Alphabet Soup Week 36: The R Tracks

After a tough week on the South West Coast Path, which we completed earlier today, I’ve only just managed to pull together this week’s installment in the nick of time. Enjoy!!

I'm writing this intro from a cozy (aka tiny) hotel room in the town of Poole in Dorset. Earlier this afternoon my wife and I reached the official ending point for the South West Coast Path, the UK's longest national trail. The journey here has taken us through four counties over 62 days of walking covering 640 miles and over 108,000 feet of ascent. This challenge has been on my bucket list for close to a decade and I'm so excited to have completed it. I'm proud of myself and my wife for this big accomplishment and very much looking forward to a few days off in London before heading off on our next adventure a week from now.

During the last week on the trail I spent some time reflecting on the journey and compiled a handful of observations, learnings that I'll carry forward with me into the next chapter of my life. I posted videos for each of these on Instagram; if you're so inclined, feel free to follow the links below to view any or all of them.

Consistent pain is manageable

• I've been dealing with some sort of pain for the entirety of this hike. I'm not talking about the standard sore muscles and joints that come with the territory when you're undertaking a long hike like this. Some of these pains are old (arthritis in the surgically repaired right knee), some of them are more recent (the left knee with the recently diagnosed torn cartilage), and some of them have emerged on the trail (nagging extensors tendonitis, pain on the outside of the foot, Achilles pain). I've learned that I'm able to cope with consistent pain as long as it isn't acute. It’s become a mindset of learning to essentially ignore some types of pain while also listening to the body to ensure you take action when needed. The perfect example is the couple two-day breaks taken to let the extensor tendonitis calm down enough to continue the walk; forcing myself to continue may have derailed the entire hike. Meanwhile, I've been feeling consistent pain on the outside of the left foot for 5 to 6 weeks that has turned out to be manageable. I'm really pleased to have learned that pain can be consistently overcome for long periods; it's a lesson that will serve me well in the future.

62 days is too long

• I've learned that I don't want to do such a long hike again. Both my wife and I are now so grateful that we canceled the next long hike we had planned as neither of us would be relishing the thought of another ten weeks out on the trail. It's not necessarily that we couldn't do it, but more so that we simply don't want to. These multi-month long distance walks take a toll, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally. Having completed the 200-mile Camino Primitivo in 2017, there are a few more Camino pilgrimages I'd like to undertake. I'd previously envisaged myself doing these two at a time, back to back, but that would be a close to three month endeavor, something I now know is more than I want to do. Instead I can now choose to do one every two to three years as and when the urge strikes me. It'll still be a good challenge, but one that's a little dialed back from what we've just completed.

Plus est en vous

• "Plus est en vous" is a French motto that my wife has tattooed on her forearm. The literal translation is "more is in you" and it's a motto that was adopted by Kurt Hahn, the noted German educator responsible for, among many other accomplishments, the creation of the experiential and outdoor education programs Outward Bound and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. The philosophy here is that we all have so much more in us than we believe. I've really discovered that for myself on this trip; whenever I've felt like I have nothing left, either during the day or at the end of a long day, I've always found some unexpected inner resource to draw on that keeps me going. Growth happens at the edge of your comfort zone and I've spent a fair bit of time there over the last ten weeks.

I'm madly in love with my wife

• This isn't a new one for me as I fell in love with my wife within months of starting to date back in 1998. But on this trip we've spent more time together than we've ever done before in our marriage and it's been magical. One of the greatest rewards that came with our long distance walking over the years was the ability to spend 100% uninterrupted and quality time with my wife. Whenever we'd get back from a walking vacation there would always be a major come down. Partly that was due to being back behind a desk and no longer being out in the great outdoors. But a big part of it was that I'd find myself missing that quality time with my wife. This trip has provided a sneak preview of the "happily ever after" that awaits us in retirement. I feel so blessed that I'm still madly in love with Tina, that she's not just my wife but also my best friend, my soulmate, and the perfect hiking and life partner.

So that's the South West Coast Path in the bag!! Let's turn our attention to week 36 of Alphabet Soup, the R Tracks. I've pulled together a pretty good batch this week, if I do say so myself, so let's jump right in!

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ALPHABET SOUP WEEK 36: The R Tracks

This week’s selections:

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TRACK: “Red “from Maybe It's Me (1997)

ARTIST: Treble Charger

We start off this week's playlist with the first of three Canadian bands, Treble Charger, who formed in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario in 1992 and released five albums between 1994 and 2002. The single Red appeared on their debut album, 1994's NC17, and was later re-recorded for inclusion on their third album, 1997's Maybe It's Me.

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TRACK: “Roderigo” from American Standard (1995)

ARTIST: Seven Mary Three

Seven Mary Three made an appearance in this series way back in week 6 with Cumbersome from the same album, 1995's American Standard. While the album in its entirety was only okay for me, there were three standout tracks, the aforementioned Cumbersome, Water's Edge (my fave from the album), and this track, Roderigo.

