did it.

The man in motion. Rick Hanson..another great brave Canadian….lost the use of his legs as a teenager, to raise awareness of the struggles on the handicapped, on March 21st, 1985, he set off on a journey that would take him thru 34 countires, 4 continents, 40,075 kilometers, returning on May 22nd 1987….in a wheel chair…..he proved the potential of the handicapped….his journey was inspired by his friend, Terry Fox

There are a lot of amazing Canadians, but Terry Fox, Rick Hansen….

In 1985 when Hansen began his journey, I was living the heaven known as Vancouver and I was 26. Three years younger.

Now, I’m 65, but those two lives continue to inspire……

Currently I’m rewatching All the Light we cannot See

Yet, inspiring, and so sad as well…

I’ve been wondering, is one of the reason this planet is in such a mess is because of time. It’s been so long since the end of WW2, since the horrors of that war….since bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, almost all those that fought, on all sides, have pretty much all passed away, and we have forgotten the horros of war…..seriously, the movie Oppenheimer was treated like fiction, battling the Barbie Movie for ticket sales…..the movie did it’s best, but a lot of those I’ve talked to about that movies impact…there wasn’t any.

There’s now a movie called Civil War…about what a civil war in the USA would be like

About the country of MAGA tearing itself apart…….I wonder if the forgotten horrors of war, of conflict, inspires people to even think of such things….where do white supremacists come from? Why on earth do people fly the Confederate Flag, even here in Canada? The hatred, the awful words coming from those on the far right, that American attack on their own White House? An insurrection? In the free United States of America?

It’s hard to believe that in a world that can give us Terry Fox, Rick Hansen, Ghandi, Martin Luther King….so many others, can give us the mess that this planet is?

I’ve come to the realization that this is more allergies than anything esle, so sweeping the dust and sand and crap out of my garage wasn’t the smartest thing to do…but I will live, I’ve been here before, every year…this year seems early, and more intense…but it’s so nice to get outside and get some sun, and watch the battle between the sparrows (I think they’re sparrows?) the crows, the magpies and the squirrel…. it’s like the best sitcom ever, without advertisements….and soooo funny….I’ll see if I can capture the action on my iPhone…

I swear those sparrows start chirping louder when it’s time to fill that bird feeder…..they really go at it..and again it’s fun t watch them peck away, knock a bunch of the seeds to the ground where they and the squirrel actually share..sometimes the squirrel chase the birds away, tearing down the fence like a formula car driver….but other days, he’s just a part of the bird gang…

They are a little camera shy, but I’ll how they feel about a KODAK moment….

I don’t know if this is about training…but when not, I find so many other things to do..yard work already, cleaning sweeping, moping…shooting hoops with my daughter, table tennis, we’re eyeing the badminton rackets…..recording yet another talk for a virtual virtual clinic..that’s not going so well yet, but I’ll keep plugging along every Monday….I’ve got to figure out why Facebook Live does?…. not working on the MacBook Air?…cannot get it to connect to the camera via the browser?

The sun’s out, the pollen is still flying, I’m holding off racking the grass….let those butterflies and bumble bees wake up first…there is so much to do, clear off the garden, paint the fence and garage, renovate the garage … have to make it less mouse friendly and make more room for bikes and cars…..and time to crank up that BBQ!

The one thing about this ailment, I have no craving for anything sweet and fattening….so I guess now on a diet…..a pistachios craving for some reason, but no chocolate..and no sugar in the tea or coffee….

I have got to run tomorrow no matter what…..I’ll just load up on antihistamines, practise blowing snot rockets and just go….slow and easy, nothing other than that….see how being active works.

Weird, just noticed an ear ache…where the heck did that come from?……maybe I’m just falling apart?

Why isn’t everyone or anyone else terrified?

Yes, I live in Western Canada.

So far the fruit farmers and those in British Columbia, where our groery stores get a lot their fuit and veggies from says not to expect any crops this year. A lack of water…..so apples, grapes for BC wine, peaches, and yeah our greens.

The news is that for I don’t know how many summers, by province, Alberta, will see yet another sever drought in the center of this province…we’ve had the same conditions every summer for I don’t remember for how long….that’s where our cattle industry is situated.

That’s pretty much is slowly destroying that industry, ranchers selling off their herds. We’re starting to see steaks imported here, with a sticker that says product of Mexico.

Cows need water, lots of it, as well as feed, and there’s not a lot of it.

Recently our other major industry, oil and natural gas, coal mining, is complaining that without fresh water they’ll shut down. So what H2O we have will probably be diverted to those industries, and we and the farmers and cattle ranchers will have to do without.

I know Eastern Canada has been having a lot of snow and rain, but just like us, last summer they saw forest fires everywhere.

Even now in this province, we’ve had fires, grass and forest fires burning over the winter, 55 of them…one is fairly dangerous..and already we’ve 2 new grass fires burning…at the start of April..where there should be snow still on the ground, melting, providing moisture for farmers so they’d be able to plant.

Canola, grains are huge and huge industry in this region….we need rain, moisture at the right time, dry for harvesting at the right time..we for some reason are now building houses, realestate on top of some of the best farmland in this country.

I know a lot of people think climate change is bunk..a lot of that has to do with not understanding how long climate change takes…decades, centuries….what we do now, sure a hardship now, but imagine this getting worse…imagine what that’ll mean for those on this planet in 50 or 100 years, even just 25 years?

2023 was the warmest this planet has been in recorded history. up until that, 2022 was, before that 2021, before that 2020, there is a pattern to this……what we have now is a result of decades of lots of carbon, CO2 heading into the atmosphere……from cars, from industry, and from, yes, cattle…recent interesting fact, there are now almost as many cattle on this planet in order to feed us as there are us…and as is our population growing….those cattle an awful lot of this planet, a lot of it is being clearcut for more…yes the Amazon, forests in China……just when do we realize that, that’s just wrong?

There are a lot of smart smart people on this planet…and I’d like to think that includes, China, India, Russia, Africa…as well as in the Western World, certainly people, those smart people must be noticing that things are wrong, and getting dangerous..and know that things have to be done…

An invation of Ukraine, Hamas attacking Israel, Israel attacking Gaza are useless distractions…Russia threatening nuclear war, people thinking nuclear engergy is an answer for something (Canada selling India nuclear power, something canned a Candu Reactor resulted in India building it’s first nuclear bomb, all the better for it to threaten Kashmir, who also has a nuke……how does any of this make this planet any better and scream that this will become a better place to live?

I wonder what would happen if all the ordinary evryday people around the world were allowed to demand, to ask that we do better, for we the people…for us? How many Palestinians said, hey, let’s attack Israel, that would make our lives better? How many Russians, those that thanks to Putin had no heat in their homes over this winter thought, hell yeah, let’s send our sons and fathers into war and invade Ukraine? Yeah, that’ll make our lives better….

Back to us, where the food we eat, where the water we need somes from…..what will it take for those that run this planet, the governments, the leaders, that we need better?

I have no idea…but, are doomed?

Yeah, guity, I’m a Betty Boop fan……forever….even as a kid who at the age when I first saw an image, I should not have become obsessed, but then I did kiss a girl in first grade….pretty close to the first day.

Anyway, today, nothing really to do. woke up really sick. sore throat, a throat full of phlegm (where’d that come from?)……the throat so dry, a lite of water didn’t seem to help…..and then my day…

waffles for the kid, which she at some point she didn’t want…..the usual oatmeal with brown sugar, a banana and almond milk for her dad….washing dishes..then two loads of laundry….

when I’m ill, my go to is to clean everything…laundry, scrum throw out that toothbrush, all towels in the house head for the laundry room……has always been my go to cure..and making my own version of tomato soup….

2 cans of chicken broth, 2 cans of tomato soup (with luck, one of those cans would be tomato bisque) a large can of chopped tomatos, celery, carrots, a red pepper, nutmeg, salt, pepper, sugar, tomato cocktail, and cooked pasta….always works, I could eat it forever…..

But then a ton of dishes and time to get ready for dinner, finish the laundry later to go and ….I made a how-to YouTube video for my son….how to do laundry…cause I thought he needed it…cause as usual, I was doing his laundry…he knows how to carry it into the laundry room, just after that he’s a little confused.

The stress is my life as a race director…that’s a huge part of my daily life..

I’ve decided to go a little bigger this year..a medal and a toque….with a new start start/finish line…a new route, and with about $4,000 in costs without any sponsors (yet) I’m taking a huge bit out of this gig.

And then, my parents moving into assisted living……they finally sold their home, my childhood home, and well, a huge change for them, and a lot of phone calls to me, and more than a few visits….

This is what get’s me on the otherside of being healthy…stress…for me, it’s not a virus, or whatever, it’s stress, the more stressed, the quicker I get sick……and yep, now to try and get well before the Sunday morning run club run…

Today was my turn to make dinner…so the stress of trying a new recipe…..and vegetarian with lots of veggies and tofu…it turned out okay..

Of course my kids wanted nothing to do with my dish…to KD for one, deep fried fish for the other….so more stress…

I’m a little more relaxed right now – to a point – catching up on tv……..

Watching a bio on Amazon Prime….the story of Hugh Hefner.

I was born in 1959, so yeah, Playboy was born not long before me, and I can’t say I never looked….

I do know the story, but growing up in the 60s, the swinging 60s, Playboy was thought as cool….and for a while didn’t seem crude or horrible, and yes I read the articles….he brought black performers to the forefront before anyone…..Aretha, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis….actually political activists, Malcolm X…..and cutting edge, Steve Jobs, Allan Ginsburg to name two….and yeah nude women, and his story evetually gets awful….and at the end, he seems to be a lonely old creepy man….but a success beyond who knew?

To me he seems a lot like other successes, right now I’m thinking of Lululemon creator Chip Wilson.

Wilson has said a few things he shouldn’t have (like our clothes arn’t for everyone)….or said them badly (the complete quote, and story? Customers were buying the black stretchy yoga tights one or two sizes too small thinking they were just like spanks. and then compained when they start to pill. so he was kind of right, Just didn’t have the media know how he needed)……..but I will say when I was managing my Running Room store, I tried to follow some of his philosophy…. the value of the sales staff, doing what you say you were going to do, be open to change, honesty)…….

I always wonder how and where this vision comes from…..Hefner, Wilson, Gates, Jobs…the right place, the right time ..I mean yoga, yoga pants in 1998….I first noticed him when he had a store called West Beach in Vancouver back in about 1995…how’d he know..and Wilson took risks…I still remember when he opened a store on Robson Street in Vancouver, and offered to dress the first I think 30 customers from top to bottom that showed up nude…….and this is Vancouver, home to the Wreck Beach nude beach….and of course people, young women did……but who knew?

Virgin or Nettwerk records…..who knew how amazing and succesful Sarah McLachlan was going to be?….the founder of Nettwerk, Terry McBride did?…..ITunes?…….

Anyway, time to put the laptop away, kick back, drink tea, maybe red wine, and enjoy being retired and 65…..

Left my spot in our parking lot below the highway bridge, loverlooking the Burrard inlet, following the tracks to railway bridge, my place of work. A thud, a shadow, a bridge with a history, some bodies jump before over water, and all it hits is trees.

This is one of those days when my head finally wakes up and says those words, ‘why not?’

Started out with a trip to my GYM……actually during the drive.

‘I’m retired, why on earth am I speeding and driving like I need to be in hurry for anything?’

So I kicked back, sipped my coffee, listened to the radio and took my time.

The GYM was perfect, not busy at all, there were a few people, but there’s enough equipment and options that I was able to get my workout in and more…finished off with a great blueberry smoothy.

It felt soooo good, and I love being back in the gym..social, a good mix of people, relaxed and the workout felt so good….and yeah, solar panels on the roof……how cool is that!

I decided today was a shopping day……again, I’m always in a rush..what the heck, it was maybe 10:30, I had no place I had to be, so off to the great West Edmonton Mall…..

I’m not a fan of shopping, but, well I like Lululemon’s stuff, and not a lot of options.

I spent some time just walking around and looking…the Mall’s a weird mix of stores..lots and lots of high end stuff ….Tiffany’s even…….and some lower end, but looking at the shoppers was a weird vibe…lots of people that in no way would ever walk into a Michael Kors…more likely at home in an Old Navy or WalMart…….some others for sure, and they make walking into Banana Republic comfortable, but the vibe, and yes, a few that looked like gang members, the ‘hood….there’s been a few shootings in that mall…..

Maybe it was because I hadn’t shopped there for a while (I’m usually only in there for Christmas shopping) but felt really uncomfortable….and it’s a weird comparrison….I once got lost walking around Stamford Connecticut, and ended up in, well, the African American end of town….there I felt totally comfortable, and maybe as a hick from Canada I didn’t notice, until I thought about it afterwards, I was the only white guy…my sister who lived there pointed that out to me….a couple of other days later I went back…..and the same feeling, okay…..I can’t remember the place I ate, but the best food ever…and loved it…

West Edmonton Mall…that felt like I was in the ‘hood, if you get what I’m saying…

I made my way home, kicked back for a bit, and then headed out for a short 5K run…and though it was a bit of a struggle, it felt right…I needed that…

I’m still trying to do that one a day thing, running every second day so I’m rested and recovered, but I needed to get outside, and I didn’t think I walk would do it….maybe I’ll walk tomorrow.

Okay the worst picture ever…..but well, my fat face……..and yes a toque, I wore gloves, well, because winter’s sort of back……..just 5K, nothing quick, but just getting outside, it’s like an elixer…better than that two glasses of red wine…..

I have to say, I’m feeling everything that’s included with being 65 (and 95 days)…..but, in some ways I feel so good.

Tomorrrow’s supposed to be a day if rest, and I may try and recover…some daily life things to do, car serviced, visit the parents in their new place….make dinner……and maybe walk.

I feel good though, I finished off March in a good space, and have begun April 2024 on the right foot..and hopefully on the right knees..

Just when you’ve had a bit of a wasted around the house day….

You get to run…..

That’s kind of the key to this…having schedules you can’t get out of…especially when it’s your group…

Wednesday nights, my run club night, no matter what I have to run….I’m kind of the leader of the pack..

so I have to be there….

I now also have a crew Sundays at 8:30.

About a year ago I also had Tuesdays, so no matter what, 3 runs a week……it worked, forced training?

The magic of the group…sure I like solo runs as well, thinking time, fresh air time, me time, a play date with myself.

having a schedule, being consistant…and even if I don’t do anything else, run, 3 times a week.

One way this works great as well, is I can’t always be sure whom I will be running with…

The Tuesday were always a suprise, or sometimes…one of the reason it stopped, was that couldn’t ge a big enough a group to make Tuesdays worked, and the one or two that would usually show up, we usually the sonic the hedgehog speed….with me trying to keep up….which is okay, good actually, because that became speed training…..for me. Which afterwards, resulted in me becoming stronger and faster.

My big issue now, is age……65. At one time, I felt I could always keep up with anyone…and sometimes lead and set the pace….now, a lot of the time, I’m leading from behind. Which is okay too….I’m still running forward…

Strength training seems to help too….actually my knees no longer hurt. so squats to the rescue!

I keep trying to get my ass into the pool and on to the bike…I guess that’ll be the next step, along with just living life…..

the good news, I cannot wait until I wake up tomorrow….

Maybe my future ride?

Began the day in the gym, went well, set the tone for the day.

Love my gym, even more now that the Spring Break kids are all gone…now it’s a quiet gym, and a good place to be…

I think I’ve hot on a pretty good routine..a little unconventional, and bouncing back and forth from upper and lower body….but it works for me….3 sets, 12-15 reps…building endurance rather than power..

Lat Pulldown, Leg Curl, DB bench, Leg extension, DB pullover, incline DB press, DB Curls, DB side lats, leg press/squats, calve raises, tri pushdowns, upright rows..then abs and hyperextentions…..

Doesn’t take forever to do, I’m in, out, and gone.

Hit the grocery store so I could make an awesome Bolognese Sauce…..I don’t know why I do this, but qwhen it’s dad’s job to cook, my approach to pasta sauces is to make them almost a meal onto themselves..this was no different. There’s the recipe, and well, then there’s mushrooms, veggies…and lots of leftovers.

I had planned to run at some point today, but, life and I’ve made a conscious decision to stick to 1 activity a day, and if there’s time and of the planets align, maybe something else…so strength training good, not sweating over what wasn’t done on the to do list, I’m okay with….looking at the long term.

I’ve been watching this interview over and over again….Kara Goucher’s book in next on my book shelf. I do know the story, and I, like everyone else, am learning over and over of female athletes being fucked over (sorry not sorry about using that word) … NIke? Bad press is not going to hurt them at all, but that doesn’t mean I have to give them my money……Lauren Fleshman’s Good for a Girl reinforced the nonsense that female athletes go through. Yeah I know some men as well, but, well, men don’t get pregnant..but even Des Linden’s story isn’t all a flower garden right?…..how do people in these companies, and coaches not know this stuff is wrong?

Anyway, getting into a series I hadn’t seen before, Wynonna Earp, something new, and feeling okay…

I got a little Goosed on my run this morning…this morning was good, a Sunday run is always good..half was with a running friend Gerry, and the second half was, well, with geese, and crossed path with a few walkers and other runners…..and yeah I seriously need to shave…

At one point our trals used to be clogged up with runners…..now it was way too quiet….

There’s a church just up the hill from our Runnng Room, which is usually our starting point, and at some point we’d hear those church bells…and sometimes hea the choir..it’s been a while since…..

This morning in some ways a little disappointed, thought there’d be more than just two of us running together….but haven’t run with Gerry for a while, so a little but of catching up, and a run just over 4K

It was good, a good pace…a route I like. I would have liked to have gone for 10K….maybe tomorrow…

then after starting to drive home, I thought, why not a few more….so stopped off at my Running Room and did a quick loop, for just over another 4K

So, almost 9K……not a bad Sunday after all…..

Sundays used to be my thing…from the day I say I began back in 1996, to now, 28 years, up until COVID, Sundays, every Sunday at 8:30, every Wednesday at 6PM….it was like clockwork….

Then COVID derailed that, and it’s a journey trying to bring that back….but I’m here for the long run

A great start to the day…I feel sore, but good, it’s been a good week..a great week..walking, strength, and running….active, and mostly outside…….fresh air is like the best cure for everything….

I’m still dealing with headaches, I guess that’s just part of my life until it stops….but it was a good feeling to get out, wake up, have that banana and water and just go run…..now to bottle up that feel good feeling, and remember it for the weeks ahead..

Wednesday evenings was all about running

Saturdays..over the winter Saturday mornings were all about our Triathlon Club’s spin class

and then Sundays..back out running

and for a while we had a Tuesday evening group….I want to try and bring that all back….

I’ve always got my Wednesday night Run Club, that’s set in stone….

the goal is to make that bigger……..Sundays have begun……will see how that goes.

Can I get biking on Saturdays back?…I will try…I just can’t do every Saturday, but I do need and love having that schedule, and have people that count on me…I guess I like the pressure…

But, a good finish to the week…now to look forward

It was a rough start to the day, and it took a long time to get okay….seriously started wonder where I could get some fentanyl……I know that’s not funny or proper, but a pretty awful Saturday morning…and considering how positive I was feeling yesterday evening, it was a huge dive downward.

