Blog: I Think It's This Way» Run – Oak Bay – Victoria, BC – One Or Two Alleys

Run – Oak Bay – Victoria, BC – One Or Two Alleys

Kris — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:59:21 +0000

Apparently, occasionally looking at my sparsely populated Running blog category is sometimes enough to motivate me to go for a run. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, but whatever works is fine by me. Tonight I headed into the wilderness of Oak Bay for a run and while it was not the most wonderful experience ever, it wasn’t too bad; despite only running about once a week, it really does feel like it’s a little less painful and even a little bit enjoyable compared to my runs a couple months ago.

Instead of one of my usual routes, like the sperm route (UVic and back), I set off somewhat willy-nilly on a route that included a lap of the Oak Bay Rec. Centre track, and several cool Oak Bay alleys. I don’t spend much time in alleys, but I think I like them. I think this may be because alleys are closer to trails than roads or highways. I would not likely be found running on a highway since I have to imagine it would be monumentally boring. Trails, pathways, and alleys on the other hand offer a more intimate experience in that it seems to me like I’m closer to my surroundings. I’ll quit BS’ing now and wrap up by saying what should by now be obvious; I like alleys and trails.

GPS Data: 7.6km – 0h40m – GPS Route

A 7.6km run through the guts (including a couple alleys) of Oak Bay near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

Run – UVic / Oak Bay – Victoria, BC – I Might Be A Vampire

Kris — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 04:56:53 +0000

I think I might be part vampire. This afternoon I went for a run in the sun, but felt like the energy was being, or had been, sucked out of me. I came to the logical conclusion that since I have felt better on previous night runs, I must be part vampire and the sun was sucking the life out of me. While I was certainly feeling less energetic today, a review of the numbers following the run didn’t indicate a drastically different performance than earlier in the week on a similar run.

The run route itself involved heading north up the hill to UVic followed by a partial loop of ring road (no sperm route today) and wound up with a gradual downhill run through part of Victoria’s posh Uplands neighbourhood. Despite my whining, it was great to be out in the sun after a bit of an ugly morning with lots of rain and wind.

GPS Data: 8.1km – 42m07s – GPS Route

A run through parts of Oak Bay and UVic near Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS information on the Garmin website.

Run – UVic / Oak Bay – Victoria, BC

Kris — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 05:29:39 +0000

It’s almost hump day, also known as Wednesday. Tonight I went out for an 8.5km run pretty close to home, namely UVic and Uplands. There were actually quite a few other runners out there, bike commuters too, but they don’t count. I’m not sure, but I think I might have actually had a few moments where I was enjoying the run rather than thinking about when it would be over. Am I becoming a runner? Too soon to tell I’m afraid.

GPS Data: 8.5km – 43m43s – GPS Route

A run through UVic and Uplands in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

Run – UVic – Victoria, BC – Big Sperm Route

Kris — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 06:35:41 +0000

Thursdays are supposed to be the ‘go-hard’ days if you are a serious athlete aren’t they? Maybe it’s Tuesday. Whatever. Today I did a run on what I have just decided shall be called the ‘Big Sperm Route’. Interestingly this terminology need not apply to a single route. You see, the main road through the University of Victoria (UVic) campus is a big circle, which is more formally known as Ring Road; anyone can make a ‘Big Sperm Route’ of their own by simply running an out-and-back from their abode to UVic that involves one or more laps of Ring Road. Of course as you’re running sperm doesn’t even remotely figure into the situation, but later on when you look at your route on a map, you’ll see that your running route resembles a big, no, gigantic sperm. I realize this is a little low-brow in nature; my apologies, I’ll try not to descend much past this sort of level with future blog posts.

So, it took a bit of mental effort to convince myself to go for the run, but it happened in the end. Although I was working pretty hard, and was looking forward to the very instant at the end of the run when I could stop running, I actually didn’t feel too bad. If I keep getting my butt out the door, maybe I’ll gradually start to feel even better, or at least go faster and further.

GPS Data: 7.6km – 0h39m – GPS Route

Today's 'Big Sperm Route' run to UVic in Victoria, BC. Click on the map to see detailed GPS data on the Garmin website.

Run for the Bacon – Victoria, BC – Elk / Beaver Lake

Kris — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 07:40:04 +0000

Some weekends are just weekends, and others are more… more travel, more food, more everything. This weekend fell into the “more” category. In my previous post I mentioned an excursion to Burnaby Mountain; this was followed by a hurried Richmond (Greater Vancouver’s Chinese area) shopping effort (‘puter parts and some Ikea junk), and a somewhat miraculous drive to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal to catch a ride back to Vancouver Island. The drive was miraculous in that we pretty much drove right onto the ferry, which never seems to happen; there is always a wait of some sort. Good times in the big city as Michelle and I got to visit with friends, do fun things, and eat good food (some mediocre food was consumed as well – see next paragraph).

Today, back in Victoria, the “more” continued in the form of a run at Elk/Beaver Lake. The conditions for the run were cold, like the rest of the weekend, but things went well for the most part. Admittedly, my reckless abandon at the previous night’s Pacific Buffet (a BC Ferries offering) did have some undesirable side-effects, which manifested themselves during the run, but things worked out just fine in the end.

I realize you are probably not terribly interested in my gastro-intestinal issues, so onto the photos we go.

