So, that NaNoWriMo thing, and

It's coming up fast. I started a new document in Scrivener, complete with initial notes. I have an opening scene, and a couple other scenes, all neatly plotted. My thinking was to plot it all out, and then write like mad during NaNoWriMo in November.

But even those opening scenes are not that neatly plotted. And you know? I don't have the faintest idea where the story goes from there. I've tried to have meetings with the lead character. She's busy. I've tried to bribe her with good coffee, and it's not working. Even the other characters aren't saying much. Not sure what that means.

So here I am, a day out from committing to 50K words. In the past I've just dived in, and had fun with it. Almost every day I woke up knowing where that day's writing was going. Which has led me to lots of words and a vague resemblance to a novel, in that there is a faint hint of a story. I was hoping to tighten things up and not make it worse by adding more words.

At this very moment I'm thinking of not doing it, and continuing to work on the words I already have.   Stay tuned and see how this turns out. Either the word counter on my blog will start showing words, or it will disappear.

Today was a pre-retirment day. Eventually I will need to produce documentation of my SIN for Linda to get her pension, and that plastic card disintegrated decades ago. Oddly enough my birth certificate is still going strong, though I ought to get it relaminated. So we wandered into a Service Canada centre, and what do you know? We got service. From walking in the front door, to walking out with our documents, was about a half hour, and we dealt with a polite and professional person. This is one of the things our taxes pay for.

We did a bit of shopping on the way home. Four wild boar steaks found their way into our shopping cart, and later onto the BBQ. They were delicious! And a Yum Bakery dessert.

Midafternoon I was on the bike for an hour of fairly hard workout. I'm still getting back into it, figuring out where my bike fitness is, but I think I'm pretty close to where I left off. Maybe Sunday I'll dig out the book and do a time trial. That is, if the morning swim doesn't knacker me trying to keep up to my buddy who is swimming stronger every time. Plus I need a new heart rate monitor. The bands are still good, if I put fresh batteries in them, but there's nothing to display the result. Hmmm, unless I can get an app on my phone to do that. Research time.

Almost forgot. Linda made these awesome scones that are fabulous with morning coffee, as we slept in till dawn. A Brazilian dark roast, with beans shiny with oil, and a wonderful rich smell. I poured just enough water into the French Press to turn the grounds into sludge, then took a big sniff. Wonderful!

This what we saw outside shortly after waking up.

 The lick-fest turned into a tussle pretty quickly.

Planning for 2K

It's going to be special, I tell you! Though I don't know that I'll do a birthday cake/fruit flan thingie like I did for 1000.

As a hint, this one is 1.995K.  I'm already planning for it. I could even be persuaded to do the AMA thing again, if I get good questions. You can even ask the cats something, but I don't guarantee a reply.

Wednesday was a complete zoom. The swim started with 6 of us in a 50 m lane, then 2 fast swimmers joined and a couple people left. As the fast swimmers passed me I tried to hang in their draft but that didn't last long. I passed a couple of the other swimmers when I could. All in all it turned out to be a pretty good swim. 1K 19 minutes. 4 x 100 HARD, 100 m backstroke cooldown.

Having coffee and breakfast after, still at the pool, I chuckled watching a guy in swim fins thrashing and flopping trying to keep up with one of the medium speed swimmers. Then the chick in the next lane started to pass him, just cruising along, and I nearly snorted out coffee as he redoubled his efforts. Lots more splash but he wasn't going any faster.

I had lunch bought for me! So nice and thoughtful. I don't get out as much at lunchtime as I should, and it was a beautiful day to walk to the restaurant. Real food even, not food court cheapie.

My buddy Murray is leaving Penn West to go to IHS. We worked together for a couple years on a particular project. It's a useful app, but it got cuff off in it's infancy, and they're going to decommission it soon. This is the life of a contractor. We do stuff. They pay us. It's their business what they do with what we built, but it's sad to see such effort evaporating. But I got paid, that's what's important out of this.

Yoga got cancelled. I collapsed in a heap. Today zoomed by just as fast, but I ran after work. It's odd. The other day was a near magical 7K run. Today was a 4K slog. It wasn't quite wanting to quit every step, but I felt slow and heavy. It turned out to be 4K, 28:15, so not that far off my pace the other day, but I was sure working a lot harder! Here it is Oct 30, and I was running in shorts! This can't go on much longer.

