Fat is back

I don’t mean that plus-sizes are suddenly in vogue again (or if they ever were in vogue–I don’t really keep up on fashion trends, as anyone observing how I dress can see), what I mean is that last month when I was hitting 162 pounds and trending downward, I am now, in October, trending upward. Fatward.

This is likely related to a combination of running a bit less for various reasons (though I am doing 10K runs again, yay), along with no change in diet. The two in concert tend to lead to weight gain. A symphony of cellulose.

Upon stepping on the scale this morning, I got the weight equivalent of sticker shock. I was up, which is not uncommon after a run day. But I was up 1.3 pounds, to 167.5 pounds, which is the first time I’ve been over 167 pounds this year. Weight gain is not a good way to lose weight. I don’t recommend it.

More depressing still, I was recently looking for some old images on my backup drive and found a couple of screen caps from my iPhone 4 from July 2012. The caps were from the MyFitnessPal app, showing the tracking for my weight loss at the time.

On the day in question my weight was 144.8 pounds. That was 22.7 pounds ago.

Depressing.

To battle the depression I had a chocolate chunk cookie at Starbucks. Probably not the best plan.

Still, with our spare room cleaned up, we are that much closer to getting a treadmill, after which getting in a workout will be as easy as walking into the room and jumping on. I just need to make it past the couch.

So here’s hoping history doesn’t repeat itself, because this is pretty much exactly what happened at this time last year: the days get shorter, I exercise less, eat the same, and bloat up like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade balloon. Maybe this time–we are only halfway through October, after all–I can reverse the trend and get back to svelte.

Inktober 2019 #14: Overgrown

My initial idea was someone too big, then a giant plant shooting through a house. I finally decided, for reasons unknown, to draw an octopus in an aquarium. After getting the idea, my next goal was to do the sketch as quickly as possible, leaving in the myriad imperfections instead of spending an extra hour fixing them. I don’t think the final result is any worse for the decision.

Run 640: A properly prepared stat holiday outing

Run 640
Average pace: 5:44/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:25 pm
Distance: 10.01 km
Time: 57:27
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 11-12ºC
Humidity: 71%
Wind: light
BPM: 164
Weight: 166.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4800 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (160 km)

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada and the weather was cool, but clear. Knowing how past runs have gone on stat holidays, I expected crowds and planned for it. And my planing paid off!

Yesterday I wasn’t sure I’d be running at all. I was congested, had a pressure headache and was certain I was coming down with something. My legs had that “wet noodle” feeling that usually means the onset of a cold or worse. But today the noodles were firmer, though the congestion and sinus pressure persisted, so maybe just allergies?

I took a blast of decongestant spray to my nose, then set off around 11:45 a.m. I wore my long-sleeved Nike shirt and while a short-sleeved t-shirt might have been fine, I didn’t feel overly warm in the Nike shirt. There was a light breeze and the sun was out, though it is already not providing much in the way of summer-like warmth anymore.

I chose to run clockwise, which worked out especially well today, as most people travel the lake in the opposite direction, meaning I’d be running toward most walkers and unless they were strolling with their eyes shut, they would see me approaching and presumably do something to let me by (I can report all did). For those I approached from behind, I switched to calling out, “Behind you!” to those who gave no indication they didn’t see/hear me coming–and it worked! Yay.

For this run, I opted to maintain a steady pace throughout, unsure how I would feel. Indeed, by the 6K mark I was feeling a bit tired, but pressed on, got my second win and finished with a near-identical pace compared to Thursday, at 5:44/km. Even better, my BPM was down to 164. Other than getting a bit tired midway through, I experienced no issues or complications, despite the heavier-than-usual traffic.

It doesn’t escape me, either, than I’ve been rather lucky with the weather being so nice for these runs. I know one day it will be raining and I won’t want to run, but the rain will persist and I’ll have to. Then I’ll grouse about it here. 😛

I saw another snake on the trail, and like the one on Thursday, it may no attempt to move as I jogged by. This must be “fall snake” behavior, where they are too preoccupied soaking up rays to keep warm to bother getting out of the way unless they really have to. Or a bunch of snakes are slithering onto the trail and lapsing into comas or dying. I’m not a snakeologist, I don’t know.