I pretty much stayed in bed for the morning, and didn’t really crawl out of my bedroom umtil after 1PM…..watched some TV, figured maybe watching All the President’s Men would Cheer Me Up (one of my fave movies of all time…..I’d forgotten that both Jane Alexander and Meredith Baxter were in it……

But really I just mopped most of the day until after dinner….

It was just a crazy day…my autistic daughter, adult daughter, just keeps getting worse and worse and more unable to control herself…..it’s almost like turrets is part of her package, something she can’t control….and I kind of didn’t take my end of being an understanding dad well.

I finally decided, I wanted to go for a walk, some fresh air, so why not? what’s to stop me?

And it was the right call….I wasn’t the only one thinking the same thing…..lots of guys, a few on bikes, and yes some walking their dog…..a beautiful evening..and yeah, the walk, I should have gone this morning…it would probably made the world feel better, sooner..

A simple day, with a good morning at the gym…….the only day I got in this week.

Some weeks are a challenge, just life, time…..but a good week so far, tomorrow, Good Friday….

The workout was good…this is kind of me rebuilding Warren.

Lat pulldowns, leg extensions, db benches, leg curls, db pullovers, incline db presses, db side lats, db curls, tri pushdowns, upright rows, squats, calf raises and leg presses….and then off for that smoothie and life!

I think I’ve managed to nail this one thing a day thing…….so no more pressure to try and do more then there are hours in a day.

it’s been a good week, 88 days into 2024, it seems I finally have a schedule….and life’s good.

Finding the right gym took a little bit of work, but SVAC is pretty much perfect. Fairly quiet if I hit it at the right times, the other regulars are a good mix of older and younger….a little social, and a 10 minute drive from home. Summer time, a 20 minute bike ride, and a good location to start (and finish) the occasional run…..

Tonight, still digging through older (and really older) movie…tonight the Apartment with Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine…..so far so good.

A pretty day that began with me sleeping in, not wanting to get up, with a headache?

I have no idea what that headache is all about, but it disappear as I got into my day…….made breakfast for the kid, made coffee and oatmeal (wth blueberries and almond milk for me) and got ready for a clinic talk.

I couldn’t remember if it was for 9AM or 10AM, so I went at 945…and just be talking to fresh air. I hope that the longer I do this, people will join in..I’m in for the long run.

I had hoped to do this as both a Zoom meet and a Facebook live at the same time..may try that again Monday evening. I just can’t seem to get the Facebook live to work for some reason…..but, learning as I go along.

it seems some are watching after I publish on YouTube and I post the links on the Facebook Group, the Virtual Run Club….

It seems the more I do, the more I talk, this also works for me……more of a focus, finding my focus….and deciding what to focus on…me getting older.

I’m still getting use to the new hair cut, and well, getting used to being old……a figured out that two of the secrets, or things I have to pay attention to is rest/recovery….strength and stretching..and using cross training to minimize the high impact repetitive running……..so today, made that effort to work my core, a few important stretches and, hello mr foam roller….takes like 20 minutes, but every little helps this old guy.

And after all of that, Run Club Wednesday…we did a pretty good 6K..I’d planned 7, but one of the group that joined us wanted 5 to 6, at an easy pace, and yep, went with that.

That’s kind of my routine, I’ll have a couple of route planned in my head, and then once I know who’s going to show up, that changes things…and this evening a puppy, got to have a puppy friendly trail.

The puppy (9 months old!) makes a difference too…I try and keep things away from city sidewalks and crossing intersections….keeping it safe.

That run felt really, really good…….which I really, really needed….

Something else I needed to figure out, relax and not to try and do a ton if stuff eveyday…yeah I know an ongoing process, but I make a list of things to do, to get done, and create lists that no one could get done…..now, one thing that has to be done, and when it comes to this endurance game, 1 thing, 1 to be done workout….just 1, maybe something like todays core and foam roll workout….and the rest, just enjoy the day…….and today that worked. It gave me a breather.

I feel really good, hopefully tonight, and good solid 8 hours of sleep….which will make tomorrow way better as well…….

Just figuring this all out.

I’m sure I’ve watch this classic at some point, but can see why’s a classic…..yep, funny, the music is great, and Liza….wow……but poignant as well…….and much like the Sound of Music, what’s coming is awful.

What an awful time…….looking around the planet right now, are we headed back into that direction?

Putin has just announced all LGBT are now considered terrorists. In the USA they’re not treated much better, here where I live, To Kill a Monkingbird has been pulled from school libraries….and the political right has turned the term woke into the opposite from that the BLM meant.

Way too many, I like to think old people, say they want to turn back time…..to when the world was great again……

We had a phenomina up here called the freedom convey…..they drove big trucks and occupied our capital city, Ottawa for months, yelling freedom, and saying they were there demanding freedom…but, for some reason all the truckers were white, they carried signs and banners with Trump’s name on them, Alex Jones, and since, protest things like rainbow crosswalks and anything more progressive…..and the worst thing, all are fans of Nickleback……

I spent my morning on the bike trainer………the original plan was outdoors…..but, well, snow, ice and wind….maybe next week.

I’ve been using an app called Zwift for months, for some reason it just wasn’t linking up this morning…so the Polar app and watch with my heart rate monitor was it….

Not the workout I’d hoped for, but it was okay……and I had the time to record a zoom recording for my run clinic

This doing my own thing I guess is okay…..I’m making it about everything and anything….a free run clinic…there’s so many on-line options and podcasts…couch to 5K, or whatever…..I hope I can find a nitch where I just keep running simple, running for the first time…or those wanting to go further or quicker…it ain’t rocket science…

Something I’ve always liked about being the instructor, is that I always learn as well….someone asks a question, or brings up a topic that’s new……that’s how I ended up paying more and more attention to the differences between the sexes….when it comes to the world of endurance sports, diet, hydration, training….those differences are important to pay attention to, and when talking about what I do, it’s a topic that needs to be paid attention to…

The other topic I’m paying more attention to…age!….While there’s more and more attention being paid to female athletes, us 65+, not so much…..there’s more and more of us, do we train like we were 18, do we need more rest and recovery (yep) can we run 6 or 7 days a week…..nope…..cross training for sure, cut back on the high impact repetitive training, but well, what else? How does nutrition change……

Anyway, life continues..

I had a rough night, and for some reason did not sleep.

I have no idea why….it was; head hit the pillow, my mind was going a mile a minute…

I had a run planned for this morning, but had to bail, just no sleep, a headache, just wasn’t going to happen…tomorrow…maybe later today……

What was I thinking about….my home town, Edmonton.

I grew up there……Edmonton’s my childhood home.

Yes I have lived in Jasper, Vancouver (well actually New Westminster, Vancouver, Richmond, Steveston)…Kamloops and now in St Albert, which is really Edmonton, but well, we like to think that border between us and that big big city makes a difference.

What was I thinking about?

The crap I keep hearing about, well, here…..from people that live here…if you watched the local news, read the local newspaper…this is a crappy city full of homeless people…it’s so much more.

There are two things Edmonton has going for us….and neither is the Edmonton Oilers..

Education. Our schools, our universities are world famous, and are our major employeers, students from around the planet come here. the research is world famous and attracks those students https://www.ualberta.ca/alberta-diabetes/about/edmonton-procotol.html Things like the Edmonton coming out of our University of Alberta isn’t unusual, it normal.

The reasearch taking place at the U of A is amazing, and second to none. Cancer, Breast Cancer…solutions, treatments…when I run the annual Run for the Cure, that’s that cash going to work.

We never talk about that, we never promote, and we have too many people that live here speak awfully about. I remember picking up a copy of the New Yorker Magazine years ago, and the front page, there was the Edmonton Protocal….but if you asked 10 here people about that research, those 10 people would have no idea what you were talking about……we should be chearing these people on and promoting everything done there..it’s a jewel.

A great example of the dead heads here, a young man named Ben Stelter. and the Ben Stelter Foundation

Ben was a superfan, and brought a lot of life to every Oiler’s game….his life, life, while living with brain cancer was an inspiration….the foundation was created in his name…but ask 10 Oiler fans where that money donated goes and what it does, you’ll get a blank look….

but take a look at this an try not to cry

The research going on at the U of A into finding new treatments and possibly cures for things like breast cancer is what that school is known for. Atheltic science, and just science in general….it’s a gem….

Our government keeps talking about cutting support, and forcing the University to cut facility and facility, editorial writers keep calling the U of A the home of too many liberal thinkers…dah, so?

We also have a 2nd University, Grant MacEwan…right on Downtown Edmonton

We have NAIT (Northern Alberta Institute of Technology)….

And we have Concordia College amongest others

and the U of A has a French language campus as well…which I think is nothing but awesome

Medical facilities!…..This city is a major hub, with the medical professionals to match. Beyond basic healthcare, government supported healthcare, we also have the insitutions that focus on children with the Stollery Hospital for Sick Children, the Cross Cancer Insitite…..and that’s just the start…Yes In Canada we are blessed with a country where we don’t go to a doctor to a hospital with our bank card ready to swipe……no matter the size of your bank account, we receive health care. But again the people in this city keep talking disparagingly about our health care workers, our doctors; during COVID it was awful. Where those healthcare workers in other countries were thanked, people here blamed those workers for COVID.

While I do love the west coast….a lot

And Jasper was great too

Wasn’t a fan of Kamloops….I tried to make it work, but other than it was just a 2 hour drive away from Vancouver…the less said better, but I did get to do this

Edmonton, this area isn’t bad really…I’ve been able to do lots and lots of stuff….run, bike, race, write, and raise 3 great kids…..so all good…

I’ve run pretty much every race this city has…spend a lot of time in the most beautiful river valley ever….

.yeah it’s not Vancouver’s Stanley Park

but you can walk, run and bike forever…here In St Albert, I’m a few pedel strokes away from being out and riding in the country…..actually anything that I want is either a short walk, bike, or drive away…I can go weeks without having to use my car….the transit system isn’t that great, but it’s there too.

So, Edmonton…..way too many Edmontonians spend way too much time trashing this place…..but yeah, I live here..and it ain’t so bad….and there’s a lot to cheer…not just hockey

Yeah I needed a break….tomorrow, time to get back on the horse, or maybe into those running shoes……

Today was all about showing down on healthy food, lots of hydration……..and movies for some reason….lately I’ve been digging through some movie history…back into the 60s….today was Midnight Cowboy

I knew the story, and I think I’ve seen parts, and of course the song, Everybodies Talkin’ at Me, sung by Harry Nilsson….I knew the ending but had never actually seen it……

I don’t know why, but it seems movies from thar era, and into the 70s all had the same type of ending…

and yeah, Thelma and Louise….knew that was coming…..

For some reason, another one I’d never actually watched….i guess this is the ear to play catch up……

And with this weather…the snow and cold has returned……maybe watching movies in front of a roaring fire is an good way to spend an evening…at least until warmer temperatures arrive

It was one of those days…..

decided I needed a few things today……and needed to do one thing…hit the weights.

it’s been a while…but got to the SVAC first thing. hit every body part..and then on the road.

I wanted to visit a book store I’ve been meaning to get to forever….and then I had to pick up my mom’s guitar…….

First thing, headed to Audrey’s Books….when I first got there, parking seemed impossible…so I said screw this and headed over to Myer’s Music to grab the guitar

got there and it was still closed….

so was going to give up, and just go home…but, what? I’m here, I’m in Edmonton, I don’t have to be anywhere…so drove back to Audrey’s and was glad I did, so glad…..

what an amazing store…totally independent, local, and wow!!!..a book store of book stores, who sas books and reading is dying….it’s a huge place filled with books, just books…..and lots of local, provincial, canadian, indegenous, LGBTQ2S, everything…like an alternative independent music store….I was like a kid in a candy store……f Amazon!..it was a little bit of a drive, but I will be back, again and again.

Myer’s is an insitution in Edmonton, so I had to go back too……an acoustic stringed instrument store….was an amazing store, brought back so many memories, of music stores of old…

My mom’s guitar has a bit of a crack….I guess humidity does that to guitars once in a while..

When I was growing up there was so many old music stores around….I would cut school in high school and go to all of them…they were usually on older buildings, they had that smell right….some wooden floors, but always a ton of guitars, amps…I remember one, Keen Craft…all the instruments on one side, amps on the other behind a wall….you could grab a guitar, wander into the amp side and play….there was a club on the second floor of the building called the Hovel, and occasionally someone playing there would pop in and be testing guitars in Keen Craft..and I’ll never forget swapping chords with a guy named Brent Titcombe….he an actual song writer!….for a kid in 10th grade that was a once in a lifetime moment….

So a morning of memories and a bit of driving around…

on my way home I had to grab groceries….after pullng into one parking lot and realizing it was $1.49 day and saw that the parking lot was packed…drove on by, headed over to another grocery store and then home…

actually a lot of driving, I like driving, always have..and a tour around my ‘hood, the city….so a good day…..and lots and lots of memories..

this was a sitcom years and years ago…not quite as the current cool kids on the Big Bang Theory, which I why maybe I connected more with it…….I’ve alays been kind of the outsider looking inward.

I just don’t fit in….anywhere. sometimes almost, sort of like that circle almost fitting into that square, but not quite….

I’m more like an observer or a chronicler…..I can gather people together, I can connect with different groups, but I’m the guy that just always is on the outside looking in, and it’s never noticed when I leave….

Yesterday was a good day for a run…..just over 6 miles…..but warm.

I got out early-ish to try and beat the heat, but still got caught up in +10C……I guess I should be happy summer’s here, but this early? If it’s this warm now, what on earth is it going to be in July/August?

Wouldn’t mind if there was plunty of water around, but looks like water restrictions will be sooner than soon…..the farmers, ranchers, fruit growers are sounding nervous…..there’s not a lot of snow in the mountains, a lot of the town’s are still recovering from forest fires, lack of H2O from 2023, this is going to a scary year….it’s just me, but yeah’ climate change?……it takes decades and centuries for anything in the climate happens, so what’s happening now is because of decades of just not paying attention to protecting that environment…..the warning isn’t anything new….

I’m just remembering hearing I think it was on Texas that it was too hot for workers to harvest….too hot?

What’s that going to mean for food prices?

Right now this path should be covered with snow and ice…….

this morning I hit the weights at my fav gym, now my gym….the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club

it was a busy place this morning…..but went through my routine, about an hour…got the metabolic rate up…..and felt good…..

Lately I’ve been sticking to a whole body workout, bouncing back and forth between lower and upper body…3 sets, 12 reps……short rest periods between sets…

Then spent the rest of the morning driving around Edmonton…found my new favorite new book store, called Audrey’s Book..huge, local, and independent…grabbed a couple of local photo books focused on the history of this city and of the province

…then over to a music store to pick up my mom’s old guitar…

More on all of that tomorrow…but a busy and full day, two days…so all good.

The start of my morning…this morning of St Patrick’s Day….I didn’t wear green, but, I did hand out green Gatorade (which we discovered was what happened when you mixed blue Gatorade with Orange Gatorade….but, it had to be right constancy, otherwise it just came out a dity yellow….a gross yellow.)

This is fast becoming a favorite time of my life. Getting together with a group of people, setting up the race start/finish, the course, direction signs, distance markers and handing out that water and Gatorade, cheering, and doing with a lot of poeple and friends….

The only drawback is getting out of bed at 5:30, and go go go…..grab a quick breakfast, skip coffee cause there’s just not time, and well, I’m trying to quit (which doesn’t explain why I just bought a French Press) the drive this morning was okay…..I like heading out in the dark and way before a lot of others on a Sunday morning….I can speed, blow through a few red lights, and get to that race location before anyone else, I like being first, and I always like being early…

That’s a huge part of my life..always early, high school, every job I ever have, concerts, movies, anything less then an hour to me feels like being late…

One of our crew, Raemonde was just ahead of me in her jeep….love crossing paths with her is always good, we chatted for a bit, she’s heading to race in Kenya this summer which was kind of inspiring…..and interesting…she’s gone before….I’ll never go, but I can run vicariously through her…..

Soon after Alyysa with purple hair, not much older than highschool, but smart and interesting to chat with, she has taken up westling and is about to get married this summer, Gabby (which I think is short of Gabriella) such a great name….off to get married this summer as well, and just got a job in a nearby city, something to do with working with the homeless, my boss Justin and his brother Logan (who’s name I can never remember, I just think Logan’s Run, which works) Justin and I have an ongoing battle to see who can come up with the worst dad jokes (what do you call a bee hive without an exit door. UnBEEleavable?)…….met my volunteer helpers, and we went to work…

Part f my job was to walk the 5K course and set up the directions signs….

It was also a great morning for that walk…about +2C…it was supposed to warm up to a really warm snow melting temperature of +17C at some point, but not this morning…it was fine as long as I kept on moving….funny…at one spot I had to put one direction sign where there was a choice, walk up a hill to post another, then turn around and head back to the start/finish…..on the way back down the hill, I walked past the turn around point

if you squint and look really really hard, you might see that 3K marker….and the direction sign just before that…that was me..and why not walk up a hill.

At one point I did run instead of walk, because, well after I set up all the signs my hands were free, but my Lululemon pants we’re the best run gear ever, nor was my Ron Hill jacket..but, well, it was a run route, didn’t last long..and after a while I kind of wished I’d signed up for the run and did it rather than work it..but still, it’s really a good experience and feeling to cheer others on and help them…

The weirdest thing…it’s odd for me to go to a run and fun run or a race and not see someone I know taking part…there were a couple this morning I kinda knew, but there seems to be fewer and fewer of them…..is that a time of life thing?

I had thought about running the course after the race was over…but coffee and cookies, lots of coffee that thought passed….

I even like the tear down of a course after the show is over……but I guess it’s the early hours, or the day on my feet, but at the end of it all I feel so worn out….worn down…but with that warm fuzzy feeling..

So now..back to digitizing home movies….I’m down to the final 3….I may have to finish this job tomorrow….I’m down to the home movies my dad took after I moved away from home…so 600 feet of Jamaica, La Paz and Hawaii…without me in them….I guess that’s why I saved them for last?

So, felt like a good evening to watch Manhatten while doing my duty (I know, Woody Allen…..but with Diane Keaton, I don’t care about history, and I think Mia Farrow is full of nonsense…it seems strange doesn’t that all who took part in filming Rosemary’s Baby all turned a lot strange.)

Yes the movie have that bit of a creepy feeling, but the images of Manhatten are great, and I like Allen’s way of doing dialogue….it always seems like the actors are making it up on the go (sort of like Easy Rider isn’t that)…..and did I say Annie Hall/Diane Keaton is in it….had her picture on my teenager’s wall when all my buddies had Bo Derek, me I had Diane Keaton….go figure

Woody and Diane, and then digging through Phillip Roth’s American Pastoral…and exciting end to a pretty good day?……I kind of needed this…I know, yesterday’s blog was a downer….but yeah, a morning with people, spending a lot of time outside, makes things seem a little better….let’s see what Monday, and my day 77 of being 65 can be………

I’m not a good person. I don’t know what it is or why, but I shed people like a snake sheds skin.

I have no idea why, or what it is about me…….usually, I hang out with a group, and at first, yep, everything’s fine……..and after a while, I’m the people others try to avoid.

I occasionally will have a good crew around me…and in the past that group would be huge…..but as usual, eventually I’m walking, or training alone.

