Snowshoeing

I am officially a survivor. Made it through week 1 of training without collapsing, dying, or quitting in the process. its always hard to get back into a routine; the drudgery of bad days drudges a little bit more when there is a prescription involved. The 5 mile run on Tuesday night, after a long day of work, might as well have been cough syrup. But, like Buckley's, it tasted bad, but it worked. Felt great to get through it.

Thursday was frozen, and the hills would have been treacherous, so that workout was postponed, leaving a threepeat that will seem pathetic in a few months time. A few hill repeats on Friday night, a 5 mile pace on Saturday and today's 10 miler. I was pleased with today's run though - 85 minutes, in the cold and wet. The snow was bipolar, hardpacked and slippery in some areas, fluffy quicksand in others. Either way, my legs will be sore tomorrow.

Got some good work done tonight on the tri site... hopefully that will continue. I think another union meeting with Mr. K is required later this week, but maybe a change of venue, with better scenery.

The artist formerly known as the meth-lab is now *nearly* complete. Can't really believe it myself. I have a few photos from the night that I first had the crazy idea of re-doing it. Once we finish the floors, I'll snap some after shots.... May be able to move in next weekend!

So everything is going well. Somehow managing to keep all the plates in the air. Need to find some more time for the D80.

Tired and Wired

When did winter get here. -21 C tonight, -29 when you include the windchill. Nixed the hill workout tonight, Friday's rest day will have to involve some mountain climbing.

Updates to come... but now sleep is at hand, for the traveling man

You must be crazy...

Tonight started as a struggle - frustrations about the meth lab, as I paint like a possessed man, and other things don't get accomplished. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, beyond the painting, and it just isn't getting completed - or even thought about. Right now, the walls are beautiful tones of off-white (I couldn't bring myself to put dark colours on the walls that were previously so filthy).. and yet the space is far from an apartment. I left a note for the person-de-resistance tonight, and I hope something can be worked out tomorrow.

Even my run started as a struggle. My legs were tired from last night's escapade in the snow. The winter and its lack of friction is back - meaning my anti-slip and anti-slide muscles are tired. I did a quick loop around the block, thinking that I would just turn home if things didn't improve. Instead, I dialed the iPod to an old marathon playlist - random - and let it take me where it may.

I pushed through the initial mile-de-resistance, loping through the dark and empty streets. Somehow ended up downtown, but the streetlights and creatures of the night pushed me back to the more quiet residential streets. Did a loop around the rink at market square - hoping that the midnight hockey game that was so entertaining last night would be back. No luck. Instead there were men on cranes, either fixing street lights, or stealing lightbulbs. They waved, so whatever their purpose, I am on their side.

As I came upon the building that will be my new place-de-resistance (read: job), my eyes wandered, as my mind scoured the imaginary hallways on the 2nd floor, wondering which office might be mine. 4 weeks ago they thought I was too crazy. Over the iPod's symphony, I heard a voice. Someone calling me crazy. Must be just the Ghost of Pirsig in my mind. I'm really not crazy at all. Thats the funniest part.

I turned and saw a real person next to me. A student, walking home, not drunk. Maybe out late studying, nah - its January. No one studies until at least mid February. As I pulled off my headphones, he repeated his phrase:

You must be crazy....

I looked at him, wondering if I had been speaking my thoughts without knowing it. I admit it, sometimes I will sing along to the words without knowing, but thats usually many miles in. But I don't think I ever verbalize the thoughts that crystallize on the road.

He must've noticed my confusion.

You must be crazy to run at this hour ... he repeated.

I looked at my watch. It was 1:15 am. And it was snowing. I guess the man had a point - and in saying it, he had paid me a great compliment.... the piece-de-resistance. Crazy like Karnazes is a good thing. I laughed and shouted over my shoulder...

Gotta fit it in sometime. And I'm the least crazy person I know...


PS - huge congrats to Chazzy - king of the valley.

The first coat is the deepest

The snow did arrive, but brought with it ice pellets and dark skies. The whole day was blustery and cold - not that I'd know really, I spent much of it inside. Got up at the crack of 10am and started the day by sanding windows and doors upstairs. It used to be all bare wood, not "nice" bare wood, but the dark ugly wood stain that was cool when it was cool to have wood panelling on everything. Aka: it was ugly. So I sanded, washed and primed until my hands were raw... finally taking a break for a late lunch and a nap on the couch.

