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The running groove

Bike commuting was my thing. I might do a 5k run once or twice a month, but that was it.

But then I moved to Old Ottawa South and took a job in Kanata. The bike commute would be 50km roundtrip – really not viable. Time was increasingly short, and running has the best “bang for the buck” in terms of the calorie burn per minute. And my neighbourhood is a running dream: between the two banks of the Rideau River and the Rideau Canal, I can pick any of eight great routes for a run, with almost zero traffic lights to manage. The canal is even ploughed down to pavement for the entire winter.

So: I gave running a more serious shot. I ditched my old “barefoot” shoes and the whimsical evolutionary running story that inspired them. I ramped up to a run every week, and then more.

Tamarack Race Day in May 2024 marked my first 10km since the high school cross-country team. It was really a blast – a very friendly, party atmosphere with a huge crowd of runners. I followed that up with a daily run in June, then pushed on to try the “Commander’s Challenge” (5k + 10k, back-to-back) at the Army Run in September.

And so – running is now my main hobby. At 2-3 runs per week at the moment, it’s a pretty reasonable time commitment, though that’ll rise if I go for the half marathon this spring.

The stress relief and sleep improvements are amazing, especially in these… trying political moments. The other motivator is to “model” good exercise/anxiety/sleep management for the kids – which seems to be working; H decided to make track & field her main sport this year.

So finally – I’ve made quite a bit of progress in my total distance and pace over the year. A few fun stats:

202220232024
Total distance190 km360 km857 km
Best 5 km time28:0624:2923:01
Best 5 km pace5:37/km4:54/km4:36/km
Number of 10km+ runs0123

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Intervals mix

My exercise shifted this year. To date, I’ve mostly been a cyclist, with a bit of running, swimming or cross-country skiing from time-to-time. And I’ve mostly cycled for transportation: commuting or grocery shopping, with the exercise as a side benefit but not the main purpose.

But the last 18 months have been more about running. More on that in a separate post. One of the triggers was an upgrade from regular AirPods – which constantly fell out of my ears if I sweated at all – to AirPods Pro that actually stay in, connected to music playing on my watch. Suddenly, regular running to less monotonous. I could imagine running further, 60 minutes. Or faster.

And so: this mix is a bit more upbeat. Not quite “DJ Tiësto trance rave maxxed out”, but I’ll admit I’ve run to that too.

Part 1

  1. hologramme. aphrodite. electronic, 2023.
  2. justice. pleasure x newjack x civilization (www). house, 2018.
  3. the brothers macklovitch & a-trak feat. leven kali. give love to get some. r&b, 2020.
  4. elle varner feat. j. cole. only want to give it to you. r&b, 2012.
  5. the strike boys. everybody. dub, 2004.
  6. il:lo feat. brain blake. reine. downtempo, 2015.
  7. squarepusher. oberlove. experimental, 2020.
  8. lanark artefax. touch absence. ambient, 2017.
  9. caroline polachek. welcome to my island. pop, 2023.
  10. jordana & tv girl. summer’s over. pop, 2021.
  11. the smile. thin thing. rock, 2022.
  12. hemlocke springs. sever the blight. pop, 2023.
  13. jennylee. tickles. pop, 2021.
  14. sufjan stevens. the owl and the tanager. folk, 2010.
  15. jeremy olander. steps. techno, 2007.
  16. tsha feat. clementine douglas. dancing in the shadows. house, 2022.
  17. sub focus. calling for a sign. drum & bass, 2023.
  18. pola & bryson, goddard. & lens feat. javeon. way up. drum & bass, 2023.

Part 2

  1. the chemical brothers. goodbye. big beat, 2023.
  2. charli xcx. lightning. dance, 2022.
  3. machinedrum feat. kučka. violet. experimental, 2023.
  4. beastie boys. ok. hip hop, 2011.
  5. wax motif & riordan. la samba. house, 2023.
  6. lionel boy. loop. r&b, 2022.
  7. peaking lights. soft escape [moonman mix]. dub, 2020.
  8. dj minx. let it ride. house, 2023.
  9. ver:west. 5 seconds before sunrise. trance, 2020.
  10. jex opolis. mt. belzoni. downtempo, 2017.
  11. otik. subaru dreams. downtempo, 2023.
  12. shigeto. detroit, pt. 1. ambient, 2013.
  13. slowdive. kisses. pop, 2023.
  14. sally shapiro. rent. pop, 2023.
  15. bootleg rascal. head in the clouds. pop, 2016.
  16. asian dub foundation. culture move. dub, 1998.
  17. orbital feat. the little pest. you are the frequency. techno, 2023.
  18. roland tings. lights on the headland. techno, 2020.
  19. quantic. time is the enemy. acid jazz, 2001.
  20. gotan project. época. downtempo, 2001.
  21. taylor swift. safe & sound [taylor’s version]. folk, 2012.
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The commuter listen

As of May 2022, I started driving to my job at Apple, three days a week. Initially, I was using our ancient beige Camry (2001), which I’d delayed repairing and had a godawful loud engine noise. I was holding out on repairs, expecting we’d get an electric vehicle (Chevy Bolt) we’d queued for a few months earlier. Eventually, I gave up on the Bolt, discovered the Camry repairs were trivial and I finally got to listen to music while driving. And then in February, a Bolt finally arrived and I could hear music on a genuinely nice audio system.

So this was my commuter soundtrack. I’ve grown a little tired of music for the time being – moved on to podcasts (like this movie show) and audiobooks for a bit. But I’ll be back to the music again before long.

