Run for the Hills

So my dating isn't exact on this because I didn't keep a log of the day when I first slipped on my five fingers and hit the track, but sometime approximately one year ago I embarked on my quest to undo the damage of sloth caused by living through a Yukon winter at a research station. Don't get me wrong, the Yukon was an amazing experience. I met great people. I saw great things. I bulked up my resume and got a jump-start on my thesis. However, when you are alone 5 days each week, doing research and living at a lonely highway outpost there isn't much you can do to stay fit. The avalanche danger was usually too high to do any solo adventuring and net result was a chubbier, lazier version of myself.

It was with resolve in my heart and a spare tire around my waist that I came home last May, determined to get in shape. After a quick stop at Adventure Guide to get my Five Finger Bikila running shoes I was ready to go. My first few runs were tame. The just about needed to be as running to the corner of my street left me winded. I got used to my new barefoot shoes by running the track at the high school near my house. My 11 year-old brother even joined me for a couple of outings. The extend of these runs was 2 sets of 4 laps around the track, amounting to a little over 3 km. Even with a long water break in between it was hard going. The sun was hot and my lung capacity was abysmal, but somehow I managed to fight through it.

After a couple weeks at the track I graduated to the road. It was a tough transition mentally more than physically. The road is where real distance runners trained, especially in my neighbourhood. I couldn't look out my bedroom window for 5 minutes on a sunny afternoon without some fitter, more competent looking person jogging past. If it wasn't for the knowledge that I was being a wimp, and that I would never improve if I didn't challenge myself, I would have probably stuck to the kiddy-pool. My first road run was a humbling experience. I mapped out a 5 km loop around the subdivision that included a couple moderate hills but nothing a 13 year-old cross-country hopeful isn't expected to tackle. The run involved 3 multi-minute rest stops, using up my water supply by km 2, and much wheezing on the side of the road.

Over time the route got easier. The key to sticking with it was that I purposely chose to run through areas I liked. I ran by houses many times larger than my own with perfectly landscaped yards. I ran by forests, and ponds, and schools. I also had my ipod going the entire time. In between "Pump-Up" playlists I enjoyed listening to the audio-book version of Christopher MacDougall's "Born to Run" which is now on my list of favourite books. From my initial attempt, I was able to subtract whole minutes. I timed myself for the challenge and so I could track my own improvement. And improve I did.

Over the months, I extended my route and got comfortable going on 8, 10, and even the occasional 15 K amble through my hometown. I began to feel better, lose weight, and had a more positive outlook on the world. When I moved across the country by car last summer I got to run in places like Sleeping Giant Provincial Park where my girlfriend and I rounded a bend to find three surprised deer staring back at us. Once we made it to BC we explored the trails near our apartment and found giant trees as well as banana slugs. When the weather took a turn for the worse we hit the gym and became avid treadmill runners. I even cut class one day and ended up running a half-marathon distance around campus.

The past year has been a great experience for me in terms of running. I've learned that my own limitations are all mental and that, if I'm willing to put in the work, I am always able to get better at something. I've gained persistence and perspective and hopefully lengthened my life as a result. I realize not everyone loves running. It can be hard, painful, boring, and demoralizing when you're in the thick of it. It's beauty lies in the long-term. Over the course of a health-kick I guarantee the net effect is a positive feeling. You may hate the 30 minutes a day you spend on the treadmill but they make the other 23 and a half hours far more enjoyable as you savour your runner's high. Many of my friends have also undertaken fitness quests this year and I have heard sentiments from them that echo what I have said here. The clichés are true. No pain, no gain. Slow and steady wins the race. The squeaky wheel gets the grease. That last one isn't really about running, but I'm sure it's true, too. So even if you don't think to can, just give it a try. It might not be running but I promise there is something you will love if you leave the couch and get to finding it.

Wishing you all the best of luck and happy trails.

Steve

Image courtesy of discovery.com

The Most Ridiculous Thing... A Rant

Today the news is full of talk about same-sex marriage. Last night Barack Obama became the first sitting President of the United States to openly say that he approves of equal rights for the LGBT community. To me, all the hype seems to do is highlight how absurd the issue actually is. It's shocking that people can be so ignorant as to think that one group of people should have different rights from another group based entirely on the gender of the person they love. I honestly don't even know how I am going to come up with a full length blog post about the issue because it seems so self-evident... But here it goes:

There are few things in life that I feel absolutely certain about. Where I will be in 5 years; what I'm having for dinner tonight; who will win the next major election. These are all things that could go a number of ways and I don't have enough evidence to confidently state what their outcomes will be. However, one thing that I am absolutely sure of, beyond any doubt, is that in 100 years the "issue" of same sex marriage will not even cross people's minds. It will be an accepted and usual part of life in the 22nd century. No weirder than getting an oil change or paying too much for gas.

We have seen issues with exactly the same components come and go and the liberal side always wins. No exceptions. Looking back on the civil rights movement of the 1960's or the Women's Suffrage Movement of the 1920's and 30's, we think of the opposition as bigoted and wrong. The simple fact is that anyone who currently opposes same sex marriage will be given the same label, when all is said and done. The march of progress is reality and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Even the most liberal minded person living in 1850 would seem vehemently conservative by today's standards. Abraham Lincoln would seem like a backwards racist if you were to meet him for a beer. With this in mind, I can't understand why anyone would even question this issue. There is no debate. All people should have equal rights under the law concerning everything from employment to marriage to home ownership. You name it. If one person gets it, everyone gets it.

