Run 525: Unplanned 5K with fresh cut giant trees

Run 525
Average pace: 5:19/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 3:18 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-24ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: moderate
BPM: 148
Weight: 157.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4088 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I traded in my new-but-not-worn Nike shorts today at the Nike store in Metrotown. Although these are the latest version of the shorts I currently wear, I had mistakenly bought a size medium and when I got home I found my other Nike shorts were size small. A return fixed that and when I got home I thought, “Hey, with my shiny new shorts and shiny new sleeveless t-shirt, I should go for a run just for the heck of it!”

And so I put on the new shorts and found them to be rather…snug. Snug as in they have somehow reduced the size of the small to really mean small and the medium size shorts I traded back without ever trying were probably the right size all along. Grr. I’m not sure what to do. Can I do a double return or will they accuse me of being an incurable shorts addict? What I might do is buy another pair in the medium size–but in a different color!–and see if they fit, then maybe think about trading in the small shorts for the original medium. This plan actually makes me sound like an incurable shorts addict, doesn’t it?

Hmm.

For the run I put on my old and stinky but fits-just-right shorts, with the new short, and headed off, undecided on whether to do a 5K or go for more. I opted for a 5K partway through and tried to adjust my pace accordingly. Although sunny, there was a good breeze and humidity was lower so I stayed fairly peppy and only had minor sweating throughout. Even my BPM was much lower, at only 148.

In the end my pace was 5:19/km, which is one of my better 5K runs this year. Not bad following up only a day after a 10K. I didn’t experience any issues and the trail was surprisingly not too busy, given the time and conditions.

The “trail repairs” next to the athletic fields was finished and my careful examination of the trail revealed…absolutely no changes I could see. But lo, at the ends of the trail were several freshly-hewn (and formerly honking big) trees, cut up and piled alongside the trail. I’m not sure if they were cut because they had become old and menacing or, being on the ends, if they were cut to better accommodate further work on the trail. In any case, they are now ex-trees.

On the walk out a kid ahead of me defiantly walked through the detour while I obeyed the sign and took the Spruce Loop out. The kid emerged not far ahead of me on the other side, so whatever is in the blocked-off area is not a kid-eating monster. I wanted to ask him what they could possibly be working on that is taking so long but figured the reality would prove suitably mundane.

The other thing of note–and a squeaky note it is–are my shoes. While the color-bleeding of my Hoka Speedgoats is long past, the right shoe is squeaking so loudly I can hear it while running with music playing. It’s somewhat maddening. Getting new shoes, preferably before my next run, is now top priority.

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