I wrote 38 posts this month (counting this one) and yet I feel like I’ve somehow failed Blaugust because most of my posts were:
Running
Birding
Random photos
These are all “easy” posts for me and unless you’re really into (me) running, the running posts aren’t even that interesting (though one running post did get me an email–which delighted me!)
Still, I’m glad to have participated. A year from now, I don’t know if I’ll be blogging here in WordPress or somewhere else, but I’ll still be blogging and I’ll do Blaugust again. And I might remember to use the tag more often, too.
Now I need to read through some more of the Blaugust posts from others.
In some crazy alternate universe I bet I was down!
And to be fair, it was the last few days of the month when my weight spiked that makes it look so bad.
But enough with excuses, on to the stats!
It’s a mix of good and bad. The month ended with cookies, so there’s that. Food is my comfort, but I am doing a bit better. Baby steps. Baby steps that don’t lead to a box of Pop-Tarts.
I’m going to boldly predict I will still be down for the year, though!
January 1, 2026: 169.4 pounds
Current: 170.7 pounds Year to date: Up 1.3 pounds
August 1: 168.5 pounds August 31: 169.4 pounds (up 0.9 pounds)
Body fat: August 1: 26.2% August 31: 26.5% (up 0.3%)
Skeletal muscle mass: August 1: 29.8 kg August 31: 30.0 kg (up 0.2 kg)
For a change of pace (and to avoid it getting hotter) I opted to run the river trail today after getting off to a late start in the morning.
And it went well! I had two laps that came in under the six-minute mark, my overall pace was 6:05/km, which beats my previous run and is also the best since the surgery. My BPM was 149, as befits the less-demanding river trail.
I was even able to do math in my head–while running!–and figure out where I needed to turn back in the final km to end close to where I started, for maximum efficiency. And my calculation was pretty close!
I had no issues on the run and didn’t encounter many people. Because this trail is essentially a gated service road, it’s rare to experience actual crowding, but there weren’t even enough people to form a crowd. It was warmer than Saturday at 21°C, and humidity was lower at 55%, but neither had a real impact.
In all, a good start to the week.
Brunette River, post-run.
Stats:
Run 1,059 Average pace: 6:05/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: +3 Location: Brunette River Trail Start: 11:09 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:33 Weather: Mostly sunny Temp: 21°C Humidity: 55% Wind: light BPM: 149 Weight: 170.7 pounds Total distance to date: 7,100 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (80/176/256)
Music: Into the Great Wide Open, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
The more I try to think what to write, the more the thoughts run away, nimble and free.
But I remain hopeful that I’ll find my way back to waxing poetic/inanely on whatever wanders into my mind.
In the meantime, here’s a photo I took of a pile of gravel, with all kinds of filters applied to punch it up, a reflection of the artificial times we live in.
And for fun, the original as it looked straight from my phone (what a weird thing this would have been to write in 1980):
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Very similar to last run, but a bit cooler (which was nice).
Today’s run was different for a few reasons. First, I didn’t run on Wednesday, because air quality was bad, then I didn’t run on Friday because I wanted to let the mail carrier in (long, weird story) and so today, a Saturday, I headed out, somewhat wary because of the four days off and the potential for Saturday crowds, especially with perfectly fine late summer weather.
But it turned out the four days off may have been a benefit and not a hindrance and the crowds were not really much different than most days and everyone was pleasant and all dogs were good boys or girls.
In the end, my BPM was up a bit at 151, which is still fine, but my overall pace was 6:09/km, a full 11 seconds better than the previous run and my best 5K performance (or even 2.5K) since I resumed running post-surgery on June 29. It was also the first time since surgery that I had a km come in under the six-minute mark. The last km, to be exact, where I posted a pace of 5:53/km, proving I can still boogie a bit.
I also saw the Spitfire near the start of my run on the Spruce Loop (I think she runs every day because she is hardcore. I am mediumcore, at best.) She then looped back and passed me post-run when I was doing an unusual bit of wool-gathering on the trail and not really paying attention. I almost got in her way and felt bad. I paid full attention after that.
There were also three topless runners in varying states of glistening. The last was rather hirsute, which is not my thing, but the first had a perfectly flat stomach. No killer abs or anything, just nicely flat. That will be my goal, to match Flat Stomach Guy. Someday.
But for today, I am glad to get a run in and see signs of progress (and better running temperatures, too).
The bridge over Still Creek, post-run.
Stats:
Run 1,058 Average pace: 6:09/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: +0 Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 10:34 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:57 Weather: Sunny Temp: 17–19°C Humidity: 70–63% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 169.8 pounds Total distance to date: 7,095 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (75/173/248)
I have some thoughts on why, but nothing particularly cogent or organized yet. I feel like my brain is processing stuff and is keeping me in something of a holding pattern while it churns things through. Or maybe that’s just an excuse.
