Run 402 Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 27:31
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28-30ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 157
Stride: 179 strides/min
Weight: 154.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3272
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
Today’s run featured:
the first time my New Balance MT 110 shoelaces came untied (in over 460 km of use)
a mad cyclist furiously biking up from behind me
temperatures that started at 28ºC mid-morning and climbed to 30ºC–still in the morning
a decided lack of breeze
On the plus side, at least I didn’t get hit by a blimp.
The first km was surprisingly swift at 4:39/km but after that the halo effect of that first 1000 meters wore off and the reality of Africa hot set in and my pace slowed steadily. It became obvious pretty quickly that a full 10K would be ugly, not to mention sweaty and uncomfortable. I toyed with the idea of at least stretching to 7K but as I neared 5K along the completely exposed trail alongside the athletic fields I opted to stop short and walk the rest of the way. I think I made the right call.
As it was, my pace overall was a sluggish 5:28/km, slower than some recent 10K efforts. The forecast for the rest of the week looks to mirror what we had prior to the weekend, with temperatures in the mid 20s rather than high 20s and low 30s. My pace should hopefully bounce back like some springy sort of thing.
Other than being stupid hot for the millionth time this summer, I didn’t have any issues of note, apart from my left shoe coming untied for the first time ever. What’s odd is I even made sure they were tied securely before heading out. I’m just going to blame the heat on this, too.
On the other hand, when I later went to the store wearing my walkin’ shoes, they both came untied simultaneously. Maybe it’s secretly National Untied Shoelace Day.
On the subject of shoes, with the heels of the MT 110s starting to get nice and smooth (this is not a good thing for the heels of running shoes) I am hoping to get a new pair in the next week or so, likely something light but non-minimalist for a change of pace.
Run 401 Average pace: 5:15/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 7.02 km
Time: 36:53
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-22ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 158
Stride: 181 strides/min
Weight: 154.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3265
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
Check run #400 and you have the summary for run #401. Although I went clockwise around the lake instead of counter-clockwise, my end result was an identical pace of 5:15/km. My actual run time was eight seconds faster, 36:53 vs. 37:01. That’s so close it’s kind of weird.
I had a mild stitch that threatened but never developed into anything notable. Other than that there were no issues of note, apart from a cyclist on the trail that made me GRR.
Run 400 Average pace: 5:15/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 37:01
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26-24ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 155
Stride: 191 strides/min
Weight: 155.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3258
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
Today marks my 400th run officially tracked by Nike+. Hooray! Technically it’s more than 400 if you count runs I’ve deleted because of wacky results from technology shenanigans (pretty much equally split between the tracking making me look bionic and alternately using a walker).
All day today I’ve felt unpleasantly gassy and heartburn-y. I almost didn’t run at all but ended up heading out a bit later than normal for an evening run. Surprisingly the gas proved to be a non-factor and I had a perfectly good run with no issues.
After our brief dalliance with a shower on Sunday the weather has resumed being sunny and warm but a little more reasonable. It was 26ºC starting out tonight and it didn’t keep climbing so yay on that. I started out trying to moderate my pace a bit, hoping to conserve some energy for the immediate post-1K section. It more or less worked as the fall off from 1K to 2K was much smaller than it has been of late. Additionally, each km after the third got progressively faster, bringing me closer to my starting pace. I finished at 5:15/km, easily my best 7K and only a few seconds off my best 5K efforts this year.
With no issues to speak of, a steady BPM of 155 and the temperature warm instead of desert-like, it was an entirely fine run.
Run 399
Average pace: 5:24/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 54:19
Weather: Cloudy, showers
Temp: 19-18ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 156
Stride: 179 strides/min
Weight: 154.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3248
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
The current high pressure system finally gave up for now and the conditions for today’s run were dramatically different compared to a few days ago. I’m pretty sure I heard an ominous organ as I stepped outside.
The big question: would cloudy skies and a temperature of 19ºC (actually below seasonal) result in a faster run? The short answer: Yes!
