Run 502: In before the Africa hot

Run 502
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 9:21 am
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:36
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-23ºC
Humidity: 44%
Wind: light
BPM: 163
Weight: 166.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3902 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

The forecast high for today was 31ºC, which is not only Africa hot, it’s especially hot for June. It’s also way hotter than I like for running. I’m not planning on doing a desert marathon so I’m good with running under milder conditions.

My plan was to get out earlier so I could finish my run while the temperature was still bearable. I headed out around 8:45 a.m. and started the run at 9:21. It was already 21ºC and rose to 23ºC over the run but that’s a fair bit better than 30 or 31.

And I still saw someone running in a jacket.

I felt a lot more energetic today compared to Thursday and this was reflected in the first km, by far my fastest (5:18/km). But I bogged down over the next two km and by the fourth felt a bit like a baked potato, my energy leaking out like a slowly-deflating balloon wearing jogging shorts.

It was around that point that I opted to stick to 5K instead of pushing to 7K. On the one hand I kind of regret not going farther because the temperature only rose a few more degrees (it’s since gone up to 28 now that it’s past noon) but there are times when you know it’s better to listen to the signals your body is giving you and this seemed like one of them.

My pace did improve in the last few km, so overall it was a mediocre-ish 5:40/km.

The trail was not too busy, just a few small groups of walkers and the occasional over-dressed jogger.

Weirdly, I’m almost tempted to go back tomorrow to try a 7K. I’d have to get up super-early to do it before the writing group, though, and the odds of that are…not great.

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