Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops
Distance: 11.05 km
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 22-26ºC (felt like 23-28)
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 799
Total distance to date: 2449 km
What better way to celebrate Labor Day than to labor through a run? I started out later than usual, not leaving until around 11:30 and despite showers earlier in the morning it had cleared enough to convince hordes of people to head on down to the lake for a holiday stroll/jog.
I did indeed wear my new New Balance MT110s after using a second holder to move the Nike+sensor over to it. The results were mixed. On the one hand, I don’t feel the switch back to a minimalist shoe had any major effect on the run and yet my left foot was quite sore at the end, enough that I didn’t even entertain the idea of walking back, instead heading straight to the Production Way SkyTrain station.
However, my left foot was feeling a bit sore even before heading out, so I suspect the result may have been the same. I’m undecided on whether to switch back to the Nikes for my next run, which will probably be only 5K.
My time on the run was bad. After a lousy 5:16/km pace on Saturday, I was that much worse today, coming in at a pokey 5:20/km. The first km tells the story:
Saturday: 4:41
Monday: 4:57
Sixteen seconds is a dramatic difference. I started out like a tortoise and although I actually started to close the gap I still fell short. Why? Possibly the left foot, though it only really hurt after the run was over. Possibly the new shoes, though they actually felt fine to me. Possibly the stupidly high humidity.
Yes, that was the likely culprit. The humidity started out near 80% and though it dropped, it remained near 60% at the end of the run. That, combined with the sharp rise in temperature, generally being warmer and a breeze that was either minimal or non-existent made for rather unpleasant running conditions. I almost long for the days when it took several minutes just for my hands to warm up. Almost.
My only feeble hope at this point is that I can actually break the 5:00 minute mark on a 5K, though at this point even that may be beyond my reach.
This summer has kind of sucked for running.
UPDATE: The morning after the run and for the first time in quite awhile my calves are actually a bit sore. This is likely due to only running once for each of two weeks then doing two in three days. In other words I am falling out of shape. This may also have contributed to my lousy pace, though I’m still laying most of the blame for that on the Amazon-like humidity.
