Want My Workout (Running) Playlist?
Yes you do, don’t lie.
- All About Wicked Wonderland – NilsOfficial
- Are You Ready to Go – SATV Music
- Bad Romance – Lady Gaga
- Barbie Dreams (feat. Kaliii) – FIFTY FIFTY
- Barbra Streisand – Duck Sauce
- Blinding Lights – The Weeknd
- Boss Bitch – Doja Cat
- Call On Me – Eric Prydz
- Call On Me (Live) – SYNTHONY
- Can’t Hold Us – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
- Candy Girl (Sugar Sugar) – Riverdale Cast
- Club Can’t Handle Me – Flo Rida
- Cotton Eye Joe – Rednex
- Crab Rave – Noisestorm
- Damn Son – Tobu
- Don’t Wake Me Up – Diamond
- DVNO – Justice
- End of Time – Beyonce
- Eros and Apollo – Studio Killers
- Euphoria – Muse
- Everybody – Nicki Minaj
- Exit the Premises – Kevin Macleod
- Feel This Moment – Pitbull
- Frantic Feathers – The Snake Charmer
- Gimme More – Britney Spears
- Girlfriend – Avril Lavigne
- Gone – JR JR
- Good Girls Gone Bad – Cobra Starship
- The Hampster Dance Remix – Hampton the Hampster [this is a banger, fight me]
- Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) – Yeah Yeah Yeahs
- Hello (Single Edit) – Martin Solveig & Dragonette
- Here It Goes Again – OK Go
- Hey Baby – 4-2-4
- Hollaback Girl – Gwen Stefani
- Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
- I Love It (feat. Charli XCX) – Icona Pop
- International Love – Pitbull
- Levels – Avicii
- Levels (In Reverse) – Avicii
- Light It Up – Major Lazer
- Living On Video – Pakito
- Lose My Breath – Destiny’s Child
- MmmmBop (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Mo Bounce – Iggy Azalea
- More – Usher
- Ode To The Bouncer – Studio Killers
- One O Six (A.N.D.Y. Remix) – Jupiter
- Peanut Butter Jelly – Galantis
- Pork and Beans – Weezer
- RAININ’ FELLAS – Todrick Hall
- Rain On Me – Lady Gaga & Ariana Grande
- Shake It – Metro Station
- Shout Out to My Ex (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Single Ladies – Beyonce
- Sleepyhead (Haydn Hoffman Remix) – Passion Pit
- Some Say the Devil Is Dead – Ceol
- Sorry – Justin Bieber
- Starships – Nicki Minaj
- Stronger – Kanye West
- Stupid Love – Lady Gaga
- Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
- Superstar – Toy-Box
- T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever) – will.i.am feat. Mick Jagger & Jennifer Lopez
- Tarzan Boy – Bango
- Take a Chance On Me (Workout Remix) – Power Music Workout
- Technologic – Daft Punk
- Telephone (feat. Beyonce ) [Electrolight Remix] – Lady Gaga
- Tell Me Ma – Sham Roc
- This Is So Good (Radio Edit) – Ehrencrona
- Viva La Vida – Coldplay
- What a Feeling – Peter Luts & Dominico
- Where Them Girls At – David Gutta
- Wind It Up – Gwen Stefani
- Work Bitch – Britney Spears
- Work This Body – WALK THE MOON
- http://www.nevergetoveryou – Prozzak
- 45 (Radio Mix) – Stars on 45
Luck of the Bucks
I found $15 on my run this morning! It pays to exercise, haha.
I used to find cash ALL THE TIME when I was out walking. Like, I found a $50 once by a bus stop. I haven’t found as much cash since the start of COVID, but that’s probably just from people relying on using their cards more.
Still, though. Dolla dollas!
Sp-sp-sp-speed
Well I hit that resolution a lot faster than I thought I would.
I think I was so fast* this time because it’s been a while since I’ve gotten to run outside and my body was just so happy about it that it wanted to go zoom!
A pace faster than 9:00 sustained for 26 miles is really fast for me.
Now my legs are going to fall off, haha.
Edit: MY QUAAAAAAAAAADS
*By “fast” I mean “subjectively fast for me.” This would get me laughed out of contention for any real competitive marathon race.
Seattle Marathon Swag
Dudes, isn’t this a pretty medal?
One of these days I’ll run a race in person, I swear.
I’m just still scared of COVID.
(And can’t travel during the semester.)
Awooga
(This has absolutely nothing to do with anything I did today, but that’s like half my blogs anyway, so whatevs.)
