Outdoor runs

Run 503: The triumph of lead legs

Run 503
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 6:26 pm
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 39:36
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20ºC
Humidity: 52%
Wind: light
BPM: 158
Weight: 164.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 3909 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I had some extra time to run tonight so I decided to do a combined river/lake run for a total of 7K. I hit the 7 km mark at a very convenient point, too, just a few steps off the bridge at Still Creek. That will make it easy peasy to compare future runs of the same distance.

The first leg (ho ho) of the run I felt a bit slow but not too bad (though the first km was a lot better than I’d have guessed at 5:09/km) but once I hit the lake trail my legs once again turned to lead-like things and the slog was on. Fortunately the last few km I got a second wind and felt more peppy. My average pace was 5:37/km, which is actually better than my 5K on Saturday so yay for that. My BPM was lower, too, at 158.

Even the feet were well-behaved, with the right heel pretty much a non-factor. I think it may actually be starting to heal up or something.

The trails were surprisingly quiet, the lake especially, with few pedestrians or runners encountered. It was a little strange, given how pleasant the weather was. But nice.

Overall, I’m pleased with tonight’s run. It could have been faster and I felt like I was struggling at times but I got through, felt fine at the end and bettered my previous (shorter) run.

Run 502: In before the Africa hot

Run 502
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 9:21 am
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:36
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-23ºC
Humidity: 44%
Wind: light
BPM: 163
Weight: 166.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3902 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

The forecast high for today was 31ºC, which is not only Africa hot, it’s especially hot for June. It’s also way hotter than I like for running. I’m not planning on doing a desert marathon so I’m good with running under milder conditions.

My plan was to get out earlier so I could finish my run while the temperature was still bearable. I headed out around 8:45 a.m. and started the run at 9:21. It was already 21ºC and rose to 23ºC over the run but that’s a fair bit better than 30 or 31.

And I still saw someone running in a jacket.

I felt a lot more energetic today compared to Thursday and this was reflected in the first km, by far my fastest (5:18/km). But I bogged down over the next two km and by the fourth felt a bit like a baked potato, my energy leaking out like a slowly-deflating balloon wearing jogging shorts.

It was around that point that I opted to stick to 5K instead of pushing to 7K. On the one hand I kind of regret not going farther because the temperature only rose a few more degrees (it’s since gone up to 28 now that it’s past noon) but there are times when you know it’s better to listen to the signals your body is giving you and this seemed like one of them.

My pace did improve in the last few km, so overall it was a mediocre-ish 5:40/km.

The trail was not too busy, just a few small groups of walkers and the occasional over-dressed jogger.

Weirdly, I’m almost tempted to go back tomorrow to try a 7K. I’d have to get up super-early to do it before the writing group, though, and the odds of that are…not great.

Run 501: The first 7K of 2017 with bonus very slow

Run 501
Average pace: 5:52/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:44 am
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 41:23
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 18ºC
Humidity: 52%
Wind: light
BPM: 163
Weight: 166.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3897 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

My stomach was not feeling quite right so I ended up not going into work today. After getting up things seemed okay so I thought I’d risk getting the run out of the way in the morning so I could spend the rest of the day working on my couch potato skills.

When I got to Burnaby Lake I had to use the Jiffy Potty. I think it’s called that because you don’t want to linger. I mean, you really don’t. This was somewhat ominous but I ended up being fine during the run, though the stomach/innards protested a few times on the walk home.

Despite a quite early start for me at 9:44 am the temperature still rose quickly and it was 18ºC for most of the run. Not too hot, though in mid-morning it somehow feels hotter. My plan was to set for a 5K but push out to a 7K if I felt up for it.

I started slow, even slower than normal for a lake run. I felt off. Not bad per se, and the right heel actually behaved itself nicely, but the energy clearly wasn’t there. At times my legs felt like lead poles. The fifth km was actually my fastest, which is rather unusual.

The GPS tracking of the iPhone also was off. I started at the 0K marker and ran the regular loop, skipping the side trails. As I passed the 1K marker I checked the watch and it reported 0.91 km. At the 5K marker it reported 4.78 km.

I’m going to try a few runs without the iPhone, which will force the Apple Watch to use its built-in GPS. I’ll be interested to see how it compares. The iPhone is over two and a half years old so it’s probably self-destructing with the hope of being upgraded to the fancy models Apple will reveal in September.

