Tag: diy

the fats you need and don’t need

“Most often, you’ll want to see between 25% and 33% of your daily calories come from fats… which if we’re sticking with the average 2000 kCal’s per day is around 50g total. Suddenly, that tablespoon of peanut butter just became more decadent.”

Hey all,

Since I’ve talked protein & carbs periodically over the past while, I might as well round this out a bit.

*** Dietary fats are essential to give your body energy and to support cell function. They also help protect your organs and help keep your body warm. Fats help your body absorb some nutrients and produce important hormones, too. ***

Now, as much as fats are a fuel source, fats are not the body’s preferred fuel source. That title is reserved for carbohydrates – which can be problematic for people opting to go on a ketogenic diet for an extended period of time. Issues with not being able to stay awake, or having brain fog are of definite concern, so if you’re ‘on the keto’ and experiencing this, I’d advocate trying something else.

A common misconception is that ‘fats make you fat’ which is woefully untrue even though 1 gram of fat = 9 calories so you are bound to find that something low in fat, like pineapple, is going to be much more plentiful and functional within your (average) 2000 kCal’s per day than something with a lot of fat, such as peanut butter. By comparison, a 25g tablespoon of peanut butter will net you roughly 150 kcals, compared to 300g of pineapple which will also net you 150 kcals – which is enough to fill a soup bowl. So with a bunch of fat in your diet, you’ll find it pretty hard to stay within the average 2000 kCal’s per day.

However, super low fat intake has it’s downsides as well – including dry & flaky skin, sensitivity to sunburn, moodiness. Most often, you’ll want to see between 25% and 33% of your daily calories come from fats… which if we’re sticking with the average 2000 kCal’s per day is around 50g total. Suddenly, that tablespoon of peanut butter just became more decadent.

This brings us to the Omega 3 Fatty Acids. They are an integral part of cell membranes throughout the body and affect the function of the cell receptors in these membranes. They provide the starting point for making hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation. Obviously, these are essential, and not all fats are created equal, that is to say, not all fats are Omega 3’s.

Fat sources for Omegas include nuts, seeds, and avocados, and as much as I wouldn’t personally advocate the consumption of fish (for both ethical reason and for the high levels of mercury and microplastics we’ve put in the ocean) or eggs (for ethics as well, and the extremely high cholesterol content has caused researchers to compare it to smoking cigarettes) you CAN get Omega-3’s this way. Of the top 12 foods to get your Omega-3’s from, the top 8 are fish sources, followed by ground flax seeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and soybeans.

I will say that between the Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates, you can lead a healthy life by implementing a good cross section of all the plant foods you can get. Generally… everything else falls into place.

Training this week has been bittersweet. I’m fairly sure I just had what was my last bicycle commute of the year. The +2 celcius mornings I can ultimately contend with, but with the leaves falling and turning into a slick, frosty pulp makes my personal safety a little uncertain, and banging-up my precious guitar fingers just isn’t an option for me.

Lu and I are formulating our plan to move indoors, including mapping out an ideal swimming and cross-training schedule between endurance sessions. I’ll make that all available before too long, for those of you following along at home. For the time being I’m increasing my frequency of going to the gym in the mornings – something I didn’t do for the first half of the week, but I did have some time-sensitive things to tend following the long weekend.

Over the past while, I’ve had several – a dozen or so – people reach out with stories about how they’ve felt inspired by this blog. Without patting myself on the back (since I didn’t do that – they did!) I hope they see fit to be open about their experiences and inspire people around them.

what if it kills you

“Most; if not all of us, have an ‘Everest’ – a goal we’d like to conquer in our lifetime. For most in the western world, financial goals or career platitudes come to mind, but there are outliers who are much less concerned with those sorts of feats and are more inclined toward physical, mental, and emotional challenges.”

I was recently listening to a podcast that broached the subject of climbing K2, which is very slightly shorter than Mount Everest, but the path to the summit is much more treacherous than what Mount Everest has to offer. The discussion mentioned that summitting K2 during the winter has never been done until only last year, and there’s no shortage of mountain climbers who’ve tried, and not even come close.

It got me thinking: How would you know when to bail? Pursing victory to the point of injury is not an option, because you still have to climb down the mountain in these cases. There’s no question that the desire to reach the summit is strong, but with a healthy and clear mind – in mid-climb – one would have to determine that to go on would be a fool’s errand.

