Category: Uncategorized

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:

	2022	2023	2024
Total distance	190 km	360 km	857 km
Best 5 km time	28:06	24:29	23:01
Best 5 km pace	5:37/km	4:54/km	4:36/km
Number of 10km+ runs	0	1	23

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.

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with an impressive couple. Colin Angus was the first person to circumnavigate the globe under human power – mostly rowing and cycling. His fiancée Julie joined him for part of the trip and became the first woman to row the Atlantic. They showed me an early cut of their 60-minute film, and it was excellent—they had some really incredible stories. To me, the most amazing part was cycling through Siberia in the winter, with average temperatures of -50°C. There were plenty of other great episodes in their trek: rowing from Alaska to Kamchatka, dealing with hurricanes on the Atlantic, and some anecdotes that I don’t want to reveal until they’ve at least released the film – it will hopefully be coming to an outdoors film festival near you, followed by a book in the spring. See their itinerary on their website, and check out some of the photos.

I’d heard about the December subway party, but I hadn’t realized that the organizers had hosted other events. Newmindspace have hosted a party in a streetcar, two subway parties, and staged a pillow fight to make use of the sterile and ugly Dundas Square. Some excellent ideas, if you ask me. They came to my attention today because of an act they labelled the “Queen of Hearts” – basically just chalking hearts all over Queen West.

Yay Toronto. Maybe it doesn’t match Vancouver in zombiewalks, but there’s indie culture to be found.

(Photo courtesy of neuroticjose).