I went from Thursday’s 7K pace of 5:33/km to 5:24/km, also making this the best 10K of the TomTom era. I broke the 5 minute barrier on the first km and had another big drop-off on the second km, with paces of 4:54 and 5:27 respectively. On the plus side I wasn’t completely wrung out from the heat and managed to push at the end with a pace of 5:16/km for the final km, making it my second best of the run.
My left foot even behaved for the entire run and didn’t start acting up until I was about 2 km from home (16 km in vs. the more typical 11 km). This is also encouraging.
The sky was overcast and around the 6K mark it opened up, with a shower persisting for the remainder of the run. It was kind of nice. A lot of runners were out today but they became much more scarce once the rain started. The shower ended before I got back and the sun even made an appearance, acting as if nothing had changed.
Overall it was nice to get confirmation that the silly heat was having an effect on me. This coming week is forecast to be cooler so we’ll see if the improved times persist.
Run 398
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Brunette River tail, Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 39:07
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 30-31ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 155
Stride: 177 strides/min
Weight: 154.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3238
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
Another crazy set of back-to-back runs. Obviously the heat has made me mad.
Conditions were much the same as yesterday but since I started earlier I managed to hit the peak heat of the day, hooray. The combination of less recovery time and even hotter temperatures meant I was slower–5:33/km vs. 5:26/km and I felt a bit off stomach-wise. I almost thought of calling it at 5K but pressed on and finished the intended 7K.
A few interesting things: the first km broke the five minute mark, coming in at 4:58/km. This apparently left me utterly drained, as the second km dropped to 5:32/km. My steps also went from 197 to 177/min. You would think fewer steps would imply greater speed but I apparently defied that logic. I had shed nearly two pounds overnight so maybe I just felt lighter, even though I moved slower. I did get a bit of a spring in my stride for the last km, however, so the finish was strong, if sweaty.
Right now the forecast for the weekend is calling for highs of 22 and 24ºC, which would feel almost bone-chilling after the last few weeks. I’m kind of eager to run without it being Africa hot. I would not normally be saying this in early July but these are strange days, weather-wise and the days have ominously stretched into weeks.
Four runs in six days (34 km total) is probably the most running I’ve done in a week and I did it while it was stupidly hot, so in a perverse sort of way I am a bit proud of that.
Run 397
Average pace: 5:26/km
Location: Brunette River tail, Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 38:17
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 30-27ºC
Wind: nil to light
BPM: 157
Stride: 197 strides/min
Weight: 156.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 3231
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
Stats! I have removed calorie burn, as it is predictable and not overly informative as to how the run went. I have added stride and BPM (beats per minute/heart rate).
After missing my usual Tuesday run I went out and ran today (Wednesday) instead.
Although the temperature went down over the course of the run it never felt any different. It was hot and muggy in the sun, it was hot and muggy in the shade. It was just darker in the shade, that’s all. If I had to use one word to describe the quality of the conditions, it would be grossbuckets.
There are forest fires a-raging to the north and the smoke is thick enough that on Monday it was settled over the area like a fog. A very smokey fog. By Wednesday the density had eased a bit and the smokey aroma was mostly gone but the sky was still white instead of blue and the air was thick in a way that air should never be.
Surprisingly, I pulled off a decent pace of 5:26/km. This is not blazing fast (no pun intended) but considering the volume of sweat produced, I think it was pretty good. I didn’t experience any issues on the run except for it being hot and grossbuckets. When I passed by the dam I spied a pair of women sitting on the top of a picnic table, both of them smoking. There are fires all over. The air still lingers with the scent of forest fires, there’s been a no smoking ban in parks for weeks and weeks and yet there they were, happily indulging in budding lung cancer.
I note again the only times I’ve seen people smoking at the lake this year has been after the smoking ban went into effect. I expected to encounter a cyclist on the trail later and was rewarded thusly. I gave the cyclist my patented “What the hell are you doing here?” look. He seemed puzzled. I wished for his tires to spontaneously deflate but this did not happen.