So I have two different directions I go when I go on my long runs. At the bottom of our hill at the River Path, I either go:
1) left, heading east until I hit the Bird Sanctuary, then I head south until I get to my turn round point, or
2) right, heading west into Bowness Park and then turn north into the Scenic Hills and Tuscany neighborhoods until I get to my turning point.
The first route is WAY flatter than the second route. Observe:
Elevation change for the first route:
Elevation change for the second route:
Note the y-axes in those.
You’d think the first route would be easier, right?
Eh. It’s a lot more monotonous than the second route, and also it’s uphill (even very slightly) on the return trip. The second route is much more varied in terms of scenery and neighborhoods and it’s basically downhill the whole return trip, which is really nice, haha. Especially on a marathon+ run.
Does anyone actually give a crap about this? Nah. But again…that’s like half my blogs.
NUMBER ONE
My first marathon of the year!
I didn’t make it an official resolution or anything, but I’d like to run a marathon a week if possible. There are going to be weeks where it’s too cold to run outside or too smoky or too hot (and there’s no way I can run a whole marathon on the treadmill) so this is not a “EVERY WEEK OR ELSE” thing, but if I can, I’m going to try to do a marathon for my weekend long run each week.
Am I already going to miss a weekend next weekend because it’s supposed to be like -17? Probably. Haha.
Also, this sign:
This is right where I start/end my run, haha.
It’s Not Even a Contest Anymore
It’s time for that racing chart of my cumulative walking/running miles from year-to-year.’
Where’s the glitz? Where’s the glamor? Where’s the excitement?!
It’s not there. 2023 trumps all.
2024 will (likely) not eclipse 2023, so there may be some excitement next year.
But since it’s tradition, here it is.
Walk da Walk, Run da Run (2023 Edition)
Is it walking/running stats time yet?
YES??
WOOOO!!!!
Here are my walking stats for January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023.
Total number of days walked/ran: 365
Total mileage: 6,515.09
Total number of steps: 14,228,321
Total calories burned: 479,577
Total walking/running time (minutes): 95,233.67 [that’s about 66.13 days]
Average speed (mph) per walk/run: 4.55
6,515.09 miles is approximately the great circle distance between San Diego, California and Naples, Italy or between Helsinki, Finland and Cape Town, South Africa.
I beat last year’s mileage by almost 1,000 miles. Almost. I should have tried harder.
Anyway.
I’m pretty sure Nate will divorce me if I keep ramping this up, so I took the preventative measure of only walking 16 miles today, as the first day of the year basically sets the precedent for the rest of the year.
Edit: the fact that I’m not going to be breaking an old record this year has taken away a big portion of my already very tiny will to live. So that’s fun.
I did not participate in this…
But let’s pretend I did!
It’s the Runner’s World Running Survey 2023. LET’S GOOOOOOO
I have indicated what my response would be by putting a red circle over the appropriate response in each infographic.
I’m circling both for this one, as my first actual serious attempts at running were when I lived in Vancouver (so when I was 22/23), but then I stopped and started again in 2020 when I was 32.
I’m in the majority here.
I’m not in the majority here, haha.
Yeah, it’s a problem.
Another majority.
Don’t bother me when I’m running. Running is my “me time.”
Woo!
Wafflin’
So I’ve been running from my office (rather than from home) the past several runs. When I do so, I always forget to grab my chocolate milk and throw it in the lounge fridge.
And when I ran from my office this morning, that’s exactly what I did. Forgot my choccy milk.
However, I’d bought a few energy waffles last time I was at Safeway because I wanted to try them (as an alternate to the Gu packets). Specifically, these:
So I tried one.
It was super tasty! It’s a lot softer than it looks and kind of melts into a gritty chew when you bite it. This one is honey flavor; I also have a few salted caramel flavored ones too (because the salted caramel has been my favorite Gu flavor so far).
So yeah, if you need some energies, give these a try!
6×1000
Bros, I hit 6,000 walking/running miles today!
Remember back when 5,000 miles was my goal and how much work that was? Yeah, add another 1,000 miles on top of that.
Now I just need to do about 200 more to hit my ultimate goal of 10,000 kilometers for the year. And assuming I don’t die, I should be able to do that in the last month of the year!
Woo.
Ultra
GUYS, I DID IT
I ran an ultra-marathon!*
50K (31.1 miles) to be exact. It took me five hours, but I did it. Got a badge on my Garmin, too.
Turns out breaking through that marathon barrier is much more mental than it is physical (though I kind of figured it would be).
Now…any other year, this distance would be sufficient. But because the Calgary Marathon is celebrating it’s 60th year next year, the ultra-marathon distance has been increased from 50K to 60K. So I need to tack on another 10K (6.2 miles) to what I ran today. That’s another hour-ish of running.
Can I do it?
