Tagged

I started out with Jeffrey and a few other fast people. Everyone seemed to want to do a different distance, though, so the company and conversation kept changing. Most people had run races on Friday, and so nobody was too crazy about distance. We kept a pretty good pace, though, likely under 5:00/km for long stretches.

I ran along the canal downtown, then back to Dow's Lake, through the Arboretum, then back around Dow's Lake. Nice run. Warm, but not hot or humid. Sunny, but with shade available periodically along the canal.

I took two short walk breaks, passing by Dow's Lake, then again through the Arboretum. After the first 10km, I was starting to feel Friday's run, so that was fine by me. I finished strongly, though, running in the last ~3km.

Afterwards, I talked to some people who'd been out to swim in Carleton Place, in preparation for the triathlon in two weeks. Lots of bad news. First of all, apparently the bottom is littered with broken clam shells. Harvey's feet were all torn up by them. Second of all, the current was crazy-fast. Someone said it took them 56 minutes to swim upstream, but only 7 minutes to get back again. Crazy.

So I'll have to give some thought to whether I want to do that triathlon, or pick another one. There's one two weeks later in town - maybe that will be a better choice.

Finally, jeff tagged me to list my 6 favorite songs. (Edit: I need to keep up better with my blog reading - jon too!) My tastes aren't nearly as refined (eclectic?) as jeff's, but (after much deliberation) here they are:

Sister Awake - The Tea Party
I've often heard said that the Tea Party have a middle-eastern sound. I have no idea if that's true, but they are a bit off the beaten path. At once epic, melodic and rockin', Sister Awake is easily their best work.

Lightning Crashes - Live
For a song that got (and still gets) so much radio play, this song has tremendous staying power. It was instantly one of my favorite songs, and still is today.

Interstate Love Song - Stone Temple Pilots
A song my wife and I might both have on our lists. Just about as good as the 90s got, musically.

Rocket - Def Leppard
A song that will forever remind me of the 80s. Ironically, a song written about the 70s.

The Stone - Dave Matthews Band
I could have picked half a dozen from DMB, easily my favorite band, but the Stone stands out, probably because I just love the violin so much.

Crossfire - Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble
No musical artist has ever effected me like Stevie Ray Vaughn did. His Texas Flood blew me away. I was grinning the whole way through the first time I heard it - I just couldn't believe there was music that was "that good" out there. Unfortunately, as I listened to his library in chronological order, the cocaine and alcohol were there to be heard. In Step - his last studio release with Double Trouble and first sober, was the true realization of all the potential he'd spent a decade diminishing. Sadly, he died in a helicopter crash shortly after cleaning up his life. Crossfire won him a Grammy, and deservedly so.

EDIT - like a blog virus, I'll pass this along, tagging Dawn and Deene.