It got me thinking, on a more metaphorical level, most; if not all of us, have an ‘Everest’ – a goal we’d like to conquer in our lifetime. For most in the western world, financial goals or career platitudes come to mind, but there are outliers who are much less concerned with those sorts of feats and are more inclined toward physical, mental, and emotional challenges.

When do we pull the ripcord?

I don’t have an answer – not a tangible one, anyway – other than to conclude that you’d have to trust your gut to tell you when it’s time to pack up and go home – to fight another day. And you would have to ensure that your gut was trustworthy. It goes without saying that out there on the mountain these decisions are life & death, and it’s quite possible that a persistent enough individual would die up there in pursuit of their goal. It happens pretty frequently.

Personally, I don’t know where the top of ‘my Everest’ is as far as career trajectory goes any better than I know what the limits of my physical training will be. I’m one of those people who’s been pretty good at pretty much everything he’s tried (like, REALLY tried – I’ve half-assed a few things that didn’t pan out the way I would have liked) but I’m fairly certain that I wouldn’t lose my life in any of my current endeavors, no matter how hard-headed I became (or… already am).

I know that if I invested a large sum of money into something that didn’t work out, I’d be okay since I have the means to make more money and recover from the loss. Similarly, my body has the ability to recover from most things that can happen along the running trail or any other physical challenge. I can write more songs, I can work more hours, I can replace damaged equipment – these are the benefits of living moment to moment, really, because even valuable stuff is still just stuff, and there’s more money coming. I’m in no danger of damaging the relationships I’ve maintained because my integrity remains intact, and I can’t see an occasion where I would hurt someone on purpose.

… so where’s the line?

Again, I don’t have an answer so I’ll have to leave this topic as rhetoric – just some food for thought. It seems most likely that you’d have to; as mentioned, trust your gut in the moment – in which case I’d have to advocate maintaining your gut health as best you can, because that’s a lot of responsibility to be handled by a single abdomen.

Training this week is bittersweet. It’s truly a magical time to be meeting my fitness regimen outdoors in our river valley here in Edmonton as the leaves are beginning to turn funny colors, but it’s ominous warning that the snow is coming and I’ll be chased indoors before long is palpable. The urge to soak up every ray of sunshine, inhale every stray histamine that floats on the wind, and push every one of my limits, but there are times when my brain flashes forward to the dearth and dread that winter can bring. I MUST worry about that when it’s happening, and maintain living in THIS moment, Here & NOW.

I won’t lie to you… the bicycle commute to work in the morning is pretty chilly, but the rides home in the early evening are wonderful. I’m optimistic that I can keep going into October, but to what end? Thanksgiving? Halloween? Truthfully, right now it feels like riding into October means being on borrowed time, but every ride is a gift… and a slight reprieve from those chilly temperatures is not out of the question so I’ll cross my fingers for that. My girlfriend has ridden into November in previous years, but it’s a shorter (and slightly later) commute.

I dunno… I’ll digress a bit. This level of cold is not unreasonable – but rain this time of year is a deal breaker for me. There’s no merit in subjecting myself to temperatures around the freezing mark while wet – especially when it means missing future training sessions as a result of illness.

The slow transition back to the gym is in sight, but I’m holding out for the time being.

intellectualizing an emotional response

“Few things happen without thought, and of course the conscious decision to be more grateful, loving, caring, and open has to take place in the brain first, but the practice of getting there is similar to any other training you can put yourself through.”

How often do we ‘should’ ourselves…

We see it all the time in our bird’s eye view of impassioned online debates – the kind of debates that make you want to log off forever and throw your electronic devices into the sun: the battle of scientific fact vs. feeling. These debates don’t have winners in the traditional sense, just people who endure longer than others before locating the ‘block’ button.

‘This is a scientific fact’ vs ‘this is how someone feels’ knows no boundary. Everything from Covid-19 vaccines to whether or not Pluto is a planet seem to illicit both an intellectual and an emotional response, but when are these actually appropriate in our daily lives?

I don’t mean online. If anything, I’d advocate for abstaining from such online debates.

