Run 450 Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) – no side trails taken
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:38
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Stride: n/a
Weight: 158.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3600 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
My big fear today, of course, was coming across another evil tree root. Or more specifically, tripping across another evil tree root. To reduce the risk I chose to skip all three side trails (Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loops) and chanted direction. This had the side effect of giving me more of that smoove resurfaced, uh, surface to run on and also meant that if I did trip again, I’d at least fall in a new direction and in a new spot.
I did not trip.
The first half of the run I was surprisingly brisk but the second half saw me slow a fair bit, partly due to the Monday effect, partly due to burning too much gas in the first 5K and maybe partly due to being cautious, though most of the exposed roots were on the Cottonwood trail, during the first half of the run. While the pace of 5:50/km is nothing special, my BPM was also down at 155 and the weather, though warm, was an entirely tolerable 23ºC throughout.
The various lacerations and bruises didn’t have any effect I could tell, though the hip bruise became less mysterious when I noted that the shorts pocket that holds my keys perfectly matched up with it. Now I know what it feels like to slam onto gravel into your own set of keys. I don’t recommend doing this.
The resurfacing continued sans detour, with only a single worker out raking dirt. The construction zone was fairly small and strangely I missed the excavator entirely. I can only guess it had broken down or been defeated in a similar manner to the killdozer.
A few walking groups were out but were more on top of things than usual, so I was able to consistently slip by without incident.
The most interesting thing happened on the walk back along the Brunette River trail. Shortly after I crossed the bridge there I saw a snake. Now, I’ve seen several snakes this summer, of the small, slithery black and yellow garter variety. Observe below that this is not a small garter snake:
This is a python. It is a long way from home.
As mentioned in the caption, this is a python, about a meter long. It was very chill, as the kids say, and just laid there while I and a guy passing by on a bike took pictures. It eventually moved very casually off into the vegetation. As you might guess, pythons are not local to Burnaby or most of this continent, so it was either an escapee or an unwanted pet. Poor guy. Or girl. I’m not sure how you tell with a snake, really.
Looking back, maybe I should have contacted animal control or something, though the snake would have been long gone into the bush by the time they arrived. Still, I’d feel bad if it ate someone’s little moppet or something.
UPDATE, June 22, 2024: I have changed the title again. Sorry, Nic! I wanted something that would show up more easily in searches. Nic's title was Just scraping by.
UPDATE, July 8, 2022: I have changed the title of this post from the original of Tree root: 1, me: 0. Credit to Nic Demers.
Run 449 Average pace: 5:43/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Distance: 10:09 km Time: 57:52 Weather: Sunny Temp: 27ºC Wind: light to moderate BPM: 158 Stride: n/a Weight: 159.6 pounds Total distance to date: 3590 km Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
I was concerned about two things today: my right leg and the temperature. As forecast, it turned out to be very warm so I was glad to head out in the morning. Even then it was already 27ºC but fortunately it stayed there for the length of the run.
The right leg started out fine, which surprised me. I could eventually feel it but not until I was more than 6 km in and it was much milder than on Wednesday. I’d say it was of almost no consequence.
Expecting to detour along the sun-drenched Freeway trail, I opted to run clockwise, to get the extra-hot part out of the way first. As it turned out, the detour wasn’t in effect today so I was able to run the usual route. The excavator that trundles loads of dirt or gravel from a location off the Freeway trail and to the Southshore trail once again had a near-close encounter with me as it came off a feeder trail directly toward me. I was faster so ducked by but I swear that thing has a GPS lock on me. It is always right there no matter when I show up.
Despite the heat and much sweating I felt decent as I continued on, never straining or struggling. I encountered a curiously still snake that didn’t move as I approached it. Maybe it was zonked out from the sun? I hopped over and continued on. Around the 8K mark I dragged my left foot once, which is an indication I’m getting a bit tired. This is bad on a trail with many bumps and uneven surfaces (thank you park workers for helping make the trail smoother, safer and sexier), so I made an effort to pick up my feet. This turned out to be an omen of sorts.
As I entered the Conifer Loop I checked the distance and saw I was at 9.18 km, right about what I expected. I continued down the trail, heading toward the Spruce Loop and the final stretch. I was about 500m from finishing (roughly 2-3 minutes) when it happened.
