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Category Archives: Personal stories
Not being able to run is unbearable!
That was true in 1984—an Olympic year, 40 years ago! Can it still be true today? It shouldn’t be, so I put the exclamation mark in my title to mock myself. Today I’ve been thinking about one of the worse … Continue reading →
Posted in Injuries and Getting Older, Personal stories, Running
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Tagged 1984 Olympic Trials, 1984 Olympics, 1984 Women's Olympic Marathon
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1 Comment
New Year’s 2024: My Life in Decades
Preamble: Reflections on becoming a “senior” At the start of a new year many people like to reflect on their achievements or significant events of the past year. This year, I had the urge to write a sweeping summary of … Continue reading →
Posted in Injuries and Getting Older, Personal stories, Running
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Tagged Greyhounds Masters Track & Field Club, life stories, New Year, senior
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6 Comments
Early morning photo
I felt elated when the sun rose and flooded through my southeast windows at about 8:00 a.m. The long hours of wakeful darkness were banished, just like that. The wall above my fireplace lit up and I took this photo. … Continue reading →
Rookie of the Year Award
I’ve just won a “Rookie of the Year” award from the Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club, the running club I joined in July. I also received a Canadian Masters bronze medal (belatedly) for my performance in the W60-64 800m … Continue reading →
Posted in Injuries and Getting Older, Personal stories, Racing, Running
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Tagged Greyhounds, Greyhounds Masters Track and Field Club, moving
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4 Comments
My summer ends with a bang—AND a whimper*
My summer of 2023 was extraordinary, with new events, returns to the old, and losses—a time of change. The bang was going to “the cabin” at Birkenhead Lake, a place where my partner Keith spends a lot of time because … Continue reading →
Posted in editing, Injuries and Getting Older, Personal stories, Racing, Running, Seasons, Vancouver events and entertainment
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Tagged As You Like It, Bard on the Beach, Bears, Birkenhead Lake, Canadian Masters Track & Field Championships, Greyhounds Track & Field club, kidney disease, Sasamat Lake, The Hollow Men, track racing
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2 Comments
Sasamat Lake mini-triathlon 10th edition—as West Kelowna burns
In 2013, a year after I moved to my downtown Port Moody apartment, I created a physical challenge for myself that took advantage of my neighbourhood bike path and Sasamat Lake, only 8 kilometres away. Every year since then except … Continue reading →
August at the track in 1988, 2008, and 2023
Introduction: August in Vancouver Today was a quintessentially perfect August Vancouver day. Sunny and cool (13⁰ C) at 6:00 a.m. but warming up to 28⁰ C by late afternoon. The weather reminded me how much I loved training in Vancouver … Continue reading →
Posted in Injuries and Getting Older, Personal stories, Racing, Running, Seasons
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Tagged 1500m, 1988 Olympics, 800m, Dave Reed, George Gluppe, Greyhounds Masters Track & Field Club, Kim Ross, masters running, track running, training for Olympics, USATF Masters Championships, Warren McCulloch
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2 Comments
Martin Amis, Vladimir Nabokov, and a cat named Tux
Fans of the CBC weekly program Writers & Company will know by now that after 33 years on air, this beloved program with interviewer Eleanor Wachtel aired its final original episode on June 23, 2023. Wachtel, who over the course … Continue reading →
Posted in Book Reviews, Personal stories, Writing, Writing Criticism
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Tagged Brian Boyd, Eleanor Wachtel, Experience, grieving about pets, Kingsley Amis, Lolita, Martin Amis, mortality, Nabokov's Natural Selection, NDEs, near-death experiences, Stalking Nabokov, The Rub of Time, Vladimir Nabokov
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Seagulls at dawn
I love summer mornings. In May and June the birdsong begins when it’s still completely dark. On a sleepless night I hear the first birds chirping and look at my watch: 3:30. If I’m lucky sleep will come and I’ll … Continue reading →
Posted in Personal stories, Seasons, Vignettes
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Tagged insomnia, seagulls, summer mornings
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3 Comments
Struggling
I haven’t written in this blog for over three months. I could give platitudes, like “I’ve been so busy with work,” or “it’s another episode of writer’s block.” Both of these are true, but they are often true, and I’ve … Continue reading →