Outdoor runs

I felt hesitant about today’s run and even thought about skipping it, or fudging it somehow. Instead, I got dressed and headed out, opting to go clockwise around the lake. While I didn’t plan specifically to do a full 10K, I was fairly confident it wouldn’t be an issue–and it wasn’t!

At first I wasn’t going to look at the watch at all and just do the run by feel, but I couldn’t help peeking when the alerts popped up, though I didn’t check BPM until the run was over. I never pushed and I never felt fatigued, so that was nice.

In the end, I tied my best 10K pace of the year at 5:49/km, and had a nice BPM of 151. However, the watch failed to record my heart rate for the entire second km for ?reasons?

The minor cheating:

• I paused at the bridge over Deer Lake Brook to take two photos of the lake. This is really mild cheating, as I was probably stopped for less than 30 seconds before continuing.
• My total distance to date would have been 5349, but I rounded it up to make it 5350, thinking that since I always round down, I must have at least an extra km to spare. Don’t tell anyone I did this!

The weather was similar to Monday, though it started slightly cooler, and this time the forecast indicated it would be cloudy, but dry, with rain coming later in the afternoon. Every time I manage to dodge the rain going forward, I will consider myself lucky!

Although I’m annoyed by the ongoing watch glitches, I am pleased with this run. I didn’t push, yet had a good pace and felt good, too.

That photo of the lake mentioned above:

Stats:

Run 726
Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:27 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 58:26
Weather: Cloudy, some sun
Temp: 8-9ºC
Humidity: 74%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 160.2
Total distance to date: 5350 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (27 km)

I split the difference between a 5K and 10K today, running 7K and cleverly thinking I’d get my total distance stat to something nice and even. But I misremembered and should have run 8K for that, so now it is listed as 5339 km and it makes my OCD twitch a bit.

That said, the run itself went fine overall. I felt good and could have gone the full 10K without any issue. It was considerably cooler at 9C, but I wore two layers up top and never felt cold. My pace stayed fairly steady, too, with only a slight dip midway through. My BPM was a little higher than the norm, but I chalk that up to not having run this much in a few weeks, plus the significantly lower temperature. It was still fine, though.

I only saw two other people running.

The weather had called for showers and while it did rain before I headed out, it changed to intermittent spitting on the way to the lake, then stopped entirely, making for a pleasantly dry run, save for a bit of puddle navigation.

There were a few small technical hiccups:

• At about the 3 km mark I felt what seemed to be a piece of gravel slipping into my right shoe. After a few more steps it slipped under my heel and began boring into it with each step. I paused the run to remove it. My glasses steamed up, which I found mildly amusing. No further gravel made its way in, but I’ll keep an eye on the new Peregrine 12s to see that they aren’t like the old Brooks Cascadia Scoopers¹not the actual name but it could have been! I used to run with, that seemed specifically designed to scoop gravel off the trail and deposit it into your shoes.
• Before leaving home, I always check the AirPods to make sure both buds are fully charged. There is an issue where sometimes, for reasons Apple has never explained nor remedied, one of the buds will fail to charge, so it will sit snug in the charging case and deplete itself. This morning I did not check the AirPods before leaving. You can guess what happened next. It took about 10 minutes to get the right bud back up to 55%, which was enough to last the run and the walk home. While the glitch is Apple’s fault, I should have known better than to invoke it by not checking first.
• Between the 6 and 7K mark I went to check my heart rate and saw instead the little spinning circles that means, “Heart rate? What is this heart rate thing? Are you sure there is a heart here?” I hit pause and just as I did I could see the BPM kick in. I unpaused, and it was 168, which is basically impossible. But I just ignored it as the anomaly it was and hoped it would correct itself, but it shows the 7th km as 165, which still seems way too high for how fast I was running. I really don’t want to get a new watch, but I’m not sure if I trust this one anymore.

Despite the glitches, it was nice to get out and aboot again. We’ll see how the weather is on Wednesday, as we’re now in “the weather can change multiple times a day” part of the year.

After last night’s rain, the dam was releasing a lot more water than it has of late:

Stats:

Run 725
Average pace: 5:54/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:41 a.m.
Distance: 7.04 km
Time: 41:37
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 9ºC
Humidity: 92%
Wind: light to nil
BPM: 155
Weight: 159.9
Total distance to date: 5339 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (17 km)

After examining my Brooks Caldera 5’s, I noticed that the heels are basically gone from both shoes. This is suboptimal for providing cushioning to said heels. Today I wore my old Saucony Switchbacks, which I last wore on Run 670 back in December 2021. I have a pair of Peregrine 12’s on order from Amazon but have yet to get a shipping date for them, which is odd, so may look elsewhere or perhaps return to the Speedgoats for that pillowy goodness they offer.