The tree root.
The Conifer and Spruce Loops are side trails and while some work has been done on them (a foot bridge on Spruce was recently rebuilt as part of the current construction/resurfacing), the trails are in fairly rough shape, with lots of ruts, some loose gravel and tree roots poking through.
I have tripped up on tree roots before, my foot just catching enough to cause me to stagger before righting myself and continuing on.
That did not happen today.
Instead, my left foot firmly wedged against a root, causing my entire body to twist to the left. This made regaining my balance impossible. I was going to fall. And I did. The whole thing happened in less than a second. I remember hearing myself let out an “Oof!” and having enough time, somehow, to stick out my left hand to absorb the impact and prevent my face from hitting the gravel. My cap and glasses popped off. I skidded to a stop and laid there on my right side, looking over to the cap and glasses.
I picked up the glasses and they seemed undamaged, so I popped them back on, did the same with the cap, stood up, then without even bothering to dust off, I resumed the run because I was not going to let a spill at the 9.5K mark end my run early, especially if, as it seemed, I was just bruised and a bit battered.
I finished with a pace of 5:43/km, almost identical to Wednesday, and with a lower BPM of 158. Considering the heat and the fall, that’s pretty decent. My slowest km was actually at the 5K mark.
When I hit 10K (and those few minutes getting there seemed to stretch on unto forever because I really wanted to check out what exactly I’d done to myself) I walked over the dam to the snazzy new fountain and used the bottle-filling part to wash off the affected parts: my right leg, my right arm and left hand. I walked home at a brisker pace than normal, had a warm bath (avoiding using the usual Epsom salts and thus also avoiding screaming) then finally inspected my body in detail.
The right leg looks like a bear raked it with its claws, a set of nasty-looking scrapes along the upper half of the calf.
The right elbow and part of the forearm are nicely banged up.
The top of the right shoulder (covered by my t-shirt) sustained some abrasions, though it doesn’t look like the skin broke.
There’s a sore spot on the right hip that will bruise but again, no broken skin because it was under my shorts (the shorts came through fine, just a little dusty).
The left hand has five puncture wounds where the gravel hit. Three are small, though one still had some gravel embedded, the fourth was more sizable and the last is big enough to be kind of grossbuckets.
There’s probably more I’m missing. The bruises tomorrow should look great, and sleeping tonight will probably be fun.
I have applied copious amounts of Polysporin to everything.
Overall, I consider myself pretty fortunate. I didn’t sprain or break any bones, I didn’t hit my head, none of my stuff was damaged and on top of all that, I still finished with a decent pace.
I’m planning on my usual run on Monday and admit I’ll be feeling a little paranoid every time I see a tree root peeking above the trail surface. This is the first time in nearly 450 runs spread over the course of nine years that I’ve actually gone down (not counting that stupid dog) so hopefully this was just a rare convergence of circumstances that is unlikely to ever repeat.
I’ll know in three days!
I’ve put three images of “what happens when my body hits gravel at high speed” in the spoiler tag below (EDIT: This apparently broke ages ago, but I’ve now fixed and hidden the images again, for now – July 26, 2024).
My slightly shredded body
I will tell people I fought a shark. Yes, while trail running.Elbowing my way to various scrape and lacerations.Yeah, just kind of gross, isn’t it? You can even see a tiny bit of gravel still stuck in there. Kids, don’t try this at home!
Run 448 Average pace: 5:42/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10:05 km
Time: 57:25
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 19-20ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 164
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159 pounds
Total distance to date: 3580 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
Today’s run started out curiously slowly, with a pace of 5:41/km during the first km. I know I was trying to establish a deliberate pace but maybe I was more effective than intended. In fact, four of the other km (including the 8th) I was actually faster than that first km, which pretty much never happens. A weird start.
I ran counter-clockwise today to change things up and the cloudy skies meant cooler conditions in the morning, though it was again humid and sweating profusely was not a problem. About halfway through the groin (site of my recurring injury in my upper right leg, what I sometimes refer to as the hip, though my doctor tells me it ain’t no hip) started to feel stiff. I contemplated way to do, since it started so early, ultimately opting to continue through to the full 10 km. It did start to feel better toward the end and this is reflected in my pace picking up in the last few km. I can still sort of feel it now, but it no longer hurts.
