I almost talked myself out of running today, but finally headed out, later than normal. The funny part is that I was thinking of doing a short run on the river trail, to get it over with as quickly as possible, then ended up doing a full loop around the lake and posting my fastest run of the week.
In general, this was all good, with one notable asterisk, which I will get to in a moment.
First, a list:
- It was 7-8C for the rub, but it felt much colder. In fact, it felt colder than the 3-4C run I did a week or so ago. Weird, and I have no explanation. There was no wind, hence no wind chill. It was especially cold in the shade. This leads to…
- Sun good: It felt noticeably warmer in the sun than in the shade
- Sun bad: Along the northern side of the lake in particular, the sun was flickering through the now naked trees, producing a strobing effect that’s kind of annoying even when you’re just walking
- People confused: A family (I can’t say for certain due to the aforementioned sun getting in my eyes) was on the trail ahead of me, with a dog off-leash. One of them had the dog by the collar and the dog seemed fairly docile, so not terrible. But the people did this weird slo-mo panic at my approach and moved in every direction to make room for me, which resulted in no room at all, so I threaded through while applying the brakes.
- I was surprised by the pace, especially the stronger start, because I did not feel like I was pushing at all. Maybe I was running faster to keep warm.
- This leads to my next point…
My BPM was 155 overall, which is fine considering my pace (a brisk 5:40/km) and the weather (also brisk). However, my heart rate peaked at a rather alarming level:
I checked and it looks like this:
Generally this is pretty normal–the BPM ramps up as I start my run, then levels out and fluctuates in minor ways as my speed ebbs and flows. But from 1.18 to 1.44 km it shoots way up, peaking at 178 before drooping quickly back down to a normal ranger, then staying there for the rest of the run.
My pace during this section is not unusually fast (I had faster stretches), and in terms of distance, I’m in the first half of the second km, when my energy is still relatively high. This is weird. I usually aim for 150 and try to never go above 160, so 178 is breaking that by a lot. In terms of total time, this covers about 1:47 minutes. I don’t recall feeling any different, certainly not like I was over-exerting myself. The stretch of trail would cover the first boardwalk, where, if anything, I would be more cautious.
It’s possible it may have been an anomalous reading, too. I mean, at that level I would almost expect the watch to blare an alarm and say HEY YOU ARE NOT 29 ANYMORE, SLOW DOWN.
Despite this, it was nice to have an unexpectedly faster pace and to round out the week with a full loop around the lake. I warmed up fairly quickly, but the walk back was a tad chilly, even with two layers.
Stats:
Run 831 Average pace: 5:40/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 12:12 p.m. Distance: 5:03 km Time: 28:33 Weather: Sunny Temp: 7-8ºC Humidity: 70-66% Wind: light BPM: 155 Weight: 169 Total distance to date: 6045 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (180/339/519 km)