Back to the run, I felt good enough at 5K to press on and managed 7K without any complications. I’m sure I could have gone farther still, but 7K is good for now.

Other than the pace being sluggish the run went decently otherwise. My BPM was not too high, sweating was minimal and the trail wasn’t festooned with lots of people due to the early weekday hour. It was nice. Not that I hate people, I just prefer having the entire trail to myself.

One guy passed me at about the 3K mark, he said hello as he went by. He seemed nice. I didn’t mind him being faster as I know I’m well off peak condition. He disappeared after a couple of km so he either turned off the trail, got kidnapped by a bear or fell through a hole in the time/space continuum.

My next run is on Saturday and the forecast is mucho hot–30ºC! I’ll either try to run early or late, though earlier is probably the better choice. I’m aiming for another 7K. It’ll be fun! Fun-ish!

Run 500: I’ve done 500 of these things? Yoinks!

Run 500
Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 7:04 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 27:54
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 47%
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Weight: 166.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3890 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I completely forgot this was run #500. Go me!

As runs go, it was better than Saturday’s pace by eight seconds–pretty good–but three seconds slower than the last river run, which is okay since three seconds is no big deal.

I again seemed to slip into a reasonable pace and didn’t budge from it until I gently put on the gas for the last few hundred meters. I didn’t see a massive collapse in the second km like on Saturday, just a more typical fall-off. Unlike the last few runs, the first km was actually the fastest at 5:20/km vs. 5:22/km for the last km.

My right heel and right foot in general felt a bit sore. Nothing painful, just painfully annoying. I don’t think it affected my pace but maybe it did, even if only a little. Toward the end of the run I was able to finally put the foot out of my mind. Er.

On the other…leg…the left knee behaved itself for the entire run. Hooray.

And now in celebration of run #500, a statistic:

I have run approximately 3890 km total over 500 runs for an average distance of 7.78 km per run. Not too shabby. This stat is boosted by my insane effort in 2012 when I ran almost 1,000 km and most of those runs were 10K or better.

Here’s to the next 500 runs and hopefully precious few of them will be tagged with damn [appendage].

Run 499: Featuring the cramps and a need for speed (to the washroom)

Run 499
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:50 am
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:33
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 15-17ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Weight: 165.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3885 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I returned to the lake today after a longer-than-usual three-day layoff from running. I skipped Thursday to help take care of my sick partner (it was also coincidentally a monsoon for most of the day). Conditions were generally good–overcast skies meant no bright sun beating down on me, but the air felt a bit muggy with the lingering humidity from recent rain (see aforementioned monsoon).

The first km was not great but decent but the second km my pace dropped massively, mainly due to a cramp in my lower left side. Cramps mean I’m pushing too hard, so I eased up (apparently with relish). My pace recovered a bit and I finished once again with the final km being my best. Still, my overall pace was off at 5:40/km.

On the other hand, I got out, did the run and walked back without any real issue. Even the right heel mostly behaved itself. My walking pace on the route back was also snappier than usual.

I may have also been slowed the last two km or so by by my body’s klaxon letting me know I had a bowel movement pending. As you might guess, running and pooping do not really go well together. In fact, running tends to worsen the conditions that are optimal for a movement of one’s bowels. When I finished the run I crossed the athletic field and used the toilet in the “Men Joggers room” which is a change room with showers and a single toilet stall to fight over. Fortunately the room was empty so no fighting occurred. The walk back was about a million times better than it would have been otherwise.

Also, the poop monsters were out again with their young uns. This is the only time I think of geese as being kind of cuddly. Once the down feathers are gone they become full-fledged poop monsters, bad enough to be featured on the signs warning about wildlife alongside bears and bobcats.

Baby poop monsters
Cute now but with hissing and toxic pooping later

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Run 498: Moderately improved

Run 498
Average pace: 5:29/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:41 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:39
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 15ºC
Humidity: 66%
Wind: light
BPM: 169
Weight: 165.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3880 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I found a nice comfortable pace for tonight’s run and especially wanted to avoid pushing it, as my right heel was a bit sore today. The heel actually felt fine for most of the run (a tiny bit sore toward the end) and it was my left knee that again was more of a concern. Similar to a previous river run, it started feeling creaky about 3-3.5 km in but worked itself out after a minute or so and was fine after, so I’m not concerned…yet!