It is a point of concern, but we’ll see how a day of rest helps before Friday’s run.
The trail was a bit damp from yesterday’s misty rain but was otherwise in good shape, with no puddle-jumping needed. The trail construction was more minimal, basically just a short stretch of unraked/smoothed gravel. For some reason, regardless of when I run, the one little excavator always seems to be on the same section of trail as I am when I get to area and once again it loomed large–and in reverse–forcing me to make eye contact before skirting around it. This was fine and the crew working on the trail have always been mindful and considerate of the people like me plowing through their work (there is still one section off-limits where a bridge is being replaced). But there were others out, specifically another walking group. These groups seem to have the collective brain capacity of a small rock, completely oblivious to everything and anything around them. I am convinced there could be a forest fire raging around them and they would not notice until they themselves were ablaze.
This is to say that as I entered the uneven gravel area, which is very soft and hard to keep traction on, I always spied a walking group immediately ahead of me. They remained unaware of my presence even as I moved through them, carefully navigating to the left, trying to not stumble off the mushy path. At one point a fellow walker did call out, “Runner, runner!” to absolutely no effect. These people react like slugs except slugs are tiny and easy to avoid.
The trail in general was a little busier than expected, though most of the others out were other joggers and a few walking their dogs.
I completed the run and had a pokey walk home that was identical to Monday’s, also a little weird. My overall pace was 5:42/km, nearly identical to last Friday’s 10K (my first as part of post-recovery), so that was a plus, at least. We’ll see how that stacks up to this Friday.
Run 447 Average pace: 5:47/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10:07 km
Time: 58:20
Weather: Sun and cloud
Temp: 21ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 160
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3570 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
I slept in so started out later than intended today, but still started in the morning (and ended in the afternoon). The weather was evenly split, with the first half of the run sunny and the second half overcast. The temperature never budged from 21ºC, so conditions were pretty comfortable.
I started out slower and basically just stayed slower throughout, with little variation, though I was faster in the first half of the run, perhaps powered by the sun’s energy, just like Superman. Cardio-wise I felt like it was more effort in the first half, likely just feeling the sun, but it was tolerable and I never felt like I was close to ending the run early or anything.
The upper right leg got stiff around the 6K mark but I pressed on and within a few km it was fine and remained fine after. But at the 8K mark my left calf suddenly decided to stiffen up. It was odd and I kept going and it, too, went away on its own. My legs are strange.
Other than that, the run went decently enough. I was expecting having the weekend off would lead to a slower pace and 5:47/km isn’t too terrible, being only six seconds off Friday. I finished the 10 km and surprised myself with a weirdly slow walk back home. I have been hitting under 9:00/km on the walks to and from the lake but today the walk back came in at 9:25/km. I’m actually a bit baffled as I didn’t think I was moving that slow (slow being a relative term).
The trail construction was more minimal today, though I did have to once again duck out of the way of a vehicle on the path. Other than that it was relatively quiet and that was nice.
Run 446 Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10:05 km
Time: 57:15
Weather: Sun with occasional high cloud
Temp: 18-20ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 156
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3559 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
I’ve been sticking to a counter-clockwise pattern at the lake since the trail resurfacing began in order to minimize my having to dodge heavy equipment and awkwardly-placed piles of dirt but today the urge to mix things up overcame my concern over awkwardly-placed piles of dirt, so I went clockwise.
I again set the run officially for 7K, planned to do at least 8K, with 10K as a special bonus if I was up to it.
I started out right at the 0 marker to easily track my distance (I don’t like looking at the fitness app on the watch while running–it’s weird, I know. I’m afraid I’ll see my pace, become discouraged and then slow down even more, or some other weird psychological thing) and headed off under a sunny morning sky. On the Avalon trail I spied a group of people but I couldn’t tell what they were doing. Were they a group of walkers pondering the map? Searching for someone’s lost keys? They started moving as I got closer and turned off onto the Southshore trail. Drat. This meant I would have to deal with them shortly.
