Run 450: No tripping, just kind-of-slow running with bonus exotic snake

Run 450
Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) – no side trails taken
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:38
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Stride: n/a
Weight: 158.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3600 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

My big fear today, of course, was coming across another evil tree root. Or more specifically, tripping across another evil tree root. To reduce the risk I chose to skip all three side trails (Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loops) and chanted direction. This had the side effect of giving me more of that smoove resurfaced, uh, surface to run on and also meant that if I did trip again, I’d at least fall in a new direction and in a new spot.

I did not trip.

The first half of the run I was surprisingly brisk but the second half saw me slow a fair bit, partly due to the Monday effect, partly due to burning too much gas in the first 5K and maybe partly due to being cautious, though most of the exposed roots were on the Cottonwood trail, during the first half of the run. While the pace of 5:50/km is nothing special, my BPM was also down at 155 and the weather, though warm, was an entirely tolerable 23ºC throughout.

The various lacerations and bruises didn’t have any effect I could tell, though the hip bruise became less mysterious when I noted that the shorts pocket that holds my keys perfectly matched up with it. Now I know what it feels like to slam onto gravel into your own set of keys. I don’t recommend doing this.

The resurfacing continued sans detour, with only a single worker out raking dirt. The construction zone was fairly small and strangely I missed the excavator entirely. I can only guess it had broken down or been defeated in a similar manner to the killdozer.

A few walking groups were out but were more on top of things than usual, so I was able to consistently slip by without incident.

The most interesting thing happened on the walk back along the Brunette River trail. Shortly after I crossed the bridge there I saw a snake. Now, I’ve seen several snakes this summer, of the small, slithery black and yellow garter variety. Observe below that this is not a small garter snake:

pythons in Burnaby
This is a python. It is a long way from home.

As mentioned in the caption, this is a python, about a meter long. It was very chill, as the kids say, and just laid there while I and a guy passing by on a bike took pictures. It eventually moved very casually off into the vegetation. As you might guess, pythons are not local to Burnaby or most of this continent, so it was either an escapee or an unwanted pet. Poor guy. Or girl. I’m not sure how you tell with a snake, really.

Looking back, maybe I should have contacted animal control or something, though the snake would have been long gone into the bush by the time they arrived. Still, I’d feel bad if it ate someone’s little moppet or something.

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