Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 13ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:37/km
Total distance to date: 1180.97 km
The good news: no hail!
Better news: It was mild and sunny, perfect conditions for running.
Bad news: both of my feet were sore and cranky by the end of the run. It actually hurt more to walk after so I was half-tempted to keep running home (that would have added 4+ km so I ultimately decided against it).
I am almost certain that the soreness in my feet is not due to last Sunday’s hike, doing weird things to my feet while I sleep or a result of alien visitation. What I do think is a distinct possibility is that my trusty New Balance shoes, which I have been using since May 2009, may finally and officially be wearing out. On the Nike+ alone I have tracked 1180 km on them and I ran from May to September 2009 before getting the Nike+ setup, so that’s probably enough to put me past 1200 km. On one pair of shoes.
So getting new shoes is a top priority. I’m not going to try those wacky Five Fingers or a variant because at this point I’m more interested in getting back to peak condition than having my feet cry even more but it’s an option for further down the road (or trail).
As for the actual run, I conducted a bit of an experiment and while the end result is one I’m not happy with, it was not unexpected, so I consider it a success.
If you look at the chart below, specifically my most recent 5:33/km runs you’ll see that my pace is slower in the first half but flattens out nicely in the second. Today I tried — and succeeded — in bringing up my times in the first half of the run. I could feel my lungs working harder and the vague threat of a cramp here and there. By doing so, however, I tapped out my reserves for the second half and while the pace flattened, it did so at longer intervals, leading to a slower pace of 5:37/km. From this point forward I think I’m going to stick to starting at a moderate pace and build toward a stronger finish.
Overall, I am pleased that I was able to complete another week of runs without any major incidents.
Chart:
| Apr 20 | Apr 18 | Apr 16 | Apr 6 | Apr 4 | Apr 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 5:09 | 5:12 | 5:15 | 5:12 | 5:17 | 5:03 |
| 2 km | 5:12 | 5:21 | 5:23 | 5:19 | 5:19 | 5:17 |
| 3 km | 5:18 | 5:25 | 5:31 | 5:23 | 5:24 | 5:25 |
| 4 km | 5:22 | 5:28 | 5:36 | 5:25 | 5:26 | 5:30 |
| 5 km | 5:25 | 5:29 | 5:41 | 5:26 | 5:27 | 5:33 |
| 6 km | 5:27 | 5:30 | 5:45 | 5:28 | 5:29 | 5:37 |
| 7 km | 5:29 | 5:31 | 5:49 | 5:29 | 5:31 | 5:41 |
| 8 km | 5:33 | 5:32 | 5:53 | 5:30 | 5:33 | 5:46 |
| 9 km | 5:35 | 5:33 | 5:57 | 5:32 | 5:35 | 5:50 |
| 10 km | 5:37 | 5:33 | 5:59 | 5:33 | 5:36 | 5:53 |