The next run will likely be on the treadmill at the Canada Games Pool, as sunset is happening around 6:20 now, which is before I usually finish my runs. Plus the weather this week looks stinky. But I might try one more during the week before declaring them done until the spring.

Run 639: The pause that fertilizes

Run 639
Average pace: 5:43/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:55 pm
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 57:15
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 10ºC
Humidity: 46%
Wind: light
BPM: 168
Weight: 166.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 4790 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (150 km)

After missing a week of runs due to illness and in one case poor planning/laziness, I finally set out today on a rare mid-week afternoon run, since I had to take the day off for workers to put tape on and then paint our condo door and drill a hole above said door for a new fiber drop (fiber drops are being added to all suites).

Upon waking up it was an unseasonably cold 0ºC. Yes, actual freezing in the second week of October. I planned on running around 10 and by then it was up to 6ºC. I was delayed for a variety of reasons (laziness not being one this time) and finally headed out around noon.

One of the delays was sensing I had to use the potty before heading out and wanted to make sure I got that out of the way first, because running and having to go, especially when the going is pooping, is a bad combination.

By noon the temperature was a relatively balmy 10ºC, but I still opted to wear my gray long-sleeved shirt. In retrospect the lighter Nike shirt would have sufficed, or even a regular t-shirt, as I only felt a bit cool on the walk back and that was mostly fixed by keeping my hands in my pockets. Even a decade later, I can still manage to overdress.

I opted to go counter-clockwise today and set a moderate pace, not wanting to go all crazy post-recovery and post-not running for a week. I had no real issues and despite the incredibly nice weather–a perfectly clear sky and little wind–the trail was not particularly crowded. But.

But around the 2K mark I spied a group of four women walking ahead, just past Piper Spit. Further beyond them the trail splits three ways, one to the Nature House (closed), one continuing the lake loop, and the third leading to the Piper Mill trail, which was my destination. I figured they would stick to the main trail and if they got to the intersection first, I would not have to navigate around them.

This did not happen.

Instead, I closed the gap and as I approached (the trail is narrow here, so I knew I could not dip of to the sides to go around), I cleared my throat and stomped my feet a little more forcefully to let them know I was approaching. This, it turned out, was an error. I should have just yelled, :Behind you!” As it was, the two women in the back were to the right, so I could pass them on the left. The two in front were on the left, meaning I would need to deke over and pass them on the right. There was not a lot of room, but enough to do this.

Except the woman on the right suddenly decided to shift to the right, putting herself directly in my path. I moved as much like a ninja as I could to avoid a collision, and ended up putting both hands on her shoulders to keep myself from plowing her over. Without stopping I apologized and kept going. She stood frozen as if she had seen some cosmic horror. Maybe I look that bad when running.

Anyway, it was unsettling, but didn’t really throw me off, and though I encountered others after, they all obligingly moved out of the way when they were blocking my path.

I had no issues during the run and was never in any doubt I’d manage the full 10K–until about the midway point. My stamina was still fine. My knees were behaving. My legs and feet were cooperating. So what was the issue?

In a word, my bowels. I suddenly had to go…again.The halfway point us by the fields and I thought of pausing the run to use the washroom at the nearby clubhouse (the door even says JOGGERS on it). I decided I could wait–a wait that would be about 27 minutes before the Jiffy John was at hand at the end of the run.

I was wrong.

Around the 6K mark I began to question the wisdom of skipping the washroom. By the time I was hitting the first boardwalk I was actively looking for a place to duck off the trail to do my business, not unlike a bear in the woods. I spotted one just past the boardwalk, made my way into the brush and behind a large and hopefully concealing tree. I did my business, avoided using leaves as surrogate toilet paper because I imagined what it would feel like later if I wiped my butt with poison ivy, and returned to the trail, lighter, but not faster. In fact, this coincided with my slowest point in the run. I picked up the pace a bit, fell back again, then made another effort on the final stretch to finish with a respectable overall pace of 5:43/km, pretty much right in the middle of my first two 10Ks.

The cold definitely had an effect on the run. While I felt fine my body was clearly working harder, both being a bit off and due to the cold. My BPM was 168–still below the 170 threshold, but not by much. Still, I felt fine, never winded or creaky.

Overall, a good run, despite the unwanted call of nature butting (heh heh) in.