The story with my store is kind of the normal….hired 4 amazing people, make that 6…..for the first few years, all was great…the best boss ever……and then something changed, shifted, and to all but one of them I because someone no wanted to be near……a wtf moment.

I just keep being me….I’m not someone that changes ever..someone I went to school some 40 years ago said that to me, he said I changed as often as a homeless person changes clothes…..and awful compraison….I’m honest, vulnerable, social (to a fault) I like to think I can get along with anyone….and usually, normally do….those 5 co-workers, I still think they’re amazing people, but I know enough to just stay away, let go, and not to try and make things better……

I’m that picture, it’s not you it’s me….I wish I could be something other than me, but well….not a fixable thing.

This the walk…trying to figure things out

Yesterday was an amazing, and an amazingly long day.

My day began driving to our Butterdome, to do my part with the Indoor Games, and the finals.

5 AM to just after midnight…

setting everything up, and the tearing it down….helping out everywhere….and then, hey, I got to help hand out medals to the finishers…

I loved that calm before the storm..setting up everything..and then waiting for it to start.

These kids were amazing…running so quick, just running their hearts out..pretty inspiring

My favorite events were the mixed relays…..girls and boys racing…and a lot of the time, girls kicking those boy’s butts….and the looks on those boy’s faces told a lot….they didn’t care they were beat by girls, there were hi fives all around.

It was a long day…helping out by holding those trays of medals was pretty cool…helping out, I liked that part.

Tearing down didn’t take as long as you’d think, it was just hard work, lots of lifting of heavy things…

Then wine and cheese…

I’ve said this before, this is why I love what I do…..

Just being a part of it, of this….and it always inspires me, more and more….just to run and not think about anything else…..

Cannot wait for next year.

I just cancelled a trip to run a half marathon in Vancouver in May…my training just isn’t where it should be…maybe I’ll go in the fall. for now I’m just going to run and race close to home, shorter distances, and just have fun…if it wasn’y fun, why?

It was time, a time a dread..always. I’ve always hated hair cuts…

I think I went just about half a year between cuts, maybe longer (I can’t remember when the last cut was)

I’ve had perms actually…a shaved head…pink hair…..a crew cut…..really long hair, short hair….but it’s just hair….

whatever happens it’ll grow back, I hope.

My very first hair cut..and I have the same impressed look even now…

Whatever happened to the barber shop……..?..just on a street, sometimes a corner?…..just randomly walked in and got a hair cut…

Now, you have to pick an actual place, make an appointment….and the problem with my hair being shorter……way more grey hair arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

but on the other hand, at least I still have hair?

I spent today trying to stay awake and stay busy…I’ve yet another long day at the Indoor Games tomorrow with thousands of screaming active kids….so early to bed, very early to rise and a very, very long day….

can hardly wait…it’s like Christmas eve.

This is something I couldn’t have imagined doing today at one point in my life, but the way circumstance has worked, I got to be a part of this today

Today was the second last day of the Indoor Games at out Butterdome at our University of Alberta here in Edmonton…..I got to put up some/a lot of the equipment up today, and then watching elementary kids run and race their hearts out….just amazing…

A building with over a thousand screaming athletes, young athletes, and their family, friends, parents, teacher and coaches, and me…….amazing..and it wasn’t just the races, but these kids were moving all over the place, back flips, wagon wheels, handstands..racing each other on every level of the building, short sprints into a wall, practicing their handoffs for the relay races, drills, warming up, cooling down, and then racing all out…..watching one finishing the final line and collapsing right at the finish line…..inspiring!

This is what I saw as soon as I walked into the building this morning….only the silence remains….the calm before the storm….but screw hockey and pro football…this is so real and what so grabs me.

I don’t know if I’m strange for liking this so much…..the colour, the action, and the fun, all fun…..and well, I run, this is what I do, this is what I encourage others to do…..well this stuff rocks!

I get to go back at on Saturday for the finals…..I can hardly wait…..and I will be at it for the full day….it’s like waiting for Christmas Morning…I may not sleep!

When I get older losing my hair….actually, well, I still have a lot of hair…

but have been getting sore in a few new spots….it seems I dropped something on the top of my left foot..must have, but black and blue….starting to heal….but I have no idea what?

and no I’ve way beyond getting home at a quarter to three…unless it’s quarter to 3 in the afternoon….

Had an okay run this evening….but sore. for some reason, maybe yesterday’s strength training…left hip and quads not feeling the greatest..and my right knee a bit of a soreness too….

Or is this just an age thing?

Today was a day to just get caught up on a few things….Amazon delivered my Kodak digitizer so I can get the 20 canisters of 8mm home movies into some digitized form….it’ll be cheaper to do myself then hiring someone else in the long run…and when I’m done I can sell this piece of equipment on eBay…so won’t cost me a lot…

the quality isn’t top notch but for family history, I think it’ll be fine and easier to share…..

Tomorrow morning I’m up super earlier….I’m working at our Indoor Games….kids, track and field….I’ll be ready for wine this time tomorrow evening.

Today was good….

Began with a virtual spin on the bike trainer…Jill Will for a good hour.

I usually just ride on my own and following along on Zwift….to with the Jill Will crew, it’s good to have a coach with an actually training plan..intervals, today’s focus was on strength, pushing heavy gears…

later on, headed over to my gym….SVAC, the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club…..a 40 minute workout….I don’t hit the weights as often as I should…but it feels good when I do….

I don’t know if it’s a sign of age or what, but for some reason I’m digging into music and movies and life in my younger and younger years, and well, the 60s?

Right now, watching Easy Rider….I don’t think I’ve ever watch it before…and yeah, a bit dated maybe, but Dennis Hopper, Jack Nichelson, and of course Peter Fonda….and a great soundtrack…Steppenwolf, the Band, the Grateful Dead……great….apparently the movie was shot on the fly, no real camera people, a lot of the people in the movie, and that shot the movie, were just randomly picked up along the way…..and the ending….wow!

Zabriski Point .. for some reason when younger, I remember coming home from a late night out with friends, I’d sit down for a quick snack of whatever..turn on the TV, and this movie seemed to always be on….a few others..but really cool…

and the other night, a classic…the Party

I loved this movie so muchI eventually just bought the DVD….the way it was filmed, it’s like being in the party…maybe not currently politically correct; Peter Sellers’ character is supposed to be Indian; but he does play it so true, not like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffiney’s….but respectafully….and well done…..and each time I watch, I notice something else…and well, if you remember Murray from the Mary Tyler Movie, expect a shock.

The 60s weren’t exactly my decade; sure I grew up in it, born January 1st 1959…and yeah I knew and watch…Vietnam, the assasinations, and of course the moon landing…..and the music….it was an amazing era….

Sure a lot of history has happened since….I keep remember a movie about another band, the Weavers, there was a documentry made about Pete Seeger and that group of the 50s and 60s……called Wasn’t that a Time, those words could be used to described the 1960..and yes, I was 10 when the 60s ended, but I wasn’t blindfolded….the Beatles, the Stones, Jimmy Hendrix, I knew about Woodstock, my fave band yes, the Monkees, but also Ten Years After…rock and roll music to the world……and hippies, we had a family living next door to my childhood home, they had a son, John, who was I guess 8 years older than me, and a daughter Diane – who used to babysit me…and I know this sounds wrong, but she was gorgeous, I was young but not blind, and she wore mini skirts……but even just by osmosis I was aware…I actually remember my dad tell me I couldn’t buy a copy of Rolling Stone (dad was kind of square?….) the riots after Martin Luther King being shot, I knew who the Black Panthers were, Janis Joplin…..the riots in Chicago…Rubber Soul, Tommy, and yes there was also music here in Canada, the Guess Who – American Woman –

The odd thing about the 60s, it’s almost like they could tell the future…..Marvin Gaye sang a tune call Mercy Mercy Me the Ecology…..Joni Mitchell wrote a song abot how we had to get back to the garden…..Crosdy, Stills and Nash sang a tune telling is to Teach our Children Well….the Who, hope I die before I get old…..and yeah Big Yellow Taxi…paved paradise….

I keep thinking….we need to bring the hippies back!

Spent yesterday and today with the parents who are about to go through a huge change in life.

They’ve been doing that already..90 and 91 years old, it’s time to sell the old family home…home for 62 years…..and will be moving into an extended life/nursing home….it looks like a fantastic place, at times they both seem to be taking it all in stride….and others, well, its a huge step.

Mom’s still pretty cognizant, but a little shaky sometimes, and while not Alzheimers, the cogs just don’t always connect..and dad, well it’s a challenge from being the guy always in charge, to still wanting to be the boss, but also needed help, hearing’s getting to the point where a hearing aid isn’t going to be the answer…..

They both are reminiscing like crazy…I’ve managed to organize their old home movies to help with that, and am now trying to get them all digitized…..

The big move is April 1st/2nd……Easter Weekend….they’re both going through a house full of memories, and a lot of things they’ll have to get rid of….upstairs and down….downstais should be easy as neither can really climb stairs and shoudn’t…..the yard and lawn things will have to go…mom loves her garden, but yet, where they’re going there is a community garden she can work on…

And there will be other people, they’ll be able to socialize, have other people to talk to…and there’s medical people on site if they need…so a better situation.

It’s going to be sad when that home I’ve pretty much only known is gone…….and no one really left in the old neighborhood I grew up in…it was an amazingly perfect childhood…with challenges, but wow when I look back, yes some awful memories, but so many great ones as well….my parents are pretty much the last ones left from those good old days, so one more reason to move on…..

now, I guess as well as memories, time to look forward and to look ahead.

w

A pretty awesome day…well good anyway……

Finally got myself into the gym, my gym, it’s been a year….

I had a dilemma trying to figure out which gym…..but went back to my old home, the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club….I once looked after their run club..then gave it up when my dad got ill last winter…

I just got a basic membership, I just need the weight room for strength training….and a place to change for that important run….so all good…..

A lot of seniors, not all of them…..but never busy when I need it to not be busy…so I gues worth the $59 a month….I’ll test it out..and see how it goes. I do need to get to a pool at least one day a week…but otherwise all good

Kind of depressing not being the Run Club guy anymore….but, maybe, well, I can start it up again and generate some interest….maybe?

I hit the weights well…..hit every body part, and yeah, I just do this to stay uninjured, don’t car about anything but that….high reps, lighter weights…..mabe later the opposite…but felt good.

the pretty much my typical Thursday…groceries, visited my favorite Running Room to grab some new On shorts, chatted, bought some nutrition, grabbed a coffee at Good Earth, spent a few hours going through the home movies, there’s a lot to go through…threw together a dinner of paprika chicken, my famous chicken rice and dill pickle salad and stir fried veggies(tomatoes green beans onions) with a sweet/sour type of sauce…..turned out good…

and a lot of chill time tonight…

a good day is when you look forward to tomorrow…

A good way to end leap day?……..with a run club run…

it is a little chilly this evening, and a lot of snow and ice all around, perfect for a run…

Just under 7K, but a fun challeging loop, and we had a an 8 month old puppy with us!

It was a good way to end the day…….a bit of a trying day, spent most of it going through a lot of 8mm home movies…

found a projector on eBay, managed to get it working…now 20 roll of film to go through….lots of family stuff…..sad thing, yes, family and friends, but a lot of family and friends that have passed away…

I’m doing this to get it all on digital for my parents…..the passed away part worries me…..I as choking up, my mom I’m sure lots of water works…it is sad…but yeah memories, which is a good thing right?

I’m trying to decide whether to hire someone to do the digitizing for me, which will cost like a billion dollars, or just go Amazom, get what I need and just do it myself, and at least then I can edit…..there’s a lot of shots out various plane trip to Hawaii and Mexico…don;t really need to save those visuals out the airplane windows….

a good day..it’s supposed to warm up tomorrow..so looking forward to another good day…

Or day 56……?

a chill day..kicking back, watching it snow right now, the wind is blowing so taking a rest day, and am learning things….

Yep, I do have a copy of PowerPoint for dummies…I’ve got my Warren’s free Zoom run Clinic tomorrow night, so prep time, and I have been planning forever to learn this thing called PowerPoint so yeah..done. at least a start…sooo muuuch to learn.

All the now we’ve been waiting all winter for has finally arrived….I think we’re up to 5 inches so far

Today’s training has been running up and down the driveway and the sidewalk with the snow slower..

The worst thing about this is, I was supposed to run this morning, but nah, thought I’d put that run off until later…and now, it doesn’t look like there’s a hope that this stuff will be gone until Tuesday..

yeah, I guess it’ll be bike trainer time, and hopefully a visit to the pool and the gym at some point…but at least there’s always stretching and yoga

I’d like to say no excuses, but, well…..but right now, unless everyone shovels, the snows as high as my shins….

I guess snow shoveling is an aerobic activity….it is a lot more fun than running in this stuff..but with that half marathon in 11 weeks…I gotta get going!

I guess Jon Snow was right, winter isn’t coming, it is already here…

A Saturday….was supposed to join in a Zoom spin class, but you know, needed my sleep…

So, drug the bike trainer out, threw on the Zwift app

spun for about 20 minutes..and had to get to my own Warren’s Free Zoom Clinic….

I had my talk planned…and well, then….first, I’m just doing these, Zoom recording them and then sharing, and mostly people are watching them afterwards….but, well….someone actually join in…about 30 minutes in……..a surprise, but, well…it’s still a good thing, and, well I’m in this for the long haul….

I miss the in person clinics, and hopefully at some point they’ll come back, or I may find a way to add them to what I already do….Run Club is pretty great, and keeps me commited….

hopefully the official clinics do come back as well….hopefully I do some good, and the questions, the feedback, and seeing how those in the clinics succeed is pretty cool, inspiring…

I also seem to have a circle of friends that know their stuff….and like sharing, and it’s always a great thing when they do…it’s like having a personal trainer,for the group, and I learn something new at every session as well..

I got back on the trainer once the meet ended up with an hour spin broken up into two pieces…while watching one of the legs from last summers Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift…

Starting off my day active always sets up the rest day, always a positive…….starting the day off running, or in this case on the bike…

The day after a run, a spin always feels great…do I have to run everyday..nope, my head is saying use the days in-between the runs to spin, swim, strength, foam roll and recover…burn off the left over lactic acid…it works….for me, the 65 and 55 days oldster….

So got out for a great evening run tonight with friends….

Felt great…a good group, and I just ran with, back and forth inbetween and lead the route…..

It was my usual busy day around the house, the run capped off an ordinary regular day…

which is great right? nothing really differnt or odd….watched some YouTube, a few house hold chores and pieced together a run club slide show

a felt so good…two days, two runs…..gotta keep this going…and keep the metabolism up

yep, my childhood home is on the block.

1962 to 2024…..62 years. I left in 1980 to Jasper and beyond….18 years of stories, good and bad…a lot of life.

I can actually almost remember my 4th birthday in that dining room….maybe because I saw and I think still have it somewhere…1963, the year of the Beatles (I remember seeing that on the old B&W TV) and the year John F. Kennedy was shot….I remember watching the funeral in one of my grandparent’s living room during a visit.

Odd, thinking about it now, I was in that kitchen the morning after Robert Kennedy was shot – they played the event on the radio over and over – I don’t recall when I heard that Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, but I’m guessing it was in that kitchen…..and John Lennon for sure..the morning of I’d just driven home from Jasper.

My first two wheeler…boy did that ever start a journey huh?

I remember that bike, 2nd grade, I used to ride it to school…that;s with my buddy Rodney, he and his sister Valerie lived across the back alley from us….

Man, Dad eventually built a pool table for the basement, so became a hang out, but, fun times…music playing all the time…I remember this one time, me and some high school buddies, skipping school, I had to break in (for some reason I didn’t have a key…I just knew how to sneak in through my bedroom window) one of the neighbors must of saw me crawl in…we were shooting pool, I turn around and a cop was coming down the stairs…yikes!

I knew all the ways to break-in..yep we had a milk shoot right next to the back door….through that window, and there was a basement window that could be jammed open as well..

I’ll alays remember the one day I was at the mall, locked my keys in the trunk for some reason…instead of taking the bus home to get the spares (there were no cell phones then) it was about 4 kilometers….I walked home, broke into the house, and of course walked back….I knew all the short cuts across the railway tracks and back alleys…

I used to walk a lot…….to the bar (my car wouldn’t start)….to the local swimming pools..evertually we all had bikes to make that easier..

But that house…my parents we’re very social, so lots of parties…backyard, house, the downstairs rumpus room…..legendary..eventually I got to crank my guitar at a few of them

The fireplace was a later addition/renovation..that house was constantly being redone….before anyone had heard of Mike Holmes….

My mom, for some reason threw out all of our family photos. I have a few that I’m trying to dig through, and I’ve got a stack of super 8 home movies to dig through once I can either get them converted to digital, or find a projector…

I learned to play guitar in that house….hated the one telephone in the kitchen (there was a secret code?) at some point was terrified of that basement….we used to listen to scary Alfred Hitchcock stories, but sang along with the Monkees and the Partridge Family….watched a lot of hockey…

The 1972 Canada Summit….it was a fantastic neighborhood to grow up in, back in the 60s especially….

There are so many stories, stories I’m not sure I’ll ever share with the kids, and pretty much never with the parents..

It was the 60s…I remember when our neighborhood rock star, Wes Henderson moved in..his hippie wife, Lynn moved on a few months before…and yes, all us pre-teen and teen boys fell in love….

There were kids everywhere…and so many places that we could get into..lots of open spaces…

Finding a half botte of win in a park nearby the morning after a music fest, assuming it was wine, climbed onto the top of a bandshell and we shared it…..was it wine?

The Kinnard Ravine, which was actually called Rat Creek….we explored every inch of it….cause, we were an easy bike ride to the Edmonton River Valley .. and yes, spent days and days down there……even when the water was running high and our parents told us to stay away..

But back to that house..it was the 60s, and it had that look…

I’m sure memories will flow until and possibly after it’s gone in a few months..just like any house, there’a a lot fo unpack.

So tonight’s talk, inside this evening’s Warren’s Zoom clinic is my take on nutrition..before, during and after…..

I’d like to say that on a nutrition I know nothing, and if I had a bigger group in this Zoom clinic I’d have brought in an actual nutritionist friend, but for this…well, I’ve listened to 20 years of nutrition talks, some frantastic, some just the Canada Food Guide. Ann, well, almost 30 years of running, marathons, triathlons, you name it, I’ve done it…I do know what works for me..and having done all of the above with friends, I’ve seen (is that the right word?) what can happen when something really doesn’t work.

The first thing you learn is that what works for one race or training session, doesn’t work for all them…..par-boiled potatoes on a long bike ride? Sure, but during a run, nah….

Do you always need to drink gallons of this?

I learned that the hard way…hydration, yes good and important..yes, even the elites marathoners have their magic potions….and one time they never even drank anything during that 26.2 miles….but the amount we were once told, and sometimes still are told we need, we don’t….you don’t want to run dry, but you also you don’t want your gut to slosh around like the bladder in a hydration pack…and you want that GI not to need to head for that tree or porta potty every two steps!

My talk tonight is for beginners, or those just on a journey to their first 5K…so nutrition and hydration, my advise is pretty simple….eat and drink.

One thing that has changed, and that I’ve changed, is never run on empty.

Sure if you’ve been eating and drinking well up until the night before that training run or race, you should be fine…but after that sleep, those 8 hours…you are running on empty (that’s why it’s called break-FAST!)….you don’t need enough unless your off to take on a full on Ironman, then eat everything….but something..

