Run 527 Average pace: 5:38/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:31 am
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:33
Weather: Sun and cloud mix
Temp: 20-21ºC
Humidity: 56%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 160
Weight: 156.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4104 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Yesterday I exchanged the foot-killing Hoka Stinson ATR 3s for a pair of Brooks Cascadia 12s. I’ve had Cascadias before and found then generally fine but ended up not using them for running, as the shoes were a bit heavy for my liking. This year’s model is notably lighter.
With my new new shoes on, I set off almost on time this morning with conditions much better for running–around 20ºC and with a mix of high cloud and sun. The walk to the lake was promising, as there was no pain, just a very slight sense of discomfort in the left shoe which I can chalk up to that new shoe thing.
For the run itself it was the same. I aimed for a bit more conservative pace, hence my average of 5:38/km (which is still respectable) but completed it without issue. The walk home was also uneventful, so the new shoes get the proverbial thumbs-up. They felt snug, but not tight and it never felt like they were going to come untied, one of my major pet peeves with running shoes.
Two weeks after it went up the detour sign where the trail splits at Spruce Loop was gone and curiosity got the best of me, so I ventured down the main trail to discover that two foot bridges had been replaced, hence the longer-than-usual detour. My curiosity sated, I looped back up onto the Conifer Loop and resumed my usual router, aware that the boardwalk work that didn’t happen on Monday might be happening today.
And it was.
The detour sign was literally right in front of the boardwalk, with a handy arrow pointing to the right. I followed it up a trail I’d never been on before and quickly emerged onto a paved road, Glencarin Drive. Fortunately it’s a very quiet road and not an eight-lane superhighway. The road only went for maybe a hundred feet or so before ending at the start of the Freeway Trail. Shortly after getting onto it I reached the first entrance to Burnaby Lake, scooted down and was back on the main trail again. As detours go it was fairly short and uneventful, just the way I like ’em.
I did encounter one cyclist on the trail–and he was walking his bike. Weird! He seemed to be doing it as a deliberate choice, too, not because he had a flat tire caused by a rabid goose. Also weird.
Overall, this run was reassuring more than anything. I managed to complete the 10K without difficulty, had a decent pace, and broke in a new pair of shoes without also breaking my feet.
Run 526 Average pace: 5:35/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 2:33 pm
Distance: 6.38 km
Time: 35:40
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-26ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Weight: 157.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4094 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Today I got new running shoes. They were on sale!
They made my left foot hurt so much I stopped my 10K run at 6.38 km. It didn’t help that the temperature went from 24-26ºC, either, but it was mostly the shoes.
I picked up a pair of Hoka One One Stinson ATRs, which provide a good amount of support and a more pronounced rocker motion than my Speedgoats. As a bonus, there was also no color-bleeding.
But problems emerged quickly. On the walk to the lake my left foot started to hurt. The new shoes were impressively defeating my orthotics, something no other shoes have done. I got to the lake and started out and even my first km was sluggish. After awhile the left foot began to hurt quite a bit more. The toes even began to feel numb. I thought maybe the orthotic had slipped forward somehow and the pronounced bulge was sitting directly under my toes instead of just behind them, where the toes connect to the foot. After the run I checked but the orthotic was right where it should have been. I planned on bailing on the run at the 6K mark, went a bit further, toyed with going to 7K, then just stopped, figuring running more would yield no useful results.
The only other good news is the repair work on the boardwalk scheduled to start today was nowhere to be seen, so I didn’t have to do some fancy detour to get around it.
But to add the proverbial insult to injury, while the left shoe didn’t hurt my foot as much on the way back, the right shoe started to squeak and pretty loudly at that. The squeaking of the last pair is what doomed them.
The Stinsons are going back to the store tomorrow. I’ll either get a different pair or put up with the Speedgoats a little longer. Squeaking is bad but it’s better than squeaking plus murdering my foot.
My overall pace was a dismal 5:35/km. Because I was getting the cursed shoes in the morning I didn’t run until the afternoon and it was warmer than expected, which was an unpleasant bonus. Also, a bug bite on my right calf itched for the entire run.
