Run 399
Average pace: 5:24/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 54:19
Weather: Cloudy, showers
Temp: 19-18ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 156
Stride: 179 strides/min
Weight: 154.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3248
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
The current high pressure system finally gave up for now and the conditions for today’s run were dramatically different compared to a few days ago. I’m pretty sure I heard an ominous organ as I stepped outside.
The big question: would cloudy skies and a temperature of 19ºC (actually below seasonal) result in a faster run? The short answer: Yes!
I went from Thursday’s 7K pace of 5:33/km to 5:24/km, also making this the best 10K of the TomTom era. I broke the 5 minute barrier on the first km and had another big drop-off on the second km, with paces of 4:54 and 5:27 respectively. On the plus side I wasn’t completely wrung out from the heat and managed to push at the end with a pace of 5:16/km for the final km, making it my second best of the run.
My left foot even behaved for the entire run and didn’t start acting up until I was about 2 km from home (16 km in vs. the more typical 11 km). This is also encouraging.
The sky was overcast and around the 6K mark it opened up, with a shower persisting for the remainder of the run. It was kind of nice. A lot of runners were out today but they became much more scarce once the rain started. The shower ended before I got back and the sun even made an appearance, acting as if nothing had changed.
Overall it was nice to get confirmation that the silly heat was having an effect on me. This coming week is forecast to be cooler so we’ll see if the improved times persist.