Here’s the thing with walking groups. I’ve mentioned before they tend to blob out all over the trail, actively blocking others in both directions. It seems also that the larger the group, the more oblivious they will be to, probably, anything. Other pedestrians, joggers, wild horses, coyotes, low flying planes.
This was one of those groups. Rather than sow confusion by announcing my impending arrival (usually with “On your left!”) I opted to scoot by on the left, where the trail did not dip into a ditch or anything. It was a tight squeeze and one of the walkers helpfully blurted out “Jogger!” as I was passing through, but I got by and continued on my way. I made it past the first boardwalk but then hit the same detour as Wednesday and had to move onto the Freeway trail. This also rendered me starting at the 0 marker pointless, as I now had no way of knowing exactly how far I’d run. Oh well.
When I returned to the Southshore trail a few minutes later it wasn’t quite as treacherous as Wednesday, though I did get close to an excavator that was backing up down another trail. I felt a little bad jogging over the freshly packed gravel two men were still raking and fluffing up, but hey, gotta break it in sometime.
As I passed the 4K mark it seemed plausible that I might be able to do 10K. The right leg was behaving, I’d found a rhythm that found me breathing comfortably (BPM was down to 156) and then there was a second walking group. This one I met head-on and several dramatically leaped out of my way even though there was no need to. I appreciated the sentiment that I was some unstoppable force.
I continued on and by the time I hit 8K I knew that short of sudden bear attack/walking group consisting of large immovable metallic men, I would hit 10K and I did. The walk home also came in at under 9:00/km, so overall it was a good effort.
The second half of the run was slower and the pace was inconsistently consistent. That is, each km was never more than a few seconds off from the one before or after, but the actual times were a veritable roller coaster, up and down, up and down. The overall pace of 5:41/km was only five seconds off my 8K pace and still ahead of some of my earlier 7Ks, so I’m pleased with that. For some reason my opening km was 5:09/km, one of my fastest yet. I wasn’t even trying to run fast. This also includes where I was slowed by the first walking group. Weird.
Anyway, I’m pleased that I hit 10 km at last. Now I have the weekend to recover, with the next run on Monday, when I’m sure winter conditions will return once again.
Run 445 Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 8.07 km
Time: 45:20
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3549 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
The weather was a replay of yesterday, though without the rain. The conditions were actually nice for running–cool but not cold, overcast but not wet, with just enough of a breeze to be refreshing.
Mindful of having run the last two days, I started out at a deliberate pace and overall held pretty steady after the inevitable 2K adjustment and the 6-7K dip. I finished strong (partial reason below) but just as I came up on 8 km, I started to feel the upper right leg getting stiff/sore, so I called it there. By the end of the walk home the leg was fine, so I’ll aim for 8 and push for 10K again on Friday.
My overall pace was the best for a lake run this year at 5:36/km and I felt pretty good throughout. Surprisingly, I still managed to sweat a fair bit, probably due to the humidity and in spite of the relative chill. I was also surprised by the number of people I encountered on a gray weekday morning. The trail wasn’t packed but there was a relatively steady stream of walkers and joggers. The most annoying was a walking group. These groups that one might imagine would know more than the average person about trail etiquette and unspoken rules, often seem to know the least and tend to spread themselves across the trail in a giant unpassable blob. To their credit, this group was a little more on top of things.
Despite earlier showers, I didn’t have to dodge any puddles, though the trail was still wet in spots. What I did have to dodge were slugs. Lots and lots of slugs. At times I had to exercise great dexterity to avoid sending slugs to their maker, but I think I got through without any slime-trailing casualties.
The detour came right near the end of the run. I decided to call it at 8K and at nearly the same moment came up to a sign directing me onto the Freeway trail, as part of the trail was again closed for resurfacing. The last few minutes prior to my exit via the detour were a tad hairy. I first encountered a park worker raking the sides of a freshly-surfaced section of trail. He had his little gravel-flattening machine parked just past him up the trail (I have no idea what these are called. They’re basically little hand-operated steam rollers except they don’t have a roller, just a flat belt that presses down and flattens the ground or whatever is below it). After this section of the trail came the in-between section that had neither the old surface nor the new surface. Instead it had been gouged out by an excavator and was filled with a number of piles of dirt (base layer) that had not yet been flattened.