Me it’s usually half a banana, some water and I’m good. I have resorted to a gel, but that never works….most gels are designed to give your head a bit of a sugar rush (watermellon sugar hi?) but that’s it. it’s not a nice refreshing snack, you’d be better off with a bit of a Snickers bar…

I used to always run on empty…..do spin classes on nothing…but that energy dives, and also that running on empty just messes up that gut, and the hormones go nuts…this is where females have to really watch that food challenge…..

You just can’t/shouldn’t diet/run/exercise and expect things to turn out well…..there is that hormone; cortisol…it’s designed to make you reatine, well, fat….not muscle fat, but gut fat….it usually kicks in during a famine….you don’t need much for that top up..

I’m going to use me as an example….hydration was something I always think about..I carry water or an electrolyte always..I just keep in mind, I may not need it, but if I do, it’s good to have it there..(you can’t drink a river!)

But, a friend/coach/physio told me straight up, for anything under two hours, you’re good to go. You don’t need as much as you think. Before.

This issue is never the distance..it’s time. Again back to the gold old days of Frank Shorter and Bill Rogers….at that time, say before the first NYC Marathon, no one took much longer than 3 hours to run a marathon, no one ran that wasn’t a real good runner…4 hours would be unheard of…so that changed things…

But, for a 5K….how long is that going to take? I’m going to guess less than 2 hours right? So, a glass of H20 before…sure, again, how about a half of a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and then just go..if there is an aid station on course, and you feel like a sip, sure, but 99.9% of the time, unless you’re running through Death Valley, keep going….

When you’re done…..replace anything you’ve lost…….if it’s an event or a race, 1 of everything they have at the snack and hydration table (yes, at one point the Hash House Harriers used to have small cups of beer!)…but get that nutrition and hydration in…fat, protein, carbs….choc milk is always perfect….nope, don’t be Joey, but yeah..

Then about 30 minutes afterwards, more or less….a good, honest sit down meal…..good food (you know what I mean, real, food) real food….make it social with running friends…an event.

I’m aiming this as those heading for that 5K, their first…..a lot of this is pretty adaptable to further races…and depends on you!

Some people can run on a full hamburger, some barf on a banana….I once ran through the Canadian Rockies at night on a tuna fish sandwich, another time on a bowl of tomato soup..both worked out well….that’s why you practise…

I’m not going to talk healthy versus unhealthy…it’d be like telling someone not to smoke, we all already know….McDonald’s is not health food, an apple would be better ( and not get me going on honey crisp!)…..a burger at a gressy spoon with home made fries isn’t going to kill you, but is it the road to good health? Probably better than something from Wendy’s, definitely, but seriously how long does it take to put together a good homemade stir fry and brown rice?

Wow…using this blog fort his works me think out that talk…..it’s like reading a road map to see where I’m going to go next……

w

KInd of a wasted day…chopped wood for our fireplace, cleaned up the garage, did some reminicing, caught up on my blogging universe, and now chilling in front of rewatching close encounters of the third kind (getting back in touch with my 60s and 70s lately for some reason)…and got the fireplace going…

Gotta admit, chopping a cord of wood is a pretty great workout…..I kind of love it…usually just enough for a good fire at a time, but yeah, an evening of TV in front of an blazing fire, really relaxing..

For some reason I can’t find one now, but everywhere I go, if there’s a waterfall I take a ton of pictures…maybe fewer when I was using digital, but I’ll stop on a busy highway, walk up through the bush, just to see that waterfall up close, and take those photos….

Lately, or a while ago, I was into taking pictures of people being active…just doing stuff…they always inspired/inspires me …runners, biking, skate boarding, roller blading….I always made sure the people were so far away and that there was no way to identify who they were, but even then, after a while I just felt uncomfortable doing that

I’m probably the only person on the planet that hates using my iPhone as my camera….I like a camera that’s a camera..I have a small Nikon that’s so easy to do…I can just aim and shoot with one hand…no need to open an app….but…..the camera looks like a camera, obvious, where the phone, I may be texting someone, or I could be taking a picture, right….?

The problem I have too, is like to take pix while I’m on my bike and just instant and randomly, with the phone it takes a while….like this was just aim and shoot

As well as trying to rebuild myself, a lot of this is about looking back….and I’m realzing the biggest difference between analog and digital….when that harddrive dies, there goes those pix…analog you have the picture….you own it…I recently threw out a huge number of negatives, but still have some, and some slides….and because with analog you only had so many pix you could take, you had to be sure and take the time to get that picture, with digital, tons of the same…..

anyway, to sun’s out, women’s hockey is on TV, a run should happen sometime later today….but a quiet relaxing day going through some history

yeah…different hospital today, but there…

a brain bleed….not sure what that from…..according to the doc, the culprit is blood thinners?

fingers crossed that the medical professionals figure this out….yesterday it seemed dire, because he’s almost 91 surgery is not an option, and at least apparently one nurse? said it’s just a matter of time…but today, he seemed okay. Well maybe not….he’s not really sure where he is (so yeah an issue) he still thought he was at home…asked me if I wanted a glass of wine because he had just bought three bottles, and then he asked mom to get a few glasses…..doesn’t quite understand that he’s in a hospital?..is that the brain bleed talking?………….

This time last year we were here…different hospital, and a few new issues, and he’s 91…

Mom is losing it a bit too..but, well, 90………..

So a long day at the hospital, tomorrow I’m at home with the daughter all day…so at least a little fun, will be active keeping her active

Gotta get her on a healthy good food diet and away from pizza, junk food and milk..and keep he moving…

and then the Valentine’s day run club…so that’ll keep my mind ( and her’s) on other things…

Today seemed to be all about driving and not driving…to the hospital…it was nice to get the Kona on the highway, but handled well….but a long drive….and then home driving my mom home from the hospital meant in almost rush hour traffic…kind of a waste, but like I tell others, somethings are more important than running…there’s always tomorrow..

Dad’s back in the ER……just like this time last year. This year it’s you name it…..endocarditis, A-Fib, gout, kidney disease, cognitive heart failure….and now a headache that won’t go away….

remembering what last winter was like, am hoping this year is better..he was fine throughout the summer, and fall, but winter…back into constant complaining and struggling and being not in a very good place…

started up my Zoom meet up for my virtual clinic…and then quickly finished up after the call from my mom

Hopefully they just send him back home after some tests and give him something for pain management….but last year, at this time he was in hospital for 3 months….so yikes…..hopefully it’s not 3 month in ER, the good thing about last year was that he was in a rehab hospital…fingers crossed…

After this morning’s Blog I was finally able to drag my body out for a run, I took my own advise….

It wasn’t fantastic, but made up an easy route as I went along, turned out to be about 5.5K, which was good…..and felt better after…

glade I went..with my dad, am not sure what the rest of my schedule will be like for the future…really hope it doesn’t screw with my training for the Vancouver Half Marathon…I’m on the fence of cancelling my flight and accomidations right now…I’ll give this a couple of weeks and then decide….glad I didn’t have my heart set on a full marathon….

and then there’s Run Club Wednesday…I have free time tomorrow, so hope for the best…….life is a struggle I guess, and you just hope for the best..it’s life…like i said in my talk, you just do what you can, and if you have to innovate, well, you do…some things are more important than just a run

(on the top of wolfwillow stairs….lost count of the number of steps)

Edmonton….where I was born, and grew up…..left in 1979 and move to Jasper Alberta, and then onto Vancouver, and back to St Albert via Kamloops……..I really didn’t want to be back, when I arrived in Vancouver in 1981, I said I’d never go east ever……but, got married, had kids, then the company I worked for..and retired from, brought me back in 1996….

Being back ain’t so bad…..I do miss Vancouver…a lot, but you make the best you can with what you have, and at least it’s affordable…….

Yep home of the Edmonton Folk Festival…when I left here, this never existed….glad it is, four days of nothing but live music on folk fest hill otherwise known as Gallagher Park…lots of great food…and good times…anf Four Strong Winds

The ITU Edmonton Triathlon has been an annual event since 1999, I volunteered for about 10 years, another amazing event….athletes from around the planet…have not participated, yet….but it’s amazing to watch the best of the best…from all over th planet

I miss that mustache…a bit………

I’ve taken on a few races here.. the Great White North Marathon in nearby Stony Plain (former home to the great Ironman Champ Heather Fuhr) ..been there I think 6 times…..

Yep I’ve run the Edmonton Full and Half Marathon’s numerous times as well…a pretty sweet course

There’s quite a few things I like about being here…the winter isn’t my favorite season, I’m more of a spring/fall thing type person….

The other good thing about being here in the winter…unlike Vancouver, most of those here know how to drive in this stuff…

And how to run…….it’s actually a pleasure…yeah, a lot of our early evening, and early morning runs are done on the dark, and yes, there are coyotes which is kind of cool….they usually just get out of the way after giving us solo early morning runners a dirty look…

We have a great indoor track at the University of Alberta..inside the Butterdome….where our annual Indoor Games are held for local school teams……another great event.

I didn’t actually get outside today…repaired a florescent light in our kitchen, replaced lightbulbs in the fridge and over the stove…..swept, moped, dusted….laundry duty, backed some bread….and then made leftovers for dinner…a full day…back to lace up the running shoes Monday…now for the Super Bowl,

So, it took me a bit of time this morning…because yesterday evening’s run felt soooo good, I figured I had to go this morning, and screw this every second day thing….but…

well it seemed my hea kept giving me things to do to put off that run…….you know, some house repairs, groceries…..wash the car….chop wood for the fireplace…and finally well, why not a spin on the bike instead?

I had been booked for a virtual Zoom spin this evening…but there’s no reason that I had to do that…..so yep…

It felt good, but towards the end of the hour my legs were feeling it…tired?

I’m not sure if I was feeling flu-ish too….what is that all about?

I hadn’t really eaten..so maybe why…but this week so far is feeling good.

Yes I need a shave and a haircut…..but, well…yeah a shave, but I’ve got hair, lots of it…and a lot of my friends that are from my generation, don’t…so fuck it, I’m going to keep it for a while yet…

and yeah, the trend now is short hair…I’ve never been a trend guy, and I grew up on an era when long hair was it…so yep, I’m gonna be a hippy…

It’s been a postive week…a few runs, and a few spins on the bike, and some time doing stuff with other people and getting social…..so yeah, guess the right direction.

A busy Friday and weekend ahead….I’m not sure what has kicked me into gear, and yeah, this is only one week..but again, looking back on January and this month so far, I have been moving in the right direction……65 and 39 days……ask me what I do and I’ll tell you I just get older…

It wasn’t easy….we finally got somemore snow…..

Running on a little snow, maybe some ice, not so bad…but I think we received about 2cm of snow, which was on top of that ice….it was tuff to run on…..traction was okay…I wore my YakTrax which helped…I’m hoping they last me until the end of this season…I’m gambling. the springs and pins last okay as long as there’s snow and ice, but as soon as you run on some concrete or asphalt things start to break…and yeah, I’m running with a little hope, but not much…

I think I mentioned in past blogs how it took me a while to get to the YakTrax…is was reluctant to try them, but I’m hooked…….they don’t fall off the shows, they fit nicely, no pressure points, don’t change the feel of the shoe underfoot, and I just leave them on my shoe for the season – I have another pair without the traction for when the melt has cleared most of the roads and trails.

It’s my third run in four days, so maybe my dark days are going away…I keep remembering when my kids were in school..I would walk my daughter to school, and then run…..and just went everywhere and anywhere, and far….for hours…..I was working and not retired, I now have more freedom, but seem reluctant to get out for more than an hour….so the goal is to get my head around to getting back to just leaving and running…and once spring arrives, biking…

Today I just did intervals, and watched for spots where other’s had run ahead or earlier, or the occastional tire track….but it was hard, sinking into snow – which feels a bit like sand – so it was a good 5K

I guzzling water and hydration a lot….3 to 4 litres a day which adds up to about a gallon….I’ve never been big about hydration, but I geuss age thing, but t seems to help…I’m staying away from a lot of coffee or tea …..it seems like I’ve always been drinking one or the other throughout a day…that’s not healthy…so hydration, and it seems to help the GI feel good, everything working well..

I’m trying to figure this out, but I seem – I don’t want to say obsessed – focused on women’s sports…hockey, yesterday’s USA Olympic marathon trial; right now watching last summers women’s version of the tour de france…if skiing’s on I wanna see everything freestyle….what’s the different from men’s events…they just seem more exciting?….more action, more colour….just fun to watch…

and yeah

I’m about to start with another date with my zoom zoom Monday evening run clinic…we’re talking abs this evening with me doing demos…so will see how this goes…I may, or may not post the results….

I guess it didn’t turn out too awful

w

Can’t believe I’m 65 (and 33 days) and am still figuring things out, life, figuring out life, figuring out me?

Thinking through life, it’s always a challenge. …. 18 was a challenge….high school…6th grade….figuring where I fit in? and I guess that’s normal…

Now’s okay…..maybe?…..this week has been a bit about a personal melt down…( as chronicled already so I won’t dwell)

After a huge self pity party, that took up most of the week….lots of naps, waaaayyyy to much TV, missing a Wednesday evening group run club run….this morning, said F it, as soon as I woke up, a glass of water, a banana, threw the shoes on an just ran…..it still took me a while to convince myself, but, well I did a few things to convince myself….set my watch to 5 and 1s..and yeah, if after the first 5 was done, and I still felt not the greatest, I’d call it quits…..well didn’t

All was good, I took a route I’ve grown to love….a little hill, trails away from roads, from major roads…..and yeah, fun

it felt good, okay…but still can’t find why this was a challenge….I seem conflicted on whatever takes me more than 30 minutes away from home….

Not that long ago, my life was all about endurance, running through the morning fog along the Edmonton river valley, not caring about distance, as long as it was distance…..then strength training, a swim, and lunch……can I ever get back to that?

And I did stuff with people….what happened to that?

I seem to have fallen too much love with this couch,…and in front of the big screen….and I know I know it all falls on those two shoulders and that head between them……my lack of motivation…what happened to three hour bike rides…either with others or on my own….

65 has sort of had something to do with this I guess…..I’ve dug deep into the literature, and so much keeps saying to take it easy, lots of rest days…less running….intervals, cause I’m now a senior, and apparently made of glass and china?…..a lot of my friends, have stopped running altogether….what?

I don’t see many at fun runs or races, some have taken up things like canoing or kayaking…or nothing at all……so when I do get together with a group, my group…yeah I understand why I have a challenge to try and keep up…..I’m usually back or mid packer….so, frustraiting….but not many, or any in my age group..

I’ve always been a bit of a loner…like doing stuff with a lot of friends around me..surrounding me, and I’ve always been someone that like organizing and rounding everyone up…but always as a bit of an outsider and not one of the core of the group….someone once told me (an uncle) to always be an locomotive and not the caboose…and yeah Fleetwood Mac I’ve pretty much always been going my own way…and oddly enough thinking about it now, whenever I fell in with a group, some groups, hung onto some, that was usually when my life went off the rails….that may explain a reluctance to get to invloved with a crew?

I’m not really a fan of some my age…..there seems to be a lot of bitterness…my former coworkers I know get together at a local Tim Horton’s for coffee …the bitter old seniors corner….I really have no desire to get involved with that…..I just have no connection or common ground….

There’s a whole story about my life until about 44 years ago…a break I made as I move further and further away….broke off with a group of friends that I’d clung onto that pretty helped me implode my life…it wasn’t their fault, mine, I will own that…..but that move to Jasper, then to Vancouver was something that made a huge difference…..

I turned away from drinking my life away – that’s all that group seemed to do – and the road since then has been good, so when I know say like’s at least good, and I look back and at now…and what was inbetween…well, life is okay….

the years 1981 to 2012 were amazing, I could write a book…into being outside and being fit, strength training, judging bodybuilding comptitions, a ton of live music, becoming a freelance writer that got to meet some great people, and my personal heroes, made friends that I still keep contact too…then running, marathons, triathlons, bikes, swimming…..volunteering, donating time…and well, getting married to a very tollerant women (I don’t think I’m always the easiest to get along with…that going my own way thing)……..three kids, two autistic but that’s life…..and now, well, I still run, I’m a race director now (who saw that coming?)….I help set up events..I instruct run clinics and share….but I have to admit, with all that….lonely…..

I think this was 2003?……that was a huge part of my highlite reel…..good times, if I hadn’t left, would this have been my life….

Yes, I’ve great memories…..

I made this commitment before January 1st…2024 was all about reconnecting…and making new connections….

Every day is a new day. A chance to make a new start?…I’m 65, there’s more days behind than there are ahead…..I guess instead of moping, and feeling sorry for myself, or look backward…maybe it’s time to look ahead….at least as far as tomorrow?

Yeah….I’m I guess a child of the 60s…but just grew up during the 60s…in some ways too young to really maybe caught on to the Summer of Love, or Woodstock….but that upheaval certaining had an affect…still dones.

Sure the Beatles were a part of my soundtrack, still are….but I’ve always walked (or danced) to different voices than my peers……Sure I listened to Peter Frampton Comes Alive, bought albums by those that were in the top 40…but I would always go into different sections of those record stores than my friends…

I think taking guitar lessons from a few people really had an influence…in grade 6 I was playing tunes by the Band, the Association and Bob Dylan…..Ten Years After while my friends were into David Cassidy and the Partridge Family …Come on get Happy?………then in jr and high school I was introduced to jazz, and guitar players that none of my friends had heard of, and some that they’re older brothers and sisters had listened to…..If watched the movie Almost Famous you’d have an idea what I’m talking about….Cream, the Who….Melanie….

A radio station..I mentioned this before, CKUA in Edmonton….I was introduced to tunes that have always stuck to me..and had an influence on the first concert I ever attended on my own……

He had an album called Sweeping the Spotlight Away….that I had heard at a family friend’s house, and yep, changed my life…..shortly after he put our Boulevard and was on a TV special that again rocked my world…my friends had no idea who I was listening to, they were into Kiss!…..and yes, disco was king at that time too…and yes I did listen to both too…but $5 only goes so far.

That concert at the Edmonton Jubilee Auditorium was an amazing experience..I was in I think 10th grade, on my own……but wow…the opening act was a guy names Shawn Phillips

who was surrounded by I think 10 different guitars….I had no idea who he was at the time, but after..yep…..and McLauchlan also inspired me to seek even more like minded tunes….

I think Bruce Cockburn was shortly afterwards…

And yes, like everyone my age I did go see Kiss on their Destroyer tour

Cheap Trick opened…I remember everything about that show, even that me and my buddy both said we couldn’t stand Cheap Trick…..odd that not that long later, ‘I want you to want me’ changed that…..I guess we were focused on the one act…and didn’t want to hear anything else..

While I’ve listen to a lot since, and lots and lots of live….that’s where it all began….the results of a misspent youth?

I’ve been thinking about this song all night.

In the movie it made sense, opening the TV show, was there a meaning?..a great movie, a very heartfelt TV show…..with a message and a heart…

Much like All in the Family….a show that actually meant something…..will never forget that finale

I guess what set this off, was turning on the news this morning……a young 15 lady had been struck my a car at an unmarked crosswalk in BC…the first news was that she would not survive, this morning the news is a life altering situation. Could anything be sadder.