Since I wasn’t doing an endurance-ish run, my BPM was up slightly, to 157 but still below my first few runs where it was hitting 160/161.
Overall, not a bad effort given the yuck of the weather.
Run 396
Average pace: 6:04/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 10.05 km
Time: 1:01:05
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28-32ºC
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 770
BPM: 155 <- exciting new stat
Weight: 156.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3224
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
I normally run on Sundays but already ran yesterday and today was forecast to be hotter than yesterday, which was not exactly icy cold. The sensible thing to do would have been to take the day off.
Instead I headed out late in the morning and did another 10K run because I have obviously gone mad from the heat.
In order to minimize the agony and suffering I was about to subject myself to I opted to try out a feature on the TomTom I hadn’t used yet, which is to set a run based on one of the heart zones. I chose Endurance, as this is two levels below Sprint (what it has been clocking me at for the previous runs) and would result in a more deliberate and presumably easier pace.
TomTom has determined that my default BPM for Endurance running is 139. I hit that less than half a km in. From there it ticked up to an average of 155, which actually puts me in the Speed zone, one below Sprint. While faster than intended, it was slow enough to have the desired effect, namely the run was much more tolerable as I never pushed in any significant way. This was fortunate as the temperature started out at a very warm 28ºC and climbed to a yucky 32ºC by the time I hit the 10K mark.
Running in such a way to keep my BPM below 139 would feel almost absurdly slow, I suspect. I may try again but for now I think I’ll stick to the more traditional distance runs. Also, the default display for heart zone runs is some kind of bar graph that I found difficult to read while running, what with the moving and all.
My overall pace was 6:04/km. Normally I would find this horrifyingly slow and start shouting for someone to bring me a walker but since it was intentional, I’m okay with it. I sweated like a very sweaty person right from the start of the run. Finishing six or seven minutes sooner would likely have reduced me to a puddle on the trail.
Perhaps because of the lesser effort I experienced no real issues. My left foot did hurt again but it started later and did not hurt as much. After the run I gave it a few minutes to recover and that eliminated the pain for about the first km back and minimized it for the rest of the way, reasonably impressive given this was my second 10K run in 24 hours.
I am not doing a third 10K tomorrow, however. I’m not completely crazy yet.
Run 395
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:32
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25-26ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 756 BPM: 161 <- exciting new stat
Weight: 155.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3214
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
I don’t normally run on Saturdays, but given my shifted-due-to-Africa-hot schedule this week, it was the next logical day to head out.
I headed out mid-morning to beat the expected high of 30ºC, and the temperature was warm but not stupidly hot at 25-26ºC. It felt warmer in the exposed parts of the trail but tolerable.
This was my second run using the TomTom Runner Cardio watch and the first 10K using it. It worked fine, though I sweated more, and it felt like it was slipping a few times. It wasn’t, really, as I had it secured tightly enough to leave a nuclear blast-like afterimage on my arm for a good while after the run ended and the watch was off. It did move slightly, and I pushed it up my wrist periodically to ease my paranoia that it would squip down to my hand and twirl uselessly.
I listened to music this time and it was much more entertaining than my breathing. It’s also nice to have the phone safely tucked away in the belt before the run.
After starting out I decided to try accessing some of the other screens showing assorted stats during the run. The first screen was a menu of different options that contained about a million items. I got scared I’d screw something up and just put it back to the default slowly-filling-circle screen. I’ll read up on the different options before the next run and like a good scout, be prepared.
The run itself was a middling 5:37/km–not great for a 10K but not too bad given conditions, the infrequency of 10Ks this year and the fact that the TomTom GPS is probably more accurate (and less generous) than the GPS in my iPhone. The only issue I experienced was my left foot starting to feel a bit sore around the 7K mark. It held up for the rest of the run, but did hurt noticeably on the walk home. My great footrest experiment continues, so we’ll see if the left foot holds up better on future longer runs.