I guess we’ll see!
It’s so nice, though, to have this distance accomplished.
*I guess any distance longer than a marathon is technically an ultra, but 50K is the generally accepted “shortest” ultra distance in most cases when it comes to actual races.
Longest run AND fastest marathon time?
I’ll take it.
I felt really good today. Like…I felt like I could have gone 50k (31 miles), but I figured I should NOT make that big of a distance jump, just to be safe.
This was counting for my (virtual) Seattle Marathon run, too, so that’s neato.
Edit from mid-December: swag shirt! This one looks super cool (that’s the back of it).
THREE THINGS TODAY
First: I did my longest run ever this morning: 27.2 miles. I also did my fastest marathon time of 4:15. That’s still really slow, but it’s fast for me.
Second: Nate’s mom came up to take him to Canmore for his surgery. They should be back tomorrow afternoon. I hope everything goes well!
Third: I made layer cookies!
The end.
I am a FREE RADICAL
Today was a 27-mile run into a new region of Calgary. Behold!
(Also my fastest marathon time)
(Also, it’s wild that I’m still running in shorts in mid-November)
The area circled in blue is new to me. I’m right up against the edge of the city!
Am I going to apologize for posting a running blog every weekend?
No. No I’m not.
Baltimore Swag
So I’m going to count one of my previous marathons as my Baltimore Marathon run (unless I do one tomorrow), so here is said swag from the completion of the virtual Baltimore Marathon!
Shirt:
It’s nice to have one that’s long-sleeved. It’ll be nice in that “too cold for tanktop but too hot for jacket” weather.
Medal:
I had to take a video to demonstrate exactly how cool this medal is.
Done!
Spooky Run
So I’m not one to be afraid of the dark or anything like that.
But when it’s 5:30 AM on a cold Halloween morning and you’re out in the part of Bowness Park where there is not a light to be seen save your one little headlight on your running vest, hearing people describe their creepy ghost stories over the radio is NOT WHAT YOU NEED AT THAT MOMENT.
Imagine being in the woods in complete darkness except for a tiny little light in front of you and you hear someone describe that as a child, they would often see a man standing outside their bedroom window at their family’s summer cabin, peering in with unblinking eyes, but when they finally told their parents about this mysterious man, their parents informed them that their bedroom was on the second floor.
I got goosebumps at these stories, yo.
At least they made me run faster.
Hardest Geezer
So I’ve been meaning to post about Russ Cook, a British dude who has committed himself to running the entire north-south length of Africa.
Nate and I have watched several of his videos documenting this journey and I now follow him on Twitter. I can’t imagine running the distances he does every single day.
It’s super impressive and I hope he’s able to get to his goal!
Go check him out.
More Marathon Swag
I ran another marathon today, so I’m counting this one for the virtual Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Distance n’ such:
Medal:
Isn’t that a pretty medal?
Ugh.
Ran a marathon this morning while feeling really sick the entire time.
Got done, walked back up our hill, and promptly puked in a bush. Then had to visit the toilet once I got home.
Yeah, super fun. I haven’t felt sick like that in a long time. My upper abdomen was really hurting for an hour or so afterward, but now I feel 100% again.
Weird.
Mileage Update:
I have reached 5,000 miles for the year!
This is WAY earlier than I usually hit that mark, haha, and it means that 6,000 and even 6,200 are within reach by the end of the year.
Let’s blow it out of the water!
Wild Wild West Calgary
Today I ran to a part of Calgary that I’d never been to before and is basically the very west end of the city. Observe my map!
It looks like there’s a fairly new neighborhood out there, but it’s still pretty barren in terms of development. There is, shockingly, a nice wide, recently-paved walk/bike path, though.
I also did 24 miles, so that’s cool.
MARATHON, I’M COMING FOR YOU!
My current stress response:
Signing up for marathons.
That’s not weird at all.
Nineteen
Today was my first “longer run” (more than 17 miles) since my sartorius injury. I did 19, which is a far cry from a marathon distance, but I’m hoping I can slowly build back up to that.
Though I can already tell that I’m going to be super sore tomorrow.
An Eventful Day
Today involved:
- A migraine upon waking up (always fun!!!!)
- A TON of smoke in the air and, along with it, a very smoky run this morning. I tried wearing a mask for part of it but running in a mask is freaking hard, yo
- The first day of classes which, for me, just involved ASHA (or standing around while Rob introduced ASHA, as I’m teaching next semester and he’s taking charge of this semester)
- An at-home vet check-up for Pepper (just because taking her to the vet seemed to really stress her out)
I hope this isn’t indicative of how the rest of the semester will go.
Edit from mid-October: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Eigenblogger 