Interestingly, there’ve been studies done to show that although we live and work in a time when there are readily available data analytics for everything (as is the byproduct of having computers so central in our lives), that in professional settings, the extrapolation of such data is either (a) not done in the first place, or (b) completely ignored in favor of a gut-decision made by a manager or executive who largely relies on personal experience as rationale. The studies are often cherry-picked after the fact in an effort to back up the boss’ decision, but typically only in cases where the decision is under scrutiny.

In our personal lives, emotional responses typically make their home around joy, patience, kindness, gentleness, gratitude, and the like – but we as humans are masters of intellectualizing our responses to this just as much as we are masters of emotionalizing math & science. Questions like “Am I showing enough gratitude, and how can I respond better?” or “What are some ways I can be more patient?” do come about, and no doubt come from a good place – but may end up being a little too heady to be genuine. As well, topics like the climate change debate get confirmed or denied based on how we feel about making changes to our daily lives more than any scientific data that’s available.

Few things happen without thought, and of course the conscious decision to be more grateful, loving, caring, and open has to take place in the brain first, but the practice of getting there is similar to any other training you can put yourself through. For example:
– I don’t think about running: I just go for a run at a predetermined time of day for a predetermined distance.
– I don’t think about protein intake: I plan my meals ahead of time, and rest knowing I’m getting what I need when the time comes.
– I don’t think about meditation: I meditate.

These are all things that require some forethought or planning, of course, but when the time comes to actually do them, the infrastructure is already in place for me to do them. I might think about them anyway (or obsess, if we’re being totally transparent), but I really don’t need to do so, in the same way I don’t need to think about what I’m wearing to work tomorrow, because there’s a dress code / uniform and that decision has been made – but I’ll take 20 long minutes to determine what T-shirt I want to wear on a day I’m not scheduled to work only to get dog drool on it in less time than it took to select it. Perhaps my selection of cool T-shirts is too expansive and overwhelming. Nah.

In the end, if I want to show more gratitude for what good things come my way, then I need to begin by acknowledging and appreciating what I have here & now, and not not be too concerned with what it looks like from someone else’s perspective. Love, patience, kindness, and gentleness require similar action – being loving rather than thinking about being loving, being patient rather than thinking about being patient, showing kindness rather than thinking kind thoughts…

If my heart, mind & body are in alignment, then my genuine response will speak for me… and ultimately will require no thought whatsoever.

Training this week has been good. Hard… but good. I have a real desire to push my body to it’s ever-moving limits and I feel satisfied when I get there, but being properly fed is an important piece of that puzzle that I need to prioritize. I’m typically in a slight calorie deficit but sometimes that means ‘running in the red’ a little bit. I almost never feel it during the workout, but the recovery time that follows the workout can feel like a real slog so I need to make sure I’m giving myself enough of what I need to repair my muscles between workouts… which is protein.

We also tried a new smoothie this week that blew my mind and highlighted some things I’ve been missing in my daily food consumption – namely: kale. It gave me the boost of energy I needed to really push my limits at the gym, and reminded me of the importance; not only of diet, but of a varied diet.

As an aside, I’ve also missed a run or two this past week – largely due to forest fire smoke blowing into Edmonton from southern BC. It’s been hard not to reprimand myself for missing these sessions but I’m at no risk of falling off the wagon here… my practice is strong and I can handle an extra rest day here & there provided my calorie consumption is in check. It’s important to remember that there are no training days… only training weeks and training months, and that there IS room to move within my program.

a beautiful machine

“I can only describe this level of internal resistance as: intense. I really can’t put too fine of a point on it but it’s been the source of a lot of hesitation, possibly even anxiety. It’s hard for me to reconcile it even now but I’m genuinely happy to be making progress on this front.”

You might think for that an self-described environmentally-minded vegan runner on a spiritual journey who prioritizes his relationship with nature wouldn’t have much use for a 60-year-old automobile, but you’d be wrong in your assumption.

Though there’s a good portion of the ‘car guy’ population that takes great pride in the burning of hydrocarbons in exchange for the adrenaline rush of driving fast in a vintage piece of steel, I would describe my relationship with my 1962 Ford Fairlane as much different than the simple exchange of bruised knuckles and gasoline for noise and speed.

For over a decade, I’ve been holding onto this car – sometimes inexplicably – through numerous living situations. It’s survived ample punishment as my only vehicle for a while, stuck with me through my divorce, and has been my primary project focus at times, and my last priority at other times. Aside from all that, during it’s 60 years on this planet, it’s been the most fuel efficient car I’ve ever owned and it’s presence on the road has kept a few cars out of the landfill. Beyond that it’s a piece of history, not only automotive history but personal history as well. Even my kid’s earliest memories are set in the back seat of this car.

