Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW < NEW
Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Cloud and sun
Temp: 9ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 701
Average pace: 5:36/km
Total distance to date: 1140 km
It felt rather cool this afternoon under a cloudy but non-threatening sky. I opted to wear my jacket and initially it was a wise choice. About midway through the run the sun came out and by the 6K mark I was warm enough that I doffed it but it was nice not to be all chilly for the first stretch of the run.
I opted for a CCW router today and set a deliberate pace. After Monday’s slog I was merely hoping to improve. If you look at my initial km below it may look like I backslid even more, coming in at a poky 5:17/km, a full 14 seconds slower than on Monday. However, if you look at the next km you’ll see I only dropped by two seconds to 5:19/km. This was the difference. I maintained a much steadier overall pace today and ended up with an average time of 5:36/km, 17 seconds better than the 5:53 on my previous run. I am quite pleased by this.
I did experience some light cramps but elected to just keep going steady and let them subside instead of breaking.
As for conditions, it was entirely pleasant once the sun came out and crews were out again spreading fresh gravel along the northern stretch. And in a sure sign of spring I spotted the first black slug of the season on the trail, a little baby one maybe 1/4 the size of a mommy or daddy slug. It was about as cute as something that leaves a trail of slime behind it can be.
Unlike the last two runs the left pad of my foot did not feel sore after the run. I’m not sure if I had been favoring it or if something else was happening but it felt fine today, so that’s also a bit of good news.
Chart:
| Apr 4 | Apr 2 | Mar 23 | Mar 19 | Mar 16 | Mar 7 | Mar 5 | Feb 6 | Feb 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:17 | 5:03 | 5:13 | 5:10 | 5:08 | 5:06 | 5:02 | 5:06 | 5:06 |
| 2 km | 5:19 | 5:17 | 5:22 | 5:20 | 5:22 | 5:22 | 5:17 | 5:15 | 5:21 |
| 3 km | 5:24 | 5:25 | 5:28 | 5:26 | 5:32 | 5:30 | 5:24 | 5:21 | 5:31 |
| 4 km | 5:26 | 5:30 | 5:34 | 5:31 | 5:37 | 5:33 | 5:30 | 5:25 | 5:37 |
| 5 km | 5:27 | 5:33 | 5:37 | 5:34 | 5:42 | 5:35 | 5:33 | 5:28 | 5:39 |
| 6 km | 5:29 | 5:37 | 5:40 | 5:36 | 5:47 | 5:38 | — | — | — |
| 7 km | 5:31 | 5:41 | 5:43 | 5:38 | 5:49 | 5:40 | — | — | — |
| 8 km | 5:33 | 5:46 | 5:46 | 5:41 | 5:51 | 5:42 | — | — | — |
| 9 km | 5:35 | 5:50 | 5:49 | 5:43 | 5:52 | 5:45 | — | — | — |
| 10 km | 5:36 | 5:53 | 5:50 | 5:44 | 5:53 | 5:47 | — | — | — |