While the dandy new faucet by the dam has not yet been broken, someone did remove the spigot attached to it that had ensured a narrower water flow good for filling water bottles. The spigot and its rubber washer were sitting on a post next to the faucet. Maybe someone really hates water bottles. I tried reassembling it but couldn’t manage the task, possibly because the threads on the faucet may have been partly stripped or possibly because I am as mechanically adept as a rock.
Overall, I am neither pleased nor disappointed by the run. I am happy that I got in a full 10K but will reserve judgment on the pace until I get more runs in on the watch and/or the temperatures come back down a bit.
Run 394
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:53
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27ºC
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 864 (!)
Weight: 155.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3204
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
First, a new milestone as I passed the 3,200 km mark. Hooray for legs that still work!
I normally run Tuesday evening but given the current heatwave and the Canada Day holiday [back bacon/maple syrup joke here] today, I opted to run this morning instead. Sure it made no difference on Sunday when the mid-morning run felt like a marathon in the Sahara but it has been trending very slightly cooler so I was hopeful.
It was 27ºC when I started–higher than I like but at least tolerable–and it was still 27ºC when the run ended. Weird! The sections of the run where I was fully exposed to ol’ Sol were still Africa hot-like but overall it was a much more bearable experience.
This was borne out by my pace, which went from 5:40/km on Sunday down to 5:20/km today. Still not great but decent enough given the conditions.
I opted for only 5K as I was also testing out a new running watch (more in a bit) and experienced no issues other than sweating, sweating and also some sweating. I deliberately ran silent again and confirmed I do not enjoy listening to my own breathing. I also earned +1 on my agility stat as less than a km in a tree had fallen across the Spruce Loop trail. It wasn’t too big so I opted to leap over it and did it in a fashion reminiscent of a clumsy or drunk gazelle. I made it, it wasn’t pretty.
There was a cyclist on the trail and riding fast as well (grr) but fortunately I encountered her after the run so my trail rage was minimal. Trail rage is a term I just made up. It refers to when I fume over things while on the trail. Usually these things are cyclists. I don’t do anything else, I just fume but trail rage sounds cooler than trail fume.
Onto the running watch!
On the weekend I picked up a TomTom Runner Cardio at Best Buy. Wearable tech is apparently a big enough thing that Best Buy now devotes an entire aisle to it. I had done some research and settled on the TomTom because of generally excellent reviews and the fact that the watch has a built-in heart rate monitor, saving me having to buy and wear a heart rate monitor strap, something that had the same appeal as running in a hoop skirt. Oddly, I saw a guy running today sans shirt and he was wearing a heart rate strap. I saw another guy running topless but he was only wearing a heavy sheen of sweat.
Here is a stock image of the watch I found in the vast wilds of the Internet:
Time to run (ho ho)
Operation is pretty simple using the touch controls below the display. There’s only four buttons so your odds of screwing up are fairly low and there’s no FORMAT WATCH AND REMOVE EVERYTHING function on the watch itself that you can accidentally select.
I secured the watch firmly to my thin sissy wrist and headed off to the lake. Once there I chose the five km run option and after a few moments it found the GPS signal and told me to warm up, with a handy countdown. As I had just walked four km to the lake at a brisk pace, I started off. The watch lets you cycle through different screens while running but I was afraid to touch it on the first run so I watched the default screen which shows a circle filling in as the run progresses. When I reached the halfway point the watch vibrated and the display changed briefly to 50%. It vibrated again at 90% (500 m) which allowed me to give a final push. I do not do final pushes when it is Africa hot but it was still nice to be notified. A final buzz at 100% showed the run complete and my next question was immediately answered–if you don’t stop it keeps tracking. I tapped the controls to stop the run and it switched back to the time display, which is large and digital and makes me feel like I am in 1978 again.
For some reason the phone and watch were not synced so I ran through the process on the walk back and was able to see my stats in all their glory, including for the first time my heart rate. I have no baseline to compare with but my average beats per minute (bpm) was 160. According to the TomTom MySports site this puts me firmly in “sprint mode.” I don’t know if that’s good or “oh my god what are you doing to yourself?!” when running 5K. I’ll do some research.