Run 525 Average pace: 5:19/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 3:18 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-24ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: moderate
BPM: 148
Weight: 157.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4088 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I traded in my new-but-not-worn Nike shorts today at the Nike store in Metrotown. Although these are the latest version of the shorts I currently wear, I had mistakenly bought a size medium and when I got home I found my other Nike shorts were size small. A return fixed that and when I got home I thought, “Hey, with my shiny new shorts and shiny new sleeveless t-shirt, I should go for a run just for the heck of it!”
And so I put on the new shorts and found them to be rather…snug. Snug as in they have somehow reduced the size of the small to really mean small and the medium size shorts I traded back without ever trying were probably the right size all along. Grr. I’m not sure what to do. Can I do a double return or will they accuse me of being an incurable shorts addict? What I might do is buy another pair in the medium size–but in a different color!–and see if they fit, then maybe think about trading in the small shorts for the original medium. This plan actually makes me sound like an incurable shorts addict, doesn’t it?
Hmm.
For the run I put on my old and stinky but fits-just-right shorts, with the new short, and headed off, undecided on whether to do a 5K or go for more. I opted for a 5K partway through and tried to adjust my pace accordingly. Although sunny, there was a good breeze and humidity was lower so I stayed fairly peppy and only had minor sweating throughout. Even my BPM was much lower, at only 148.
In the end my pace was 5:19/km, which is one of my better 5K runs this year. Not bad following up only a day after a 10K. I didn’t experience any issues and the trail was surprisingly not too busy, given the time and conditions.
The “trail repairs” next to the athletic fields was finished and my careful examination of the trail revealed…absolutely no changes I could see. But lo, at the ends of the trail were several freshly-hewn (and formerly honking big) trees, cut up and piled alongside the trail. I’m not sure if they were cut because they had become old and menacing or, being on the ends, if they were cut to better accommodate further work on the trail. In any case, they are now ex-trees.
On the walk out a kid ahead of me defiantly walked through the detour while I obeyed the sign and took the Spruce Loop out. The kid emerged not far ahead of me on the other side, so whatever is in the blocked-off area is not a kid-eating monster. I wanted to ask him what they could possibly be working on that is taking so long but figured the reality would prove suitably mundane.
The other thing of note–and a squeaky note it is–are my shoes. While the color-bleeding of my Hoka Speedgoats is long past, the right shoe is squeaking so loudly I can hear it while running with music playing. It’s somewhat maddening. Getting new shoes, preferably before my next run, is now top priority.
Run 524 Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:05 am
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 56:18
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 18ºC
Humidity: 69%
Wind: moderate
BPM: 159
Weight: 157.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4083 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Today I ran the same distance but in the opposite direction compared to Wednesday and managed an identical pace of 5:36/km. Not only that, even the total time of the two runs was basically the difference in a rounding error. Today it took me 56:18 minutes and on Wednesday it took me 56:17 minutes, a whopping one second difference.
What’s even more interesting (to me, anyway) is that I arrived at the identical pace through very different means. Wednesday’s run felt harder and I was tired by the end. Today’s run, under cloudy skies and a steady 18ºC was much more comfortable, so in theory today’s run should have been faster–in fact, I was expecting it to be.
The difference?
On Wednesday I started out a lot faster for the first three km and flagged a lot more for the final three. Today I started out slower but then fell into a much more even rhythm over the length of the run. The stronger finish, though, wasn’t enough to compensate for the slower start so the two runs, with greatly varying lap times, ended up with the near-exact same result.
I was a little disappointed but 5:36/km is still a good pace so I’m not exactly hopping mad over it. Also, the humidity was quite high, so despite the cooler temperature I still sweated more than I’d have preferred.
The usual trail closure at the Spruce Loop fork was in place but there was a second detour waiting for me near the 5K mark. “Closed for repairs” said the sign directing me away from the trail along the athletic field, right on the first corner. Over yonder I could see similar signs directing people away. Trucks and people were milling about at several points on the section of the trail. This struck me as curious, as they had just resurfaced the stretch just days ago. Maybe they did it wrong. I’ll find out soonish!
It meant I had to run across the field itself to continue on. Fortunately there was neither a soccer match in progress, an unexpected marmot hole waiting to snap my ankle or any other impediments. I did have to run past a nearby gathering of poopmonsters and one honked a few times, perhaps as a gang warning of sorts. I ignored it’s menacing squawk.