Pillowy goodness is not something the Switchbacks offer. At size 8.5 they fit a little more snugly, but with enough room for my toes to wiggle. The drop is minimal, and the padding overall is thinner than the Calderas. They’re not full minimalist shoes, but at one point on the run my left foot rolled over a rock and I definitely felt it more than I would have with the Calderas.

I really like the lacing system, though, especially since the Caldera laces are weirdly long and the whole lacing/tongue system feels cumbersome.

The shoes held up fine, though my left foot continues to not hurt exactly, but is clearly feeling the problems of yore before I got my orthotics. I should book an appointment with Kintec soon and look into getting them updated.

I did feel some strain in my lower right leg muscles post-run, but they seem to have worked themselves out now, so it’s something I’m noting but not concerned about…yet.

As for the run, it was 15C, my self-proclaimed ideal running temperature and despite sweating due to the high humidity, it felt nice. I ran with no particular goal, except to not push and try to stay close to 150 BPM without being too strict in monitoring it. I ended with an overall BPM of 151 and a pace of 5:54/km, which is perfectly pleasing to me on a mid-week run.

The trail was perhaps busier than expected despite my earlier start, but the crowd skewed heavily toward the exercise type, and it was another gorgeous sunny morning. One young guy jogged past me with a jacket that he will regret having worn. I’m surprised I didn’t see any guys running topless, really. It feels nice in the sun at 15C, not hot.

I sometimes post shots taken before or after the run looking from the Cariboo Dam toward Burnaby Lake. Today here’s a shot looking back to the dam instead. It’s not exactly the Hoover Dam, though it’s probably holding back as much water right now. /sadclimatechangejoke

Stats:

Run 723
Average pace: 5:54/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:42 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 59:17
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 15ºC
Humidity: 85%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 158.6
Total distance to date: 5327 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (230 km)

A couple of things stood out on today’s run:

• The freakishly summer-like weather. It got up to 24C while I was out, the normal high for October 3 is 17C. I was sweating a fair bit.
• A growing awareness that my left foot is getting sore. It’s not affecting my runs yet, but it may be an indication that the orthotic in the left shoe (which is custom-designed to deal with my uniquely weird left foot) is wearing out and may need to be replaced.
• Heading out later, especially when the weather is nice is not a particularly bright move, as there were significant more people out and aboot on the trail, including a woman who managed to not see me even though I WAS RUNNING DIRECTLY TOWARD HER. Like, we were facing each other. It was actually kinds of funny. I ducked out of the way at the last moment, I could hear her apology as I darted past, so that was nice.
• I stuck to a kind of 150 BPM/just run whatever felt right pace and came in with half the run at or over 6:00/km and an overall pace squeaking just under at 5:59/km. Somehow I’m disappointed. I blame the heat, which is not something I expected to say in early October.

Speaking of the weather, here’s the 10-day forecast:

No sign of precipitation anywhere! Three days of 25C weather, including two in the second week of the month. Crazy!

The Apple Watch behaved as far as heart rate goes, but failed to record the weather, which it often does. I’m not sure how or why it’s so inconsistent grabbing weather data. It captured weather for the walks before and after the run, so…

I’m glad I got out and did the run, but today was not especially invigorating.

I did cheat and take a shot from the bridge at Deer Lake Brook, though, showing the thinning of the lily pads on Burnaby Lake (and also what I assume is smog or smoke haze from forest fires):

Stats:

Run 722
Average pace: 5:59/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:15 p.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 60:10
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-24ºC
Humidity: 46-65%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 157.8
Total distance to date: 5317 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (425 km)

I set off today planning a more casual sort of run to end a week that has seen me feeling pretty tired and droopy. I ended up doing better than expected.

The weather was nice–16C and sunny, but with enough canopy that I was still in the shade for much of the run. Humidity was high, so I did sweat more than I’d have preferred, but it, uh, clears the pores or something.

Fridays are usually the busiest in terms of other people being out and aboot, I assume because more people take Friday off to get a coveted three-day weekend. Today the number of people was even higher than that would account for–then I remembered that today is the first statutory holiday for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (spoiler: this is definitely not one of those “feel good” official holidays). Lots of people were wearing orange t-shirts–and so was I1 In my case, it was a coincidence, since my usual running shirt is orange.