It makes any self pity party pointless. You cannot even lay blame…it was at an crosswalk, but who knows what caused this, who cares……it make you think. Hug that child (I did that this morning)….tell people you love that you do….that last word could possibly be the final word…

Yes, I do this a lot…but, yeah, as tough as life could be…it is what it is. Maybe frustraition, anger, disappointment are all natural and part of life. But doesn’t have to be the last word…..I guess I need to remember that?

A few days ago, I posted how someone that passed away over a decade ago after a long horrible fight with breast cancer…..she died in the early morning before I took part in my 2nd attempt at an Ironman Triathlon. We all just received a text on our phones that sad simply, that heaven had a new angel…..that was hard to hear.

She planned her own memorial event/celebration. Which was perfect, friends, family, amazing friends with food and wine…..I remember driving home afterwards and the water works began…I pulled my car over, and commited…always in my head and my heart, and to always be the best version me I could be…..J was all about that…no matter what, every run or race, she was usually the first to congratulate me…always wished me well…..one of our last conversations was that she thought that I should become a writer….I never did, but her memory has always been with me……but too often I let that memory down..like yesterday…..I guess I fell off that horse…..

Yeah, look at the back of my hand…that got me through to the finish line…I may have to write that name again on the back of my hand again to remind myself….

I’ll eventually pick myself up, figure things out….try to make sure that I always remember what’s important, what’s not….to pick myself up…sometimes though, well, myself is not enough….

this morning began with hugging my daughter and saying I was sorry……gotta remember how important that is to do…and yeah, working on being the best or the goodest (if that’s a word) version of me as I could be….look for the good in everyone ….. and maybe reach out to a friend to ask for help?

Not a good day…let’s say an awful day.

The father of an autistic of an adult autistic melting down.

Not a good day. Yes my daughter needs a lot of attention to keep connected, and it ain’t always easy…today was not a good ending to the day…

Spent a lof of time playing table tennis, threw basketballs for a while….but still, she was pretty much out of control….yelling, unable to control herself, some maybe she couldn’t control, some she just did….and I did not react well……

She is on a few meds, but none of them actually seem to do anything…..I’ve asked about maybe cannabis being able to help….and was told nope, because there’s no knowlege on how that would work with the medications she’s already on…….so again, unable to control herself.

I’m sure she suffers from depression, and that is addictive. She needs a lot of help, and we need ways to understand her…..we try a lot of different approaches..I try to keep her active because that seems to help…but there are a lot of days, most days, when we can’t even get her to leave her room…

Socializing isn’t something she does, or does well…..she has one friend that will occasionally phone her, but that’s maybe once a day….and the phone is not something she does well or willingly….

I/we have no road map of where this goes, and even though we have medical and some social help from a local agency, we seem to be not going ahead….infact, today has been the normal for since before COVID…..

So frustraited, Today I let it get to me……..I keep hoping tomorrow things will be better..I will keep trying, but there’s no real morning after….so frustraited, anxious, sad/depressed….all of the above, and am sure my daughter feels the same….she doesn’t seem to have an understanding of how to express, or how to control herself……how many times can you strike a deadend?

I had planned a group run tonight…but well, maybe running will have to take a back seat, I just feel like maybe going to and staying in bed is the answer

okay, so I swore I wouldn’t, but, well…a daughter…

and serioulsy, it’s pretty good. Funny, well done…..am I allowed to say I like it?

I like weird things..but this was almost at some point a documentry..a little Barbie history lesson at some point, the good and awful about Barbie……a pretty powerful ending…

A great evening run in the dark under a full moon with our Run Club crew….

12 of us, actually 12 and a 1/2..one of the crew brought along his daughter for some of the fun…

We covered about 6K…..I’d forgot my headlamp, so had to share other’s spotlights, and well, hope!

Loved it, we have a variety of paces, but because I sometimes make the routes a bit of a challenge to follow sometimes, the faster have to wait for me and the slower runners to catch up, I’m usually in-between the two groups…keep those ahead on course, and making sure those behind to stay in contact….and we all finish at the same place….

A good day, a day that ends with a run is always good…..now to try to fall asleep

In all my years of doing this, that’s something I hear over and over again.

Every other book, magazine article, from coaches and personal trainers that should know better.

It’s a sales pitch. Whether it’s Newton shoes, the Hanson method, the pose method, the art of Zen or Chai running (is that coffee or running?)…..gentle running, easy training, and easier way to run…use gravity to make it easier……

The one thing all these promises seem to miss, the best runners, the elites, those that do well; none of they seem to bother with any of that…they just work at it, they train….

They don’t think that strength training is the key, or how they breath, not about some magic potion…they don’t follow some training plan blindly, they don’t change up their plans based on something they read in Runner’s World, cross fit or HIIT training……they just train, they just run.

That’s it. If you want to run….you need to run.

If you want to run quicker, guess what? You need to run quicker, train for that, get stronger, faster.

and if you wanna go further, you run, further.

if you want to run trails, on mountains, through obstacles, guess what?

Sure, will that other stuff help? Towards a specifc goal….keep you uninjured, make you quicker, sure…but you have to do them all of the time….if you want to write, you don’t become a better writer by hang gliding…..you become a better writer by writing…..a dentist doesn’t become a better dentist by performing open heart surgery….to run, it’s simple, run.

There’s nothing wrong with doing a lot of stuff…..swimming, biking, will make you an all round better athlete, strength, flexibility will add that up…nutrition rather than McDonald’s sure..that’ll help, but must run.

You want to get stronger to be a stronger runner. RUN.

Will the right shoe make a difference? Will those special Newton shoes?……um, I know Lance Armstrong may not be the perfect example of this, but, simply buying a Trek bike will win you the Tour de France…even with supplementation, you’d need to train, you need to run.

An easy question, do you want to lift weights? By all means lift weights, but, well, how does someone like Emelie Forsberg or Evans Chebet win marathons or sky races? They run….hills, mountains, will make you stronger….

Is there perfect form, is there the right hydration, is there strategies, is there the right training plan…sure, but bottom line, running is not easy, running quickly isn’t, neither is distance….it is hard work, effort, training, and it doesn’t happen over night, it takes time……..

A training plan, the simplest training plan. Run.

This is yesterday’s post today…..not sure why, but a second I don’t really feel like doing anything, slept in and got some stuff done around the house..and apparently the cold is supposed to arrive tomorrow morning..and still no SNOW!

So yesterday was a good day….no training, just a bit of reflection.

A bit of quiet time, spent some quality time with my aging parents and a visting sister….reflected on some ancient family history, some things I remember parts of, but not all, my dad and mom nope, and before my sister was born.

It’s interesting what you remember…..I’m remembering bits and pieces from almost 60 years ago, family connections, friends and relations, and just history.

Back when my mom was working in downtown edmonton as a telephone operator, my dad and I would go pick her up after work, we’d watch a show called Route 66 and go in my dad’s 1962 Pontiac, along the way, we would stop and visit who I thought was a family friend…..I don’t remember names, I know the where, I sort of remember a face…but my parents have no idea who…..

there’s a few other stories and history we’re trying to work through and piece together..

Have to do it all quickly, dad’s 90, mom turns 90 on January 16th…….up until today we thought on Ukrainian Christmas which this year is January 14th, but apparently mom has done some research and came up with what she believes is the right date she was born.

Both seem okay, Mom’s not the greatest, sleeps a lot and doesn’t seem to want to do much…

Dad’s at least okay, hearing isn’t the greatest……not driving, but seems alright.

The younger sister, her history is gone….for some reason, well the parents are downsizing, so they’re selling and getting rid of a lot of things, like photos and photo albums, and my sisters photoalbums! lol!

I’ve been a good older brother, I’m digging through what I have saved…….and so far found a few things, but not a lot……

I like history, family history, my history, the history of my old neighborhood, and old friends that I grew up with in the ‘hood, and went to school with…..

I’m not sure if it’s at all important, but that connection is something I like…..

Today was a working day.

Yep, I’m an events guy with the Running Room……and part of that job involves setting up the start, finish line, and everything that goes into the pre and post nutrition area..and me walking the 5k route to mark off the directions and to set up the direction signs……so, yep, started up my morning with a 5.06K walk.

Cool thing, there was another run scheduled this morning…a 5K Park Run..and while I was setting up our route, they ran by me….the cooler thing, I knew a lot of those runners…so a lot of good mornings, happy new years…that was a nice way to start up the day…

My next job was sweeping the kid’s 1K run…which meant another 1.06K walk/run…it was okay, there were a few quicker kids, I was following/sweeping a French coule with two kids, that maybe wanted to run, or cry, or scream, or wanted to be carried……but fun.

Job number 3 on the morning of my 65th Birthday……sweep behind the 5K runners and walkers….which wasn’t as much fun as it sounds….5.58K, following a group that had no intention of doing anything but site seeing, taking pictures, stopping to look at their kids, hardly walking, more like sauntering…. frustraiting…at one point I just stopped, let them get a K ahead of me so I could actually run for a bit…

I took a few detours, and for some reason the hydration station crew set up the turn around point at 5.03K, and not where I set up the turn around marker….so as those ahead of me turned, I carried on for another 5K…..so as I ran back to the start, I could actually run, a bit from mileage marker to mileage marker….so that did feel a bit better…..and I got to cross the finish line and get my medal…

The run wasn’t a chipped run, so distance and time wasn’t a big deal….and then, coffee, some food, and then it was time to take everything down…..

Almost 12K walking and running….had fun, hooked up with a lot of people I hadn’t seen for a while, and welcomed in a new year…..hello 65

Or Maybe 26?

I could only wish

Apologies ….I haven’t posted for a while, just kid of busy, and not a lot to post

Today, feel like death warmed over…..headache, flu like, running nose, sore everythere…so yeah the flu……did my rapid test and no COVID, and even though I’ve had my flu shot, my wife came hom early from work Thursday, and it was just a matter of time…..

I managed a short 6K run yesterday that felt good….had to dig into my winter shoes for more traction, the Saucony Peregrin Ice+….heavier, so now slower…..but that’s fine, once spring comes that’ll mean stronger faster

My back has been bothering me a lot, just one side, no sure if that made me more susceptible to illness, but yeah, I won’t say I’ve never been this ill, but it’s been a long while….

I’ve been putting together a picture book for my parents for Christmas…pretty well just rebuilding a old scrape book that’s falling apart……brought back a lot of memories…..and made me think

Are there things I remember, or is seeing pictures sparking a memory…

LIke this…I remember the dogs, I don’t remember where this is, somewhere in the State of Washington I’m thinking….but, yeah, so yesterday was a day of scanning…..now to sort them all out.

Being sick brings back some memories too…….when I was younger, and single, I would scrub out whatever appartment I was in from top to bottom, and everything I owned would go into the washing machine……

I’d be a cleaning machine..and always would make sure everything had its place……girls wold visit and say they’d never seen a room, let a lone a guys place that clean…

When I first met my wife, one of the first things I ever did was clean her appartment……..because OMG!

Anyway today and tomorrow, watching TV and looking at this, and I promise tomorrow I’ll get back onto reading everyone’s blogs…..and yeah, appaently drinking a bottle of rum isn’t a cure

Our crew had another good night…but, winter’s pretty much here.

Not a lot of snow, but it seems that the melt and freeze cycle is back..

I thought yesterday evening would be fine, an easy run, and sure the roads and sidealks should be fine and clear.

Woops, not…..my On Cloud Surfers were not great. No traction…which is kind of not s suprise…

I thought everything would be fine, but from the start, it was like running with cross country skis on…and then when we crossed one road onto a trail that hadn’t melted nor had been cleared, yikes…it kept feeling like I was running on sand….so the next run, traction will be used.

I’ve been reminiscing too

My best life when every Wednesday evening and every Sunday I’d drive into Edmonton, my Collingwood Running Room to join my crew there to run..it was always fun, a huge group, a huge variety of runners..and then hours and hours of coffee afterwards…

Was it the drive, or was it the group….a huge group pf friends…..

Saturdays were in there as well…………….Friday nights at the pool…..some biking hills on Tuesdays, long ride Saturdays…and so many races….

That was a lot of years ago, how do I get that back?

I keep rewatching this show…..and a lot of the success of the group it follows….the GROUP!!!!

Digging through what has at times become an inspiration, Robin Arson’s book Shut Up and Run….that’s one thing she focuses on, a crew, I need a crew….and I know I’ve said this before, but yeah, I’ve gotta get social…but well, I’m old

the rebuilding, remodeling continues…and yes, Good Night John Lennon

Today was a day of well…..doing some things – Birthday, Christmas shopping…..groceries, making dinner – but still…well.

I think all four shots were taken a place I lived in at one time in Vancouver.

That was such a cool place, a small housekeeping suite on W13th between Burrard and Cypress….this was the mid-80s….no TV, actually I didn’t even have a radio…my good old stereo, I just read newspapers once in a while and listened to and played a lot of music…lots of live music and movies…

Purple Rain I have no idea how many times, and Street of Fire was around that time too.

That’s when and where I met my wife…..

And I seemed to like just taking random pictires…….I had a Cannon AT1….and the random always seemed good, lots of memories…..and such a cool time….

I was an easy bike ride down to the beach, Spanish Banks…I’d pull up a log for the day, listen to music (that good old walkman) work on the tan..and then bike back up that stupid hill home…..

Work was a challenge…a long ride into downtown Surrey, but that was just about 45 minutes, and wasn’t my life..this was, and always was….

It seems as though I spent my 35 years as a railroader trying so many other things…it paid well enough, and I had enough time I got to do that…..

That’s the place….my third west coast home after starting out in New Westminster, then to Vancouver’s West End near Beach Avenue and English Bay….and then this $150 room, a huge room…really high ceilings, a small kitchen, but a gas stove and oven that I loved…sort of like my hovel, without the round doors…..

It was another life, and I don’t know why my head keeps going back to where and what I was….I lived on my 10 speed……I ate okay (I was walking distance to my fave foodie place, the Granville Public Market

and here’s a better pix of that house

I always wanted to know more about the history…was it always a rooming house? And how about the houses around that spot…….who lived there, how old is it?…….I originally ended up there because a friend – her name was Heidi – told me it was the place to be, Kitsilano…then she dumped me, and told me that I wasn’t in Kits prope?…..The community hall was just down the street, the Kits beach down the hill….so maybe it was my ever evolving taste in music….

I did end up eventually buy a TV…I don’t think I got cable, I just rented and then bought a VHS player, um, because, my girlfriend liked watching movie….the first two movies I rented was Doctor Zhivago and My Fair Lady…they were both two VHS tapes long….we didn’t get a lot of sleep….

MUst of worked though, because we eventually moved in together……and yes, moved to south Vancouver, and got married…….

Good memories…..I plan on making a few trips to the west coast in 2024…..I keep trying to get some of what I had there, here…..relaxed, laid back….good food, great music, a nice social life…or how about just a social life……

Anyway, starting up yet again tomorrow and this week…..got to get social and just get over that anxiety thing

So todays my day….I’m the house cleaner….

So far, straightened out our garbage can….for some one I’m the only one that knows how to tie up the ends securely, and to be able to stuff all the bags in so the lid closes and the birds, crows and magbies don’t think it a smorgasbord…..

Then clean up the kitchen, wash dishes, wipe off the counters and table, sweep and mop…..

Vacuum the downstairs and the cold and hot air vents (we’re getting them and the furance are being cleaned next Thursday, so why not?) I did the upstairs yesterday……went back outside to clean up the garage…the garage mice have been helping themselves to bird seed, and make a mess while they do…so I swept all that up, which mean clearing everything off the work counters first…looks better, and the extra seeds went outisde to the birds…..

Laundry, got that caught up….played the guitar a bit…worked on my Deep Purple and Def Leppard riffs after a lot of tuning…..

And then, well, this is my daughter Sasha

It was time for me to attack her room…specifically one wall, and the flooring beneath that wall, that corner….

Sasha sometimes throws eggs……Sasha is autistic……in her 30s, …..she’s verbal, but a limited amount of verbal, she understands a lot, but doesn’t always understand, and she gets fruatraited….also she hates birds…..

Sometimes she’ll throw the eggs towards the brick post in front of house, or at the brick work in the front of our garage……and if she feels the urge, a wall, a random wall in our house, pretty much in her room….

At times we don’t notice right away…..if we get to the mess quickly enough, with some elbow grease, a mop, sponges, vacuum cleaner, not an big deal….if we don’t, a little more elbow grease……

I know it has, well maybe the birds…..outside her window there’s a huge tree that’s usually filled with sparrows and/or finches….

We do have a bird feeder that stays pretty busy so that’s attracts her feathered friends even more.

I don’t know if that’s the reason for the eggs, or if it’s just frustation…..

I’ve asked, we’ve asked…..but Sasha never says…

But that was my morning……swept the floor, vacuumed the floor, moped, scrubbed the walls, then swept, vacuumed and moped again…but looks better, and yes it looks like it’s time to paint those walls…

Now, it’s time for tea, lunch…grilled cheese sandwiches for her, left over pasta and sauce for dad….and watching docs on Apple TV…….one right now about a volcano explossion on New Zealand……the decision to cut out those 24 hours news channels continues…so lots of music, reading, and everything else but the news….going through things on the PVR that I’ve yet to watch, so watch and delete….

I guess I’m making dinner tonight, but I need a run either tonight, or may go twice during one of the up coming days to keep that 31 in 31 days on track…

I wonder how many calories I’ve burned doin’ the chores today…..?

w

Interesting thing….did Starbucks today…..I guess I knew this, but more than just coffee!

Did a steamer (steamed milk) with almond flavor…..not coffee, not caffeine, but good..I guess, sure, sweet so sugar of some kind…..but may be a good opion for a month without tea or coffee….

I know running everyday isn’t always a great thing, but am going to just go and see how things go…I think running, edurance, and keeping active, keeping that metabolism up will help with the weight loss goal of 10 pounds off in 31 days…..I did start early, today was day 3 for 3, and along with the spin on my bike trainer Monday, I guess I’m on a good path…

It just felt good to get outside….not all that cold, I think it was -5C, which is – I have no idea what in Fahrenheit, maybe +23?……but actually felt a little over dressed…

I’ve taken to wearing a BUFF throughout the colder parts of the year…keeps the heat in, the cold out….and kinda cool..and with that I need all the help I can get….

I really didn’t feel like a run today, but figure whatever, go for 20 minutes, and start off that Advent Calendar on the right foot……head hurts now, another headache, am not sure where that came from or comes from…is it the 4 year old concussion reminding me that it’s still there and may be come cronic?….I’m gettin the eyes checked next week, my annual checkup, will have to see if that’s an issue…

I also received a new prescription for my enlarged prostate, so maybe that’s it….but otherwise, as with every run, feeling okay otherwise, actaually feeling good..

Along with a diet that involved real food, and lots of water, I’m kicking the habit of watching 24 hour news TV, and staying away from newspapers….am not sure when that all changed, but seriously the majority of time it’s not news, it’s editorials and opinions and commentary, which are all as valid as whatever those people in the senior’s corner at Tim Horton’s……so kicking a couple of habits for the month of December…so day 1…

So day 1…………….30 days to go

I guess I’m allowed to post a pix that I hate

It was a good day, an okay day…am allowed to say I’m happy I did stuff.

Someone else recently posted something about social anxiety, as I read it, and reread, and more I did, the more I thought, THAT’S ME!