Running on grass actually feels a little weird when you’re used to gravel and dirt.
With the weather being worse there were fewer people out. Only one wayward dog today and no cyclists–hooray!
Except for the aforementioned sweating, I encountered no issues, so Week 2 of 10K runs is now done. I’m hoping to start Week 3 with a new pair of shoes as the right shoe in particular is starting to honk like a poopmonster.
Run 523 Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:08 pm
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:17
Weather: Mainly sunny
Temp: 20-22ºC
Humidity: 54%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 151
Weight: 158.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 4073 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
After a copious amount of running and cycling the last few days (I did a 9.76 km ride last night–no falling, yay!) I decided today’s run–started a wee bit late again because my stomach was feeling off–would be a bit more on the slow and steady side.
It was both sunnier and breezier today, with the latter insuring the former wasn’t an issue, though it only got up to 22ºC, which is perfectly cromulent for this time of year.
I had to use the Jiffy John® yet again before the run so I’m pretty sure my body clock is now syncing my bowel with my running. I would prefer it to not do so. At least I didn’t have to wait this time.
I headed out clockwise and almost immediately encountered a cyclist just exiting off the trail. Hopefully her bike tires got punctured by rabid geese on the way out.
After that things settled into a semi-comfortable routine. There were stretches where I even felt that certain sort of Zen one can achieve when running and my lower BPM of 151 reflected this. I did encounter a runner on the left side of the trail approaching me. Clearly one of us would have to move to avoid collision. I saw it as a teaching moment for the wrong-side runner and she shifted over. Hooray!
Not long after that I was heading toward the bend leading onto the Cottonwood Trail when I was startled by the unexpected tooting of a train horn. It was unexpected because while the track parallels the Cottonwood Trail, there are no crossings, hence no need to toot. It turned out workers were gathered with digging equipment on the other line and the train was tooting to warn them to stay on their side to avoid being smooshed by a billion tonnes of metal or however much a typical train weights.
The trail is still blocked off where it splits at Spruce Loop but more piles of gravel near the trail entrance suggest work is being done. What’s weird is it’s been a week already, which is longer than it took them to replace the entire foot bridge on the Cottonwood Trail. Maybe there was a sinkhole or something.
With my pace of 5:36/km only being three seconds off Monday’s, I am perfectly happy with today’s result, with no real issues other than the legs being a wee bit stiff from all this nutty activity.
Run 522 Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:32 pm
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 55:44
Weather: Mainly cloudy
Temp: 19-21ºC
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Weight: 157.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4063 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I spent the morning contemplating whether I would do my regular Monday run or consider Sunday’s run in lieu and just resume again on Wednesday, but as the time ticked on by in its usual way I feared LMS (Lazy Monday Syndrome) might kick in, so I headed off shortly before noon, planing on not quite putting the proverbial pedal to the metal today, given only 24 hours of rest.
I arrived to conditions very similar to yesterday, but perhaps a little more cloudy–a good thing for running. When I got to the lake I felt the need to visit the Jiffy John®, which at this point is hardly unexpected. At least I didn’t feel the need to visit it at the 5K mark. As I approached yonder potty I noticed a red truck parked right in front of it? Who parks right in front of an outdoor potty? They’re generally thought of as stinky ans yucky.
Someone who is using it, it turns out. Using it very thoroughly. While a woman walked a dog back and forth along an adjacent bush, I waited–almost ten minutes. And it was already occupied when I got there. The only way I would spend ten minutes or more in a Jiffy John® is if I was forced to at gunpoint or something.
Anyway, the guy finally finished, they got into the red truck, and left. The potty had a Devil’s Tower of toilet paper covering up the business. I hate when people do that. The rolls they put in are not intended for Devil’s Tower emulation. It’s wasteful and silly. It’s a toilet. It’s going to have poo in it. Hiding it under ten pounds of toilet paper is fooling no one–but it is insuring someone is going to need to use the loo and find all the toilet paper is already stuffed into a great heap inside the potty.