Map of my run route at Elk/Beaver Lake near Victoria, BC (10.2km - 1h02m). Click on the map to see GPS data on the Garmin website.

Sunny, but seriously cold for Victoria. This photo was taken at the north end of Elk Lake near Hamsterly Road.

Some scenery at the north end of Elk Lake near Victoria, BC.

Even the geese seemed less than impressed with the cool temperatures. Ok, that's crap, I have no idea what the geese were thinking.

Michelle and Steph finishing up the 'Run for the Bacon 10K' at Elk/Beaver Lake. We ate bacon after the run, hence my stupid invented race name.

Run – Victoria, BC – Oak Bay

Kris — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 06:38:09 +0000

An experimental 10km run of sorts today in Oak Bay. I already know that I can take some decent photos while riding my road bike, but I have been wondering if it’s possible while running. With my camera in pocket I set out on a run around what one might roughly describe as the perimeter of Oak Bay near Victoria, BC. It seems that running and photo taking either takes some practice, or is pretty hard to do. I won’t say that I’ve given up this idea, but things are not looking too promising so far. Only one of the photos included below was taken while moving.

The run itself, or rather the route, was nice. Running is hard, I know it’s good for me, but I just don’t enjoy it that much. I have tried to figure out for myself why this is, but haven’t really nailed it down yet. I suspect it’s a number of things, possibly including: I don’t seem to be efficient (high heart rate at moderate speed); the ‘always on/suffering’ nature of running i.e. no breaks on downhills or with tailwinds as in cycling; and the noises generated by my sloshing stomach juices. Ok, that last one is not really an issue. I’m pretty sure I want to be a better runner though, so I think maybe I should get a bit more serious by doing more than just the once or twice a week thing that I have been doing. Time for a Yoda-esque comment: hmmm, research and planning you will do to run better yes?

Anywho, here is a map and some pictures from my running outing today. You can click on the map to see GPS data on the Garmin website.

The running / photo-taking experiment around Oak Bay in Victoria, BC. Click on the image to see GPS data on the Garmin website.

I stopped four times on the run to take a few pics, this being one of them. This is Willows Beach in Victoria, BC looking north east.

Willows Beach again, this time looking towards the south east. I have recently learned that there is archaeological evidence indicating that humans have occupied this area going back at least 2,500 years.

Looking towards King George Terrace from close to the south end of the Victoria Golf Course.

It's a nice day, I have the camera, and I now feel like keeling over and dying from running up King George Terrace; I guess I will stop and take some photos. This is the view of the Trial Islands from the top of King G. Terrace.

More Trial Islands with a nice little sailboat as a bonus. This is looking southeast from the top of King George Terrace.

Looking south towards Washington and the Olympic Mountains from the top of King George Terrace.

I took this photo while running near the top of King George Terrace. I think with some practice and camera fiddling I might be able to get some ok photos while running.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Kris — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:18:43 +0000

A week ago today Michelle and I were getting ready to fly back to Victoria at the tail-end of our 2009 Europe trip. I’m not sure why I bother saying “2009 Europe trip”, wishful thinking, I guess, that we will be back there in 2010. Not much to report on from our return trip to Canada, except for the fact that I set a PR (personal record) for number of movies watched consecutively during the Amsterdam – Seattle flight: 5. They were so memorable I can only remember two of them: Adventureland and The Proposal (I can hear you snickering).

Having some time this past week to ease back into things here in Victoria was good; one day of work and a few days of assorted outdoor activities (bike riding and running) fit the bill for me. Not quite Girona weather here, but I’m not complaining; I like it here in Victoria.

No pictures for this post, but here are a couple run and bike maps from the past few days. You can click on the images to see the GPS data for each activity on the Garmin website.

Nov 10/09 - 24 minutes of chugging around Thetis Lake (no not beer chugging, that would be illegal).

Nov 11/09 - 60km partial Saanich Peninsula loop. I seem to do this route a fair bit, I guess I like it. Took some time during the ride to remember and think about those things that we should on November 11.

Nov 14/09 - 10km run through Uplands and UVic. Took a seven minute break in the dog park near UVic to help a friend rescue her dog's ball from a fenced off area. We humans are good with tools, in this case a long stick with ball tosser secured with leash.

So You Think You Can Run

Kris — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:35:24 +0000

No I’m not a huge fan of “So you think you can dance”, but have been known to watch it on occasion. Damn, now my secret is out.

If there were Victoria tryouts for the fictitious “So you think you can run” in the near future and I tried out I would be one of those people who is told that they suck. Ok, maybe I don’t suck that bad, but I sure wouldn’t make it to Vegas. I’m not sure why I was thinking about SYTYCD while running this afternoon, just one of those things I guess.

Besides SYTYCD, I was thinking that we have some dandy greenways and parks in this city. I passed through and nearly out at Cattle Point, Uplands Park, Mystic Vale at UVic, Henderson Park, and a little park along Bowker Creek off of Richmond. They were all cool, especially Mystic Vale. I think I do pretty well with discovering hiking spots, but I have basically only been in the “lovely” Mystic Vale three times since moving to Victoria six years ago – lame.

GPS Data: Run – Victoria, BC – Uplands / UVic

Running route through the Uplands / UVic area of Victoria.