I don’t know that I have any real wisdom to dispense today. Just a little tribute to a source of both comfort and frustration.

I’m rekindling an old friendship with this car that exercises my brain and my patience. You might be rolling your eyes right now, and you’re likely justified in doing so, but I have a spiritual connection to this antiquated vehicle. I’ve learned and grown with this car, and I believe I am truly a better person for having it, and for keeping it as long as I have. It’s taught me to trust my process and have confidence in my abilities, and that it’s never too late. In truth, I spent long enough not putting any effort into this car that I began to question the skills that I have developed along the way – and I’m happy to say that time is slowly passing. I can only describe this level of internal resistance as: intense. I really can’t put too fine of a point on it but it’s been the source of a lot of hesitation, possibly even anxiety. It’s hard for me to reconcile it even now but I’m genuinely happy to be making progress on this front.

I’ve designed a part from scratch that I’m having a dear friend fabricate for me. I’ve tested my design obsessively and I’ve finally just put it in the mail, sent to his address.

Now, it’s out of my hands.

Training this week has been great. The early mornings definitely differ from the hot afternoons we tend to get this time of year – the autumn set in overnight this past Monday, but I push onward. I’m seizing every moment I can outdoors right now as I know that by the time the end of October rolls around, I’ll be forced back indoors – but this moment, right now – this is where I live. I’ll have to deal with the end of October at the end of October, and I know what that’ll look like at the time.

Yesterday… Friday… I ran to work. This was my method of commuting yesterday and I did the prep work necessary. On Thursday, I brought everything I needed including my food for the day, and stowed them away for the next day. My commute is 14.5 km, or 9 miles and somehow this is as big of an accomplishment as the Edmonton half-marathon, purely due to the extra food prep and logistics of getting everything I needed for the work day delivered a day earlier. If I’m honest, I was a little under-fueled for the first half, but I inhaled a banana around the half-way point and picked up my feet on the back half.

This afternoon, I’m performing a solo set of music along-side my friend Sean Herbert, at The Black Dog Freehouse in Edmonton. There’s no cover charge – please stop by (if you’re of legal drinking age in Alberta).

life is training, but is training life?

“I like to have a plan, because plans can change, though most of the time they don’t need to. I’ve found that often times a fluid plan can result in getting more done that I’d anticipated, but it’s when I try to ‘wing it’ that disasters can really happen.”

A sordid question to be sure.

As a food addict, I’ve learned that in order to see success with my nutrition, I need to build structure around my eating habits. “Cold turkey” isn’t really an option; not only because turkey’s not on the menu (note: I apologize for no bad vegan jokes, ever) but because obviously giving up food for good is not an option. I have trained myself to eat less, and subside on nutrient-dense foods whenever possible.

Similarly as a chronic drunk, I learned that in order to not let that vice (or any other I’ve dabbled in) rule me, I had to build structure around my alcohol consumption. The checklist is long enough now that I barely drink a drop. I have trained myself to not depend on alcohol.

As a songwriter (and writer of various other forms) I’ve learned that if I want to see success in that, I need to build structure around it, by way of ensuring that I have time allocated towards that craft. I have trained myself to be more fruitful with my time.

I’m sure you’re seeing an obvious pattern here, so I’ll cut to the chase before listing off various exercise & training regimens, saving money, and morning practices. As obvious as the pattern may be, the purpose may be not be. My time is organized into soft/suggestive blocks for efficiency and to make sure I spend time with the people who matter to me, but a highly desirable side effect came about from living this way: I’ve permitted myself to live in the moment.

Being precious about my time and efforts doesn’t serve me the way you might think it would. I’m sure you’ve met some fairly neurotic people who fight against their own schedule, trying to maintain control over everything – but the truth of the matter is that so much of life’s nuance and surprises happen between tasks. In essence I like to have a plan, because plans can change, though most of the time they don’t need to. I’ve found that often times a fluid plan can result in getting more done that I’d anticipated, but it’s when I try to ‘wing it’ that disasters can really happen.

There are things I can put off till ‘later’ and there are things I really can’t… but I find a lot more success with those ‘later’ tasks if I give them a real spot on the calendar, rather than just… ‘later.’