Unlike yesterday I did not start the run by nearly plowing into someone. Instead, the theme of the day was the old favorite dogs unleashed/cyclists. The cyclists were paired off and the second pair came along at an especially inconvenient time. They were heading toward me, but I was also just about to pass a slow-moving couple on the right. Would I defer to the cyclists and let them go by first? I would not! Instead I moved left to pass the couple and forced the cyclists to nearly ride completely off the trail (which would technically have made their presence within the boundaries of the bylaw, I suppose). As always, I hope these jerks got flat tires, chased by rabid geese or some combination thereof.
Despite not intending to run as hard as yesterday I ended up with a similar pace–5:33/km vs. yesterday’s 5:31/km. I slowed through the 7-9 km stretch but put a little zing in for the final km.
There were more people out than I expected, possibly because I was running right around noon.
The main trail where it splits with Spruce Loop was still closed but I saw a small clue on what the issue might be, as a little putt-putt gravel truck trundled past me later on, heading in that direction. Possibly some repair work or shoring up around one of the footbridges. Still odd that the detour is there without any explanation, though.
The only complication during the run was a bit of discomfort along the right edge of my right foot, but I think this was caused by twisting the foot inward on a tree root before starting the run. It seems to be fine now.
Overall, this run was a solid follow-up to yesterday’s return-to-form. I might be a tiny bit sore tomorrow but as compensation my legs will look like tree stumps! Yes.
Run 521 Average pace: 5:31/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 1:47 pm
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 55:27
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temp: 19-21ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 156
Weight: 158.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 4053 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Today is not a run day but I whimsically ran anyway, for two reasons:
After doing some tidying up of the junk in the living room, I feared I would be hit by LSS (Lazy Sunday Syndrome) and spend the rest of the afternoon sitting on my butt and doing very little of anything besides fulfilling basic bodily functions (more on those later).
With an actual shower last night and cooler temperatures today it was a chance to run in Real Weather™ and I just couldn’t resist.
So off I went in early afternoon (wholly inadvisable during the heatwave), first thinking I’d do a 5K on the river, then a 5K at the lake and finally what evolved into a full 10K at the lake.
My start was much stronger than the last few runs, though I almost collided at the first corner thanks to a shirtless jogger ignoring the “run/walk on the right” rule. I had to get out of his way. I saw him later and he was on the right side of the trail, so he may be one of those joggers who cuts in to take a corner, which is actually more dumb than just running on the left side of the trail. Also, being topless did not make him sexy.
Not long after that I encountered a dope on a bike (I now reflexively tell these people, “Bikes aren’t allowed on the trail” as I run by. I expect it to have no effect, but even if it makes them feel a tiny bit bad, it’s worth it). At this point I’m thinking maybe running on an “off” day was not a great idea. And indeed I encounter still more cyclists later. I chalk this mostly up to it being a Sunday. I haven’t run Sundays for awhile and today provided some guidance on why I would not miss doing so.
My improved pace did mean I was pushing hard, with a slightly higher BPM, and by the last few km I was slowing down, but my overall pace was still 5:31/km, not only besting my previous 10K by ten seconds, but also making it my best 10K of the year. All I had to do was wait for the terrible weather to end!
Speaking of weather, it was still fairly humid but it was a clean humidity, for lack of a better word. I sweated but not nearly as much as I have been, and the only effects I felt were those from simply putting in a good effort. The sun poked out from time to time but it was mostly cloudy, which was nice, and there was often a good and slightly cool breeze blowing, which was just as nice. It was a doubleplus nice run, a great day for an Orwellian jog. Or something.
Something strange happened after I began walking back, though. Almost immediately I was hit with cramps all through my lower abdomen, all weird and gassy and rumbly and unpleasant. I had no idea why it was happening, but glad it happened after I’d finished the run. By the time I got onto the river trail it became clear–my bowel was at it again. Somehow my bowel has tuned itself so that running = pooping. This is not a good combination. Today it was off, which allowed me to finish the run without the runs (ho ho), but instead I suddenly found I had to go RIGHT NOW and without a restroom in sight. Just trees and such. You know, nature. Desperate, I channeled my inner bear, spotted a path leading down to the creek under the bridge and shambled down as quickly yet carefully as I could.