I have to say though, I don’t know. Is it something I can hide….or fool others or myself ….?

As the day goes by, I put a virtual check mark next to anything……driving to get my car’s tires torqued, yeah done…had to talk to other people, and got that done….so a check marks and giving myself a pat on the back…not huge, but for me to leave my couch, from being in front of my TV and from my laptop is something…..then walked into COSTO, did some shopping, crossed with someone I hadn’t seen for a while, and yeah got it done, another getting out and about check mark..

Then getting home, throwing my gear on and went for a run……again, normally, I woud have said, I did a few things, that’s enough…now to cocoon?…..I’ve planned to run a lot for what’s left of 2023, so the goal was that I had to get outside, but still, amongst people?

Actually there weren’t a lot of people out on the trails, and actually no runners, just really dog walkers…but still I got outside, and out….and it was okay, and it felt good…

I stopped by my Running Room store for a social visit aftwards, and that felt good too…chatted with two I guess still are co-workers….it was good, we chatted…and then went home and made dinner for the family

I’ve always had this……..not well, understanding or trusting myself, or being comfortable with myself….

Always feeling out here on my own…

I have to admit, I like organizing things like this, but am constantly shocked when anyone shows up…..

I’m not someone that attracts, I occasionally feel like a bit of a fraud, and I’m pretty sure there’s other reasons that people show up and join in and run with me….I’m usually not someone other people think of, or if they do, I’m like their 3rd or fourth choices….and seriously, I wouldn’t think about me either…..

This is from years ago, another group, another run…….I do hate pictures of myself too….but yeah orgainzing is good, I think this is one of the runs, training runs I’d organized and people that weren’t even a part of our usual group, they just joined in

Ywah…I don’t know if you even get over this type of stuff…but at least it has a term social anxiety…..or maybe just depression?…..

But, maybe, just maybe there’s a path out of this?

Last night was good…a good run with friends, and Christmas lights!

Yep, it still surprises me when I organize stuff and stuff happens……

For our second Wednesday in a row we checked out even more Christmas lights….and it was fun and fine.

I felt strong, and because I was the only one that knew the route (yes, I got lost at one point…things look different in the dark)…..I got to lead…the planned route

This is what we did

So I think we took only one turn……

The attempt to get rid of 10 lbs before January 1st continues…..to do that, I need more runs like yesterdays.

My diet is fine…lots of water, and honestly our meals have always been all about veggies and healthy food…..tonight is all about tofu…at 65 I don’t imagine I’ll ever be slim again, but at least healthy and fit would be a good thing….

I seem to have an issue when it comes time to hit the gym or the pool…..running is okay, I just step out my front door, and spinning on my bike training can be done at home in front of my laptop…..but getting into my car and driving somewhere to pump iron on a regular basis, will it happen?…maybe…

Today’s work out will be a short run soon……and oh yah, COSTCO!

Yep, Run Club Wednesday….

I’ve been thinking lately, I haven’t missed a Wednesday since……way back when

This evening I wasn’t feeling my best, actually not at all day….so at about 430 I said (well to myself) that I’d just go out, send my crew on their way and then go home…..but well, I guess I got caught up in the moment and ran anyway…..and it felt great…

Just short of 7K…..not a bad pace, we had I think 15 runners out, a lot of different paces, no one ran alone, and I had fun…….for me, that’s what it has to be…..

And there were Christmas lights……….so great!

So yeah, sometimes, I guess no does mean yes……or never take no for an answer when it’s your head talking

So I do this…I instruct run clinic…pretty much have been doing so since about 2006.

New runners, those learning, those with a lot of experience…half and full marathoners…some huge clinics, some smaller….100s, to 15 maybe…..sometimes 5..

COVID short of shut that down…I was instructing for the company I work for, the Running Room…so they shut that down, first because all their stores were shut down….then when everything opened up again, it took almost 6 months before run club, group runs began…..and then virtual clinics on Zoom…..that all started up in 2022? maybe…but really expect for that COVID break my life have been split up in groups of 10 weeks for most clinics, to 18 weeks for the half and full marathon clinics…

I do get paid for those…and I guess that’s okay, they do take over my life……it’s not a lot, if split in per hour, there are times when I think of nothing else….

In person vs Zoom meets have their pluses and minuses…..Zooms are all recorded, so those unable to attend still benefit and don’t miss anything…..and a Zoom meet can reach out to places of the planet where an in person clinic just isn’t possible…some have been people in remote places..and it is kind of cool to have people as far away as Peru, the Yukon, Minnesota, Newfundland, and northern Vancouver Island all in the same virtual clinic…..

And the recordings mean that those with access can rewatch over and over again forever…which, you just can’t do with an in-person clinic….

The in person clinics…..there’s that connection, and in person coaching, and encouraging……and in person cheerleader as opposed to a virtual cheerleader…..it’s hard to correct biomechanics for instance from afar….and, well, accountability….with a clinic with two in person training/group runs and the clinic run, corrections can be made, but also, those in the clinic are accountable to just show up….

Now I’ve taken a different step…..I’m yes taking on another Zoom/virtual clinic, but on my own, without the Running Room safety and on line presence………..

Today was day two….with 3 in attendance, and I talked for almost an hour about setting up a training schedule and stiking to it…

This was my day two of doing this……….and yes I can talk for an hour about almost anything running related…..

I hope this gets bigger….it’s kind of cool, maybe stupid, but I’m just doing me for free, a free clinic …

no safety net, I should be able to use guest speakers, but, well….I’ve got the free time, I’ve got that Zoom account, so why not…..?

Today’s topic was all about setting up a plan

Next week…..effort. heart rates, VO2 Max…..and how to make use of all that within that training plan…

Tonight felt good, postive….felt right.

w

After 3 pretty good days….today felt like a good day to rest and recover….

I’m still figuring this out….at almost 65, how do workout and rest days work?….Recovery days, when….?

So today, a little stiff and sore, so chill…eat well, healthy green-ish food (dinner this evenings was chicken with a salsa sauce with a little heat, rice and stir fried veggies….)…..

At some pont, getting the bike trainer out felt like the right thing to do, to get rid of some of that lactic acid build up….

Just 45 minutes playing around with the gears and watching YouTube videos..

That felt good…yes I watched way too much TV…but finished off another shot at Stranger Things (when’s the next season!?)…….attempted into something called the OV, and am making a concerted effort never to watch or engage with the news…

Have to keep this up…

Hitting the weights on Tuesday was a good idea….I haven’t pumped iron since pre-COVID…so instead of loading up the bar with 45lb plates, so starting again with 10lb plates…..and more machines than free weights…..but yeah, sore in all the right places today….

Tomorrow, back at it……think I have a whole day of freedom, so a run, back to the weights….and work on an upcoming Zoom clinic….hopefully this time it’ll work, and I can get myself on my way..

I may still will head out for a run at some point, but today seems like a good rest day, a day to get caught up on things..I do have a virtual zoom meet planned for 6:30 this evening…I’ll see how I feel after dinner.

I did something, because I think something should be said, and wrote a letter to the editor

I thought my words were balanced…I won’t post the on-line reactions and critiques…..but wasn’t surprised.

Anyway my one job today is to order flowers for my daughter’s bday..and have them delivered when it’s pretty much guaranteed to embarrass her, because that’s what dads are supposed to do.

So it begins…my very first virtual clinic via Zoom….without a safety net.

The first night. A small group, but well, I’ve got spare time, I have a Zoom account, so why not use it?

This going to be a challenge and interesting…walkers, runners, those just beginning, some with a lot of experience….I’ll cover all bases every week……

I guess I think running is something to be shared..so I guess that’ll be this clinic….every Sunday, without a net…

Normally I teach clinics backed by the Running Room and their platform……..now, well, it’s just me…

Because, I couldn’t think of a good reason not to….

Just finished binge watching this two season series….not bad. it was okay, but it makes you think.

If say, the world was about to end. Say You knew that a planet ending rock, an asteroid was going to impact the planet in 5 hours…….what would you do?

Yes we’re all eventually going to die…..but what if this was the senario?

I’m going to have to sleep on this…..but, well, that would be the difference, you wouldn’t have that luxury….what would you do? what would you say? who would you say it to?

Would you hold hands with someone, hug someone….try to contact someone?…..

You would only have 5 hours. Is that even time to think? it would have to be a reaction, an automatic action….

So, why wouldn’t you do that one thing now?…Say that thing now? Make that connection now without impending doom?

Again, we never know when we’ll pass on. Even those on that death bed, with so many days, hours, months, don’t know the exact moment……and if you didn’t say those final words, say you loved that one person, you wouldn’t have a second chance.

I wonder, how many regret not doing that……someone important to you, leave the house to go for groceries, is there a guarantee they’ll come back? What if?

Again an okay series, but it makes you think….and maybe, act?

So yeah, a new virtual Zoom clinic tomorrow evening…this ones different.

I usual do this with my Running Room providing my support….a platform, tomorrow, it’s flying without a net….

It began with me posting this on one of my many Facebook groups

(2) Why not a Warren’s virtual clinic..if I do this will anyone come? | Facebook

and, well..people started say hell yes…..

It’s going to be an offseason about everything maybe 10 weeks, maybe forever……so today’s job, one of the jobs, clinic prep for day 1.

It’s New York Marathon eve….that’s tomorrow morning…..who’s idea was it to have a marathon on the morning of a time change?…yes I did it on 2009, the morning after Halloween in New York City, and after setting those clocks back 1 hour….so, less sleep…..but I did it, it wasn’t the fastest I ever ran, but seeing all the Buroughs of New York City in one morning was worth is…the tunes, the live music through Harlem, Marcus Garvey Park was worth the 26.2 miles…..

I’ve only been to Gothem twice in my life…I was lucky enough to be there in the spring of 2001….

from the top of the World Trade Centre…….I keep thinking of that day…..eating at a coffee shop across the street from Brooks Brothers, going up those elevators to the top, walking along the catwalk at the top and seeing someone on the edge welding…..going back to the bottom, asking a cop how to get to the subway…..having a hot dog on the street right across the street, and wondered, have always wondered, were all the people I saw that morning, were they there?……scary thoughts, sad thoughts…..

now to fun stuff….this….the 70s, the time when heavy metal, the new age of heavy metal was the thing..everything was loud…a song, loud stick goes boom….Krokus!

I think this was them opening for Cheap Trick……man I was close….never worse ear plus….imagine a sledgehammer hitting your chest…actually this might have been opening for Motorhead….

I think they were Swedish of something……and loud…

I remember driving home from work one night, parking our car in the garage, my wife going out to get groceries, I’d forgotten to turn the CD player down..she started the car, and BOOOOOMMMMMM….woops?

Anyway, now to get back to work

No matter what? My M.O. is pretty much all about one thing, I’m all about one thing….I don’t do anything unless fun is part of the equation.

Last night’s run was a part of that…..making up the route for a group of people yesterday evening as we went along..it always amazes me whenever that happens……today’s run….partly forced myself to get my ass out the door for a run, whatever happened, and had another fun run…

It was kind of cool, started out with one route, part was familiar, then improvised…used a path I don’t normally use….popped out and the rest was the usual…..and yeah, forgot to press start on my watch..and found ICE!

Also I found a name. In a various locations along the trails and paths in St Albert, there are these benches

names added to them in remberance of someone special…..I and sometimes with my kids when they were younger, we’d try and remember the names, write them down, or take a picture of the plaques….this one…someone’s mom, wife, a local entrepreneur who owned a flower shop….others I’ve noted have been of other runners I didn’t know, but had crossed paths with…I remembered the faces, but didn’t know the names…some were doctors, teachers, and yes, other runners…..

Today, my second run after this was done

my first race as race orgaizer ever…..all done, now I can relax and run…..

the pix are starting to trickle in, and yeah, I, the race instructor, did get caught on camera a few times

Today, I also continued the dig through older photos…

I took this years ago at the Regina Folk Festival…..this is two of the members of Edmonton’s , I can’t remember the name of their band, Jen Kraatz (she’s the one not in the picture) Wendy McNeil, and Luann Kowalek…..three of my fave songwriters…the trip was worth it…also I’d never been to that part of Canada before, so I guess it was so worth it……….

I’ll post an old interview I have with them that I wrote about the same time……but yeah, worth listening too……

Lately I’ve been digging through a lot of tunes on YouTube, I love this Playing for Change version of Love Train….seems timely

and yes, Guns and Roses drummer Chad Smith

w

Hey, yep, winter’s coming……and I’m f-ing ready….my snow tires are on!!!

And I found a huge number of birds…on Halloween….

While Costco was taking forever with the tire change..I went for a walk…and yeah, a massive number of Canada Geese……..they must really ike that lake …

I was just reading all about migration and birds, and wow!!!!….how do they do it…flying on a massive number of calories….they’ve trained their bodies to move on less…..the way they digest food changes, their bodies change……and they travel day and night, in the dark…how do they know where they’re going?…..it’s like humpback whales traveling from Hawaii to Alaska…..do they follow the stars?…

Managed to find a new park I hadn’t been to before…..

One thing about this area….lots of parks paths natural areas…..and as soon as a new development opens up, an effort to keep this practice up…and us runners appreciate it

Not at all impressed with Costco…they said 1 hour, I had an appointment for noon, 1 hour went by, a second hour, and they smiled and said oh, another 5 or 10 minutes….

But, I got to go for a looonnnnnngggggggggg..walk

so all good….

Am getting good feedback on my race, I guess people liked it…so, yeah I finally did something good and right…

There are so many moving parts to putting on an event like this..

It may only be 114 runners, 26 volunteers..a 5 and 10K….but, the same rules apply to this as does to next weekend’s NYC Marathon …. and it’s like hurding cats at some points, and at some points it’s amazing that so many want to help…..

I’ve been super luck, and blessed, I actually have so many people that have stepped up to help….yes some I wish had, but those that have…26 of them plus the 6 sponsors…..those that put up the posters, those that promoted this event on their radio station, in their blogs, and their events…that feels so good…

tomorrow morning this all begins…..at 930 the speeches, the warm up, and then I get to watch 114 people run, fill our trails…..I cannot wait for that to begin….

That’s the dream……..

7AM is going to come quickly……and then at about noon, this will all be done…..

lots of moving pieces….like a good car or rocket ship, 26 volunteers all working, the staff of my support team, the city support…..and the volunteers, at 12 different spots….all hopefully helpfully making this engine run smoothly……pointing partcipants in the right directions….feeding some, passing on hydration, cheering, putting on medals to those doing the kid’s run….warming them all up, then cooling them all after…….then coffee, hot chocolate, granola bars, chocolate, water…and yes a cool down…

Yes, I know, I haven’t responded to any of my fellow bloggers for a few days, once this is done, life as I know it will return and I’ll play catch up……..and then?

Start planning for 2024…

So, Friday…race day is now almost here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today, package pick up day…111 signed up, coming in to pick up race numbers/bibs, and their toques….

It looks like it should be a good Sunday….not HOT, but pleasant, no wind and the sun should be out…and the paved paths of St Albert will be filled with runners and walkers….and course marshals!

111….26 volunteers….and all, well…..I’m their race director!?

YIKES!

Now, it’s almost like getting ready to run a marathon….there’s absolutely nothing I can do or have to do before race morning…….nothing I can do to make anything better…….so just sit back and relax!

Yep, race package pick up continues tomorrow…..but, I have volunteers to look after that…

Sunday, wake up, and walk the course, put up al the direction markers so that no one gets lost…..

Organize the volunteers…..have the dignitaries make their speeches, get everyone warmed up…..then sent everyone on their way……take off after the race begins to grab coffee, cheer everyone in…..organize the cool down..and all then be done…

I AM TERRIFIED!

My first effort at this…..and I think I have all the bases covered, people in all the right places…..

I guess like a marathon it’s the nervousness of waiting for the event…..

legs are shaking……tired, and just waiting to get started….

Actually, it seems the best thing to keep me calm and relaxed and not obsessing…so tonight it’s back to Battlestar Galactica…… I bit the bullet and bought the DVD Box Set

I’m done with the Travelers….for now…it’s so good, it’s really hard to compare it to anything else

The writing, the story line…..so wel done…….

The coolest thing about the show is one of the actors is Mackenzie Porter, who’s also a singer…..

and a pretty great one too….

but yeah, the countdown begins………and now to find some way to chill….relax even.

Um, yeah…I still haven’t got my snow tires on, and over night, winter has now arrived.

It seems that yesterday was summer, or at least autumn…the leaves were so pretty, a run in the river valley was amazing

Now

A bit of a challenge…..

So today and the rest of the week, race day!……

Now is all about groceries…..what do I need to get to keep everyone happy..well, coffee….will there be enough coffee?…how many bananas and cereal bars do I need to have for 104 people (so far)…?

and why do so many wait until that final week to register?….OMG…I was hoping to get 100, and we got there last night…this morning, and that was the limit I set….100…I don’t want to overwelm the trails, and scare others using those trails that arn’t a part of the race…..but, well, the benefit is a charity, so the more, the more $$$ for that is a good thing…balance, I have to keep that balance…

When I started this I thought 100 participants, 20 volunteers….well, now, 104, and 21, and they’re still signing up……it’s gonna be a busy Sunday!

This was my yesterday

Runnin’ with the kids…..that was part of my day..getting my ass kicked by kids…..I need to really start training…

But, 6 days to race morning, a few things to do, but I worry every day, every hour…..24/7…so Like I said a few blogs ago, taking a training break until Monday…then back at it…..for now, focus on one goal at a time

Now off to buy groceries, and make even more lists..

w

Run LoSeCa Run…….it’s almost here…..

Finally

95 participants have signed up

I think I’m now at 20 volunteers……

This has gotten scary…do I tell people to stop registering?……

It’s weird I thought I’d have way too many toques..now I’m worried I won’t have enough…..

There’s really not much I need to do or can….next week is all about gathering the post run food and drink…and now another challenge….I wasn’t going to have coffee or hot chocolate..now, sure, coffee, it’s going to be cold!!!!

Or at least chilly…..

but 9 Days?…….

Have to say this has been a little work, and there’s 9 days of organizing and checking my lists once or twice or more……I know what needs to be done…but coffee???

in 10 days, I can rest

Yep, proof, aliens are real..and they ride flying discs!

Today started off slow……still figuring out this race thing…almost just 9 days away, and I need to figure out coffee!…I wasn’t planning on adding coffee to the post run snack deal, but, it’s gonna be a chilly Sunday, so there’s better be coffee…..I don’t have time to try and find a sponsor to donate, so will have to purchase….two urns, coffee and hot chocolate, and I have 9 days to try and make that happen….

I finally dragged my butt out the door at lunch time for an almost 8K run….

honestly I had a hard time comvincing myself to get out the door…but used the old…just go somewhere, start, and if it feels good just carry on, if not, don’t…it felt fine

the final sunny and warm day of 2023, started with a hill and a climb which got me warmed up…I stuck to intervals, and if felt oh so good…….a beautiful autumn day in the big city.

That all it takes really…ya just have to start…which, as the year gets colder, chilly, and well then snow….but as long as the door hits my ass as I get out the door, all will be good..and then you get to brag about just doing it

Then tonight a walk….I don’t normally do that..I run, don’t walk…..but tonight, I’d promised my clinic folks that yep, I’d do this outside…..the deal was to have our last meet with everyone from where they ran….I guess I was the only one that got the memo……….so yeah, a short 3K walk, just before sunset…while chatting on my phone with 7 people…..I was hoping for 31, but 7 who’s just run their first full and half marathons this past weekend…that was good.