Most people were pretty good, but a few fell into that “OMG a jogger, what do I do? WHAT DO I DO?!” category. We all got through unscathed.

At one point after exiting the Cottonwood Trail, I just stayed on the left side of the trail, there were so many packing it. Kind of weird, though the sunny conditions at this late time of the month probably brought out even more.

My left hip signalled a bit of displeasure partway through, but was not too bad. I felt a bit creaky, but turned in a good pace despite that. Run smarter, not harder, or something. It also helped that I encountered no park workers, vehicles, construction or other detours/obstacles, just lots and lots of people. Dodging a guy is one thing, dodging a giant mowing machine of death is another.

Here’s a photo from atop the dam shortly before I started the run.

Stats:

Run 721
Average pace: 5:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:38 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 59:10
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 16ºC
Humidity: 76%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 157.0
Total distance to date: 5307 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (415 km)

Today’s run was sponsored by Meh. Or maybe Metamucil.

I headed out early to beat the relative heat, with the forecast calling for a record-breaking 28C today. It was 15C when I headed off, 17C at the start of the run and 20C by the end, so temperature-wise it was fine. There was intermittent sun and high cloud, which was also fine. I sweated a bit, but not excessively. Fine.

Not fine:

• Heart rate monitor issues at the start again. I paused the run 17 seconds in to run the heart rate app. It took a rather long time to find a heartbeat, but once it did, it seemed fine at first, then the heart rate did that weird “to the moon” thing, so I pulled back hard on my pace to get it down into a normal range, then increased my tempo to my usual running pace, after which the BPM behaved normally, pretty much for the rest of the run. No idea what is happening here, other than the hardware may be bugging out after three years.
• Also during the first km, my right ankle was cranky. I have no ideas why. It went away. I have no idea why.
• Around the 4K mark, the skin under the watch was so itchy I paused the run, took off the watch, saw that there was a red spot, scratched it, broke the skin, then wondered if the heart rate sensor would be more or less accurate if my blood was on it. Also, I adjusted the watch to fit a tiny bit more snug and the itching stopped.
• Around the 5K mark I had to use the loo, with no loo in sight. This meant the second half of the run was me asking myself repeatedly, “Are we there yet? Are we there yet?”
• The 7 km segment was unusually slow. I have no idea why.

Overall, I am nonplussed. It wasn’t a bad workout per se, but it just felt very blah. Maybe it’s just Monday. At least the bear signs are gone now. That means no more bears, right?

Oh, and completing the run did give me this:

Stats:

Run 719
Average pace: 6:00/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:50 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 60:21
Weather: Sun and high cloud
Temp: 17-20ºC
Humidity: 75%
Wind: light
BPM: 149
Weight: 158.4
Total distance to date: 5292 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (400 km)

Conditions were quite different for today’s run. It was an unseasonably cool 15C (which is actually aces for running) and cloudy, with no real chance of the sun coming out. Wind was light. In all, very nice conditions, if the rain held off.

The rain held off. It actually started to shower about half an hour after I got back.

I was determined to do two things today:

• Run to a BPM of 150
• Make sure my heart rate was being tracked from the start of the run

On the former, I averaged 151, which is pretty close. But there is an asterisk to go alongside that, in part because I found it strangely challenging to maintain 150 in the first half of the run, and then there was the start, which ties into the second thing. To better insure tracking of my heart rate right from the get-go, I ran the heart rate app, got my heart rate, then started the run. This initially seemed to work.

Later, when I checked during the first km, the BPM was grayed out at the last reported rate and the little heart symbol was spinning. I stopped, did the routine with the heart rate app and resumed my run. As I hit the 2K mark I saw it had stopped again, so did all the steps yet again and just as the day before, it finally seemed to lock in and was fine after that.

But it now reports a BPM of 109 for the first km, which is too low. I mean, I did pause during that time, which would have lowered the overall rate, but I think it’s just missing a lot of data. I don’t know if the watch is going hinky (it’s three years old) or if it’s watchOS 9 shenanigans, since I updated it a few weeks ago. Blergh. I don’t really want to get a new watch, especially as I consider a Garmin for running. Blergh, I say.