I picked my way through branches, careful not to go into the drink (it wasn’t deep, but why soak your feet if you don’t need to?) and found a spot that was sufficiently out of view from the bridge (I had spotted someone in the distance approaching from the other direction and felt no need to give them a full viewing). I barely (bearly?) had time to yoink down my shorts before a full scale evacuation commenced. In retrospect I may have eaten something that disagreed with me because the word “diarrhea” occurred to me later. Running + diarrhea is also not a good combination. I also realized that the spot I picked did in fact have an unobstructed view back to the bridge. Oops. I guess I could have pretended I was doing squats. No one saw, fortunately.
I felt much better after that but I admit I’m getting a little paranoid now. This is almost becoming a pattern now. I don’t want my body to associate running with relieving myself. I want the two to remain separate, as nature intended. I will have a stern talk with my butt and see how it goes. Or if it goes.
Still, this run was a nice return to seasonal conditions. Now I need to decide if I take a day off tomorrow in lieu or head out again and stick to my normal schedule.
Run 520 Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:02 am
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 58:03
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 23-25ºC
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 150
Weight: 158.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4043 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Once again conditions were very similar to previous runs this week, though the sun seemed a bit brighter. With a more substantial breeze at times I’m wondering if we’re seeing the first tenuous change in the weather. If so, it hasn’t done much with my new favorite nemesis, fine particulate matter. In fact, today’s run was worse in terms of my eyes–and for the first time, my sinuses–being irritated. I started out slower for some reason and as a result was off Wednesday’s pace, coming in at 5:47/km.
On a positive note, the South Shore trail resurfacing is now complete, with the entire trail from the entrance to the Avalon trail to the first boardwalk covered in sparkly fresh gravel. They still have the, uh, “gravel buffer” out but the gravel itself is at least flat now and now piled into mounds down the center of the trail.
Work on the Avalon trail appears to be mostly pending, though, so I’m expecting gravel mounds to start popping up there soon.
Also on the positive side I managed to go potty both before heading out and upon arrival at the lake (I did not go potty in the lake, I used the loo, which is actually named Jiffy John, not Johnny Potty, though the latter is way more awesome). This meant that while the run felt a bit like a slog at times I did not face the complication of “Hey, really really need to use the bathroom right now!”
The main trail was still closed off where it forks with the Spruce Loop. I still have no idea why. Did a tree fall? Giant sinkhole appear? It is a mystery.
Other than sweating a lot and the irritation of yet more FPM, I didn’t encounter any issues otherwise (though I did sweat a lot). Here’s hoping that the next run on Monday will be cooler and cleaner. Who knew I’d be yearning for rain on vacation?
Run 519 Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:14 am
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 57:18
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 23-25ºC
Humidity: 58%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 159.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 4033 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
The run conditions were almost identical to Monday’s yet I definitely felt I had more spring in my step for the first km, as evidenced by my 5:11/km pace. That ended quickly, as further evidenced by the second km pace being 5:42/km. The last three km felt much like a slog and while my eyes didn’t burn quite the same as they did two days ago, by the time I approached the 9K mark I was ready for the run to be over.
Let me back up and set up another complication that made the desire to stop running even stronger.
Before leaving I went to the bathroom. I mean, I physically went into the bathroom, but nothing happened. My bowels remained silent and unmoved. Fine. I’d have one more chance when I got to the lake. I got to the lake and contemplated the Johnny Potty or whatever it’s called. I looked at the name but all I can recall now is the word Johnny. I like to think it is really called Johnny Potty and is named after someone who is legally known as Johnny Potty.
This time the bowel stirred, slightly. It may have been the heat. The temperature on the walk to the lake shot up from 19ºC to 23ºC and then up to 25ºC during the run. But again, no action in the ol’ “gotta go” department so I headed off and again, it was fine.
As I passed the 9K mark (meaning I had a little over five minutes to go) it suddenly became very much not fine. I had to go like I had never gone before. The urge was more than that, it was a command, a command delivered with great authority, a command you could not ignore. But I had to finish the run. Running, as I mentioned before on this blog, is about the worst thing you can do if you want to quiet a nascent bowel movement. Because you are agitating all your innards, see?
In the end (ho ho) I made it but it was an extremely close thing. Also, the Johnny Potty was a literal sweatbox. But at least there was toilet paper and hand sanitizer. The day was so humid the sanitizer would not dry on my hands until I had nearly exited the park.
Oh, and I did a 10K run, too.