We finished just before the night fell….and well, the wind will blow…we’re going for +20C today to maybe +12 sometime tomorrow, and then minus something next week…..but the point, the walk felt right..am thinking I will add an evening walk to the routine…

Tomorrow, tomorrow..still focusing more and more on race, less and less on training…..but still, getting outside, it’s amazing at what fresh air and a little sun dones.

I wish I was there this weekend..

https://www.fcancerconcert.ca/?r_done=1

This is on in Vancouver this weekend…wish I was there. A good cause, great tunes, and bands that I followed like a sick puppy when I was younger…..Colin James, Chilliwack, Doug and the Slugs, Prism…..I did follow them, to Vancouver’s west end and elsewhere on the left coast.

Yes my time in Vancouver……..sob, sob, sob…….

I don’t know if I ever talked about this, but, yep once I settled into the West Coast, I made the move from New Westminster to Vancouver’s West End…just off of Beach Avenue….

At that time (the Early 80s) New West was a little run down, the main street was not appealing….

It was a good location because I was close to work, just across a bridge…..but I was spending the majority of my time driving back and forth into Vancouver proper…..so yep, driving to the train yard at midnight, and driving home in the mornings was a challenge….but I was doing that anyway….so yep.

I’ll dig around a see if I can find pictures, but the 8th floor of a highrise on Harwood Street. A block away from English Bay, Sunset Beach….Davie, Denman….and walking distance to the Commodore Ballroom, the Railway Club, The Orpheum Theater….and Stanley Park. Loved it.

Weird thing….I was working mainly graveyard shifts, and had a hard time sleeping on my days off…..so I spent a lot of nights around downtown Vancouver after dark….which was so cool, cause I wasn’t alone.

I remember a few coffee shops and restaurants that stayed open all night long, and you’d see and meet some amazing people….and yep, women don’t have an Adam’s apple…I learned that then…but no big deal……

Right now for some reason I miss a burger with a slice of avocado on it..

And music everywhere…I think that the Vancouver folk fest had just started up down at Jericho Beach, it was cool to go down the day after, and there’d always be something…..a drum circle, a bunch of people with guitars…..

The only issue I had, the rent for my batchelor apartment was $400 a month…..yep, off of Beach Ave for $400…..and I got pissed off at having to pay $15 a month for a parking space…..yes, 1983. So pre-Expo 86, prices were still, I didn’t think so at the time, cheap…come on, $400…wonder what the rent is now huh?

So I moved after a year….to Kitsilano…..a house keeping suite in a huge house on W13th…..$150 a month!

No way huh?……free parking. And just up the hill from Granville Island, the beach….okay so uphill after, but that was perfect…shared the bathroom and one washroom, a tiny kitchen…but was so cool.

I miss it always….so yeah, Vancouver was my heaven..but, well, you get a girlfriend, then a wife, then kids, then you move..and then back to Aberta, to St Albert..I can still visit….but good memories.

yep……ran across the universe

and it’s getting better all the time…….way too many times I feel like that fool on the hiil, but honestly,

every day seems to feel right, good…..I feel a lot of energy, instead of putting stuff off, I just do….no more, but procrastination….not really a huge thing…I do seem to spend too much time not doing stuff, but on the other hand, I spend a lot of time trying to fill my spare time up……is that retirement?

Yeah, I’ve been retired almost 10 years, it’ll be a decade come next February, in I think 79 days, I’ll have to change the words to when I was 64.

Today’s run took a while to get to, it seems that lunch runs are now my thing..after a full breakfast…

Did that Yesterday, which seems so far away…..but running is feeling still good…I now need to pick up the pace….so, the more, is better, stronger is better…..variety is needed…..and great.

That was today, just made it up as I went along, a few turns I don’t usually do, and I’m starting to feel strong enough to run with a little help from my friends…….someone to push me every so often, and also to force me to run in new places, to get my ass back into being comfortable with being uncomfortable…

Tomorrow never knows, but I’m looking forward to tomorrow….

planning, looking ahead, and reaching out…..I believe
This is heaven to no one else but me….

So tomorrow…….maybe it’s time to get on the bike

love this…..and says a lot to me

so I woke up feeling like not good?

Funny, yesterday evening I read how bad milk/dairy is for us…as well as eggs, sugar and meat.

I did my usual milk and cereal before bed, slept well, but woke up feeling ill with a headache…the headache is familiar, the stomach upset wasn’t….so I’m all in….on cutting all that out….I have been cutting back a lot on added sugar, eggs, sure…..meat?….my wife and kids will be a hard sell, but I guess we can cook meals for them and another for me……but dairy?

The story on dairy I get, we’re the only species that consumes milk, the milk from another species, and the business on selling dairy is aweful, the drugs involved…and yes, a lot of $$$$ involved in all….dairy alone is a huge employer…..

I do use yogurt, and love some cheeses, I could cut out some of that….but there’s a history, milk has always been around…farmers always had farm fresh cream….and I’ve heard about the differences between whole milk and processed homogenized milk, jersey milk….and I have used non-dairy milk…it’s not that expensive, and I have tried making my own…so I may have to go that way…

But the story of what causes heart disease, some cancers, has me rethinking what I put in my body…you know, when you break a bone, everyone says calcium, drink milk!….well, what now?…..

I have that half marathon on Sunday, I have to be healthy….I’ll start no matter what, on my own or with a group……but how do you change a diet?

Black coffee this morning, no dairy…..I’ve got to make waffles tomorrow, but no eggs….time for a change?

That seems to be it.

I’ve been at this for a while. I’ve seen training plans come and go. Heard all the advice. I teach this.

The current group I’m working with, half and full marathoners…some getting set for their first, some with more experience, and half way through this…for this clinic that began about 9 weeks ago, I’ve pretty much thrown out the usual script.

Usually, I talk a lot about product, footwear, apparel, watches, heart rate monitors….while the topics have come up, I’ve focused more on process, the actual training, the running part…….the program….because, well that’s basically it.

Train, rest, recover, nutrition and hydration, don’t get injured, stay away from things that upset your stomach/your GU…..and that’s it…..if you want to become a better runner….RUN!…that’s it…

This past week, I had great guest speaker talking about injuries..prevention, and what to do when one appear……but, she mentioned a couple of things that I don’t completely agree with, and I think make people think too much.

Heel striking isn’t the huge issue every other coach seems to want to make it…..it just depends on where that foot lands…as long as it’s beneath that center of gravity, you’re fine….knees lead, and you’re good….

When that fad of insisting that everyone had to do a mid-foot landing first appeared, I looked to people that actually coach the elites….when you over stride, yep, that’s a problem…coach Brett Sutton who coached tri legend Chrissie Wellington says that….ultra marathoner legend Scott Jurek the same thing…

to change a stride takes years and years of drills that’s not unnecessary… I remember watching the summer Olympics from Tokyo, the women’s 400 meter relay, heel strikes, feet always land underneath them….quick leg turn over…that’s that secret, not heel strike, but 90 strikes per minute, that’s it..

Junk miles is another bone of contention for me…it’s not junk miles, it’s not listening to your body, it’s not understanding the science behind rest and recovery…..it’s like weight training, if you don’t gove the muscle time to heal between work out, injury, burnout and no progression…..train, rest, recover, nail that and that nutrition…..that’s it…..it’s just running!

We seem to want to find some ways to make this all easier…running a marathon, your marathon distance is hard work….that’s why not everyone commits to doing that…it takes time, it takes time to condition the body to run 26.2 miles, there’s a need to focus, but there’s no magic pill, nothing you can buy in a bottle, you have to train, be consistant, and train…that’s it……

And 26.2?….for some, but for some, 5K is it…..it matters on a lot of things…does your life give you time to train for that run…?…..do you have space for a 3 hour run, an 2 and a half hour run, week after week?…if not, pick something else…..I discovered that trying to become an Ironman Triathele…I did two of them in 2009 and 2010…that was a busy time…working full time, 3 growing kids……and training all the time in three different disciplines……it took a lot out of me, and since,wrapping my head around that time commitment just doesn’t work….so shorter, even a half Ironman is possible…but that almost 230K in one day swim, bike, run….not in the cards…..so a self evaluation is important….

So yeah, Run, Recover, Eat, Drink…..that’s it…don’t get injured, stay away from things that upset your stomach….that’s all anyone needs to know, not a dozen books and coaches with a magic pill….

Yeah, so May 1986 on Maui….scary, scary times. Maui is such a cool place…Lahaina, so laid back a beautiful. Some day it’ll be back, we’ll be back…but will it be the same?

It’s Hawaii…..it wasn’t just the weather or the ocean, it was the people, the places, that vib….and yes the surf, the food….

So today…not running…some days you need that break, that rest day…some days that means nothin’!

Some days active rest, do something that isn’t repetitive high impact, so no pounding the pavement…or hard packed dirt…..today, hop on the bike and ride around the neighborhood for about 20K….

It’s a sunny warm day, a sometimes just stretching the legs calms the head..

Running should never be just running…it should be everything. Yes, running is easier…a pair of shoes really is all you need…yes, the right technical clothing, a cap, some hydration…..biking, swimming, whatever, a little more involved…a well rounded athlete/runner…

Sure, if you’ve an event coming up, focus on that….but, don’t forget to make used of everything else….an well rounded athlete makes a better runner, and a stronger runner…endurance is the key ingredient, fitness yes, but the other things all add up to a better, um, runner….

Tomorrow will be complete rest….I’m home with my daughter, a lot of yard and house work (laundry) to do…and family bonding stuff…..and rest. A half marathon just over a week away…while I’m still going to train, I’m looking at that 21.1 something kilometre as part of the final goal, part of the training…..the plan…but I still have to get through it, so a minor taper…eat, rest, train, relax, and then run 13 miles….

I’ve been stuck to the news from Maui for the past few days, the ride helped get me away from that…….

good night Maui

So we got soaked tonight….rained cats and dogs……….

But all good…..the Run Club seems to be getting back together…..ever since the COVID shut down, well we’d broken up…slowly though, things are getting back, some have taken a while, and some are starting from scratch….so not a problem…and all good

It’s just gotta be fun….or at least enjoyable….a couple of our group hadn’t run at all for a while, maybe long walks…and few just wanted an easy run with a marathon just a week and a half away….so broke everything down into a Warren 1 and 1s…sometimes a 2 and 1, sometimes a little more…promised a 4K, so that worked,,,,,

one crew went to the hills and then well, down hill, our hard core speedsters, I mapped out a route for them to keep them happy….all good they, and a few weren’t surprised when I missed a turn, and we ended up with a bit of cross country, a bit of mud, and yep, very wet running shoes and wet.

And once the rain came down, well, we just kept running…..the group gets it, and yeah, running through a downpour alone actually does suck…

Yep, a quicker evening fits into my training, but big deal, I got some fitness out of tonight, the group got some benefit….and I can hot the trails tomorrow……all good

I don’t think ahead very well. I just do stuff. I wanted to take up weights and strength training. So I just did. Then I thought, body building judge, why not, so I took that up….and that was amazing…

Could I be a music teacher? When I was in highschool….I did that…….could I host, produce and direct a TV program,? could I work a camera for others, so I did that?….become a freelance writer, yep….why not?…..a life interviewing people like Chris de Burgh..or who ever…done…

Then, running, marathons, triathlons, Ironman, I have done a lot

I sometimes have to remind myself of all this…..and since I got married in 1986, about 36 years ago, yep, a lot of support, and a wife with a lot of paitence….hopefully she knew she was marrying a dreamer?

oh boy…..but, still married and with 3 kids, so, so far so good

Today, and this past few months are a pretty good example of how this head works……

yes I also teach clinics, virtual..they were all in person before COVID..at one point, 5 different ones at time….I look after a group run every wednesday evening……I’m an events guy with the Running Room now, so setting up and taking down everything at the start and finish line, and a lot of what makes races and fun runs happen…

And now, Race director…

Yep that’s mine….

and oh yeah, I did once have a job, a career as a railroader….a rail traffic controller

That’s me and my dad….

So now, today…woke up, a quick breakfast, waited for my daughter’s caregiver to arrive, and then finally went out for my run…..

I have 12 days to the Edmonton Half Marathon….yikes, my training has sucked big time….today, my longest run in a while, I survived 16K…my pace not all that great (6:40 per km)….but, well, that 5K short of that 21K goal…….so I guess I’ll be okay…

It was a good run….I stuck to 30 and 10 intervals (run 10 minutes, about a 30 second march/walk)…at some points, if after 10 minutes I feel like keeping on going, I just do….

As usual, I made the route up as I went along…..I do always have an idea where I want to run….but, well, you just need to run…..there was one nice climb, today was about endurance not strength training, so that was good enough……and yeah, 16K…..a good morning…

A good run boosts that spirit…and pointed me into yet another direction….went a visited a local pub manager, and set up a pub night run for next month, because, why not?

A good day, and as the chief cook and bottle washer, I guess I’d better get too it….that may explain that 36 years of marriage…..

life is grand, but, well, life’s good, and by sheer luck

w

Another day when it took me forever to get out the door, BUT I DID IT!

The original plan, 16K in the Edmonton River Valley, and then became, why? I can do that from home in St. Albert, why drive all that way?…..this was why…if I had done that, 16K would have been done….but

Nah, let’s plan to go from home…..then, well, this bed is so comfortable, why on earth do I have to wake up at 7:30?…….then why not sleep in until 9AM?….and then, well I’m hungry, so how about run at noon?

So, not what was planned, but 10K done, exactly 10K…I never do exact anything, but today…I had to do a bit of a backtracking to get that 10K even…

The run started hard…the body was arguing and felt weird….which has been normal, but as I tell people in my clinics….just start, push through the ‘ah I don’t want to do this.’ It’ll get better…or not.

My head’s been an issue lately….really tired (age? overtraining? something else?)

Today, that was the start, started in a fog…..even after a good breakfast and coffee…..but after about the first 10 minutes, I was good…a pit stop at the Running Room for well, a washroom break….then another stop after running across a friend and got caught up……..

Then I make the #rageagainstthewarren hill an destination, because, well, it’s named after me……..I’m trying to figure out the mindset of the one that mapped out this hill in STRAVA ……it begins and ends before and well after the climb…so you really have to put the effort in to get your name on there…

Interesting thought, when I first started running about 26 years ago, this loop was my usual….there where weeks when I would run this 10K every day….and I knew it was 10K back then…it usually took me about an hour, so figure 60 minutes, 10 minute miles, 6 miles = about 10K…the math worked back then, before we had GPS and HRMs..I had a Timex Ironman watch….that was it……a lot of the tme running in cotton

Tomorrow, more or less an rest day…but waking up early to volunteer at a triathlon (a 5AM wake up call, yikes) then next week, time to get hard core with much running….and hopefully, a swim and bike ride, or a few of ’em can be fit in….that half marathon on August 20th won’t run itself

Yep, the start of August….

At one time in my life today meant hitting the highway, and heading to Grande Cache for one of my fave events of all….the Canadian Death Race……I haven’t been up there since 2008….but driving into that mountain town was like coming home…..much like Jasper Alberta, or Vancouver BC, it just always seems like where I’m supposed to be, where I was meant to be…on top of mountains.

Today was…..was supposed to be going long-er than usual, but well, I began with no motivation….

After a lot of coffee (yeah I know, I know, I’m still trying to quit) and lots of paper work, yep, working on the fun run, watching the news……I finally got my butt out the door.

Lately, just stepping out the front door was good enough…but today a trick I use….drive somewhere, and well, you’re there, so you might as well run….

Made up a new route..not a direction I’ve run often, and then I improvised…..yep, I took one wrong turn and well went around in a circle…..and I found a nice collection of moquitoes…lots of them

but my kind of run, and once you start, you wonder why you took so long to begin.

Some days, there’s always that feeling…..someone may see me?…..I think more than a few runners…that self consciousness….for me anyway…I don’t have a lot of self confidence, which is weird right? I’ve only been at this for almost 30 years….but it’s there…..

I think the trick is to just start….and for me, not to have a set plan….because for me anyway, that always changes….yes I train, but I run to have fun, to relax, to enjoy myself….sure, races and runs are a goal, like Death Race….but, secret, I’m almost always undertrained…..weirder even..my first attempt at an Ironman Triathlon…I was focused……not really stuck to a schedule, but seemed to always be training….there was a lot of it…and I sucked on race day….my training crew could not believe it, I trained as hard or harder than anyone of them…..the following year, I training, but just enjoyed the training, and I did well…I finished.

The first step is to move…

It’s the weekend, and even though I can’t get to Grande Cache…well, going to Grande Cache in my mind…maybe 2024?

Yep…registration has begun…….OMG!!!!!

87 Days to go…..no sponsors yet, I’m ordering toques tomorrow, still haven’t got one sponsor yet…that’s the next key to this….

I could use a few volunteers and advisers … and people that are better than me at reaching out to potential sponsors, so far I such at that…..all I need is $$$$ to help cover costs, and post run food and hydration…..that’s the next week’s job

the toughest thing is to not think about this ALL OF THE TIME!

so now…wednesday run club, virtual clinics, events guy and now RACE DIRECTOR guy….life’s now running stuff all of the time…..I’ve got to figure out how to deal with structure…..tomorrow may be an off day……I’ve got to do that…..

So step one done……the learning curve continues

So still no sponsors….not yet, but the fun run is progressing….product, the toques are about to be ordered…..I got one $50 gift card so far for post run nutrition…and an awful lot of emails sent…the search continues…

I’ve someone working on the logo

I’ve a minion to help with creating a poster…..registraition should begin this Friday……yikes, this is real

A great run club run tonight..a bit of an adventure as I made the route up as I went along….but a group of 10, some new members….if we get everyone together on one evening we’d have 20 easily……it gets better and better each week!

w

maybe time to shave, a huge nose, grey and reseeding hair line…yikes…I guess = 154 to 65!

This organizing a run/race is draining me…finally got the paperwork done, by Friday registration begins…..a 5K 10K and kids run….and toques (for my American followers, that’s a knitted thing you put on your head Michael in the Monkees used to wear one)

…….instead of t-shirts, because who needs yet another race shirt, and one size fits all!….I’m hoping for 100 partcipants..the 1st ever Run LoSeCa Charity run….it’s a start, hope to make this an annual thing, so may go bigger in 2024?

And this may get expensive…unless I find sponsors while deep pockets…I’m trying to keep this as simple as I can..but even the toques, bananas, water, juice boxes and, coffee nutrition bars for 100+ people costs mega dollars…so either I win a lottery, or get a lot of financial help……I’ve aproached a bunch of possibles so far, but, well, one gym offered to help with the warm up, I’m thinking yoga after……but yeah, stuff.

So yeah, no that…down to business…..and HELP!!!

Managed to get out for a 6K run this morning, well, more like lunch time..and decided to give myself a break….decided August 20th, I’m in no way am going to be ready for a half marathon, I can save that for Victoria in October…..the 8th, so before the race…so yes, more pressure….