Conditions were similar to Saturday and while I might generally gripe about the cool, cloudy weather when we’re so close to summer being official, the reality is it’s near-perfect conditions for running.

My pace improved slightly over my last run by three seconds, coming in at 5:29/km. My best pace before that nasty May cold struck was 5:15/km, though I was definitely pushing on that one. I’ll be happy to draw closer to 5:20 for now.

I probably encountered more cyclists than people out walking because the sky looked a bit threatening and mean and cyclists don’t care about getting wet.

For music I listed to Queen’s A Night at the Opera which is still a seriously whack album. It works surprisingly well for running.

Run 497: Prayers for rain (to stop)

Run 497
Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 2:31 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:53
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 162
Weight: 164.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3875 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I was running late this morning and feeling slightly unmotivated so while doing a few chores around the place, I said to myself I’d run at 10. Then 11. The noon. Finally, I changed and headed out around 12:30, only to find the cloudy morning had changed into a monsoon.

We never seem to get light rain much anymore, it just monsoons for awhile then stops.

I checked the weather radar and it looked like this nasty bit of precipitation would pass over soonish and then it would be cloudy but dry for at least long enough to get in my run.

It took an hour of waiting but at last, the rain stopped and I headed out.

Amazingly, the rain did not suddenly start again when I stepped back outside. The sun even peeked out once or twice.

My right heel felt a bit sore initially but settled down. It was humid but not really warm so weather-wise it was a lot more comfortable than Tuesday’s run. Normally my runs at the lake are slower than comparable runs at the river but today I was pleased that my average pace was faster than Tuesday’s–by one entire second! Over the course of the entire run it worked out to a six-second difference and the distance was exactly the same on both runs, 5.03 km. It’s kind of freaky that I can be that consistent.

Overall it was an encouraging showing, though the right heel became sore again on the walk back (the trip from the lake back home after a 5K run is a little over 9 km and I had about the same distance already logged from walking to the lake and then the run itself. What I’m saying is the right heel can be a bit if a pain sometimes [ho ho] but doing nearly 20 km of walking and running is not exactly pleasing it these days. The heel is on The List of things to talk to my doctor about).

Run 496: Africa hot in the first week of June

Run 496
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:25 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:59
Weather: Sunny, high cloud
Temp: 28ºC
Humidity: 27%
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Weight: 164.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3870 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

The weather roller coaster continued tonight, with temperatures reaching a midsummer-like 28ºC. It felt really humid but apparently humidity was only 27%. The air was thick and heavy so it felt more like 2700%.

I was seven seconds slower than my last run, something I attribute about 100% to the weather. It was a slog. My left knee creaked for a few seconds but was fine and I felt a mysterious slight pull on the left side of my groin from time to time, odd because I have had no fun with my groin recently that would cause it to be sore. Since the issue was intermittent and minor, maybe my form was off due to all the panting and sweating.

I missed another weekend run and feel guilty about it. The last few weekends have been stupidly busy for me, but I do plan on heading out this coming weekend, whih probably means rain (current forecast for Saturday is, in fact, rain).

For fun here are the temperatures of my last four runs, all done at the same time of day:

22ºC
12ºC
18ºC
28ºC

You tend to notice temperature variations of 10 degrees from one run to the next.

Run 495: The recovery rolls along

Run 495
Average pace: 5:26/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:22 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 27:28
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temp: 18ºC
Humidity: 60%
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Weight: 164.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3865 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

It was cloudy but with seasonal temperatures today and the sun even shined briefly, so weather-wise it was pleasant enough for the run.

The arc of the run was about the same as it’s been lately, though the first km was a bit perkier than normal, followed by the usual slowdowns from the second to fourth km before picking up again for the last km, which was again my fastest at 5:14/km. This is not an entirely unwelcome trend, as it feels good to end on a high (or fast) note.

No real complications to speak of. The right heel was a bit sore but didn’t seem to affect my pace (it has helped me focus more on my form which is a good thing) and all of my other body parts co-operated.

Overall, a solid effort toward getting back to my pre-cold pace.

Run 494: Staying dry

Run 494
Average pace: 5:31/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:35 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 27:52
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 12ºC
Humidity: 91%
Wind: moderate to strong
BPM: 157
Weight: 164.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3860 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I was so dang busy on the weekend I did not run, plus it was weirdly warm, like end-of-July warm, so it would have been gross, anyway, especially since I’m still sluggishly recovering from the time off and the head cold.

