Run 523: Steady with left-side runners and tooting trains

Run 523
Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:08 pm
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:17
Weather: Mainly sunny
Temp: 20-22ºC
Humidity: 54%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 151
Weight: 158.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 4073 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

After a copious amount of running and cycling the last few days (I did a 9.76 km ride last night–no falling, yay!) I decided today’s run–started a wee bit late again because my stomach was feeling off–would be a bit more on the slow and steady side.

It was both sunnier and breezier today, with the latter insuring the former wasn’t an issue, though it only got up to 22ºC, which is perfectly cromulent for this time of year.

I had to use the Jiffy John® yet again before the run so I’m pretty sure my body clock is now syncing my bowel with my running. I would prefer it to not do so. At least I didn’t have to wait this time.

I headed out clockwise and almost immediately encountered a cyclist just exiting off the trail. Hopefully her bike tires got punctured by rabid geese on the way out.

After that things settled into a semi-comfortable routine. There were stretches where I even felt that certain sort of Zen one can achieve when running and my lower BPM of 151 reflected this. I did encounter a runner on the left side of the trail approaching me. Clearly one of us would have to move to avoid collision. I saw it as a teaching moment for the wrong-side runner and she shifted over. Hooray!

Not long after that I was heading toward the bend leading onto the Cottonwood Trail when I was startled by the unexpected tooting of a train horn. It was unexpected because while the track parallels the Cottonwood Trail, there are no crossings, hence no need to toot. It turned out workers were gathered with digging equipment on the other line and the train was tooting to warn them to stay on their side to avoid being smooshed by a billion tonnes of metal or however much a typical train weights.

The trail is still blocked off where it splits at Spruce Loop but more piles of gravel near the trail entrance suggest work is being done. What’s weird is it’s been a week already, which is longer than it took them to replace the entire foot bridge on the Cottonwood Trail. Maybe there was a sinkhole or something.

With my pace of 5:36/km only being three seconds off Monday’s, I am perfectly happy with today’s result, with no real issues other than the legs being a wee bit stiff from all this nutty activity.

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