Tuesday, August 10, 2010

(It's) Tough (not to like being) In Vancouver

Though this may be odd for an old school punk rock kid to admit, but I like Michael Jackson.  Specifically, I like roughly half of "Off The Wall", "Thriller" and "Bad".  Because of this, I currently have one of the MJ "Greatest Hits" albums on my Ipod.  It's got all the good stuff, but it's got a lot of the bad stuff too.  I was in the gym yesterday and had my Ipod on shuffle.  And when the Michael Jackson/Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine" came on (which is not only the worst Michael Jackson song ever, but quite possibly one of the worst songs in the Universe),  I did what almost no one who dislikes this song as much as I do would do - I took a picture.


Like most people would have, I should have just hit the "skip" button - the next song was "Melody Lee" from The Damned, which is a fantastic track.  But instead, I decided I needed visual proof that I could keep it together even when listening to bad music.  As you can see, I look the same.  Maybe even tougher than usual.  And the dog-gone girl is mine.

That's how I roll in Vancouver.

This has been a great trip.  When I'm here, I go into running mode, because Vancouver is such a great running city.  Basically, anywhere there is water, there is sea wall.  And since there is plenty of water, there is plenty of sea wall.  That means there are miles and miles of uninterrupted, traffic free running.  That'll do.

I'm staying in the Yaletown neighborhood about 2 blocks from False Creek.  From the end of Davie Avenue I can pick up the sea wall and essentially start running as far as I want.  Yesterday, I got in a quick 5 miles first thing in the morning.  Earlier this evening I went on an epic 10 1/2 mile run that included a lap around Stanley Park.  Regular readers will remember that I ranked Stanley Park as the best run I've ever done in a post last week.

Once again, Stanley Park did not disappoint.  The weather was damn near perfect - sunny and mild with a light breeze blowing in from Burrard Inlet.  This run was for me, so I went out nice and easy. To be honest I didn't really want to stop, and I actually should have kept going.


This trip leaves no doubt in my mind that Vancouver is the PREMIERE city for runners.  If The Road had "Best Of" awards, Vancouver would hands down be the winner in the running category.

I fly home tomorrow evening.  And oh yeah, I got everything else I needed to get done sorted out.  But talking about it wouldn't make for interesting writing, so that's it for now.

17 comments:

Jennifer said...

Wow, that looks like an amazing place to run! Glad you are having such fine weather, no in the US is... have a great rest of your trip! Cheers!

FLATOUT JIM said...

Only ever been to the airport.

Lot's of trails and running routes, no snow in winter. Hard not to like it.

KovasP said...

Michael Jackson? As my grandmother might say, Oi! You may think he's neat neat neat, but to me he's grimly fiendish. I bet after this they may not let you back into the US or at best, will confiscate your punk rock union card.

Lucas R. Tucker said...

Is there something bogger than the universe that song can be the worst in?

Johann said...

Maybe one day I get to run there. It sure looks nice.

Jon said...

Thanks for the heads up! My next industry convention is in Vancouver....hhhmmmm....

Emz said...

I NEED to get there one day.

The photo rocks.

ajh said...

Sounds wonderful!

Big Clyde said...

I agree with you on both MJ topics: some of the old school "Off The Wall" songs still hold up, but that song is horrible. By then, even McCartney had lost all taste in music too. Tragic.

Shannon (IronTexasMommy) said...

So jealous. It's 107ish here in Texas today. I'm going to get in an afternoon Sizzlin' Bike Ride, but I'm going to have to live vicariously through you when it comes to running. Enjoy, eh!

Aimee said...

Ha ha...your post totally cracked me up! I think it's hilarious that you took a picture of yourself while listening to that song! :)

Vancouver sounds amazing!

Kathleen said...

Nice pic! The look certainly fits the background scene.

Lindsay said...

that looks like a great running route! i might be tempted if vancouver promised to never get cold...

Jill said...

I love the self-portrait while listening to crap music - be still my heart!!!

Matty O said...

Man, looks like a heck of a route! Love love love to run by water. Relaxes me even more than the running itself!

Way to get the workouts in :) I usually train better on vacations/business trips than I do at home... wonder why?

Chris K said...

That's weird cuz I just put my first Michael Jackson song on my ipod this week - Smooth Criminal. I know you are behind on reading blogs, but if you get to mine, you'll see why. Kovas introduced me to Superchunk - had never heard of them.

Unknown said...

Hey just ran across the blog! You have a new reader. BTW how do you like the Nike Frees?

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails