Outdoor runs

Run 394: The TomTom and obstacle course run

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:

TomTom Runner Cardio
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.

And I’m okay with that.

Run 393: The sounds of silence with bonus extra hot heat

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: More spring in summer

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: The it-feels-like summer first day of summer run

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.

We shall see.

Run 390: The still slow mid-week run

Run 390
Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.06 km
Time: 27:36
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-24ºC
Wind: moderate to breezy
Calories burned: 374
Weight: 157.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3179
Device used: iPhone 6

Tuesday’s run was delayed a day because I was feeling strangely tired and in fact I didn’t go into work today (Wednesday). After sleeping in and supposedly shaking off whatever is afflicting me I decided to try a run at the lake early in the afternoon.

The walk there was noticeably slower than usual, an ominous sign–though I didn’t feel awful or anything. I headed out and didn’t feel bad but didn’t feel great, either. I made an effort to not push so I wasn’t expecting to set any land speed records.

I had two big drops, 11% after 2 km and an unexpected 4% drop for the last km. These combined to give me a mediocre pace of 5:27/km, six seconds slower than my previous 7K run and 13 seconds slower than my last 5K. Blargh.

The good news was no complications. The right tendon felt a bit stiff at the start but warmed up quickly. The left foot behaved right up until the very end of the walk home.

The walk home was probably the highlight. It was only fractions of a second off my fastest pace for a walk that length (about 9 km). I was ranting in my head about things I am unhappy about and this apparently translates directly into walking speed. I may have to apply it to my next run.

The other highlight was how quiet the trail was. I miss mid-afternoon weekday runs. I’m not anti-social but a trail sans people is nice for a solo runner. Maybe I’m a little anti-social.

The FIRE DANGER: LEFT FOOT run

Run 389
Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 58:30
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-25ºC
Wind: moderate to breezy
Calories burned: 744
Weight: 158.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3174
Device used: iPhone 6

Good news: My right Achilles tendon felt significantly better on today’s run and was a complete non-factor. Once warmed up I really didn’t notice it at all.

Bad news: Everything else.

This was a fairly terrible run. It started with me making the crazy decision to try my Merrell Apollo “to the moon!” shoes again. With the New Balance MT110s starting to wear I am thinking more about replacements and the Merrells have been worn only a few times so they are still virtually brand new. I put them on, the fit was snug but comfy. I notice the even more minimalist sole compared to the MT110s but everything seems okay as I pad around in the condo with them, so I head out. Within three blocks my left foot starts to hurt. I don’t blame the shoe (Merrell PR people seeing this via Google Alerts, relax! The Merrell shoes are very nice.) but it’s clear the knobbier trail-ready soles of the MT110s may be a better choice.

I head back, put on the MT110s and head out again. I have walked 1.6 km so far and essentially gotten nowhere. But now my left foot feels better with the additional support. I am not overly hopeful but you never know.

It is warm and only the breeze keeps it from being just this side of uncomfortable. I start out and for the first 2 km my pace is decent if not great. Then the bottom falls out. Then my left foot starts to hurt again less than 4 km in. It starts to hurt even more. I feel tired. I think about stopping.

I press on, plodding, aching, gritting my teeth. At one point my left hip starts to hurt just a tiny bit, its way of saying, “Hello, remember me? I remember you!” It stops hurting but a short time later I feel vaguely nauseated. By now the pain in my foot has peaked so I keep going. I actually pick up the pace for the final km but finish with a very slow 5:50/km pace.

Bleah.

On a possibly more positive note, I may have figured out the root cause of my left foot issues. My shiny new theory involves the desk I sit at when I am working/playing on/staring at my computer. Previously I used a foot rest to insure good posture but the current alcove with my computer setup is on a hardwood floor, making it impossible to use the foot rest, as either it or the chair will go sliding all over the place. A mat is the obvious solution but I’ve been lazy. neglectful and generally terrible in getting a mat. What I’ve come to realize is that I often slouch and then brace myself against the wall with–you guessed it–my left foot!–to keep from sliding out of the chair and into an awkward lump under the computer desk. I often keep my foot squashed against the wall until it hurts, then move it away and move it back again when I’ve forgotten that squashing it up against the wall hurts (I apparently forget this a lot).

I am going to get a mat, sit up straight and see if the foot improves. If not it’s off to the doctor and amputation! Or maybe some kind of magic cream or something. The magic cream would be preferable.

The watch for fires and bears run

Run 388
Average pace: 5:21/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 37:40
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 520
Weight: 159.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3164
Device used: iPhone 6

Good news: I beat my last 7K pace by a solid eight seconds.
Possibly bad news: My right Achilles tendon was sore and stiff to start, felt better after warming up, but I could still feel it a little through most of the run.
Good news: The tendon did not affect my pace.
Conclusion: I think it may still be sore but not actually injured.

I did a 7K run tonight and though I felt a little tired along the middle stretch I still finished with a pace of 5:21/km, easily beating my previous 7K pace of 5:29/km. By the end of the run I felt pretty good and other than the tendon being a bit sore there were no other issues worth noting. It was sunny and warm but not humid so it didn’t feel uncomfortable. It still seems a bit weird to have this summer-like weather so early. Today could easily have been a day in mid-August.

Speaking of weird, the fire danger signs they put up after a long dry spell were up at Burnaby Lake today, the earliest I’ve seen them go up in the four years I’ve been jogging there. Right next to them was a bear warning sign. I’m expecting a third sign soon showing a bear on fire. A smokey bear, if you will.

Noteworthy bits: My first km was 4:32/km, one of my fastest of the year and my pace improved for the last three km after I flagged, especially on the second and fourth km (moreso the fourth, the second seems steeper because the first km was extra-zippy).

Overall I am pleased with the result and cautiously hopeful that the tendon is just sore and out of shape. This weekend I will be looking for new trail runners as I’m climbing ever-closer to 400 km on my New Balance MT110s (and have probably passed that if you count the walk before and after each run). I am leaning toward getting another pair of minimalist shoes but haven’t made up my mind yet because my mind is all fickle and indecisive.

The post-Kamloops run

Run 387
Average pace: 5:14/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25ºC
Wind: light to none
Calories burned: 371
Weight: 159.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3157
Device used: iPhone 6

After missing Sunday’s usual run (due to travel back from the mountains/boonies) I was concerned how my first run in four days would pan out. It was sunny and warm but pleasantly so. The run was faster than my previous 5K and one of my better efforts of the year so overall I was pleased with the result. I experienced no noteworthy issues.

I was originally planning to do another 7K river/lake combo run but due to YASP (Yet Another SkyTrain Problem) I got home later than usual and opted for the basic 5K. 5:14/km may not be lightning fast but I can guarantee that for about two hours I was definitely running faster than the Expo Line trains.

The Kamloops run

Run 386
Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: North Thompson River Trail (Kamloops)
Distance: 5.06 km
Time: 26:46
Weather: Cloudy, some sun
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light to none
Calories burned: 374
Weight: 159.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3152
Device used: iPhone 6

For a change of pace I decided to run in Kamloops, some 400 km or so away from Vancouver.

By coincidence my partner’s sister’s daughter was having her high school graduation/convocation ceremony around the same time so we hitched the trailer to the truck and made a good ol’ camping trip out of it (more on that in other posts).

After some unseasonal rain, it was not overly warm for the run (Kamloops has what is probably the closest to a desert terrain in Canada), hitting about 23ºC. High cloud blocked the sun for the most part so conditions were pretty good.

I ran along a dike that parallels the Thompson River as it is conveniently a few blocks away from the sister’s house. The only downside is that it was relatively short, only about 2 km in length. I decided to do a 5K so I could get a direct comparison to other recent 5Ks. My pace of 5:17/km was a couple of seconds slower than my last 5K, so not much difference. Physically the biggest change was probably elevation, as Kamloops is 345 m above sea level, compared to where I normally run, which is roughly 0 m above sea level, give or take a meter or two. As it turned out, that’s not enough of a difference to have made me pass out from thin air or anything. It felt mostly like any other run.

