Fwd: Fwd: Fwd: Hey that's me!

Amusingly, I recently discovered that I have been making an (extremely peripheral) appearance in a chain e-mail that's circulating around the Internet.

We've all received these e-mails at one point or another. People send them around, they get forwarded a million times, eventually a friend of a friend sends it to your friend who thinks it's funny, and they pass it along to you... Typically they're slightly spammy collections of jokes, funny pictures, and so on, the static precursors to viral YouTube videos. Everybody has an uncle or cousin or acquaintance who loves these messages. The mechanics of how they propagate would make fine grist for a Malcolm Gladwell article.

Yesterday my dad forwarded me this deck of pictures (posted here as a google doc). [Yes, I know by posting the link I am myself transmitting this viral time-waster. Guilty as charged -- that's how these things work!]

"I am sending you this slide presentation... you are in one of the photos", he wrote.

Naturally I was skeptical. I opened it up and it was a typical set of captioned photos, primarily of silly or bizarre situations. You have to be in a certain mood to appreciate them. I took a quick glance through the deck...

Sure enough, there I am, about halfway in.* My incredulity was mistaken.

It's merely a peripheral shot where I'm in the background, and it's buried in a larger grouping of images, so it's not like I'm central or anything, but it's still weird to realize this image is out there, circulating endlessly over the internet, a tiny meme reproducing in people's e-mails and providing a sliver of a laugh each time. This fractionated, diffused 'fame' feels rather hollow.

At least it gave my dad a good chuckle!

So -- the next time you get one of those e-mails or see a post that reads, "Hey check this out", you never know -- you might be a part of it without knowing!

* It's the slide titled 'Stones Stacker', slide 23, if you're curious. It's indisputably me lurking in the back of the shot, partially cut off, wearing a Tilley Hat, oversize RayBans, and a maroon climbing shirt. I'm gawking at what you're supposed to be looking at - a guy balancing rocks. The shot was taken a few years back, during a Yonge Street Festival closure (before David Miller cancelled them). Always a bystander.

How I qualified for Boston*

* if I had magically gone twice as fast, for double the distance -- in the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Half Marathon.

The last month has been pretty rough athletic venture-wise. I knew that if I participated in the Underwear Affair I would have an injury problem. Sure enough, I ran, had a fabulous time, raised a solid amount -- but injured my left leg quite badly, incurring either a really ugly shin splint or a minor stress fracture.

Consequently I haven't been able to run. The days ticked by and I realized I just was not going to be able to run in the half, at least not without serious injury. But it irked me that I wasn't going to be able to participate -- in recent years the waterfront marathon/half marathon has exploded and become a huge race for Toronto. Plus I hate shelling out money for nothing.

My finisher’s medal

I decided to try an experiment -- I'd WALK the half-marathon. That way I could avoid further injury, yet still legitimately wear a race t-shirt and hang my finisher's medal, without any suggestion of deception. I am no poser!

My race target was arbitrarily set at 10 minutes per kilometer. I would try... to finish LAST in my age group. The only rule: no running or jogging permitted -- just brisk walking.

I've never walked that (measured) length of distance before, so it was an entirely novel experience. I literally had no idea what it would be like. It turns out that life at the back of the queue is quite interesting in and of itself. I learned a number of things from my experience:

1. It's harder than you think. For the simple reason that... you're out there almost twice as long. Walking sounds easy, right? Sure, for half an hour. At three hours? You're taking a trip to Soreville.
2. Everybody is super friendly... and yet also way more determined. I admit, at the start I felt sheepish walking. I think of myself as a runner, and the natural inclination is to go, get a decent pace going, get a decent position. But walking, you had time for reflection and conversation with your peers. I heard a number of touching and inspirational stories from the other participants. As a runner, you kind of look down on walkers. It's instinctual. But now I have newfound respect for walkers. These two ladies I did the last 5k with even 'kicked' at the end, it was hilarious, and heart-warming. They were NOT going to lose to me! They had grit.
3. Technique is useful. You know during the Olympics when they show racewalking and you think to yourself, give me a break, that looks so simple. Guess what -- those guys are impossible to catch with normal walking. I tried to keep pace with a couple of them at the start but they just zoomed off; it was clear that mechanically speaking my gait rate and length was far less efficient. I had to settle for a steady purposeful stride.
4. Pee when you get the opportunity. When you're walking, the length of time between rest stations telescopes out incredibly! I drank a normal amount of water/gatorade for an event like this and it felt like being in kindergarten all over again about 10 kilometers in. "How much longer do I have to hold it in?!" Trust me, you do not want to be in a situation where it's 'just another kilometer' before the next washroom.
5. Everything happens in slow motion. When you're running, you can usually surge a bit and pass someone if you need to. Walking, you had to gain an inch or two at a time... It was funny boxing someone in or getting cut off slowly...

And the final result? 3:13:33, a Boston Qualifier -- if I had run that time over twice the distance. Ha!

It was mentally tough, not running today. But it was still worth doing. I guess I've just got to be patient, and look way, way forward to Around the Bay next year. I can get into gear by then!

8th Annual Board Meeting = Skate Rampage

As usual the Board Meeting turned out to be a crazy success. I'm always amazed by the stoke in the air during this annual city cruise by our longboarding community.



It was a beautiful day and happily there were no fatalities (though I did witness one particularly painful looking bail on University north of College). I think everyone takes something a little different from this event. For some it's a feeling of mass power. For others it's about the community. For a few it's about flouting traffic rules. For me, it was about relaxing in the sun and having a good time.

I met many old friends and made some new ones - I met someone here from Nova Scotia, and someone from Alberta. It was good to see everyone! In the above clip I can pick out so many of the OLF crew, it's funny. Kudos to the organizers, we owe you big thanks.