So, upcoming blog, you have about a week for AMA. Or if there's something you'd like to see, say so. Leave a comment. Tweet me @keithcartmell or leave a comment on Facebook if we're friends. That ought to be enough ways to contact me.

Now or MUCH later

You get a quicky.

I go nearly a month without comments, then four on Monday's Runner High post. Love it! Thanks for the comments. I know most of you read on mobile now, and Blogger is mobile unfriendly. If if you know of a trick or setting I should do, please tell me. I love comments.

Since then.
Swam Tuesday. Kind of crappy, slow, with my flukes waving ineffectually. The high point was as I was stretching on the side of the pool. Some swim club kids are coming in and beginning to warm up on deck. One girl comes in, total bed head, wearing what I would swear was pajamas. She got a bit of teasing.

Tuesday after work I was feeling a bit sluggish. After a light dinner, sitting there, held down by cats, I got a text, telling me that the registration price goes up this weekend for GWN half iron. That did it, I struggled to my feet, shedding cats, and plodded downstairs.

In fact the spin was pretty good. Nothing dramatic, 30 minutes of easy spin. Just enough to wake up my legs and get the blood going again, but not so much I'd be a puddle of worn out sweat, too awake and worked up to sleep.

Worked like a charm. Slept like a rock, and my legs feel great this morning. Busy day ahead. Gotta go.

That mythical runner's high?

I am an adult onset runner. There, I said it. It took a long time for me to get it, and I'm not sure I've completely got it yet. For example, yesterday I would have said I've never had runner's high. I've heard about it lots. I've had some crappy runs, some ok runs, some good runs, and even a few great runs. That's not necessarily times or pace, though that's part of it.

No, I'm talking about how it felt. But today I might have had that runner's high, for a little bit. Overall it was 7K, just under 49 minutes, running around the neighbourhood. I was trying to relax and run easy. Just along 24th St beside the soccer field, the sun came out, and I realized my body was running along without me having to push, my legs felt great with a nice smooth stride, and I was happy. At that moment it felt like I could go on forever, though of course that didn't last that long.

It's great, especially at my age, get out and go for a run. Yes, there's been some creaky bits lately, my low back especially, but none of that bothers me when I'm running. Till I get tired of course. Then its gone. Today the first 6 K were superawesomesauce. The last K was a bit of a slog uphill, and starting to feel tired, but it all ended well. Walked, then stretched after.

I EARNED that organic crunchy peanut butter with peanuts and Nutella on fresh bread!

So, is that runner's high? If it isn't, then how will I know when it happens? Has it happened to you?

We bagged the barrels

Linda has gone through a bunch of those big landscaping bags from Burnco this year. Soil, mulch, compost, peat moss, cedar chips, pea gravel, maybe other stuff. I lost track. I just pack and carry.

I found out yesterday those big bags are NOT returnable, and NON refundable. I suppose the first implies the second, but that's what the sign says. They suggested the bags be put in the blue bin for recycling.

Kind of a pity, they are huge sturdy bags. We have one already storing something out on the front patio, and it looks happy just sitting there. I had the happy thought of reusing them to further protect the barbecue but they weren't quite big enough for that. However they fit very nicely over the water barrels.

It took a bit of doing to drain them. The siphon pump we got doesn't actually siphon all that well when it's cold out. I think just a little air seeps past the seals and that destroys the siphon effect. My arms were a bit tired during the swim, with the left especially reverting to Pastafarianism. No, that isn't an allegory on the Canadian election. If it was, only right wing Conservatives would get it. Pastafarianism, noodley appendage, left wing, Liberals. Come on, reach for it. Nope? Congrats, you are not a Harperite.

We finished getting the garden put to bed for winter. Taps are drained. Some of the plants are still hanging in there, but they will go fully dormant any day now. Not many plants are good for -5 C.

Back to the swim. Both of us were feeling a bit feeble, and wanted a nice relaxing swim. I actually warmed up, taking 200 m to start feeling normal. A brisk 500 m in 9:10 and my left shoulder and arm complaining a bit convinced me I was not going to push for a record today. Soon.

Over coffee we plotted our plans for race season next year. Once home I napped, which is very easy with a cat snoring. I also managed to capture the dentistry display afterward.