In any case, a haiku:
Ideas absent My brain is off on its own Patiently I wait
Here are two things I saw and wanted to share here about the death of Dolly Parton today, at age 80:
And an editorial cartoon:
Celebrity deaths don’t usually affect me, but Dolly Parton radiated such tremendous goodness, intelligence, compassion, and generosity. She was also funny as all get-out.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Smooth as glass. And humid as a very humid place.
Today’s run was defined by three things:
People
Bikes
Humidity
In order:
There was a lot of people out on the trail, many of them walking dogs, but just also lots of people. The weekend weather was showery, so I guess it makes sense that people would flock to the trail with the sun coming back. At least one dog was off-leash, but they were all well-behaved.
A guy rode past me on a bike mid-run. He was going pretty fast and was a jerk. I gave him the stinkeye and said, “Bikes aren’t allowed”:, which is all I had time for before he blew past me. I encountered a father and two kids post-run riding bikes and the father insisted the workers (from the City of Burnaby) had said it was A-OK to ride on the trail. I said it was not and shouted, “Read the signs!” as they rode off. Hopefully some geese chased them off.
It was clear and sunny and at the start of the run humidity was 81%. This is very high. By the end of the run it had dropped to 68%, which is a big drop but 68% is still really high. It sapped my energy like a giant energy-sapping machine.
I didn’t have any issues for the run, and in the last two km, when the humidity started to drop, my pace improved, but despite the lower temperatures, I was slower than Friday’s run. Still, my BPM was also lower, at 146 and it was another effort rated Productive per my Garmin Forerunner, so I can’t be too displeased.
Plus the view from the dam was like looking into a mirror (check the first photo, above).
Still Creek, post-run. So very still.
Stats:
Run 1,057 Average pace: 6:20/km Training status: Productive Performance Condition: +2 Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 10:11 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 31:49 Weather: Sunny Temp: 19–21°C Humidity: 81–68% Wind: light BPM: 146 Weight: 169.9 pounds Total distance to date: 7,090 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (70/160/230)
Where: Burnaby Lake Regional Park (Burnaby) Weather: Cloudy, 21°C
…you take a lot of photos of mallards. But there were other birds and things, too.
Burnaby Lake Regional Park
View from the Rowing Pavilion, where lily pads do not reign supreme.
We started out a bit late and under cloudy skies that threatened showers, but it actually stayed dry while we were out and at 21C, it was quite comfy. We got some early shots of Ol’ Stabby Face (a Great Blue Heron) at the Cariboo Dam, but saw very few birds on the 2 km walk up the trail to Piper Spit.
Once at Piper Spit, we noted very few people (unsurprising, given the weather) and most of the people who were there had Very Big Lenses. The fall migrants are still flapping their way here, so we had to make do with the locals, which mostly meant Mallards and plenty of ’em. A few males are starting to show tiny bits of their iridescent green again, as they get ready to pretty up for the fall. There were also plenty of Wood Ducks and geese, as well as a few gulls and some pigeons, including at least one young pigeon sporting a relatively undeveloped bump thing on its beak. You know what I’m talking about. And yes, I could look up the exact name, but where’s the fun in that?1Fine, it’s called a cere and no one really knows what it does.
There were also some Long-billed Dowitchers toodling about, thanks to the return of shallow water. And speaking of shallow water, the landmass is not only back, it’s expanding and getting rather close to the pier. If that happens, chaos will undoubtedly ensue.
After we wrapped up at the spit, we moved onto the area around Still Creek. The nearby athletic fields were filled with people playing sportsball and geese. The geese were not playing sportsball. One goose was going through some Extreme Molting and looked quite funky. We literally observed feathers popping off. The goose was unperturbed.
We went to the bridge at Deer Lake Brook and spent some time testing its structural integrity by jumping up and down on it like five year olds. Admittedly, I did this a lot more than Nic. It’s fun except for the fact that I was probably actively reducing the lifespan of the bridge (which is getting replaced eventually). Since we were close, we also checked out the new pedestrian/cycling bridge that crosses over the No. 1 highway and connects Burnaby Lake to the area near Deer Lake. It’s a nice bridge. It does not bounce when you jump up and down on it.
On our return back to Still Creek, we got actual shots of actual birbs–in this case, some White-crowned Sparrows snacking around a pump station, so that was a nice way to wrap things up.
And next time, who knows? There may be coots.
The Shots
All photos shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18–150 mm kit lens and 100–400 mm telephoto unless otherwise noted.
Soon™.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American Goldfinch
American Robin
Black-capped Chickadee
House Finch
Song Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Western Warbling Vireo (heard)
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
Canada Goose
Great Blue Heron
Long-billed Dowitcher
Mallard
Wood Duck
Common:
American Crow
Rock Pigeon
Some seagulls
Raptors:
None!
Non-birds:
Assorted pollinators
A cricket
An otter. Or a muskrat. One of those. But not both.