I'll even go one step further and point out that, in the not too distant future, (once everyone wakes up and realizes that treating people like people is only rational thing to do) the debate is going to shift to animal rights pretty quickly. The change is already beginning. More and more articles calling for animals like dolphins, whales, and apes to have rights approaching those of people are popping up. The safe money is on the fact that in 100 or so years you won't be able to find any aquariums with large marine mammals or zoos with any of the higher primates because caging them in would be illegal. It might sound crazy today, but I for one want to unequivocally state that I support it. That way, if this blog still exists in the year 2112 my great great grandchildren won't have to wrestle with the fact that their ancestor was a mental prisoner to the Zeitgeist of his time.

Have the courage to look at things sensibly. Rights aren't something you are allowed to allocate based on how you feel about other people's choices. Live your own life and let other people do the same. If you don't, history won't remember you fondly.

Cheers,

Steve

Things I Wish I Knew About University

So last week I got some great news from back east. Turns out my younger brother has been selected for a basketball scholarship to a school in North Bay, Ontario. Naturally this got my big brother muscles working as I wondered about what advice I could pass down to help him be prepared for the onslaught of books, lectures, tests, and projects to come. Of course, I can't hope to develop a comprehensive list of what everyone needs to know as they begin their quest for higher education, and that is where this blog comes in. My hope is that anyone who reads it and thinks of some glaring oversight will add it to the comments section. In the end, as a team, we might even come up with something useful. But let's get to it:

Things I Wish I Knew About University:
1) This ain't no reading competition

For the purposes of maintaining a long-running inside joke, I was obliged to make this "Rule #1" but that doesn't make it any less true. The further you go in school, the more important presentation skills become. Nothing shows that you know your stuff like being able to confidently stand in front of a room of peers and teach them about it. Similarly, nothing makes you look more awkward than stuttering, mumbling, reading a script, or falling into the deadly trap of using "umm," "like," "uh," etc. If you need time to think about what you want to say, stay silent or use sentences to fill the gaps. Some of my favourites are "That is an excellent question." or "I'm glad you asked that." Also, don't underestimate the power of a relaxed presentation style. A few jokes and a laid back attitude puts everyone at ease and helps them care about what you're saying instead of feeling bad for you.

2) Laptops are both handy and dangerous

A computer is an indispensable tool for anyone in university. It lets you stay organized; keeps you in contact with far away family and friends; and can lead to productive group study sessions. However, one thing that I have learned over my 6 years of post-secondary work is that, generally speaking, a laptop is a poor note taking tool. Sure it will save you paper. Sure, it's more organized than notebooks or loose leaf paper. That doesn't change the fact that you are constantly tempted to go online and read about hockey stats or cruise reddit. If you are easily distracted (and who among us isn't?) leave the laptop at home and take notes the old fashioned way. You'll be more engaged, remember more, and won't have to worry about losing or damaging your most expensive resource.

3) Work smart, not hard.

This may seem like bad advice, and in the wrong hands it most certainly could be. It's painfully easy to justify not working when there is no one looking over your shoulder to keep you in line. That being said, I have also met too many people who lock themselves up in their room and cram their lives away. University is about learning, but it's also about having fun. It's one of the only times in your life when you're not expected to hold down a full-time job and deal with all the crap that goes along with being a real adult. My working philosophy has been to evaluate the class and tailor my habits to how it functions. If the teacher posts comprehensive notes online, I don't need to write down too much of what they say. If the online notes suck or are non-existent, I write a lot more. If I know a lot about a topic we're dicussing, I skim the reading for key points. If I'm totally lost, I'll read every sentence in the book and take detailed notes. When I'm struggling particularly hard in a class I always try to come up with two or three questions to ask during the lecture, just to stay engaged.

4) Don't be "That guy," but don't hate on him too much either.

Every class has one. The person who goes out of their way to talk over other people or ask questions that have little to do with the topic at hand. It can be infuriating when all you want to do is get through the lecture and go back to bed. They come off as arrogant and inconsiderate and, subsequently, don't have a huge fan club. Being that guy makes it hard to work with other people and tough to find a group who wants to study with you. The other side of the coin is that "that guy" is usually being overly chatty because he is insecure about his abilities in the class. He knows he can show interest and let the prof know that he's trying, but sometimes takes it a little too far. My advice on this point is basically that we're all in this together. Try to respect classroom etiquette (you'll pick up on it pretty quickly) but don't spend too much time hating on the people who ignore it. You'll need all the positive energy you can muster when finals roll around.

5) Read for pleasure.

One of the comments I heard most often during my undergrad was "How do you have the energy to read things other than class material?" My answer was usually something along the lines of, "If I didn't read things about mountain climbers, I would go crazy and flunk out anyway." My justification was that my grades under the system of pleasure reading plus class reading were the highest grades I was capable of. Changing the system would just make things worse. Not only is it a nice break to read something you chose, but it helps you become a better, faster reader who retains more. You can take skills you develop doing things you care about and use them to do better at things you don't. By reading "Between a Rock and Hard Place" on the bus, I was better able to fly through "Advanced Parametric Statistics for the Social Sciences." That's not to say I enjoyed the latter as much as the former, but I didn't struggle as much with it. Pleasure reading also helps you know what you're really interested in and will help you pick classes you care about. Nothing is worse that studying something you have no passion for and a salient reminder of your real interests helps keep things in perspective.

I'll leave it there for now in the interest of keeping this blog at a manageable length. Before I sign off, though, I just want to take a few lines to congratulate my brother on achieving something he has wanted for a long time and has had to work really hard to attain. Along the way there have been setbacks, most notably a blown out knee that required invasive surgery, but he has never given up and has proven more than a few people wrong. I'm really proud and hope he is too.

Cheers,

Steve

Image courtesy of quickmeme.com