Books Read:
Mostly tourist stuff
Kilometres Ran:
week twenty one — 71.3
To date: 998 KM
Vacation has put a damper onto my reading. I started reading a new book while sitting in YVR ten days ago waiting to fly away to Helsinki via Frankfurt, a book of less than 200 pages, and I am still slowing trudging through said book. I hope to finish it before I get home to Vancouver on June 2. I don’t feel too bad since I’m still quite a bit ahead of pace for my goal of 52 books read this year. I am also, however, cognizant of the fact that post-May vacation tends to be when my reading slows down, an occurrence I’d rather not repeat.
I have done a lot of running, though. Normally I run four, maybe five days per week. Monday tends to be my regular day off. Friday is usually the other, then Tuesday or Thursday gets a run in or not. I took Monday off after racing the Helsinki Half, but I’ve run every other day since, hence a week with over 70 KM an no run 15 KM or farther.
I’m convinced that running in a new place is the best way to see it, or at least survey where to explore later. I’ve managed to get lost a few times, and my run times and paces have been pretty slow. I complain about the lollygaggers on the Seawall back home. Now I’m the lollygagger.
I usually start by checking the Strava Global Heatmap to get a sense where people run, then sometimes map a route just to get a sense of distance, then head out and see what happens. What happens is usually a lot of checking Google Maps along the way, and a plethora of mediocre photos. Sometimes a decent one or two fortuitously develops. Often I’ll see something and take a photo either to check out later, or if I’m out touristing, to run by on my next run.
Tomorrow we fly to Stockholm. It’s Monday no run day. I was last in Stockholm in October, 2016, which was the first time I took running stuff with me on vacation. I’m really looking forward to rerunning a couple spots around Södermalm, as well as exploring a few new routes. And maybe I’ll get some reading done too.