I just haven't known what to write about lately - the Presidential race in the US? Attacks in France? The oil spill (I believe it's actually "dilbit" [diluted bitumen - from the tar sands - that will sink to the bottom ... and then what - reference the Kalamazoo spill in Michigan], but nobody wants to use the word) into the North Saskatchewan river? Turkey?

Well, maybe I'll just talk about me again. After all, this blog is supposed to be about my transforming my life at 60. It's a slow transformation. For now, it's focussed primarily in getting active, after more than 3 decades of not. So ...

Because of my disappointment in the Mpow wireless (Bluetooth) headphones I purchased a set of Philips ActionFit earphones. They have an over-ear loop that keeps them in place. Oh - and, they're wired, not wireless. That's not really important to me. They work fine but the sound is a bit disappointing. It's a bit tinny.

So, I thought I'd compare the sound to the Mpow set. And, I discovered that, if I change the earphone caps to a smaller size (a real effort) the pounding when I walk disappears. So, my apologies to Mpow. However, I found that when I wasn't being distracted by the constant thud-thud-thud when I ran or walked I noticed that they just didn't feel comfortable.

So, sound quality better with Mpow (best with the iPhone ear-buds, but they just keep falling out when running) but comfort better with Philips ActionFit. I'm sure that there are better earphones overall that would meet my needs. But, at this time, I'm not prepared to spend $100+. Both of these were less than $30 each.

Today I wanted to see if I was ready to run longer intervals than the current 60seconds run/90 seconds walk. It's been a while since I pushed a bit harder. So, I just arbitrarily added 10-12 steps to my run interval which increased my run time but, also then reduced my walk interval, by about 8 seconds. It seemed to go okay. My overall time was less, as you can see.

I may more formally increase my run time intervals starting Saturday/Sunday. It's time to push on to the next level. I may have to increase my distance though which means a slight change to my route again.

Today's Run - 6:00am; 5.9kms; 45mins; 21c, humid and cloudy

Yesterday's Walk - 6:05am; 5.3kms; 52.5mins; 17c; clear

Tuesday's Run - 5:55am; 5.9kms; 46mins; 20c; partly cloudy

Sorry, I haven't had an opportunity to write much lately. Tomorrow I will be a bit more prolific.


Saturday - day off but did a casual 45 minute walk in 32C weather.

Yesterday's Run - 6:05am; 5.9kms; 46mins; 15c; clear

Today's Walk - 7:30am (late due to thunderstorms); 5.4kms; 52mins; 24c and very humid; cloudy

Yesterday's Run - 6:00am; 5.8kms; 45.5mins; 14c; clear

Today's Walk - 6:05am; 5.3kms; 52.5mins; 22c and very humid, clear; I sweated extremely this morning. Very, very humid.

Yesterday's Run - 6:00am; 5.9kms; 45.5mins (personal best!); 14c, clear

Today's Walk - 6:05am; 5.3kms; 51.5mins (personal best!); 9c (geez! It's supposed to be summer!); clear

Yesterday's Run - 5:55am; 5.8kms; 47.5mins; 11c; clear

Today's Walk - 6:10am (late!); 5.3kms; 53mins; 23c (what the heck!) partly cloudy

More tomorrow ...

Yesterday's Walk - 6:00am; 5.3kms; 53mins; 20c and clear

My Rant - continued 2 ...

A few more fund companies have got back to me. And, I've discovered a few more that are investing in companies that produce cluster munitions.

Also, even though I have requested the current government's position on whether or not investing in cluster munitions is illegal for Canadians, I'm not sure if I have much hope of the answer I would like.

The following article is one of the more complete ones I have come across recently -

Canadian firms invested in US cluster bomb makers, report says

Anyway, one of the larger fund companies in Canada responded to me saying they are compliant even though at least one of their funds holds an investment in a cluster munitions maker. I asked them to please put that in writing for me. They refused! What does that say about their convictions on how "compliant" they are?!

I have also discovered that some asset management firms (mutual fund managers) that are signatories to the UNPRI  also have holdings in cluster munitions producers. What does it actually mean to these investment management companies to be a signatory to PRI and yet still make this kind of investment? Are we just "ticking a box" now? Where's the commitment?

Yesterday's Walk - 5:55am; 5.3kms; 53mins; 17c & humid; clear

Today's Run - 6:05am; 5.9kms; 46mins; 22c, humid - and then it rained on me starting when I was furthest from my end point!