After a trip to the island and a heatwave I finally got back in the jogging groove for the first time since The Dog Incident.
I opted for a morning run, leaving around 10:20 a.m. A marine system had come in, making it a much cooler 13ºC, with a light drizzle falling the entire time. The inclement weather meant I had the park nearly to myself. There were three other joggers out at various times but I only saw two people with their dogs. One was playing fetch with a woman who defiantly wore a bikini top despite the chilly morning, the other was on a leash that appeared to be a very long rope. Seriously, it looked like it was about a hundred meters long, like the guy had designed it so the dog could go scouting way up ahead for danger. If the leash suddenly grew slack and the owner pulled it back, only to find the last couple of meters were bloody and sans dog, the owner would know danger was ahead and could alter his course. And get a new dog. Fortunately, neither dog got under my feet and knocked me down.
The other notable person in the park was a guy who was, as they say, mentally challenged. He carried with him a plastic bag and when I first saw him he was rooting through a storage box at the eastern baseball diamond. Funny I had never noticed the storage box before. If it had been locked at some point, it certainly wasn’t now. He did not find anything desirable within it and let the lid slam shut with a loud bang as I ran by. He took no notice of me — yet.
However, this was to change. He must have gotten a bit warm or decided to bathe because he took off his jacket and his shirt. Topless, he then knelt down between the baseball diamond and the path, allowing the drizzle to fall over him. This time as I ran past he called out to me. I had the earphones on so I couldn’t discern the words, but he kept exhorting about…something. I was mildly concerned that the next lap would find him stark naked and blocking the way. Fortunately, he instead donned his shirt and jacket and ambled off instead.
As for the run, it went very well. I finished with my best time since April, clocking in at 54:06, my closest to breaking 54 minutes since then. My average pace was 5:23/km and my first two laps were a brisk 5:02 and 5:04. I also officially passed the 600 km mark on the Nike+. I am pleased with the results, especially with a one-week layoff.
Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):
| km | Aug 19 | Aug 11 | Aug 7 | Aug 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:02 | 5:07 | 5:04 | 5:02 |
| 2 km | 5:04 | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:08 |
| 3 km | 5:08 | 5:13 | 5:12 | 5:15 |
| 4 km | 5:12 | 5:16 | 5:16 | 5:19 |
| 5 km | 5:15 | 5:18 | 5:19 | 5:23 |
| 6 km | 5:18 | 5:20 | 5:21 | 5:26 |
| 7 km | 5:21 | 5:22 | 5:23 | 5:29 |
| 8 km | 5:23 | 5:24 | 5:26 | 5:32 |
| 9 km | 5:24 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:35 |
| 10 km | 5:23 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:37 |