Part 1

  1. yeah yeah yeahs. burning. rock, 2022.
  2. catfish & the bottlemen. kathleen. rock, 2014.
  3. friendly fires. kiss of life. rock, 2009.
  4. eight and a half. wait up. rock, 2012.
  5. maddie zahm. blind spot. folk, 2021.
  6. luna li. what you’re thinking. pop, 2022.
  7. cut copy. running in the grass. downtempo, 2022.
  8. simian mobile disco. i believe. electronic, 2007.
  9. cannons. bad dream. pop, 2021.
  10. kyle dixon & michael stein. escape. synthwave, 2017.
  11. waveshaper. future vision. synthwave, 2016.
  12. the rapture. i need your love. pop, 2003.
  13. bonobo. ketto. downtempo, 2006.
  14. beach house. only you know. rock, 2022.
  15. khruangbin & leon bridges. mariella. rock, 2022.
  16. jeremy steig. howling for judy. jazz, 1969.
  17. cotonete. super vilain wants love [dj deep & romain poncet remix]. acid jazz, 2020.
  18. the avalanches. take care in your dreaming. downtempo, 2020.
  19. prince innocence. forever & ever. rock, 2020.
  20. cigarettes after sex. pistol. downtempo, 2022.

Part 2

  1. widowspeak. the good ones. folk, 2020.
  2. lord huron. meet me in the woods. rock, 2015.
  3. johnny marr. spirit power and soul. rock, 2022.
  4. solange. losing you. r&b, 2012.
  5. empress of. save me. pop, 2022.
  6. warpaint. champion. rock, 2022.
  7. billie eilish. happier than ever. rock, 2021.
  8. yung lean & fka twigs. bliss. alternative, 2022.
  9. childish gambino. algorhythm. alternative, 2020.
  10. beyoncé. break my soul. pop, 2022.
  11. coma feat. dillon. beyond you and me. house, 2022.
  12. odesza feat. bettye lavette. the last goodbye. electronic, 2022.
  13. plaid. clock. ambient, 2016.
  14. com truise. … of your fake dimension. synthwave, 2017.
  15. robert parker. sweet nothings. synthwave, 2016.
  16. youngblood. 5 seconds of summer. pop, 2018.
  17. the weeknd. out of time. r&b, 2022.
  18. troublemakers. chez roger boite funk. acid jazz, 2001.
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Soundtrack to Capstone a Pandemic

So there was a pandemic. During which I listened to my last mix, over and over again; as I jogged the exact same riverside route, and my misfitted left-ear AirPod kept falling out.

And I continued listening, and accumulating tracks. For various reasons™, I couldn’t listen to my accumulating list until recently; so the music here wasn’t exactly a soundtrack to the pandemic for me. But now, I’ve finally assembled it.

This one’s in three parts: a two-disc 2020-21 set, and a 2022 set coming up next. Traditionally, I’ve limited myself to the ~100 minutes of a CD; but whatever, let’s go with three full hours, and so we get digressively long tracks like Venice Bitch, Beau Mot Plage and America.

The primary consumer of these mixes is… me, let’s be honest. And one of the main benefits is a bunch of links I can click to find the artists’ full albums in Apple Music. So… no more obsessive MP3ing, relevelling and mixing with ancient 2004 Audacity builds.

part 1

  1. hologramme feat. fakear. felicity [fakear remix]. downtempo, 2020.
  2. kilder & jamal bucanon. what i won’t do. pop, 2020.
  3. alfie templeman. shady. pop, 2021
  4. grandson. dirty. pop, 2020.
  5. 347aidan. dancing in my room. pop, 2020.
  6. frank ocean. pink + white. r&b, 2016.
  7. washed out. too late. downtempo, 2020.
  8. caribou. lime. pop, 2020.
  9. mount kimbie. four years and one day. electronic, 2017.
  10. moderat. animal trails. experimental, 2016.
  11. luke howard. bear story i [ben lukas boysen rework]. techno, 2019.
  12. billie eilish. everything i wanted. pop, 2019.
  13. allan rayman. rose. pop, 2018.
  14. massive attack. paradise circus [gui boratto remix]. downtempo, 2010.
  15. donna missal. (to me) your face is love. pop, 2021.
  16. art school girlfriend. diving. rock, 2019.
  17. lana del rey. venice bitch. pop, 2019.
  18. flume feat. toro y moi. the difference. rock, 2020.
  19. new jackson. romancecar. downtempo, 2019.
  20. aurora. cure for me. house, 2022.
  21. shire t. burnin’ jungle. pop, 2021.

part 2

  1. e.vax. manila. acid jazz, 2022.
  2. against all logic. you (forever). experimental, 2022.
  3. the midnight. neon medusa. synthwave, 2021.
  4. gorgon city & drama. you’ve done enough. house, 2021.
  5. jordan rakei. family. r&b, 2021.
  6. james blake. retrograde. r&b, 2013.
  7. tsha. me you. techno, 2019.
  8. major lazer & nucleya feat. rashmeet kaur. jadi buti. dub, 2020.
  9. rae & christian. ready to roll [bushy remix]. acid jazz, 2002.
  10. soul square feat. pfel & atom. live and uncut. hip hop, 2010.
  11. isolée. beau mot plage [freedom reform, pt. 1 & 2]. acid jazz, 1999.
  12. plants and animals. sacrifice. rock, 2020.
  13. i break horses. silence. rock, 2020.
  14. clairo. zinnias. folk, 2021.
  15. arlo parks. sophie. pop, 2019.
  16. thievery corporation feat. gunjan. doors of perception. dub, 2005.
  17. mac ayres. jumping off the moon. r&b, 2019.
  18. fink. hard believer. blues, 2014.
  19. handsome boy modeling school feat. roisin & j-live. the truth. hip hop, 1999.
  20. girl in red. midnight love. pop, 2020.
  21. booka shade & kaktus einarsson. perfect in a way. techno, 2020.
  22. sufjan stevens. america. rock, 2020.