Run 402: Untied lace and the return of Africa hot

Run 402
Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 27:31
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28-30ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 157
Stride: 179 strides/min
Weight: 154.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3272
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio

Today’s run featured:

  • the first time my New Balance MT 110 shoelaces came untied (in over 460 km of use)
  • a mad cyclist furiously biking up from behind me
  • temperatures that started at 28ºC mid-morning and climbed to 30ºC–still in the morning
  • a decided lack of breeze

On the plus side, at least I didn’t get hit by a blimp.

The first km was surprisingly swift at 4:39/km but after that the halo effect of that first 1000 meters wore off and the reality of Africa hot set in and my pace slowed steadily. It became obvious pretty quickly that a full 10K would be ugly, not to mention sweaty and uncomfortable. I toyed with the idea of at least stretching to 7K but as I neared 5K along the completely exposed trail alongside the athletic fields I opted to stop short and walk the rest of the way. I think I made the right call.

As it was, my pace overall was a sluggish 5:28/km, slower than some recent 10K efforts. The forecast for the rest of the week looks to mirror what we had prior to the weekend, with temperatures in the mid 20s rather than high 20s and low 30s. My pace should hopefully bounce back like some springy sort of thing.

Other than being stupid hot for the millionth time this summer, I didn’t have any issues of note, apart from my left shoe coming untied for the first time ever. What’s odd is I even made sure they were tied securely before heading out. I’m just going to blame the heat on this, too.

On the other hand, when I later went to the store wearing my walkin’ shoes, they both came untied simultaneously. Maybe it’s secretly National Untied Shoelace Day.

On the subject of shoes, with the heels of the MT 110s starting to get nice and smooth (this is not a good thing for the heels of running shoes) I am hoping to get a new pair in the next week or so, likely something light but non-minimalist for a change of pace.

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