Went out tonight with R-Mac and M to look at kitchen things... and not much was accomplished. May or may not happen. We bought 3 cans of paint though, swiss coffee for the living room and some "romance" for my office. I dunno who named the paint, but their romance was a shade of white/grey...

Came home and fully intended to relax, but with the Golden Globes occupying that small black thing I never turn on (te-le-vis-sion), I was lured upstairs to paint some more. Got a full coat of the sweet swiss coffee on the living room, and not a speck on the blazing white ceilings. Looks great.

Tomorrow will be more of the same - sanding, washing, and painting my office. Bring on the romance.

God Said No

Just a quick post tonight, before the eyes close for the day. Its apparently snowing outside - wish i could see it. Subterranean windows don't allow me to see, well, anything. If I get really close to the wall, I can look up and barely make out the color of the sky against the angle of the neighbour's roof. Not so glamorous. The forecast is calling for 10-15cm tonight, which will make tomorrow's run a bit of an adventure. Might get up early and go shoot some photos, depending on the amount of snow that actually makes it to the ground.

The bipolar temperatures that were surprisingly positive have now returned to their deep winter depression. What was +6 two weeks ago is now -6. And thats the high. The 14 day forecast is terrifying, as the predicted temperatures plunge off the charts... Weathermen are never right.

Went out last night to see Craig Cardiff play at Clark. Dragged K along with me, guest list, and hanging with Craig and Nathalia before the show... you know how we roll. The show was spectacular: acoustic guitars, lasers, light shows, spandex and fencing masks. Personally, my favourite song of the night wasn't even Craig's. A cover of "God Said No" by Dan Bern. Kicked off the show, and stopped the collective hearts of everyone in attendance. It was stunning, haunting, surreally perfect. And it was just beginning.

Came home and bought the original tune from iTunes (search, dan bern). Equally brilliant, but far more fragile. Hopefully I'll have the cover recorded and it will be posted somewhere soon.

Time for sleeping. Midnight is where the day begins - so I guess i'm 3 hours in. Happy tomorrow.

Antz

3 am, and no sleeping is happening. Maybe it was the 5k run at 1am.... or maybe its the hot water running through the pipes, which is apparently powered by a 50 year old tractor. At least that's how it sounds.

Winter suddenly arrived today. The -7 C chill slapped me in the face, but the sunlight was much appreciated. Wasn't too cold for running tonight, wore two Nike Pro long sleeves and a light jacket....ingeniously had the headphone cable running between the two shirts, eliminating its natural inclination to turn into a coat hanger in subzero conditions.

Winter didn't arrive alone. Winter brought with it some friends. Friends of the six-legged variety, who suddenly decided that my apartment was their new home. The kitchen, once a peaceful land of tofu and veggies, is now the horrifying site of the great ant massacre of 2007. Send me to the Hague - this is getting vicious. If my poisons don't work in the next couple of days, the big guns might have to move in and institute some big gun tactics of insect genocide.

Spent much of the evening painting, finally finished the base-coat of white upstairs. After some touchups, I may be able to apply some colour to the situation within the next few days. Hopefully things start to roll after that. My move-in goal is Super Bowl Sunday... but, I don't know how realistic that is.

Music tonight:


Aqualung - With Apologies To Anyone Who Is Actually Broken Hearted. live, and mellow. and perfect for 3 am.

Blogging 101

This is not a lesson, a lecture, or frankly anything more or less educational than the typical chattering of fingers across a keyboard.

Just realized that my previous post was number 100 - is that some sort of an anniversary? I think so... 100th blog post, is definitely an aluminum anniversary. So maybe a macbook pro? Hopefully new ones next week, and if things fall in a particular way, then maybe.

Listening to a good mix of coding music tonight. Took so long to get into the necessary frame of mind to get anything accomplished, but once I got the soundtrack dialed, I realized that at this point in the project (link to come when its done), its really just a matter of copying and pasting and a bit of database stuff. Nothing revolutionary. The stylesheet definitely needs a good spring cleaning though, starting to look cluttered.

