Average pace: 4:47/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.15 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 791
Total distance to date: 1625 km
Continuing this week’s theme of wild temperature swings, today’s run was done under a cloudy sky and a high of 18ºC. With a light breeze blowing conditions were about perfect for a run.
After a brief meeting with an odd cyclist (more on that later) I headed out clockwise, again opting for the detour first so I could gauge later and extend the run if I felt up to it. My goal was to improve on my previous run’s pace of 5:04 but again to not push too hard.
As I approached the familiar temporary yellow fencing on the blocked part of the trail I noticed the fence was pushed aside and all construction equipment was gone. I tentatively headed down the regular trail, thinking it wouldn’t be accessible if they didn’t want me to be here.
A lot of new fill had been brought in to shore up the trail after the equipment had been running back and forth over it. I arrived at the boardwalk and it was new! And finished! (ave for the bench, which will be added back soon, no doubt) The straight stretch seemed a bit longer than before but I’ll have to check my photos to see for sure. As expected, the planks had their orientation switched to match the other boardwalk, now set down left to right instead of parallel to the path. This reduces the springiness of the boardwalk and probably extends the life of it. A final bonus was the path being built up to the boardwalk on both ends, eliminating the small step from before. Runners will especially appreciate this, as it lets you maintain your pace.
I was unsure how my pace was going, exactly, but I knew it was going much better than the last two runs. I didn’t push, except to maintain my pace as best as possible. Along the way I encountered a lot of Bs — a bicyclist (grr, though he stayed well out of the way), a bug (it flew into my lower lip and got glued there. I had to wipe it off, which was mildly yucky) and branches — specifically a large clump of branches off a tree that covered the entire section of the Cottonwood Trail. I had to dip off the trail to get around it. Although park workers were out trimming and such this didn’t look deliberate so I’m not entirely sure what was up with that.
With the detour no longer extending the run I ran all three optional loops and end at just over 11K. My time turned out to be a zippy 4:47/km, tying my second best-ever pace. Woot. I also set a new pace for fastest mile at 7:19 which was a nice bonus.
Overall, very pleased by this return to form. The knee remains fine and no other notable issues showed up, apart from a very mild stitch around the 8-9K mark that didn’t last long.
Chart
| Date | Average Pace |
| July 27 | 4:47 |
| July 25 | 5:04 |
| July 23 | 5:07 |
| July 18 | 4:55 |
| July 16 | 4:55 |
| July 13 | 4:59 |
| July 11 | 4:55 |
| July 9 | 4:54 |
| July 6 | 4:58 |
| July 4 | 4:54 |
| July 2 | 4:47 |
