Run 593: Back to breathable air

Run 593
Average pace: 5:46/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:51 pm
Distance: 5:02 km
Time: 29:01
Weather: Sun and cloud
Temp: 18-22ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 161
Weight: 162.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 4545 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8

After battling and re-battling a cold, I was finally back out running for the first time in two weeks.

Surprisingly, my pace was also three seconds better. I find this doubly surprising, not just because I wasn’t expecting to be faster after a two week layoff, but I was deliberately not trying to push in the early part of the run, to minimize issues arising from rust/decrepit age and so on.

The knees made their presence known early on, but after a few km they were no longer an issue. I also experienced no cramps or other problems and my stamina held up nicely. Overall, a solid run and under welcome conditions–mild temperatures, a decent and refreshing breeze, and no tangible smoke haze (it’s still there, but it’s not enough to really notice–the mugginess and most especially the discernible smoke odor are currently absent).

I went clockwise, so delighted in spending much of the run on the freshly-resurfaced areas. The small dogleg just before you emerge alongside the sport fields is still closed off, though. I have no idea why this particular trail repair is taking so long, but I suspect it will look mostly the same when completed, but still be different, somehow (my hunch is shoring it up so it doesn’t flood, so it may be raised up a bit).

The one odd part of the run, such as it is, was during the third and fourth km. My pace dropped off significantly–more than I would have guessed if you had asked–and I can’t pin it to any one thing. Here are the splits:

5:39
5:42
6:01
6:00
5:30

The first two km are consistent and then my pace drops a whopping 19 seconds, holds there, and then improves by an even more impressive 30 seconds as I move through the home stretch. I’m not surprised the pace picked up in the final km, as I was pushing at that point, but by 30 seconds seems a bit nutty.

Other than sudden slow leg syndrome (SSLS), this was a perfectly decent run, especially after the two weeks off.

As a bonus, the bridge at Silver Creek is finished and the replacement has a rustic charm the older one didn’t really have.

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