Urban Jetboiling 2

One of the dangers with your iPhone/iPod Touch is that you will write less than you should. I'll try to make up for this fault.

I was impressed by how quickly the Jetboil heated the water. The Mac N Cheese tasted good but it would have tasted better after a long day of hiking and camping. I think it would awesome with tuna or salmon. There was a little problem with portions. If this was an outback adeventure I would have had to cook two packages. This may vary depending on the meal. I think my next meal will be Ginger Pasta which when served with salmon is awesome. Jason, Em and I had this meal when we hiked in the Shenandoahs last year and it rocked.

Urban Jetboiling

Tonight I did something I had planned to do last weekend but got rained out. This is cooking with my Jetboil. I loaded up my backpack with my utensils, flashlight, Nalgene bottle, fuel canister, the Jetboil stove and packaged dinner. My destination was the bike path that runs along the Ottawa River. The idea was to test out the stove in a familiar setting before putting it to test in the foul elements. I assembled the stove as dusk was setting in. I reached a point of indecision, should I light the stove before or after mounting the pot. I opted to light the stove first. The stove lit on it's first try. In the meantime I started to prepare the grub. Before I knew there was a geyser of steam coming out of the stove's portal. I poured the steaming water in the Mary Jane Mac N Cheese and waited patiently. A little while later I was eating my first Jetboil assisted meal. A quick thanks goes out to Jason for the stove.

2008 Baltimore half-marathon

Short version – finishing time 1:34
60 second improvement of 2007
pace per mile 7:10
pace per km 4:27,
position 142/6245

Long version –

This past weekend I headed down to Maryland for my forth Baltimore half-marathon. My friend Jason met me at the airport and we headed over to the race expo to pick up my race kit. Registration was well organized and was able to get my gear quickly. One innovation this year is that they had disposable timing chips that look like a loop of tape. He headed back to Jason's place and had a pasta/BBQ dinner with his girlfriend. I came dressed for Ottawa weather and very quickly had to start peeling off the layers. Mid-evening, I checked into a nearby hotel as I would have to start race preparations early. I awoke at 5:30 AM and started my feeding. Over the next little while, I ate half-a-box of Vector cereal. I caught the 7:00 AM hotel shuttle over to the race start and was able to watch the start of the marathon. For the next while, I chilled before eating a Clif bar at about an hour before my start. After multiple bathroom breaks I did a long warmup along the edge of the Inner Harbor. I was seeded in the first corral and had a great start. It would take me a while before I finally reached my race pace. The first four miles are a gradual uphill reaching the steepest part at the six mile mark. Along the way I enjoyed running along Patterson Park, and Clifton Park. One of the highlights of the race is running around Lake Montebello. Your start at the south-east corner and come out at the south-west corner having knocked off two miles. We next headed over to John Hopkins University at which point we start the downhill section of the course. My energy was starting to wane a bit so I pushed back a gel. I was pleased as my mile pace was a consistent 7:10 despite the rolling hills. The final hill takes you over the very colourful the MLK (Martin-Luther-King) parkway. The hill comes at a bad time as you still have three miles left to run. I finished off my gel and appreciated the sugar surge and caffeine jolt (15 mg). Ever so gradually the view of Camden Yards (home of the Orioles) became closer and closer. At this point, I pulled away from a pack of runners that I had been working off as they detoured to a water stop. I increased the pace a bit and imagined that I was doing my last 2.5 km/1.553 mile interval along the Rideau Canal. I was in a fair amount of discomfort but knew that I still had more left in the tank. I was really pleased to find that I had finished the race a minute faster than last year.

Sneaky Geocaches

Yesterday, I went geocaching along the Ottawa River and eventually located a sneaky geocache. The GPS told me that I was within a couple of feet of the cache but where could it be. This link shows where the cache is. The cacher had transported the tree segment home, sliced off the top, ground out the core and the put dowling support to secure the top. From a distance it looks like a large tree stump sitting next to the river. Afterwards I was reading the logs and noticed that the tree had stumped a lot of people.

MacGyver moment

While on my run tonight I had a MacGyver moment. When I packed my running gear this morning I packed my large winter overpants. They are designed to be worn over a couple of layers. As I started out on my run they started to slide down. Every so often I would pull them up a bit. At the midpoint of run there is a construction site with miles of yellow caution tape laying around. I grabbed a foot of tape and used it to secure my pants. My run back to the university was at a faster and more relaxed pace.

Voting

Earlier this week, I cast my vote in the Advanced Polls for the upcoming election. I was one of the first 15 to do so which created complications as the folks in charge were still working out the details. There were a variety of forms, a new Voter Certification, a Change of Address Certification and Proxy Voting Certification. I showed my drivers license and presented voter registration card and spent the next 20 minutes people watching. Most of the people were much older than I (read retired) and should not have been pressed for time but they were. I had an Asian chap constantly poking me saying “You Next!! You Next!!” I said that they were three people ahead of me so we would have to wait. A couple of minutes later he would poke me again and I would say we still have to wait. I’m not sure if he was trying to sway my vote using physical force. Most of the old folks started to complain about government waste and inefficiency and why the exercise was taking so long. When it came time to marking my “X” in the box it was a straight forward process as I knew who I was going to vote for and did so without any second thoughts. The candidate’s brochures, the TV ads and the debates had no bearing on who I voted for. It is a relief as I can now wait and watch the election results when they become available.