I was focused on other stuff today and skipped the Friday run, intending to catch up by doing a walk in the afternoon or something.
But I got too wrapped up and missed my window. Also, the weather was kind of lousy today–wet and cold, more like winter than spring–and so I found myself mid-evening faced with either a dark ‘n soggy walk, or hitting the treadmill.
I chose the latter, but took a decidedly casual approach, tweaking the speed down from 6.5 to 6.3 and just walking for about half an hour. All of the stats are slightly lower than the last workout, as expected, but I closed my rings and have assuaged the guilt of sitting on my butt for a good part of the day.
We’ll see if my Garmin watch yells at me in the morning for exercising so close to bedtime.
First, the weird part: Without planning it in any way, I started today’s run at 11:58 a.m.–the exact same time I started Monday’s run. Freaky.
It was a gorgeous day and I think we may, barring a weird cold front, be firmly into one-layer territory. I probably would have been okay even wearing a regular t-shirt. The sun was nice, I actually sweated!
And speaking of sweating, I can’t say why, exactly, but this run tuckered me out by the end. I was aiming to stay around 150(ish) for BPM and the first half went fine, but by the 8th km my pace drooped to 6:03/km. I didn’t feel bad, nothing felt like it was going to fall off, but I was clearly not gliding along effortlessly. I picked up the pace for the last km and ended with an overall pace of 5:50/km and a BPM of 153, both of which are perfectly cromulent.
These stats also match my last 10K–another weird coincidence–except there, I was superfast at the 8K mark, not super-slow. Maybe dropping the frequency of the runs has left me slightly out of tune. Or it’s somehow spring allergies. Or aliens.
It was a bit busier on the trail, no doubt due to the near-perfect conditions. I did pass three people, too! One was a younger couple running and to be fair to them, they were pretty casual (when I first saw them ahead they were walking). I still felt a tiny ego boost passing them, though. The other person was on a bike (boo) and as I passed, I noted to them that bikes were not allowed on the trail. She responded by laughing because that’s what bike-riding rebels do, I guess.
Shortly after this, I emerged onto the parking lot by the rowing club, which bifurcates1Fancy $10 word! the trail. I paused the run where the trail resumes, to see if she would attempt to continue, but when she emerged into the parking lot, she appeared to amble off toward the rowing club itself. I don’t know if it was a ruse or not, but considering I’d already passed her once, I chose not to stick around.
Then I came home and napped after cleaning up, which I almost never do after a run anymore. I almost feel like going back to nap right now. But I won’t!
I am curious to see how Friday goes, though. The weather looks worse and I may head out earlier as it won’t make much difference.
Stats:
Run 765Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:58 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:32
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12-13ºC
Humidity: 63%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 163.0
Total distance to date: 5695 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (367 km)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. A misty start to spring.
I decided to start the week with a li’l 5K run and after getting to the lake, made the decision to go on a short loop clockwise after seeing multiple people with dogs going counter-clockwise. I was willing to risk unknown dogs vs. known dogs.
It was a good call, as there was only one dog and it was well-behaved. Good boy! (or girl)
Because I was only doing 5K, I didn’t try too hard to stick to 150 BPM and ended up with the exact same BPM as my last run, 153, though my pace was much faster at 5:38/m. I got an award for my fastest 1K, woo (5:25/km, almost like the olden days).
Weather-wise, it was mostly drizzle, and it lasted most of the run, but it wasn’t bad. I wore two layers, but without any real wind, it didn’t feel cold at all.
Overall, I felt zippy and had no issues, so a good start to the week.
Stats:
Run 764Average pace: 5:38/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:58 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 28:21
Weather: Cloudy, light showers
Temp: 8-10ºC
Humidity: 86%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 163.5
Total distance to date: 5685 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (357 km)
Yes, I’m bad. I waited until late evening to complete my rings. I just didn’t feel like going for even a short 15-minute walk. As punishment, I started a 30-minute treadmill workout shortly after 10 p.m.
Unlike recent treadmill excursions, I was rather sluggish tonight. I didn’t feel bad, but I guess I wasn’t feeling it1Or maybe the watch didn’t accurately record the workout, maybe!. At least I didn’t go sliding off the end.
Feeling my way means I set out to mostly run by feel, instead of monitoring stuff like pace and heart rate by checking the watch regularly and adjusting accordingly. I didn’t have any particular goal with today’s run, I just wanted the usual–keep the BPM close to 150, have a decent pace.
As it turns out, I am apparently not very good at going by feel, or at least today I wasn’t.
For BPM, it skewed slightly on the higher side at 153, mostly due to going a bit fast in several sections. My pace was all over the place. I tried to start slow, but my first km was still 5:40/km, then the second km was 5:33/km. I was more successful at moderating my pace after that, though the 6th and 8th km were also faster than expected. Conversely, the 9th km was a sluggish 5:59/km, which surprised me. I was running out of gas, and given how often I’d been stepping on the gas (without meaning to) this should not have been surprising at all.