As for the run, I actually sweated more despite the cooler temperatures, due to the high humidity, but it still felt quite comfortable. I wore my long-sleeved shirt, too, which is a tad warmer than my usual t-shirts. I felt pretty comfortable throughout and was thinking how I haven’t mentioned the left hip lately. I did feel it a bit toward the end, but more in a “Remember this old war wound?” way, not actively hurting. It’s fine now.

I ended with a pace of 5:49/km, which is much better than I expected for the given BPM (even if it may not be entirely accurate), so I am pleased with this workout. I’m also happy to have done all three runs this week. Go me!

I checked the heels of my Brooks again. I may need a new watch and new shoes soon. The heels are worn to the point that I probably shouldn’t use them much longer. The 390 km below is strictly for runs, but they probably have a few more hundred km from walking.

Stats:

Run 718
Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:04 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 58:32
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 15ºC
Humidity: 85%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 159
Total distance to date: 5282 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (390 km)

I looked at the soles of my shoes before heading out. I think I need new shoes. Time to read a billion reviews, then buy something on sale and regret it later!

This was an odd and unsatisfying run. My goal was to run at a pace of 150 BPM, so I expected a slower time. My first km, during which I did my best not to run fast at all, came in at 5:35/km, which is pretty zippy. Annoyingly, the Apple Watch did not show my heart rate during this first km, a problem that seems to be happening more often lately (possibly a bug with the watchOS 9 update?). It didn’t silently record it, either–there is no data in the summary of the run. As I started the second km, I could see the heart symbol spinning, trying to determine heart rate, but it was still getting nothing. I was pretty sure my heart was still beating.

I then paused the workout and opened the heart rate app. This app does a single thing: it shows your heart rate (weird, I know). After a few moments, it said my BPM was 148, which seemed about right. I then went back to the workout app and sure enough, this managed to get the heart rate showing in my workout. I resumed running.

Then something strange happened. Even though I was maintaining a moderate pace, my BPM kept going up. It went from 148 to 151 to 158, then 161 and at this point I started mildly freaking out, because there is no way my heart should have suddenly started beating that much harder. I slowed my pace even more and eventually saw the BPM drop down to around 153 and settle. I have no idea if this was actually happening (as it’s never happened before, that I’ve noticed) or if the watch was just glitching out. You can see the spike here:

It was also much windier than normal so for the first half of the run, I was running into the wind, which slowed me down a little. Temperature and humidity were fine–21C and 46%–and there was only a modest increase in sweating. But I did feel kind of blah. There were also more people on the trail than expected for the middle of the week, though it is admittedly a gorgeous day for the last day of summer.

I suppose I can’t complain too much. I did finish with a pace under 6:00/km despite things. Friday is looking cooler and a bit soggy, which is perhaps appropriate for the first run of fall. We’ll see how it goes.

Stats:

Run 717
Average pace: 5:58/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11451 a.m.
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 59:55
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 46%
Wind: moderate
BPM: 152
Weight: 160.3
Total distance to date: 5272 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (380 km)

Today is my birthday, and Mother Nature gave me the gift of nice weather for my run. Thank you, Mom!

Although the temperature rose rapidly this morning from 10C to 18C, it stabilized for the run and remained 18C throughout. Sweating was minimal.

I was hoping the bridge construction on the trails would be complete and set off counter-clockwise, only to encounter…no detours. Yay! I originally planned on a more mellow run but my first km came in at 5:50/km and I just went with it, tying my Friday (and year’s best) pace of 5:48/km. My BPM was down slightly to 153. I suspect I could get nearly the same results with less effort (ie. a lower BPM). If conditions are similar on Wednesday, I shall try this!

Today is kind of a weird day, because it’s a quasi-stat holiday with the Queen’s funeral and government workers off. There were a lot more people on the trail than usual, including multiple families. Most people were good about making room, save for one family who clearly saw me, stopped, then just stood there, arrayed in a way that made it difficult for me to get by. People are weird (and sometimes strangely dumb).

I also saw the spitfire. I am amazed at how often we choose to run opposite directions and pass each other. It’s like we somehow know.

The ex-tree was on the Piper Mill Trail, neatly fallen across the width of the trail. Fortunately, it wasn’t a monster sequoia, so I was able to easily hop over it.

I did sweat a little, but mostly around the forehead. It’s so weird to come home and my t-shirt is dry. Dry!

Overall, this was a nice start to the week and a solid nearly-end-of-summer run.

Stats:

Run 716
Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:51 a.m.
Distance: 10.06 km
Time: 58:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 18ºC
Humidity: 59%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 160.2
Total distance to date: 5262 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (370 km)