A nice bonus is the watch also links to my Nike+ account, allowing me to keep tracking my runs there. The only downside is I can no longer see splits on Nike+ but they show up on the TomTom site so I can still get to them there.
As MySports is a work-in-progress, I had to make an account on MapMyFitness and then link it to MySports first. It turned out I already had an account om MapMyFitness. To further link things endlessly, I next connected MapMyFitness to MyFitnessPal. In the end, this means my runs will automatically be posted on MyFitnessPal where I currently have an 884-day login streak going. As my Fitbit Aria scale and Fitbit One are also linked, this more or less means my every movement and weight gain/loss is being monitored to a level worthy of the NSA.
Run 393
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.14 km
Time: 29:11
Weather: Sunny and hot, humid; some high cloud
Temp: 31-33ºC
Wind: nil to moderate
Calories burned: 371
Weight: 157.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3199
Device used: iPhone 6
With the extended forecast promising hot weather and plenty of it, I opted to head out mid-morning for today’s run, when the temperatures were going to be merely in the mid-20s.
When I got to the lake I checked the weather app and it reported the temperature as 33ºC. As you might notice, this is not mid-20s.
I decided to go ahead and run anyway, setting up for a 10K, but not overly optimistic that I would last that long.
I somehow managed to trigger the countdown on the Nike+ app after carefully putting the phone in my SPI-belt, so I took off. It was then I realized no music was playing. I had a good pace going, so the idea of stopping to get the music playing was not overly appealing. The idea of trying to fish out the phone, start the music, then put the phone back in the SPI-belt while still running seemed laughable.
I kept running, with only my delightful wheezing serving as accompaniment. On the other hand, I got to hear birds chirping, which I normally never do. I believe the chirps interpreted to, “Man, it sure is hot today. Boy howdy.”
My pace took a big hit after 1K, which was not surprising. Nor was the big drop after 2K. It was 33ºC, after all. By about the fourth km, I had settled into a steady, if sluggish pace. I didn’t feel as sluggish as I actually was, probably thanks to an intermittent breeze and the sun being at my back rather than staring me in the face.
But the course forward was clear and uninviting. After hitting 5K I unzipped the SPI-belt to take the phone out and end the run. Then I changed my mind and zipped the belt back up. Then I repeated the entire thing again, once more changing my mind. At this point, the phone burbled “Workout paused” because my fiddling had apparently managed to invoke whatever magic command pauses a workout without specifically trying to do so. I glanced down and saw my pace was 5:40/km–yikes.
I ended the run.
I don’t feel too bad about stopping. The last two km my pace was creeping over 5:50/km and I wasn’t particularly enjoying myself. I hydrated before starting out so didn’t feel overly dry after (the walk back home felt worse for being parched, really) but obviously at these temperatures there is concern over dehydration and heatstroke.
The secret is to start running at 6 a.m. or something.
Also, I’ve decided I don’t like the SPI-belt/iPhone 6 combo. Separately each is fine but they are obviously not really designed for each other. On top of the no-music, I also had this weird thing where the cord on the left earbud kept tugging with each step (you step a lot in nearly 30 minutes of running). I don’t know if I never noticed this before when music would normally be playing or if it was new, but it was fantastically annoying. It made me think of getting wireless earphones until I found out how much they cost. I then chalked the tugging up to being a weird one-time thing.
I did, however, pick up a running watch after. More on that later.
Run 392
Average pace: 5:24/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.10 km
Time: 37:50
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 518
Weight: 158 pounds
Total distance to date: 3193
Device used: iPhone 6
My goal with tonight’s run was to improve on the horrible 5:37/km pace of my previous 7K two days ago. Barring getting hit by a blimp, I was cautiously optimistic that I would achieve this modest goal.
And I did. Woo!