In the end, my pace was a perfectly cromulent 5:50/km overall. But the watch again said I need 72 hours or so to recover. It says that after every run, pretty much. I think next week I may go back to my traditional Mon-Wed-Fri runs and see what it says then.
As for the conditions today: sunny! It was quite pleasant and while there were people out and aboot, no issues or complications arose. I started my run shortly after noon, as it was still 0C when I got up and I was willing to wait for warmer temperatures because spring is almost here, baby.
Here is a visual breakdown of my per-lap performance:
Stats:
Run 763Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:10 p.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:26
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 9-10ºC
Humidity: 62%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 163.1
Total distance to date: 5680 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (352 km)
It was quite nice today–mild and sunny, a perfect day for a walk.
But instead, I went on the treadmill.
I walked to the store and back, though, so I did go outside, just not for a general walk. So it’s totes OK!
What’s weird about today’s treadmill workout is I literally did not have to change any of the stats. Every stat you see below for today’s workout exactly matches yesterday’s workout. What are the odds? Also, a lot of 3s in there. Is 3 a lucky number? Will I win $3 million soon? Here’s hoping! Faintly!
On my non-run days, I normally complete my exercise ring by going out for a walk. Since I walk fast and usually have a few minutes on ye olde exercise ring before heading out, I can wrap the whole thing up in less than 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
But after yesterday’s BDI1Bad Dog Incident. See here. I didn’t really feel like strolling to the park and face the possibility of being bitten repeatedly and torn apart. So I did a 30-minute workout on the treadmill and watched some YouTube videos.
The workout was fine.
And I’ll confess, I kind of watch The Tech Chap’s videos not just because he is a knowledgeable sort of person and his videos are well-made, but also because he’s totally the kind of guy I’d be chasing after if I was magically single and 30 years old again. And if he was into guys. And a billion other factors that would need to fall into place to support my absurd fantasy scenario.
I was a tiny bit paranoid about it being cold, so wore two layers up top, which came in handy on the south shore, when the breeze actually picked up. Maybe this is more of an afternoon thing, as I didn’t start the run until almost 2 p.m. today.
Conditions were otherwise fine, with a mix of sun and cloud. The slower pace meant I encountered no issues and really, it was a nice way to start the week. I wanted to keep my heart rate below 150 and the average was 148. My pace was obviously slower, but still under the six-minute mark at 5:56/km.
Also, somewhat randomly, I got a badge for completing my longest run ever (on the Garmin Forerunner) because I squeezed in an extra 0.1 km somehow.
All the snow is completely gone now, woo.
The killer dog actually came post-run as I was crossing through Hume Park on the way back home. A dog on a leash (thankfully, as you will see) was staring at me while its owner was watching her kids in the play area. Every time I glanced over, the dog was still staring. Not moving, not showing any reaction, just the stare.
And then it suddenly went berserk, lunging hard on the leash toward me, snapping its teeth and barking in that “I want to tear your throat out and murder you dead” sort of way. The owner managed to calm the dig down after a bit. I stopped and stared back at them, because turnabout is fair play or something. I couldn’t tell how she was reacting because we were too far apart, which makes the dog’s sudden MUST KILL mode all the more puzzling.
It looks calm here (also fuzzy and low-res because it’s a zoomed-in and cropped phone photo) but this dog was ready to kill (me!)
Stats:
Run 762Average pace: 5:56/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:57 p.m.
Distance: 10:04 km
Time: 59:35
Weather: Mostly cloudy, some sun
Temp: 8-9ºC
Humidity: 64%
Wind: low to moderate
BPM: 148
Weight: 163.4
Total distance to date: 5670 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (342 km)
My first 10K in two weeks, thanks to that kooky snow.
A few observations in list form because I like lists:
Trail Conditions:
It was sunny and mild! It started out at 9C and ended at 10C. I could feel warmth from the sun.
There was an actual slight breeze on the Cottonwood Trail
The snow was gone, save for a small easily-avoided strip at the start of the Spruce Loop
I wore one layer up top (long-sleeved) and this was sufficient
The trail was still littered with debris and broken pointy branches were still ready to gouge eyeballs in several places. But it was also dry, so I didn’t end the run with mud splattered halfway up my legs.
My condition:
Despite really not trying to, I started out very fast, getting an award for fastest 1K ever
I felt good to start, but at one point the big toe on my right foot started to hurt. It cleared up, but was weird.
At the 6K mark, I started to feel stomach cramps. They cleared up after a short time.