Yeah, looked happy last year right….so yeah…a little relief valve has been opened up, but yep, this being race director is eating up a lot of time…day and night (I think about it before bed, after and during!)….I’ve gotta think about taking the occassional day off….if that’s at all possible

This is my life…I can go to bed all pumped up and ready to roll….walke up today…

nah…giving up on eerything, no more race, bailing on two half marathons, and no run at all today…WTF!

Now I’m stuck in front of the TV, watching the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, which is stupid exciting…but feeling like nothing, and looks like another day on the couch in front of the TV…

Okay, so cleaned my autistc daughter’s room and fixed a light switch in her room, cleaned up a bit of the back yard…..but yet another day alone, bored, frustraited, angry, pissed off at the world and myself..I should be a newspaper columnist?……I’ve had too many days like this…

I just check STRAVA, friends are all out doing something, I’m watching TV and watching life go by outside our front window…..life going by…

I needed an active weekend, a week, right now I feel like nothing….

I guess I’ll get caught up on reading other blogs, and maybe Monday will be better…

So a Zoom meet gone wrong (what do you mean it didn’t record?

The the race, the run is a whole 93 days away, and I’m still sitting in the on-ramp…..

Everything’s almost set to go…..well, except I need the charity’s bank name and address and need one signature to take care of the tax receipts…and we’re done, and registrations are set for people to register for the Run LoSeCa Run…….grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

so….GO FOR A RUN!…damit!

So I did……I had to put together a talk about hills to make up for the non-recorded Zoom…so ran, ran hills and talked and recorded, then pieced everything together and run and done…almost 6K with hills…..so good

I know running every day should not be a goal, but that’s the one thing holding me together….and it feels so good and right….almost like a step back to the good old days.

Back when I ran a lot and ran a lot with friends…I know I couldn’t possibly keep up with me as I was back then, but I feel in the same universe…..I guess I have to give myself permission to feel good, and get right back where I once was….I can’t get get back to the future…but can I do all that and more, at 64.6 years old, still recover, and not die?

I know the rules, rest and recovery…..older runners need more of that, less high impact repetitive pounding the of pavement, more biking and swimming, and I will get to that….but I gotta run run run away…

gotta keep busy, active, it just makes me feel so good….and if it feels good..just do it huh?

It’s not like I’m starting from scratch…..but sporadic training is a question that needs an answer.

I am working through some stuff (if you’ve followed this blog you’re now sayin’, no sh*t right?)

So I’ve made another decision….

Yeah, I need to change a few things, and myself….I’ve got the Wednesday night Run Club…..my half/full marathon Thursday night virtual Run Clinic….and working Running Room events….even though there are no events until September, but still that’s something……setting up, tearing down and hanging out and cheering…..so, I guess I’m busy

yep, that’s me….

So?

25 days…not going for a goal time, just for the 21. 1K or 13.1 miles…..I guess 2:30 wouldn’t be the end of the world…..better would be better……but I’ll get there….and have 3 weekends to practice…will just watch that pace, that heart rate, sweat and once you start, you always finish…

25 days from today….it’s also not like something foreign to me, I have run the distance before on almost no training, but I was 55…..

I know the pace bunny I want to run with….August, near the end of that month, is always perfect for a morning long training run, so why not run for that t-shirt, August 20th..run long warren, run long, and believe in myself?….if I don’t, who will..

So…..

Yeah, 2nd night….is it because of the change in the weather?

Lots going through my head…organizing a run is causing my head to explode.

This is a first time thing for the both myself and the charity I’m doing this for…I’ve been involved in a lot of events, so I know how this rodeo goes….but the ins and outs of collecting donations, tax receipts and that whole deal, all new to me as well…

It’s just paperwork…filling in boxes, a form with a ton of information…figuring out what to charge for the race, how many races to have (a 5K 10K and a kids fun run? or ?) t-shirts or cap or a toques? Hydration, post race goodies, finding sponsors, finding volunteers, and staying f#*king calm!

I’ve got I think 96 days to put this together and get it done, and I haven’t even got beyond step 1 yet….city persmission done, route, done, I know how many volunteers I need, I know and have a way to get all the equipment I need, the hydration station is planned, who I want for a sponsor, the post race plan…all of it…I just need to fill in that form!

Yesterday, well, for past few days I’ve felt pretty awful, and not hopeful at all…..I’m still not all pumped about this, tomorrow, D-Day ……tomorrow’s post should be interesting…..

or, do I skip doing the charity thing and just make this a Warren run?

A run that’s not going to happen……grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I had dreams of being a race director for this, to start an annual fun run, collect donations for a local foundation….but, well, no, two frustraiting groups to work with, so before it’s too late, pulling the plug……sadly, but let’s bail….

And yeah, no half marathon for me this summer…pulling the plug on that too…

My training has sucked, I needed a long long run this weekend, or at the least today, did not and will not happen…so instead of beating a dead horse pulling out of that too…..

Not a good start to the week….but, well, here we are…..

it’s early, I’m sure the rest of Monday isn’t going to get any better

After a day of emails and phone calls and chasing the dream of a fun run

this evening’s Run Club Run was a relief…..just a 5K run with a huge group, larger group…but split up into a variety of groups…..we seemed to have lost one…am not sure how that happened….we had runners ahead of her, my group was sweeping behind everyone else….way behind everyone else….

It’s amazing what sunshine does….lots of people, runners and yes a dog…..a social run.

It’s why I do what I do……

Today was good.

When you’re instructing a couple of virtual run clinic….you spend a lot of time with emails. Initiating, and answering…so that was the start of my Monday morning….I covered some about nutrition, and how to run quicker, or at least effortless….

Then well, I also lead a run club….Wednesday evenings, so that means more emails, and setting up events on 3 different spots on Facebook…so everyone knows, the regulars, the past runners, and those that wanna join us…..

I’m also, for some reason, now a race director….I have no idea yet what that means….I sort of do, a lot of work…..but add that to my days….sponsors, lots of emails and phone calls…so why not?

I managed to get out for a few Ks….5.53 in the hood, yep yet again 6:34 per K…..it felt good, I call this site seeing…through a fave neighborhoods, a bit of a hill…so, fun fun fun on the sun

crossed paths with a friend and took that break for a chat – you can’t do that sitting on the couch watching TV…..so yeah, I love runs like today…it’s why I run, the fun, it’s got to be enjoyable…I’m not ever going to be quick, at least not now at almost 65….the days of me running a 5 minute K is in my past, now I just run for me….I like groups, the social aspect……and I like eating

I miss those days when all I did with friends was train and eat…Friday nights we’d swim, and then go eat, Saturdays we’d swim, ride, and then maybe run, and go eat…..Sundays we’d run, and go for coffee afterwards……so trained and ate, it was a lifestyle…..for some reason I don’t do that anymore…..

Also I was younger..and thinner…and wore a condom on my head….

anyway, tomorrow

so not a very good selfie, but it is what it is..and yes, the grey beard is coming back….

This was really random. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get out, my legs were killing me – some left over lactic acid? – and as usual, as soon as I spun the peddles around I was gone…..and had a blast…

Some paved paths where I was stuck behind a few seniors (yeah I know, I’m one too, but there were just annoying, I could not get by them!)…when they went left, I kept going forward – I crossed paths with them way later on – took a spin up my fave hill called Oak Vista…..I love that challenge….and on bike, not running, I always to add a few climbs…..headed off down Coal Mine Road, around a round about, back on the path where I met those seniors going the opposite way – they must have stopped for coffee – up another hill into a neigborhoud, around a garbage truck, then out towards big lake, through a park, and home….almost made it home without swearing…some jerk decided to back out of a driveway without looking….I practise my swearing abiities at the nutbag….was just over 30K…but felt oh so good…

Today’s been a pretty good day overall……started off slow…a fantastic ride, and threw together dinner for the family….a chicken curry thing with rice and stir fried veggies……

and then it’s time for the Zoom half/full marathon clinic…..guest speaker joined us to talk about using max heart rate to govern our training….was the best ever……it went well…love that!….I always freak out a bit before every clinic, and every one turns out so good…the speaker, Sonya, a really fast runner, but so many common points……it was a wonderful meet…….and yep, inspired me and hopefully everyone else as well….

Tomorrow, time to run, and to look for some stairs or hills…..I’ve gotta train!

So, yeah…my daughter is autistic, a challenge, an adult, 30ish, but a lot of time it’s like she has the terrible 2s.

She’s on the needs a lot of mentle support of the spectrum….and some days, just does not listen.

Some days I’m not sure if difficult because, or because she’s just being what she is, who she is, or, can I say it, just being a jerk…..

That was today/this morning.

But, I became one….I became a little unhinged, or maybe a lot unglued…involved milk, two classes, and a lot of spilling, and when I demanded only 1 glass, well, yeah…..not good…….I yellled a lot…

Was it just that?….I had planned on an early morning run this morning….after a restless sleep, decided sleep was more important, but yeah frustraited…

Then, oh yeah, it’s my turn to do dishes, clean out the dishwasher, a couple of loads of laundry and clean the kitchen before making waffles because it’s what I do……would it be out of the question to put the breakfast away and wipe off a table and counter before my wife went to work this morning?…is that expecting too much?

So yeah, wasn’t in my happy place from the starting line….

I get it. my wife works, I’m kind of semi-retired (run clinics, run clubs, run events, so still working) so yes, house chores, I’ll do them…inside and outside, but it’s gotten to the point where it’s all on me (yes I’m venting)……but, it would be nice to wake up one morning and not have to start cleaning the first thing – those bread crumbs don’t magically disappear!

Finished off a learn to run/5K clinic this morning after breakfast/before melt down that was great….45 minutes of me talking, interacting with other runners, instructing, answering questions…it’s what I do, so I was happy for about 45 minutes..and then kaboooom!

Sometimes life is like this I guess……but, not good……..

I’m going on strike a little, and no, I’m not making lunch!…the grilled cheese sandwiches can make themselves….

A walk was planned, and again, not happening…another spouce/caregiver issue….I’m home with the daughter Wednesdays and some Saturdays..I plan to keep her active, go for walks, help her get fit….but

for the rest of the week, that’s not happening, so when I want to, there’s usually a fight, and well, no walks, to outside time….so frustraiting….I need to find some way to get everyone on side…

As well as an issue (I hate calling autism a mental health issue, it just is…its like being left handed) there’s a health and fitness issue…nutrition, and active…..she used to be active, now not so much….she’s now become a sedentary, milk, grilled cheese sandwich, pizza, McDonalds, deep fried fish sticks person…which, what?

But, well…..it’s an issue all around…..

Can I say I love my kids, and want them to be better….and my wife too (she does not understand and thinks anything beyond driving to the grocey store is nonsense)……is this the definition of frustraition….grrrrr

Too many days end up like this…me in one room, or outside doing stuff, and everyone else, elsewhere….and this drags me down too…..I should have run, done some drills, planks, foam roller, whatever, but just get so wound up, I just say f – it, and you know, set my sights on Sunday to try again..

At some point, the point of this blog was to strategize, get back and to where I want to be, and I want the whole family back…..my wife and daughter are at the point where booking a room at a hotel connected to West Edmonton Mall is a vacation…..for me Vacation is ocean and running and biking and walking and hiking….we all used to do that….I don’t see that happening again ever again….ever?

So a vent……..the story continues….tomorrow I’ll get back to running…….

I just watched this, and inspiring…..so true?…..yes, I was pretty happy during my life of marathnons….

I’ve only run 9….I want to do number 10, just not sure when..or if?

Can I, should I?…..watching this BBC documentry had me thinking maybe….I’m 6 months from turning 65….which is a concern…..and where?

Yes, I’ve watched Run Fat Boy Run

which was okay, maybe motivation…though, well, fiction….yeah, you run a marathon and your life changes to amazing…not really…

And of course Brittney Runs and Marathon

There are others, and yes, if it has the word Running in it, or marathon I have to watch…..

My last full marathon was a while ago, 2015….and it wasn’t all that fanatastic, but was done….I’ve run them in Edmonton (3 times) Victoria (4) Vancouver, Kelowna and New York City, my quickest 4:04:55, the slowest was 5:11:52…..and I was a lot younger….so, 8 years since my last (I don’t have any pix) my first two were 25 years ago in 1998…..before I turned 40….

The plan right now is the Edmonton Half Marathon on August 20th…..and I think depending on how the summer goes, and that race, I’ll decide then on the full, maybe Victoria on October 8th….I’m registered for the half there right now, but, well, I’m going to sleep on that…..at least I know the course….

I’m roughly 18 weeks away…..so, week by week, day by day….

Also, I’ll be spending the summer instructing a half/full marathon clinic….so hopefully that’s keep me motivated and inspired as I try to inspire and motivate others…..

Onward and upward…

You know what really sucks, I do not have a lot of pictures from those marathons, and none of the first 3 that I ran…..not sure why that is…

I do have the bibs

And at least part of a t-shirt…

I’m not sure why I don’t have picture of my last…but lots of others

I’m not going to worry about speed, I’ll just try and get it done….I do have a training plan for 18 weeks, who knows, maybe I’ll stick to it…I’m famous for not doing that….I like doing a lot of other stuff, biking and swimming..and family life is kind of consuming….but I think I’ve had an epiphany, keep things, do one thing at a time…..keep things simple and easy and just focus on one thing at a time, day by day….

18 weeks actually starts this Sunday, June 3rd….so, I’ll spend the weekend figuring out day by day, my training days, my rest days….My Sunday long runs are going to be an issue, life just makes Sunday too busy, so may have to improvise and do some long runs on Saturdays, or more likely Mondays…..

day by day

I haven’t been on my bike, or any of my bikes often enough in years….and every time I take a spin, I regret not riding more.

It was only a bit over 30K, the avg speed 20 KPH….but felt so often.

I always over think dealing with traffic, but I’ve been riding for so long I’m pretty much built for drivers with limited skills…and some that think they own the road…

I always head to roads that arn’t that busy a few highways, but have to ride to them….there was some construction and some unexpected gravel roads….and a beautiful day out…

I’m thinking I must have a bug of some kind, breathing isn’t a challenge, but the chest feels a little stuffed up….hopefully that goes away…maybe the more I train the better that gets…….

Someone just asked if I’d be interested in joining a team for a relay race at Sinister 7 in July….I’d love to, but nah….I’m no where ready for that….my leg would be 27K, and lots of climbing…so yeah, but maybe not this year..

Am looking toward a good weekend…and staying active for the next 213 days..

Running Room, Run Club Wednesday……it’s what I made for?

A variety of runners, I map out the route, and I send everyone out…..I tag up with the back of the pack to keep their pace, encourage, instruct….and then when that group is done, I turn around and catch up, or latch up to the rest…..I usually try to make sure the route is designed that way….they either catch up to us, because we turned around short, or I run past the starting point to meet up…..we all run, we all get what we want…and a run club..or I like a the definition or the term group run better…

The weather was perfect….just before a rain storm…lightening all around, lots of dark clouds, and the temp was perfect….a good run, a good night……

I don’t look really happy huh?

It was okay, just a really hard run this morning for some reason…..heat, the pollen in the air hammering my allergies, tired? My legs seem to be struggling with recovering between runs….I may have to resort to running every other day…

After spending yesterday evening and this morning trying to decide where to go, I settled on the same old same old down in the Edmonton River Valley….a route I know well, one i can add on to, shorten, easily…some options for unpaved, and one honking big climb…and well, I wanted to swim after, and grocery shopping after…so yeah why not.

I love my river valley…hard to believe, since probably junior high school, maybe before, I’ve been biking, walk or running in it most of my life……sure, not when I lived in Jasper, Vancouver or Kamloops, which works out to about 16 years, but that gives me almost 50 years, here….there have been a lot of changes, now more pavement than way back when…but the same river, the same valley ….though I will say the river looks really low for this time of year….and always beautiful and amazing….

Yes, I love Vancouver, and cannot think of anywhere else that would suit me better…a place where people spend the majority of their time outside doing stuff…and being on a bike, or walking is as normal as driving anywhere…..

The one thing that’s changed, is my car……going to the Hyundai Kona, something that’s more reliable than my old Nissan Altima, and frankly more fun to drive….has changed things….I’m still getting used to it, but the tinted windows, being a little higher up, the smaller compact driving size (like Doctor Who and the Tardis, it’s bigger on the inside) it’s fun to drive……a blast….which I have to pull back on though….because, well, I really don’t need any speeding tickets. I have to learn how to drive more conservatively…and not so aggresively….so, there’s a goal.

The run was done…hills, a few spots where I just kicked back and enjoyed the ride, and I saw a dragon

and then I did find some off road territory

I finished off the morning with a quick 1,000 meter swim, 23 minutes, felt great, and the into the hot tub at the Kinsmen Sport Centre….

Weird thing too…. lately, the hot pool has been giving issues, I’m usually in their for only 5 minutes, more or less, today 6….and have felt faint ever since……it’s usually an adventure to get into the shower room, dry and change….so, maybe it’s time for a doctor’s appointment?

I’m also focusing on making life simple….just relaxing, picking one goal for the day, if I have time or can do something else, added on, so be it….but, yeahh, balanced, doing what I want to do…and leaving it at that

A hard day, an adventure…..a good day….

Oddly, I did take one picture during this morning’s run……that’s a first?

I had a moment this morning when I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go for my run, or even if I wanted to go.

Then I just went…

I’ve a lot on my mind, and yes a lot of personal issues bothering me (yeah, just follow this blog)

so every morning is like an adventure for me…..wondering, do I really want to get out of bed this morning?

This run began with up hill…..a hill, I thought why not…

funny story, yesterday evening I had my Run Club run, and I ran with one of our group, who’s just beginning, we did about 3K at one and one intervals (one minute run, one minute walk)…and I hadn’t reset my watch for this morning’s run….so my timer kept ringing every minute….so, I just counted the rings and concentraited on that…

During the run I was thinking about my 10K clinic talk, it’s going to be about speed training….and thinking about how to address it with about 40 runners of a huge variety of abilities….so throughout the run, I was thinking of that, and why I would talk to someone who’s only goal is to run 10K about sprinting, or surging or speed play……and I decided just to use that talk to reinforce stride and biomechanics….and hey free speed…

This clinic with lots of different participants is a challenge, just stick handling around everyone in the groups….I get the whole universe..younger, older, experienced, never run before and are taking their fist steps..and men, women…the goal is to address and working with every particpants…sometimes that works, sometimes there some in the group that I never see or hear from……some I’ll see in the weekly Zoom meets, but some, I guess they watch all the vids, they read all my long winded emails…I always reach out, I ask, I make sure they know I’m always accessable, but they’re like ghosts…

Then there are those I hear from constantly, which I love…that interaction makes me think, and I know I’m helping……

The weird thing I’ve found recently, is during the Zooms how many will not show their faces…..I just see a blank black space with a name….I may hear a voice, or a question in the chat…..but no face…I need that…..it’s good to see the reactions and I do get it, some are not always in a position that they want to be seen (it’s breakfast or dinner, their hair’s a mess..they’re eating breakfast?)…..

and this just happened recently…it’s like one clinic, everyone’s live, the next, it’d be like being Taylor Swift and looking at the crowd and just seeing empty seats with names in them…..weird.

I’m feeling a bit more up, or kay than I was a few days ago…..I’ve a busy weekend coming up, I’ll be almost forced to be in a social situation…with actual live people, so, am kinda sorta looking forward to that…..and tomorrow….it’s time to crank the bike up…and take a day off of the high impact part of this life