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TRACK: “Rosy And Grey” from Shakespeare My Butt (1991)

ARTIST: The Lowest Of The Low

We've seen Lowest of The Low before in the Alphabet Soup series, in week 20 with Just About 'The Only' Blues and week 23 with 7th Birthday, and last week the band's lead singer, Ron Hawkins, made his second appearance. Since that week 20 appearance, way back in mid-May, I finally got around to compiling my list of Desert Island Discs and the band's 1991 debut Shakespeare My Butt, on which Rosy And Grey appears, made the final cut. I'm planning to cover each of those albums in more detail on 2025.

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As you make your way through this week’s playlist, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Do any of these tracks really stand out for you? What do you like? What don’t you like?

Please click the button below to leave a comment.

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TRACK: “Remote Control” from Make A Pest A Pet (1997)

ARTIST: Age Of Electric

A third track from a 90s Canadian band, this time with Remote Control from Age of Electric's third and final album, 1997's Make A Pest A Pet. This was the band's most successful album and this track was huge in Canada, peaking at number 9 on the singles chart. Sadly, tensions within the band led to the group disbanding after this album. Drummer Kurt Dahle went on to work with The New Pornographers and Todd Kernes joined Slash's band, The Conspirators, on bass and backing vocals.

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TRACK: “Ramble On” from Led Zeppelin II (1969)

ARTIST: Led Zeppelin

Led Zeppelin II is one of only two albums by the band I ever physically owned, with Led Zeppelin IV of Stairway To Heaven fame being the other. Outside of the bigger hits I'm not overly familiar with the band's catalog and only purchased this album in the mid-90s after being introduced to it by one of my best music-loving mates in college. Within my admittedly limited knowledge of the band's music, Ramble On remains one of my favorite tracks. While Page's acoustic and electric guitar is top notch as you’d expect, John Paul Jones' work on bass is just stunning and really anchors the track for me.

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TRACK: “Rain” from Love (1985)

ARTIST: The Cult

Another track from The Cult's 1985 sophomore album Love after the inclusion of Hollow Man and Nirvana in weeks 16 and 28 respectively. I have a lot of love (no pun intended) for this album and have owned it in multiple formats over the years. Earlier this week, prompted by the wonderful 100 best albums collaboration between Kevin Alexander and Sam Colt, I was discussing top albums with my wife and this one would certainly make my list. Rain was the second single released from the album and peaked at number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.

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TRACK: “Rotten Apple” from Jar of Flies (1994)

ARTIST: Alice In Chains

I personally never owned any Alice In Chains albums as it was my wife Tina that brought the band into our joint CD collection with the 1994 EP Jar Of Flies. I was stunned to learn that this release came together in only a week of studio work between September 7 and 14, 1993 with sessions running 17 to 18 hours. The band entered the studio without any tracks written and the fact that this incredible piece work, one of their most successful releases ever, was written and recorded in such a short period is mind boggling. Jar Of Flies was the first EP to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 chart and went on to be certified quadruple platinum in the U.S. and double platinum in Canada.

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TRACK: “Rubber Ring” from Louder Than Bombs (1987)

ARTIST: The Smiths

Back in week 30 I spoke of my deep love for the Smiths compilation album Louder Than Bombs when writing about Oscillate Wildly (Back To The Old House from the same album also appeared way back in week 4). Rubber Ring is another amazing track from the second half of that album. I'm thinking of compiling my own 100 best albums list and if I decide to allow myself the liberty of including a small selection of compilation or greatest hits albums, Louder Than Bombs would be near the top of the list.

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TRACK: “Roads” from Dummy (1994)

ARTIST: Portishead

Another track from one of my eight Desert Island Discs, this time from the masterpiece that is Portishead's 1994 debut Dummy. We've sampled this album before in the series as Glory Box appeared in week 14. This album represents a pivotal point in my musical life as hearing it served as an on-ramp to the realm of trip hop, downtempo and chillout, a genre of which I imbibed deeply for the better part of a decade. Roads remains my favorite Portishead track and certainly one of my top five picks of the entire genre.

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TRACK: “Re-Arranged” from Significant Other (1999)

ARTIST: Limp Bizkit

Limp Bizkit seems to be a band that many people love to hate. I won't pretend to be a huge fan because the reality is that most of the tracks on the albums I did own were automatic skips regardless of how popular they were (hello Nookie). But they did have a few tracks that really did it for me, including their cover of The Who's Behind Blue Eyes from 2003's Results May Vary (appeared in week 23 of Alphabet Soup) and Re-Arranged from their sophomore release, 1999's Significant Other. The album peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and has been certified 7x platinum, with this single topping Billboard's Modern Rock Chart.

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Week 9 on the South West Coast Path

After another eight days of walking we wrapped up our South West Coast Path adventure this afternoon. Here’s a batch of photos, one from each of the last eight days:

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Here’s the link to the running playlist which is updated on a weekly basis as each new installment is published:

ALPHABET SOUP RUNNING PLAYLIST

Tracks missing from the Spotify playlist:

• Allegory by Murray Attaway (Week 02)

• Face Me and Smile by The Lover Speaks (Week 12)

• From Your Mouth by God Lives Underwater (Week 13)

• This Can’t Go On! by The Lover Speaks (Week 23)

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Thank you for reading Joy in the Journey, I appreciate you being here! If there’s someone in your life you think may enjoy this post, feel free to share it.