The gouging left deep ruts and holes and the dirt piles were giant obstacles. I approached this stretch at full speed and unaware (there is a reason why cyclists are not permitted here and numerous blind corners are one of them). I managed to stay upright through this patch and entered another gouged area that did not yet have dirt piles in it. I passed a side trail and spied an excavator with a huge pile of dirt in its scoop trundling toward the same trail I was on. When I next glanced behind me it was on my trail and seemingly gaining ground. It occupied pretty much the entire width of the trail, so having it catch up would have been awkward or possibly fatal. I fired up the jets to make space between us and that is how the final km of my run was almost as fast as the first one.
Overall, I am pleased with the results, though wary as always of the right leg. I think it’s fine and I’ll have a full day’s rest tomorrow, save for a likely 5K walk, but that shouldn’t affect things. At any rate, this is already a million times better than last summer’s disastrous August.
Run 444 Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 26:40
Weather: Light rain showers
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 151
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 3541 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
Today marks the first official day of my vacation. It rained, of course.
Seeing that the weather was poop and yet wanting to hit my 10,000 step goal on my Fitbit and meet my three activity goals on my watch (exercise, calories and standing), I mulled what to do. Normally on a non-run day I’ll go for a walk for about an hour but the thing with walks in the summer when it’s raining is there’s no good way to dress. First, I don’t carry an umbrella because I hate them and if I could I’d go back in time and uninvent them because they are obnoxious latent eye-pokers. Second, because it’s summer it’s not really cold so you don’t need to bundle up as you normally would in inclement weather. You wear a jacket and go for a brisk walk and you’ll be sweaty and gross (and wet) in no time.
The alternative was to go for a run because I don’t care about getting wet/muddy when running. I rarely do next-day runs and was especially hesitant as I still consider myself in recovery mode, but around 1 p.m. the steady rain had eased up to a steady but light shower and the decision was made. The one nod to the weather was wearing a long sleeve t-shirt. Off I went on a short 5K run along the river trail.
During the entire 5K run I only encountered a single person, a man walking two dogs, one very large and one rather small. Perhaps the small dog was a snack for when the big dog got hungry. Happily, both were leashed and no trouble.
I worked to keep a steady pace, not wanting to push things and the right leg emerged unscathed. Being that it was only 15ºC and the glare of the sun was only affecting jetliners above the clouds, conditions were surprisingly good, despite the ever-present lack of windshield wipers on my glasses. My pace at the end was 5:17/km, which seemed quite decent. I checked my last 5K back on July 20 and my pace then was 5:28/km, so my timing today was not merely decent, it was significantly better. I think the weather played a major role, much as I hate summer rain on principle. My BPM was also lower at 151.
It’s supposed to be sunny again tomorrow, though not too warm at 21ºC. My plan is to head out earlyish in the morning while it’s still cool. I’ll be planning 8K and pushing to 10K if I feel up to it. It will be interesting to see how today’s run may affect tomorrow’s, if at all.
(I met my step, exercise and calorie goals, the stand goal I’ll hit in a few hours since it’s the one goal that is strictly time-based.)
Run 443 Average pace: 5:45/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 8.05 km
Time: 46:21
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3536 km
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
Last year I famously set out on the first Monday of my vacation on a 10K run. You can read about it here. Spoiler: it ended in horrible pain and I didn’t run again until January of this year.
Today’s run was started with some trepidation, not just because of the anniversary of that Titanic-like run, but also because when I woke up on Friday morning that same hip/hamstring/whatever it is was aching again. I had felt fine after Tuesday’s run so it again seemed to be associated with something that happened in the night as I slept.
Friday’s walk at lunch was slower than normal because of this and when I ran my time again retreated back to my previous slower pace (though it was also quite warm). By Sunday the achiness had mostly cleared up but I was not to be lulled into a false sense of security!
The walk to the lake this morning went briskly and with no achiness, but the moment I started actually running it hit. The good news is the run did not end like last year’s. The ache modified and by the end of the run had mostly dissipated. The walk home was fine. I don’t think I am in for a repeat of last year but man, I’d love to just run and not have to worry about this stuff.