I did run today, though, just in time for the weather to change from ludicrously nice back to unseasonably cool and damp. In four days the temperature on my runs went from 22ºC to 12ºC. The lower temperature was actually nice for running, not really feeling cold at all.

Luckily, despite a few drops on the way to the river, the showers held off and I actually completed the run without getting soaked. Yay. This was even more impressive considering how much of the day was a torrential downpour.

Looking over the splits, the second and third km were a bit slow but actually kind of comfy. The pace felt just right for my current condition. I did pick it up in the final km, which again was my best at 5:17/km and continued my overall slow improvement, chopping off a few more seconds from the previous run to finish at 5:31/km. My BPM was low again, too, at 157.

I seem to have slept on my right hip funny and it had been acting a bit tricky today at work, but proved to be a non-factor on the run. The right heel was a bit sore but not enough to make an impact (ho ho).

Overall, a small improvement but an improvement all the same. I will take it.

Run 493: Clone run

Run 493
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:19 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:58
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: moderate to strong
BPM: 158
Weight: 164.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3855 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

Tonight’s run was a virtual replay of Tuesday’s except without hurricane winds to add excitement, though it was breezy.

With most of the debris on the trail cleared, I was able to focus less on tripping/getting clobbered by rogue branches and more on the actual run. And yet my performance was nearly identical, with the pace of 5:33/km only one second faster than Tuesday’s pace. My total time of 27:58 was all of three seconds faster. I’m not complaining, as I was expecting similar performance as I come back from both the extended break and the cold, but it’s always a little weird when I so closely match one run to the next.

One improvement, though, was my BPM, down from 164 to 158, the lowest it’s been on a run in a good while. It probably helped that I fairly plodded the first km.

A complication, though it didn’t result in any difference in actual pace, was the right heel, which was aching a bit before the run, ached during the run and is still aching now. It actually felt better during the run than after.

I also had a weird ten seconds or so as I neared the far gate around the 3 km mark where my left knee suddenly felt funny, but not haha funny. Every time I stepped forward it felt like my left leg might buckle because the knee suddenly didn’t want to support it. It cleared up quickly but was a bit disconcerting. Knee issues for me have been very rare, fortunately. And should remain so, dang it.

Overall, the best part of the run was simply getting out and doing it, to help get back to my regular routine as swiftly as possible.

Plus no trees fell on me.

Run 492: A run with many different branches

Run 492
Average pace: 5:34/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:39 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 28:01
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20ºC
Wind: strong with gusts
BPM: 164
Weight: 164.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3850 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

Tree branches, to be exact. I’ll get to this shortly.

On Friday, May 12 I came down with a rather nasty cold. I have not run since then, a span of 11 days and a total of four runs missed. Sad trombone.

Today, mostly recovered if still a bit sniffly (or it could just be allergies) I headed out to renew my efforts. I was fully expecting to be slower and my pace of 5:34/km saw my expectation met. However, I was expecting something over 5:40 so I’m actually more pleased than anything. Despite the run feeling harder, my BPM was down.

And after a curiously, even strange, long weekend of sunny, warm weather, it continued today so it was very pleasant and mild.

Except for the wind.

A cold front is moving through to the Interior and is scouring the region with winds gusting up to 70 km/h. It was windy indeed on the run, though I only once caught a really good gust that threatened to whip my cap off. I screwed it down nice and snug and it stayed put.

What didn’t stay put were the million or so leaves, twigs, and branches strewn across the trail, so many that in several spots it was impossible to avoid stepping on them. I cleared a few before starting the run, the largest being a branch over 10 feet long and about as wide around as my upper arm. I may not have giant, bulging biceps but that’s still a branch big enough to ruin your day if it bopped you on the noggin. An entire tree came down near the western gate, landing alongside and partly on the trail. I wondered how safe it might be to run at all.

Fortunately, the ferocity of the wind eased up shortly after I started so I emerged without any wood-related injuries.

Here are a few of the smaller branches I saw on the trail. Multiply this by about a hundred or two and you have an idea of what the entire trail was like.

Branching out
Being stabbed by one (or both) of these via 70 km/h wind gusts would be a unique running experience.