The soundtrack tonight started with a little Oxide & Neutrino to get my brain into the digital realm. The Execute album really reminds me of those early heady days, when we were the jilted generation - The Prodigy, The Crystal Method, The Chemical Brothers, Fluke and those crazy compilation cds...

Finally landed on Portishead when it was time to wind down and return to an analog state. Nearly through all of Dummy now, then it will be time to sleep.

For fans of good music, hop over to Craig Cardiff's Tour Podcast page. We set it up last night, to prepare for the Canadian tour that kicks off very soon. The idea: a new song performed for every city on the tour - will be uploaded into the podcast feed, so by the end of the tour, fans will have a new live album, delivered via the magic of RSS. very very cool stuff. I am very excited about the prospects of this, there will certainly be some genius moments that come out of a project this ambitious.

Where boys veer to tread

In the words of Al Gore - the days lately have been Inconveniently Warm. This time last year, I was bundled up to the eyes with polar fleece, feeling the cold all the way to the core, sneaking out and racing the wind, risking frozen facial features for the joy of the chase. This year, the digital mercury on theweathernetwork.com has been dyslexic - infused with the antidepressants of cilmate change, numbers are typically overwhelmingly negative are suddenly consistently positive.

Despite one day of white covering green, snow has been missing without leave. So scarce in fact, that I was startled to find the roads and sidewalk frosted with a thin layer of silver under the stars tonight. Started out lightly, first testing the brakes and treads. Legs don't come with anti-lock anything, and one false sense of security can easily turn a brake to a break, and thats the last thing I need.

As my breath warmed the air in front of me, the frost seemed to part - making traction possible for speed. Speed is a relative term, but long strides make anyone feel like a cheetah.

The cold air lent itself well to acoustics. The sounds of action up ahead steered my course away from the usual midnight miles. Voices and cheers reverberated off of a building and into my airspace. Came across the culprits, the usual suspects. Deuce, DJ, Evan, Luke and Tbird... mini football in the frost - sliding across the asphalt, trying to out-ronaldinho eachother without giving into gravity. Stayed and watched for awhile, wanted to join in, and play all night - but tights (real men wear running tights) and worn out mizunos didn't fill me with confidence.

Finally took off, and did a circle of the campus, making a point to climb the hill that was once my nemesis in the fall. When getting back on my feet post-op, I insisted on climbing this hill as a part of my rehab. Looped back home, a block from the makeshift soccer field, hearing the ball echo off brick over and over, as the score surely rose into the hundreds....

New Year's Revolutions

Whoa. and just like that double-oh-six was gone. The only positive I can take from that, is that its officially double-oh-seven. 2007. the year of the ninja - because we all know that James Bond is a British ninja - they just make their ninjas wear badass suits, to keep up with their posh national image.

I thought about the last 12 months and realized how much of my year was derailed by the ruptured appendix action that took place. I think when you're a distance runner (and no, i'm not even a good one), you spend so much of your time building up, that when the event never happens, you're left in suspended animation. Without the pay off, you're left spinning your tires and watching the world go by.

Or maybe thats just me.

But, it happened, and, unless my appendix somehow regenerates - it won't happen again. So lets move on.

Revolution #1 - get back in shape to run run run all over 2007. The same targets are set from last year for the spring.. Around the Bay, Ktown Half, Ottawa Full. It worked well last year, and will provide a nice metric to compare to. Fall is still undecided. Maybe the double that i wanted to do this year. Prince Edward County + West Palm. Who knows.

Revolution #2 - blog and podcast more. i think the blogging won't be an issue... can't say just why... but idle time to kill might have something to do with it. The podcasting will come along as well - lately haven't had the studio set up properly, but once #3 happens, that will solve itself.

Revolution #3 - convert meth lab. In the fall, moved into the basement apartment. We dubbed it the meth lab - not because this place was bad, but the place upstairs was in shambles. Spent the last few weeks putting serious hours in upstairs, making slow progress. Threw on a gas mask tonight, and painted like it was the end of the world - literally. Caustic, white, liquid toxin... slowly making the smoke kissed walls into pristine, shining, practically rubberized, cleannnnnnn. Its still a long ways out, but the available sunlight up there will make it all worth it come springtime.

Revolution #4 - Re-do this blog scheme. Do it up twosix2 style. maybe custom written, but def. custom designed.

Thats all for me for now. revolution #5. sleep. more