Your Five Minutes

Carlos takes the Running Jackal’s usual Wednesday episode and turns it into a Your Five Minutes submission, walking along the picturesque laneway towards Arbutus Cove in Gordon Head. Enjoying the sunshine after a night of heavy rain, he admires the distant bulk carrier and storm clouds gathering over Washington State. Hoping to continue along the beach at low tide, he discovers that a rocky outcrop is still surrounded by water, making the crossing unsafe. Plan B takes him back to Arbutus Road, with the walk continuing towards Sinclair or McKenzie Avenue before heading home. Keeping things simple with just his iPhone and semi-smart watch, the Jackal signs off with a little curiosity about a mysteriously moving tree branch and a reminder that outdoor adventures rarely go exactly to plan.

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Wednesday October 21st.:- I ran at my local park, a run that I have done countless times before, today it was all about the run.
I did stop to chat with a few friends on my four lapper...(8k = 5 miles)

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The Running Jackal emerged onto the Gary Oak Meadows, tuned his ears to the birds, and settled into a five-mile outing split between pavement and trails. With the phone still at home, he rambled through the midweek news, including Norma’s plans to trade in her well-travelled Chevy Volt for a brand-new, all-electric Kia, complete with rebates and plenty of excitement. There was also family news, with long-lost Jack due to return from Bolton on Halloween for a month-long visit and a possible four-person getaway to Cowichan Bay in the planning. As the Jackal wound his way down towards Blenkinsop Road, the familiar mix of exercise, family gossip, and unscripted outdoor reporting filled his five minutes of audio. Another double-headed Your Five Minutes episode was in the can, proving that sometimes the best stories emerge when you leave the phone at home and simply get on with the outing.

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After a month away in France, the Running Jackal returns to the trails of P’KOLS (Mount Douglas) for his first trail run back home.
With no phone, no GPS and no fancy technology, he heads out with an old semi-smartwatch, a 15-year-old digital camera and his own judgement about when to run and when to hike.
On a beautiful, crisp morning after days of rain, the familiar trails feel surprisingly fresh as he reconnects with the mountain, old friends, local runners and the Rake and Radish farm stand.
It becomes an experiment in old-school, self-directed running — listening to the body, taking breaks when needed and resisting the temptation to let technology decide what counts as a workout.
A month away has changed the Jackal's perspective, and this is his first glorious, slightly rusty return to his own backyard.

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Solo run clockwise on a newly scoped out route, Ms.J did an anti-clockwise variant of the route.
One of my last runs in France takes me along the ridge above Cordes-sur-Ciel, following a route that Norma and I first explored together on foot before I turned it into another solo Jackal adventure.
Up on the ridge I discover the local parachute-drop field, complete with windsock, and start wondering why the remarkably predictable air around here makes hot-air balloons and parachutes possible—quite unlike the blustery skies back home.
I call the episode Tierra Incognita, a little linguistic wander through Latin, Spanish, Valencian and the other Mediterranean languages, while running into early-morning strangers, including a drone pilot who agrees that drones make great video but terrible audio—basically a hornet trapped in a Coke can.
My Strava map becomes my safety net as I negotiate farm tracks, blind corners, barking dogs and the occasional mysterious road, determined to complete the full five-mile loop rather than take the easy escape routes.
And somewhere between the sunrise, the dogs, the porridge burp and my rendezvous plan with Norma at the bamboos, I’m reminded that this is exactly why I run: a little exercise, a little exploration, and a lot of Tierra Incognita.

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Carlos is running solo in Cordes-sur-Ciel, while Ms. J walks the same route for half an hour before turning back. The plan is simple: she walks, Carlos runs a little farther, and eventually they meet back up. Along the way, Carlos talks about the hills, the views, jet lag, sleep, and trying something a little different with his podcasting. He’s also recording this one with his friend Kevin and the folks at The Extra Mile in mind — a chance to send a little hello from France and spend some time with the running community he feels connected to, even from the other side of the Atlantic. Less about stats, more about sharing the experience and remembering that wherever we happen to be running, we’re all part of the same running family.

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An audio grab from my Nikon CoolPix as an audio trailer for the full episode of "The Running Jackal Podcast"

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Part one of a session that I recorded for my YouTube channel posted here on YFM...
The two parts are available on 
"The Running Jackal Podcast" feed, anywhere on the internet.
https://www.spreaker.com/episode/mountain-hike-to-the-bog--74073762

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