After the speedy start I settled into a pace close to my overall average of 5:41/km for most of the run and it wasn’t too bad. I still sweated buckets and never exactly tore up the trail, but it was no worse than other recent runs.
Speaking of torn-up trails, today was the first weekday run that wasn’t also a holiday so I figured the crews would be out resurfacing the trail and they were. The shovel and little tractor/hopper that was getting filled with gravel were in the parking lot, so I knew I wouldn’t encounter them on the trail. I did come across a putt-putt car that took up most of the width of the trail not far into the South Shore segment. Ahead of it a guy was using one of those vibrating devices that has a belt that magically flattens and compresses the fresh gravel. I had to actually stop running to navigate around. Before I encountered him I came across several hundred meters of fresh gravel piled high along the middle of the trail. This stuff is basically impossible to run on, so you stick to the edges, but the edges are mushy and uneven so the whole thing is a bit of a trial. I nearly twisted a foot but I got through without face-planting.
The road construction crew at the rowing pavilion parking lot were out but no heavy equipment was in operation so I skittered across without having to worry about being crushed under a steamroller. One of the road workers even nodded to me as I ran by. He was kind of cute. He was probably nodding as if to say, “You can do it, just a little farther before you poop your shorts!”
The athletic fields were again covered in geese, all of them standing around or pecking at the grass. All except one, which was sitting there, in defiance of the others. When I looked straight at this one goose it immediately stood and started pecking the ground, as if I had caught it slacking off. “That’s right, poopmonster, get busy!” I pretended to shout at it.
Near the 3K signpost I passed a group of about six police and at least one park worker, all of them standing in a circle and discussing something. It seemed like a peculiar place for a discussion so there must have been shenanigans at play. This was possibly corroborated when I emerged from the Spruce Loop and noticed a sawhorse across the main trail with a “Trail Closed – Detour” sign on it.
I still don’t know what actually happened. But something!
It was not long after this that The Bowel Incident occurred. The bowel km was also the slowest, for reasons I hope are obvious.
When I got home all sweaty and stinky I wanted nothing more than to have a nice shower or a bath with invigorating Epsom salts. But thanks to a power outage last night we had no hot water. I ended up soaking in the hot tub at the Canada Games Pool with Jeff and having a shower there, which turned out to be perfectly decent. I always feel a little naughty dunking the Apple Watch into the water but the reality is it probably needed a good cleaning.
Overall I’m pleased that I turned in a decent pace given the ongoing terrible conditions (current forecast says the weather will change by the weekend) and basically everything else about the run other than the pace also being terrible.
Run 518 Average pace: 5:51/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:59 am
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 58:49
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 23-25ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: light
BPM: 148
Weight: 159.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 4023 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
Conditions were very similar to Saturday’s run, although by running in the morning the temperature was a wee bit cooler. This was enough to shave four seconds off my average pace in comparison, so I came in at 5:51/km, which is still very pokey.
The one anomaly was my BPM, which was an unusually low 148. I have no real explanation for this. It certainly didn’t feel like I was taking it easy, what with the thick smoky soup currently masquerading as the atmosphere making every step feel like it was taken on a gas giant.
It also smelled of gas, especially near the dam.
I sweated buckets and my eyes again were a little irritated by the end but once more I managed to get through the full 10K. It didn’t seem quite as horrible as Saturday, though the sun appeared to shine a little brighter, apparently due to a very mild influx of marine wind that isn’t enough to change the overall weather pattern.
Also, today is BC Day–a stat holiday–and unlike Saturday, there were a lot of people out. I passed by about eight other joggers at least and lots of pedestrians. People don’t mind fine particulate matter if it occurs on a paid day off, it seems.
Other than the terrible conditions, the run went decently. My left knee had a few moments where it threatened to bother me, but the moments passed and it was fine. The right heel was a bit sore starting out but as the run progressed it felt better and was not an issue.
It looks like the resurfacing gnomes were busy as work on the South Shore trail has been extended closer to the first boardwalk, which I’m assuming will be the end point. They also extended some of the work on the Avalon trail, which is being kept with a similar, if slightly coarser, surface material.
Speaking of the Avalon trail, I was coming down it, just about finished my run, and along came a woman slowly pedaling her bike. I told her bikes were not allowed on the trail (she was only a dozen meters or so past one of the many signs saying this). She acknowledged that I had said words to her, some possible form of communication, then kept riding. I hope she got knocked into a creek by an off-leash dog.