So yes, my life is a series of training exercises… but training exercises are not my whole life. The real essence of life happens in-between.

Training this week has been good. I love a good, long, brutal running session at this stage of my life and I’m happy to be able to handle them – though for the next couple months they’ll primarily be happening on the weekends when I can really get lost in the action. Most of my endurance workouts have been on my bike as I commute to & from work, which adds up to 2 x 45min. sessions each day I ride, and I’m riding 4 days a week right now.

I have been looking forward to the triumphant return to school that the myriad of children who’ve taken over my beloved swimming pool are now facing. For now, the weight room will intercede, though… and realistically I shouldn’t be hopping in the water with a relatively fresh tattoo regardless. I’ll give it a couple more weeks.

enough protein

“A couple weeks back I recently posted a blog about protein sources in relation to joint inflammation and capped it off with a statement about getting enough protein, and what that means…”

A couple weeks back I recently posted a blog about protein sources in relation to joint inflammation and capped it off with a statement about getting enough protein, and what that means. What you don’t know about me is that I’m good (enough) with math, especially if that math is going to make my workouts more effective and my life more comfortable. Consider this an entry-level guide, and feel free to reach out through the website for clarification, questions, or anything I’ve missed. Hey! you can straight up correct me if you like…

What protein does: The body uses it to repair muscle and bone, and to make enzymes & hormones. Important stuff.

The Bare Minimum:
Let’s start here. A sedentary person (no discernable physical activity) is still going to need the minimal healthy amount of protein, and it’s not an impossible target. As a general rule, 0.35g for every pound your body weighs.
(body weight) x 0.35g = protein intake

Body Builders & Power Lifters:
These folks reside on the other end of the spectrum from sedentary people. Quite often you’ll see recommendations for 1.0g per pound of bodyweight in your google searches – this advice is often specific to people looking to build a lot of muscle.
(body weight) x 1.0g = protein intake

The Rest Of Us:
Then there’s; what I assume, is you & me. Personally, I shoot for 0.55g per pound of body weight, which puts me just under 100g of protein per day. The reason you might think that is a low number is because I have a total calorie threshold, and because I need to prioritize simple carbohydrates because carbohydrates are the body’s preferred fuel source and I burn a lot of fuel on long runs.
(body weight) x 0.65g = protein intake
You might be aiming to build muscle, but not bodybuilder muscle. Try 0.75b/lb or 0.70b/lb. Your body is going to take a bit of time to adjust to increases, so a gradual build is ideal.

*** Note that increases in protein; even incremental small ones, can cause gas. There’s an adjustment period and no, you won’t always smell like that.

Calorie Deficit:
That calorie threshold I just mentioned is a slight deficit, because I am aiming to burn a bit more belly fat as I progress, here. Calories (kCal) are a unit of measurement for energy in food. My body requires a certain amount of calories in order to function the way I expect it to, and I intentionally eat a little bit less than that so that I can use up some of the stored energy I’ve got – fat cells are that storage.

If you’re new to this idea, there’s a method of determining what a suitable deficit is in order to burn fat. I’ve found the Macro Calculator at HealthyEater.com very helpful over the past few years – I recommend reading the calculation breakdown at the bottom of the page. I also recommend cronometer.com as they’ve developed a great database and user friendly app that takes a lot of the guess work out – it works both on a smart phone and a traditional computer. The free version does plenty!

Solving the puzzle:
There’s a couple important pieces of info to remember here.
#1: The only way to be sure of what you’re eating is to measure it. People will tell you that you’re nuts (trust me) but if you’re going to track macronutrients, and say that you ate 50g of walnuts or half cup of blueberries, you’re going to need to make sure that’s true. Get a kitchen scale and some measuring cups, and don’t worry about the people who question it. ‘Plateauing’ is when you stop seeing results, but 9 times out of 10, it’s happening because of food that’s being eaten without being accounted for.
#2: If you’re trying to burn fat and keep the muscle you currently have, you’re going to need to so some thorough (but not super-intense) resistance training (weight lifting). You need to tell you muscles “I still need you” because when your body starts utilizing the reserves, it’s going to burn anything not being used – including muscle.

In the coming weeks, I’ll be sure to touch on fats & carbohydrates as well as some essential vitamins and minerals. Don’t worry though, there’s still bound to be some of the psychological self-reflection you’ve come to know & love as we work through!