Keith and the cube ride again

Winter training season just began for me. Even though it's not quite winter yet. The water freezing a little overnight in the garden water barrels just means it's still fall. Winter means it freezes solid.

Even after the bike fit I wasn't out on my bike much this year. Somehow it didn't work out what with all the swimming, and trying to be regular on the run. But I've promised myself to get on the trainer so that next year can be a good bike year. At last.

Starting with cats and coffee. I was watching a lovely sunrise, held down by cats, so this was the best photo I could get. I suspect if you lived a bit further east it was pretty spectacular.

This is where Estela lives between rides. It's time to get her on the trainer.

The semi-famous heat gun trick. Trainer tires are notoriously hard to get on the rim. I had one bad episode a few years ago that involved much swearing. Now I take the time to warm it up thoroughly before trying to mount it. When it's warm I can roll it onto the rim with my hands without working too hard. Do you notice the supervisory cat?

The old cube computer has been off since the last trainer ride. I'm not even sure when that was, but it fired up like a champ. I've got some music going for the ride. Anyone remember the visualizer? I'm wondering what I want to watch during the many rides I've got planned. Maybe the last season of Leverage that I missed.

Here she is, all ready to go.

Curtis likes to snooze on the red blanket. Here he is concerned about the slight humming sound the cube makes. I think that was when the cd was spinning up.

Celina loves to cheer me on and lick my sweaty skin.

I wasn't sure what to expect for the ride, and decided to go with the flow. It took a few minutes to get the trainer calibrated. 15 minutes warm up, gradually spinning faster, in an easy gear at about 125 watts. Heart rate still under 100, breathing very easy, gradually starting to sweat. Then 10 minutes at about 160 watts. Last time I was serious about training this was about the top of my endurance range. My heart rate was about 120, and I could easily breathe through my nose without getting behind. Legs are feeling good.

Then a couple minutes at about 200 watts, still not breathing hard, and my heart rate about the same. Then a couple minutes at 225, starting to notice the work, but still feeling good, heart rate up to about 130. Then a couple minutes at 250, and I can really start to feel it here. My lungs are fine, heart rate just over 140, and my legs are wanting to dial it back. Another 10 minutes of easy spin to cool down for about 45 minutes after calibration. My butt was beginning to talk to me about being on the bike.

Lots of stretching and rolling with the gear roller. Minor clunks and clicks from my back and hips.

I'm pleased and surprised by this. I was working off my old training effort list and I don't think it's too far off for now. I'll carry on with this for a few more rides, getting into the groove again, then I'll do another test to see where my current training zones really are.

My thinking over the winter is going to try to swim 3x a week, working on stroke and speed. Run a couple times a week at least, depending on weather, with one long run in there. Try to get on the bike 3x a week, working on intensity and strength for most of the rides, and one long ride at the top of endurance pace, whatever that is. All this is depending on my work situation of course. I might have  much more time for workouts.

I'm still scoping out races for next year, but I'm at least thinking about doing some. I haven't forgotten my goal of running a marathon. There are several to choose from, and at the moment Banff is calling my name. There are lots of Oly distance triathlons out there, and I might pick a couple of them. There don't seem to be many half-iron distance races here with a 2016 date. Just GWN and YYC70.3 and I've done both of them. I was hoping Sylvan was going to run again, but I can't find any info about it. Lets see how this goes.

There's a lamb roast lurking in the bottom of the pot, ready for a wonderful meal.

As I sit with some wine, post-meal, trying to work on my blog, and capture some novel thoughts, this is my view.

Or this.

I'm coming up on a blog milestone soon. I'm also starting to draft a primer about electoral system reforms. Stay tuned.

quicky runny swimmy updaty

Wednesday, swam 1.5 K hard, keeping up with some fast swimmer in our 50 m lane. Over the last bunch of years I free-formed only a few of the poses that Fiona brought to class. I free-formed the whole class, doing something different for every pose, including the savasana at the end.

Friday I bailed out of the office a bit early to enjoy the sunshine. 4K reasonably easy, 26:40, trying to keep cadence up. I didn't miss work a bit, and if they missed me, oh well. This might well be the last run in shorts this year, but you never know.

We puttered around, draining hoses, getting ready for winter. It's supposed to snow soon.

I've been dragging my butt this week, going to bed early, and sleeping through till the alarm goes off. In my free time I'm thinking novel thoughts and not getting very far. That hasn't stopped me before.