There were a few people out walking dogs and the desire to let dogs roam free (ie. off-leash) seems universal, though the majority were either leashed or were down closer to the river, running through the tall grass and collecting brain-destroying ticks and keeping out of my way. Other than that the run was fairly ordinary, though I’d have preferred a faster pace. I’m still inching (centimetering?) toward peak form, so that’s probably still a ways off yet.

The Sunday run all over again

Run 385
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:50
Weather: Cloudy and humid
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 743
Weight: 159.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3147
Device used: iPhone 6

This run was very similar to the previous Sunday’s run, down to a mere second difference in average pace. I had no major issues and the cloudy sky meant the trails were lightly populated (yay).

For a change I ran the section of freeway trail I had to use in 2012 when the first boardwalk was being replaced. Without the sun beating down it wasn’t too bad and it was probably nicer than the rest of the south shore, which felt weirdly muggy once again.

In fact, I am hard-pressed to add much more. It was a solid if unspectacular result and I am neither backsliding nor vaulting forward.

The roving band of runners run

Run 384
Average pace: 5:29/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.02 km
Time: 38:29
Weather: Sunny and humid
Temp: 24-26ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 519
Weight: 160.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3137
Device used: iPhone 6

I decided to stretch a bit and do a 7K run instead of the usual weeknight 5K. I ran the river trail then headed to the lake and ran another 5K to Still Creek then made my way to the nearby Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station for a nice ride home.

My pace was 5:29/km, which is slower than my last 5K (5:15/km) but faster than my last 10K (5:39/km). With it being quite warm and muggy as well, the results are about in line with what I expected and I had no discomfort or pain, just the usual stiffness starting out.

There were plenty of other runners out enjoying the summer-like conditions, including the titular roving band, about a dozen or so jogging as a group clockwise around the lake. Even though they formed a giant, multi-legged blob on the trail, they kindly and quickly adjusted to allow me to pass by without having to throw myself into a ditch first.

I ended the run a few hundred meters from the SkyTrain station, then did a bit of a sprint on the pedestrian overpass (for some reason it almost always triggers my latent acrophobia so I like getting past it as quickly as possible). I stopped at a convenient fountain for a few welcome sips of water, then lightly jogged into the station just as a train arrived. Timing! The downside to this is I didn’t have a chance to really cool off and the olde train had no air conditioning. As I sat down my body turned into a furnace and I sweated profusely for a few minutes while waiting for my body temperature to settle back to something normal. When I got home my shirt was so bathed in sweat I actually had trouble pulling it off. This is not something I would expect to be a problem in May. All said, I’d still take it over rain.

Sunday looks like it may be cloudy and perhaps a tad cooler. We will see.

The seemingly slower yet actually faster run

Run 383
Average pace: 5:15/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 26:21
Weather: Mostly sunny, some cloud
Temp: 24-27ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 369
Weight: 160.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3130
Device used: iPhone 6

I was feeling cranky and the day turned unusually warm when I went out running tonight. At the end of the run the reported temperature was 27ºC. That’s kind of crazy. It even felt a bit muggy.

I got off to a slow start but at least got the phone into the belt without going through a contortion act like on Sunday. I picked up the pace and as I neared the 2K mark I felt surprisingly comfortable, almost relaxed. But then I passed the usual 2K mark, kept going farther and was suddenly really cranky. There was no way I could be running slower.

I pushed a bit on the way back and the right Achilles tendon, feeling sore, smoothed out. That was good. A cramp threatened on my lower right side. That was bad. And I started to feel tired from everything. Also not so good.

Still I ended with an improved pace of 5:15/km, a full eight seconds better than my run one week earlier, which was also a follow-up to a 10K. So overall I end up being pleased with the result. Weird.