On Wednesday it looks like conditions will be much the same (boo) but with the bonus if having construction equipment coming and going around the rowing pavilion parking lot (they’ve torn up the road leading to it and will be resurfacing it soon), as well as likely having workers on the trail spreading huge piles of gravel that will be difficult to navigate.
Run 517 Average pace: 5:55/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW), including Piper Mill trail and Spruce Loop
Start: 1:19 pm
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 59:28
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 25ºC
Humidity: 53%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 158.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 4013 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
The good news is the work to replace the foot bridge on the Cottonwood trail took less time than the signs indicated (as I suspected it would–they weren’t exactly replacing the Golden Gate here), so while I had planned on the possibility of running to Still Creek then turning and running back to complete 10K, I was able to keep going and behold the splendor of the new foot bridge, which looks remarkably like the old one.
Meanwhile, the bridge at Deer Lake Brook, unless my eyes are deceiving me, appears to be sagging very slightly in the middle. I’m wondering if the footings are starting to sink. I blame climate change.
Speaking of climate change, the worst part of the run was the weather. 25ºC is not hot, it’s just warm but not uncomfortably so. However, we are still in the middle of what would be a heat wave that has ironically seen lower-than-expected temperatures because the smoke haze from forest fires is so thick now that the sun can barely get through it. It’s also very humid and the fine particulate matter is not fine at all, it’s becoming noticeable enough that my eyes felt very slightly irritated by the end of the run.
Here’s the thing, though. I started out slow–5:44 for the first km (and that is very slow) and didn’t improve. By the last few km I was plodding along at a pace of over 6:00/km. This is not fun.
I saw very few people out on what would have otherwise been a spectacular Saturday afternoon. I didn’t see anyone else running because everyone else was smarter than me.
But I got through it. In a way the re-opening of the Cottonwood trail ruined my plan. As the run wore on I thought about getting to what would have been the barricade at Still Creek, turning around and completing 6K (which would not have meant much more running at that point) and then walking the rest of the way. When I saw the way was clear to complete a full loop I kept going because I figured I was already past the halfway-point, anyway.
The 10-day forecast doesn’t show any break in the sunny weather so the smoke haze is going to persist until a) the high pressure ridge finally breaks or b) all the forest fires magically go out.
I did make things worse by not going out in the morning when it would have at least been cooler. I’ll try to do that on Monday when I switch to my vacation running schedule of M-W-F.
In the end this was one of those “glad it’s over” runs. Here’s to eventual smoke haze-free jogging!
Run 516 Average pace: 5:30/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:45 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 27:39
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 159.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4003 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
While walking to the river trail for tonight’s run I made the call to do a shorter 5K run because:
it felt even hotter than on Tuesday
the air quality was worse
there was little in the way of a breeze
the air quality was worse–did I mention that? It was bad. The fine particulate matter they keep talking about was a lot more tangible.
So I ran 5K and turned in an average pace of 5:30/km, which is not that zippy for 5K but pretty decent given the conditions. The air was thick, soupy and slightly stinky. It felt warmer even though officially it was 29ºC again. I sweated profusely.
Other than a moment or two when a cramp threatened but didn’t materialize, I experienced no complications. It was just kind of a gross, unpleasant experience. I saw no other runners, so apparently some other joggers have had enough of this weather.
We’re in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave and it’s hot enough that they’ve doubled the number of fire warning signs on the trail (the bonus sign is on the bottom):
Fire danger plus more fire danger
I did not see any briquette barbecues during my run. I’m a little surprised I haven’t seen anyone smoking, though. Fire bans is usually when the smokers show up.
Oh, and I hit a major milestone–or is it kilometerstone?–tonight, passing the 4,000 km mark in total distance. I’ve been running for eight years now, so it averages out to about 500 km per year. Not too shabby. My best year was significantly higher than that–980 km–but I don’t think that will happen again. In 2012 I was on fire instead of all the forests.
This was the last run before I start my vacation so I now have the luxury of doing each run in the morning when it will be mercifully cooler, if still hazy and yucky. Cooler and yucky is still better than hotter and yucky, so I’ll take it.