Although it was 26ºC when I headed out the sun was low enough that it didn’t feel that warm, save for the Cottonwood trail being a tad on the muggy side. The only complication on the run was my right leg feeling a bit gimpy because I apparently twisted it like a pretzel while sleeping the night before. Even so the mild stiffness in the hip and elsewhere had no real impact.
I could sense I was doing better by the time I hit the 2 km mark and remarkably went on to pick up the pace for the final three km and breaking the 5:00/km mark on the first km. I pushed a little but not excessively and ended with a pace of 5:24/km, only three seconds off my best 7K pace this year.
And I lied about the only complication. There was one more–with about 2 km to go and feeling pretty good, I swallowed a bug. It wasn’t watermelon-sized like the last one I swallowed, but it made its presence known shortly after lodging in my throat. I hacked and wheezed and tried to swallow, all while determined to not slow down. The positive flow of the run would not be thrown off by a mere bug, and after a few seconds I was back to focusing on the trail and not squirming things inside me.
Oh, and there was a cyclist on the trail, riding at a stupidly fast speed. Note to cyclists on trail: I hate all of you. Go away.
Oh, Part 2: I’ve mentioned before that the only time I have ever seen people smoking on the trail is after the FIRE DANGER – No Smoking signs go up. Sure enough, some guy was merrily puffing away. Maybe he wasn’t going to start an uncontrollable forest fire with his careless carcinogens, but that stuff stinks, and the stink carries for an impressively long distance along the trail. I expect to see a group of smoking cyclists soon.
Run 391
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.10 km
Time: 39:54
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: moderate to breezy
Calories burned: 526
Weight: 158.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3186
Device used: iPhone 6
Today is the first day of summer and it felt like it. The temperature was 26ºC, right at the tipping point between warm and maybe-a-little-too-warm for my comfort level when running. A good breeze, normally refreshing, meant I suffered from Dry Mouth™ for much of the run.
The run also ended at 7K instead of 10K, even though I was not ailing in any particular way. My left foot behaved itself, I wasn’t cramping up or otherwise hurting. What I was, was slow. Again. The pace was a fairly awful 5:37/km. This past week has been strange and very disappointing, run-wise.
My walk to the lake went fine, showing no signs of the fatigue I’d been hit with earlier in the week. Given the higher temperature, I was still concerned. I started out and had again wrestled with getting the iPhone in the SPI-belt. I’m beginning to not like this combination. If I could have the run start after putting the phone in, I’d be good, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to do that, alas. Maybe this is a conspiracy to get me to spend $450 on an Apple Watch.
When I hit the first km mark, I knew my pace was way off. This continued and although I could have pushed on to a full 10K I had visions of not hitting it until I was actually looping back over the start of the run. The thought was so depressing, I stopped at 7K, as it would at least provide a point of comparison to my previous 7K.
That comparison is also depressing, as it turns out.
Looking at the stats for today’s run, I note a few things:
The first km pace was 5:26/km. This is strangely slow–it’s slower than the pace of the entire 7K I ran on June 11, just ten days ago. The phone/belt struggle appears to be partly to blame here. I also see a huge drop in pace right at the 1K mark, suggesting I was mentally defeated by the pace already.
My fastest km was the third at 5:22/km, with the fourth km also faster than the first at 5:24/km. It is very unusual for later km to be faster than the first. It’s only happened a few times in hundreds of runs.
Save for the third km, every km my pace flagged more and more.
There was also an event sponsored by the Running Room. Fortunately the event had wound down by the time I was running, so I didn’t have to face hordes of runners unused to the trail (I also wisely chose to run in the same direction the signs pointed out), but I suppose I ought to check for these things beforehand when I run on weekends. There were a bunch of people moving from the central gathering area at the rowing pavilion parking lot, but luckily they didn’t clog things up much.
Oh, and a few cyclists walking their bikes. You’re not fooling anyone, cyclists!
Overall, then, a very disappointing outing and the third run in a row (of only six this month) that has gone poorly. I’d say it can only get better from here, but even that almost feels like a bold claim at this point.
