The long and record-breaking Saturday run

Average pace: 4:44/km <– personal record (for runs over 10K)

Location: Burnaby Lake (CW), Brunette River trail and Lower Hume Park
Distance: 15.02 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17-21ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 1019
Total distance to date: 1756 km

Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.

I have pretty much decided one of my weekly runs will happen on Saturday and normally in the morning. This is good for three reasons:

  1. It frees up a weeknight evening.
  2. It lets me run in the morning when it’s cooler.
  3. It gets the run out of the way early so the rest of the day is free to laze around and eat nachos.

I headed out this morning at about 9:20 and started my run just after 10, with the temperature a pleasant 17ºC. It climbed to 21 over the course of the run and by the afternoon it was getting to where I was quite glad to have gone out early.

I did the full loop around the lake then continued on the same route as Wednesday, stretching the run to the Brunette River trail and into Lower Hume Park. I wanted to beat my previous best distance of 13K and did it by notching my first run over 15K — 15.02 km to be exact.

In the process I set personal bests in nearly every category there is. The one I didn’t break was Wednesday’s average pace of 4:37/km. I came in at 4:44, which is still a record for a 10K+ run, so I’m pleased with that. Other new records:

  • most calories burned
  • longest run, distance-wise
  • longest run, time-wise (1:11:04)
  • fastest 1K
  • fastest 5K
  • fastest 10K
  • fastest mile

I also passed the 1750 km mark, which Nike+ considers one of its milestones.

I felt good throughout the run and after the initial burst of speed my pace stayed very steady from the 8K mark forward, with the usual dip halfway between 10 and 11K (though smaller than normal).

While I had set out to break one record (for longest run) it is a very pleasant surprise to have broken so many others as well. Even the cyclists on the trail and unleashed dogs didn’t bother me. Much.

Chart

Date Average Pace
August 25 4:44
August 22 4:37
August 20 4:47
August 18 4:51
August 15 4:46
August 13 4:55
August 10 4:48
August 8 4:45
August 6 4:58
August 3 4:56
August 1 4:50
July 30 4:57
 

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