I may have made matters slightly worse by forgetting to stretch before the run. Oops.
Onto the run itself. I officially set out to do a 7K run, feeling I was still not up to a full 10K yet, with the idea that if I felt good I would run farther. The whole hip thing made me think I’d stop at 7K but I was actually feeling decent by the time I’d covered 7 km, so I pushed on to do 8K and stopped there. Surprisingly, my pace was slightly better than Friday, coming in at 5:45/km. I started to feel a little slothful around 6K but kept pushing and got a nice second wind. I stopped at 8K simply because I didn’t want to push it. I’ll probably set 8K as a goal for Wednesday and see if I can make 10.
Much as it was last year on BC Day, the trail was fairly crowded, with a particularly large number of joggers, including one who was aiming for a head-on collision with me because he wasn’t following the stay-on-the-right rule. Perhaps surprisingly, nearly every runner at the lake does this. The naughty left-side runner darted out of the way in time. And again, no cyclists. Yay!
I am not really sure what to expect on Wednesday. I just hope I can emerge intact, however far I run.
Run 442 Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 40:47
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27-24ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 154
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3528
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
I skipped my usual Thursday run so to keep on track I ran today instead. It was sunny and quite warm, so I expected to be slower and was duly rewarded with a pace of 5:48/km. On the plus side my BPM was down from 160 to 154. On the snake side, I had my first snake of summer slither across the trail in front of me. It’s funny because I had just been thinking about how I hadn’t seen any snakes this year. On my next run I’m going to think about how I haven’t seen a pot of gold this year.
My right calf was stiff and a little sore heading out but I don’t think this affected my pace as much as the heat and copious sweating as I worked to maintain a respectable pace. I never struggled, exactly, but much of the run felt labored. Did I mention the sweat? I sweated a lot.
The calf was sore even before the run, so I think I had one of those weird night things where your body contorts unnaturally while you’re sleeping (yes, sleeping). It doesn’t feel bad now so I’m not overly concerned.
The trail was sparsely populated tonight, possibly due to the people having vacated for the long weekend or maybe just the “it’s finally hot, let’s stay inside and bask in the AC” effect.
I’m now on my summer vacation so I’m switching my run time and days to mornings and Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The first run of last year’s vacation resulted in an injury that ended my running for the rest of the year. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen again this year. Or ever again. I’ll even trade a pot of gold to make sure it doesn’t.
Overall, not a bad run given the conditions, but I’m looking forward to running mornings when the temperatures are more temperate.
Run 441 Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.04 km
Time: 39:34
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20-22ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 160
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3521
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
I changed things up a little today, running another 7K but starting at the river trail and carrying over to the lake. I also started earlier, with the run beginning around 9 a.m. (I had a commitment later that meant I had to take the day off of work, so chose to use the time for a run, though the pull to watch cat videos instead was strong).
The early start meant I successfully dodged the hottest part of the day, with it being warm but still comfortable. I also dramatically improved my pace over the previous 7K, lending credence to the idea that something about the river is either really easy or something about the lake is really hard, though the last km at the lake matched my general performance at the river. I slowed in the middle, as has usually been the case this past month. The overall pace of 5:37/km was an 11 second improvement over Sunday’s.
The right leg felt slightly stiff to start but was fine otherwise.
My entrance into Burnaby Lake Park was memorable in that the sewer (there is a sewer that parallels the course of the Brunette River and at certain key points you can often catch a whiff of it–it smells just like you’d expect a sewer to) was producing a barf-inducing stench not unlike a metric tonne or two of rotten eggs. Keep in mind that at this point I am nearly 2.5 km into the run as I go by and am sucking in air greedily, except now the air is foul beyond description. Once I passed the dam the odor disappeared but it was literally gag-inducing at the time. I’m not even using “literally” in the bizarre new opposite sense where I actually mean “figuratively.” I did actually feel my gag reflex kick in. It doesn’t seem it should ever smell that bad when you’re outside of the actual sewer but I’m no sewerologist.
As expected, getting out in the morning on a weekday meant I encountered far fewer people, only a couple of other joggers and the rest mostly people with their dogs, many off-leash but strangely well-behaved. The trail definitely had a different vibe.