The cramps returned briefly at the 9K mark
The cramps returned a final time just as I was finishing the run, rather intense. This didn’t seem to be caused by the run, so maybe I ate something bad or drank too much before heading out (just fluids, not like bourbon or something)
I definitely felt a bit fatigued in the last few km
BPM was a bit higher at 154, but not really surprising; my pace was a solid 5:49/km.
My equipment condition:
The Garmin Forerunner had my heart rate spike all the way up to 176 (!) near the start. I was running at a good clip, but this still seems excessive.
Despite this, I simply kept running, moderated my pace and saw no further upward spikes. It was solidly in the mid 140s to low 150s after that.
I experienced multiple instances of the music not playing properly. At one point it simply stopped altogether. I paused the run, chose a song, and it played normally after that.
It also stopped when I attempted to skip to the next track on the AirPods.
A third time it stopped altogether. I can’t recall the last time I had so much trouble with the Music app. Annoying, I sez!
Overall, it was nice to get a full 10K in, and we shouldn’t see any more snow disruptions until next winter. Onto spring, warmer temperatures and all that!
Stats:
Run 761Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:05 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 9-10ºC
Humidity: 67%
Wind: low
BPM: 154
Weight: 163.1
Total distance to date: 5660 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (332 km)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. A hint of blue sky! It didn’t last.
My first run since our latest (and hopefully final) snow of the season, and a few general observations:
Mild! It was 9C, the warmest it’s been all year. It was nice. EDIT: I thought about this later and remembered we had some record high temperatures in January. I checked and on my January 13th run it was 10C (at 9:00 in the morning). So I actually had to wait almost two months for it to get nearly that warm again.
Late! I didn’t actually start the run until 1:41 p.m., the latest in quite a while. I was just busy in the morning, and jogging when it would be milder in the afternoon had a certain appeal.
Destruction! See below.
There was still some snow on the trail, as the photo below illustrates, with probably more being on the side trail and the south shore, but not enough to make the run unnavigable or anything, just a tad annoying in certain spots. It did help keep me from running too fast early on, though. The snow was both compacted, yet somewhat squishy, so there was no way to get a good grip on it.
I dressed in two layers and think I may have been fine in a long-sleeved t-shirt. Because of the week off, I chose on-the-fly to just do a 5K, and given the greater snow on the south side of the lake, I’m okay with that. I’ll do 10K next time, assuming we don’t have a blizzard in the interim.
As for destruction…yes! The heavy snow brought down more trees and branches, several of which were still down on the trail today, which is a little odd, given the snow happened last week. Multiple branches on the first boardwalk effectively made it one-lane in places, and a number of trees are leaning precariously over the trail, dangling their branches directly at head level, forcing you to bob around them. I mean, it keeps you focused, because you really don’t want to stab yourself in the face with a branch at a running pace.
I had no issues, other than the right ankle feeling a little creaky. Nothing serious, just kinks being worked out after the week-long layoff (the treadmill doesn’t really count).
In all, a decent run on an iffy trail. I’ll be glad when the weather is better, the trail is tidier, and I can focus just on running, not being stabbed by nature.
Here be snow, and pointy branches
Stats:
Run 760Average pace: 5:51/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:41 p.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:28
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 9ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: low
BPM: 151
Weight: 163.7
Total distance to date: 5650 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (322 km)
It’s been milder and less winter-like the last few days, though still short of seasonal, and while the amount of snow I saw on the trail yesterday would have precluded running (especially with the remaining snow being very squishy and slippery), it’s possible enough might have melted overnight to make a run possible. But I didn’t feel like checking, and there was probably still too much snow still, anyway.
So yet another treadmill workout, with a load of YouTube videos.
The workout was fine, pretty much the same as the last 5K I did. Actually, I checked and my BPM was a tad higher and my pace a tad slower. Fat and old, I guess!
Today, I wore both my Apple Watch and Garmin Forerunner 255 for my treadmill workout, to see how they compared. Let’s take a look! Also, I messed up a bit at the end on the Garmin, as you will see.
Heart rate: Identical. Yes, both the Garmin and Apple watches agreed my BPM was 121. This is good!
Average Pace: Garmin thought I was faster, 9:00/km vs. 9:10/km for Apple
Total distance: As expected, Garmin logged more, 5.13 km vs. Apple at 5.02 km
Calories burned: Despite being slower, Apple felt I burned more calories, 391 vs.376 for Garmin.
Where I messed up was the end. The Garmin watch prompted me to enter the distance, which I thought was odd, because it clearly tracked it, not realizing this was a calibration step (which it notes after entering the distance). I should have entered the distance showing on the treadmill’s display, but did not, so it’s slightly off. I’ll see if it lets me calibrate again next time, though I’m also not sure if I really want to wear two watches on the treadmill (or at all).
The 5K workout went fine, though. I felt more vigorous doing it mid-afternoon than mid-evening.