Training this week has been intense. We’re now 3 weeks out from race day, and at the height of our training program here in the next week or so. It’s at this point that I start wanting to build the program that will see us through to the fall. My low & slow runs are essentially twice a week now, on Sunday & Thursday… which means Thursday morning I’ll be jogging all the way to work and expecting to be able to navigate the work day after that. Wish me luck!

A while back I posted about post-event fatigue and although I do aim to take a couple rest days after the Edmonton half-marathon, I don’t aim to stay in the ‘funk’ that often sets in after that. That means having a plan and a goal, so I’m sure I’ll be posting about that as it comes together.

We have a long term goal that will take our focus – it’s happening 12 months from now though, so we’re going to need a few things to carry us through and hold our pattern of progression through till then, because although I haven’t posted what that long term goal is, I assure you it’s a lofty one. What I will say is that we’re building a team, and trying to hand-pick those folks based on a few common traits.

you’re crazy

“As much as I try to stay stoic and live my life for me, according to my own code of ethics and moral compass, there are people around who still seem to concern themselves with what I’m doing and how I’m doing it…”

Not to put too fine of a point on it, but every good decision I’ve ever made in my life has been the subject of some scrutiny, whereas the more questionable decisions I’ve made have never been brought up… Weird, right?

My first, second, and third juice fasts back in 2014: You’re crazy
Weighing and measuring everything I eat: You’re crazy
My obese self doing a couch-to-5k program: You’re crazy
Losing 166 lbs: You’re crazy
Going vegan: You’re crazy
Training for a triathlon: You’re crazy
Training for half marathon: You’re crazy
Taking my writing and art more seriously into my 40s: You’re crazy

As much as I try to stay stoic and live my life for me, according to my own code of ethics and moral compass, there are people around who still seem to concern themselves with what I’m doing and how I’m doing it – but in truth I’m learning that if those people on the periphery think I’m crazy, then one of two things is true:
1) I actually am crazy
2) The proclamation that I’m crazy should be taken as affirmation.
… perhaps both.

I know I shouldn’t let these things bother me, but I also know that’s not always as easy to do as it is to say. Sometimes the critics sneak one past the goalie, and I have to acknowledge it and move past it. Ignoring it just means I’ll have to face it later, but I’d rather address it and properly dismiss that kind of criticism.

Now, I don’t mean to self-aggrandize, and I am not aiming to be melodramatic, either. That list of crazy stuff I’ve done is (a) not complete, and (b) not a list of things that happened overnight. It took years for me to get where I am and it’s going to take the rest of my life for me to get where I am going – but we need to live here & now, in this moment. That means I need to do what’s best for me today, and if taking action like that is so uncommon that it needs to be labelled ‘crazy…‘

… then I’ll take crazy any day of the week.

On a deeper level, I believe we label what we can’t understand, and that those labels become limitations. Using the aforementioned scenario as an example, some people have labeled my lifestyle as ‘crazy’ and thus have provided themselves with an excuse to never try it. They don’t have to understand it because they have filed it away under ‘do not attempt.’ I do a pretty good job of not letting things like this eat away at me, because I truly love where I’m at, and if someone chooses to take issue with what I’m doing, it’s their issue to resolve. Suppressing myself is disrespectful because we honor each other by offering the best of ourselves.

Chances are pretty good that if you’ve stumbled across this blog and this resonates with you, then you’re going through some changes and adaptations as well – so I’ll take opportunity to say that so long as you’re making yourself better and you’re not hurting anyone: you’re not crazy. You’re awesome.

Training this week has been really great. We’re a month out from race day and I’m feeling really strong and really prosperous. Prosperity has been a big word in our house as of late, so I’m not taking that one lightly.

Training in the river valley trails is pure magic. The hills and terrain have been their own challenge, and I believe it’s preparing me for this largely flat-land, paved race and giving me the edge and the confidence I need to make a solid go of it. I’m excited to rise to this challenge and I’m excited that there will still be a few months of solid outdoor running weather after this challenge is met. I’m making plans to stay in a state of progress beyond this half-marathon.

My band Confusionaires plays at the Taste Of Edmonton festival on Monday night. If you’re in the Edmonton area, aim to be there by 8:30pm. It’s free to attend.