Speaking of the trail, they started work on another section of the Southshore trail. In fact the li’l earth mover was still there, idling at the side of the trail as I scooted past it. A lot of the new gravel had been dumped but not spread out, making for semi-tricky navigation that would have been a lot trickier had I still been running at that point. The section of the trail that splits off Avalon and was closed for a few weeks a couple of years back was again closed, apparently for replacement of the surface and a bridge. The same bridge they replaced a few years ago? That would seem odd, given how new the current bridge is. Either way, I was forced to detour onto the Freeway trail, just like back in 2012. I got impatient with the unexpected extension of my walk back and ended up jogging most of it. This meant my total walk back came in at just over 10 km, which is a pretty decent hike on its own. By the end I was definitely ready for a refreshment and the option of sitting/laying down/napping.
And the rabbit? Along the same stretch of trail as Sunday, although possibly a little farther along, I again encountered a brown rabbit sitting on the trail. Was it the same rabbit? Was I constantly invading his favorite spot to sit and contemplate bunny thoughts? This time the rabbit was more decisive and immediately peeled off into the brush.
I definitely felt I had more energy at the end of today’s run. I’m undecided on what to do for Thursday’s but it is interesting to see more verification that the river trail is apparently a lot easier to run than the lake. With the work on the Southshore trail, I know I will probably stick to running counter-clockwise for the next couple of weeks at least because the idea of running the Freeway trail under the glare of the summer sun does not make my socks roll up and down in delight.
Run 440 Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 40:49
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-24ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159 pounds
Total distance to date: 3514
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
Although it was actually slightly cooler for today’s run vs. Wednesday’s, it felt warmer and I had sweat trickling down my face a little over a km in. After a fairly brisk walk to the lake, I saw the same weird shift in pace that has happened the last three times I’ve run at the lake, where my time is significantly slower, even when running the same distance.
Today I at least had the excuse that I was not running the same distance, as this was my first post-recovery run where I went beyond 5K, choosing to do a 7K run. The good news is I finished with no pain or discomfort (the right leg was a little stiff, especially to start but fine after and on the walk back). The less good is by about the 6 km mark I was beginning to feel the extra distance. I never quite fell to plodding along but the last two km were markedly slower than the rest. I slumped on the second km, too, though that was more by design as I was trying to conserve energy for the longer distance. The third to fifth km my pace actually improved and stayed fairly steady.
Oh, and in all the time I have run at Burnaby Lake I have never seen a rabbit, until today. A cute brown bunny was sitting out on the Spruce Loop trail, soaking up the sun. My approach sent it into a panic and it initially hopped down the trail, then, perhaps realizing I was catching up, began to dart back and forth, as if unable to decide what to do. It finally pelted left into the bush, just safely out of reach. I can now add rabbits to the list of wildlife encountered while running at the lake, which also includes snakes, turtles, coyotes and possibly a bear. And maybe Bigfoot, who knows.
While I’m not thrilled with my pace of 5:48/km, I realize I am still a ways off from getting back into peak form and finishing the run intact should be enough. And it is. Mostly.
I’m going to try to stick to a regular schedule now, with the next run on Tuesday. I am undecided on 5K or 7K. I’ll probably ask my watch to flip a coin, because it’s the future and my watch can totally do that.
Run 439 Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:32
Weather: Sunny, humid
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 158
Stride: n/a
Weight: 160.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3507
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
Back to the river trail and my pace was almost identical to the previous river run, coming in at 5:28/km vs. 5:27/km previously. Conditions were warm and humid, though not as humid as Sunday’s run. My right calf was a little stiff before the run but oddly enough it limbered up and actually felt better after the run.
As I write this later in the evening the effect of a day of walking and the warm run have left me pretty tired. I think it’s a good tired.
There was a fair amount of activity on the trail, with a mix of other runners, cyclists, people walking dogs and people walking themselves. All were well-behaved, even friendly. It was weird but pleasant.
I felt no discomfort during the run, save for it being warm but it stayed tolerable, probably in large part to the sun not shining directly down on me for most of the run. I am pleased to see a bounce back to a better performance and now I’m curious as all get-out how the next run at the lake will be.
