Outdoor runs

Run 381
Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 26:38
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26-24ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 376
Weight: 161.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3115
Device used: iPhone 6

Work was again exhausting. When I got home I began stuffing apple strudel and tortilla chips into my face. I was not motivated to run, I was motivated to gorge, then hibernate.

Further killing my desire was the unusually warm weather–the Weather Underground app on my phone was reporting 28ºC when I headed out for the run. That is zany hot for May. It’s zany hot for June, July and August, too.

Yes, I did go out. The secret to the running routine when you’re feeling unmotivated is to just change and go outside. If you don’t think about it, the routine can carry you along to where you’d feel bad about not continuing.

I pushed a wee bit more during the first two km and yielded positive results. Instead of a significant drop after the second km, it was a mere 1%. My overall pace of 5:17/km was six seconds better than Tuesday, not bad considering the increased temperature and humidity. A cramp threatened to materialize in my lower right abdomen but never quite gelled (if cramps can indeed gel) so my pace never truly sagged.

Overall an unexpectedly decent outing.

Run 380
Average pace: 5:23/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 27:05
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 376
Weight: 162.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3110
Device used: iPhone 6

Although the temperature was again around 23ºC it felt much warmer, the warmest run for the year to date. As a result I sweated even more than on Sunday. I do not normally think of sweating a lot on mid-May runs.

I was feeling very tired going in, mentally exhausted from work, and also coming off my first 10K on Sunday and a 16+ km walk yesterday. I expected a plodding pace. In the latter half I found enough energy reserves to push during the fourth km (my fastest stretch, actually) and again for the last 500 m after pooping out just prior to that. The result was a mediocre pace of 5:23/km, two seconds slower than my previous 5K. I call it a wash. A sweaty, stinky wash.

The right Achilles tendon felt a little sore but it was fine by the end and I had no other real discomfort, just sluggishness and such. One day 5Ks will seem easy again.

Run 379
Average pace: 5:51/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10.0 km
Time: 58:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 753
Weight: 162.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3104
Device used: iPhone 6

Today my plan was to run 5K and then run farther if I had the energy for it. To facilitate this I again chose to run at a deliberate pace, rather than try pushing for the need for speed.

I was indeed slower, but, as planned, I felt no great discomfort or anything while running, save for an occasional hint of a cramp in my left shoulder, which continues to be strange. The weather was pleasant and the sun was warm. I even sweated a little.

My pace was a tepid 5:51/km, but I completed a full 10 km and never felt like I was struggling. It felt decent. The trail was clogged with people, due to an event apparently taking place. I saw two people with flags but couldn’t make them out. What I could make out were the vast crowds stretched out all along the trail, forcing some clever weaving and dodging at times. You can tell the regulars from the non-regulars because the latter tend to never realize there are other people on the trail.

Still, I stayed upright the entire time and finished 10K without difficulty. I am emboldened to continue and improve.

Run 378
Average pace: 5:21/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.01 km
Time: 26:51
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 375
Weight: 161.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3099
Device used: iPhone 6

Tonight, feeling tired and not really into it, plus with my lower legs still a little sore from the beginnings of a new regular run routine, I decided to do something different. Instead of trying for a burst at the beginning and end, I would instead just find a comfortable pace as quickly as I could and then try to maintain it for the rest of the run. I knew this would almost certainly mean the run would be slower but I was curious. And tired.

I ended up being a little slower than on Tuesday (5:21/km vs. 5:19/km) but felt much better during the run. My breathing was more relaxed, I never felt like I was exerting or gasping for breath. The drop after the first km was a little smaller but I still had a fairly massive drop in the last km, perhaps a reflection that I’m still a fair ways off from peak form. I even pushed a wee bit at the end but it just seemed my tiredness caught up with me. It was also warmer and a bit more humid, which may have been minor factors as well.

Still, I liked the results overall. A slightly slower pace in exchange for a much more comfortable experience is a win for me. In fact, I’m giving myself a tiny imaginary gold trophy right now. Yay for me!

I may try a full 10K on Sunday using the same method. My official time will probably be six hours. But I’ll be comfy!

Also, the Nike app/site is strangely rounding down so instead of showing me at 3100 km, it insists I’ve only run 3099. This is why I hate math.

Run 377
Average pace: 5:19/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.01 km
Time: 26:38
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 21ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 375
Weight: 161.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3094
Device used: iPhone 6

I consider this run a major success because I didn’t swallow a bug.

Compared to last Tuesday I was slower but still dramatically faster than Sunday so I consider it a win.

There were no major issues but I did have fairly big drops after the first and fourth km, which brought down my average.

Still, an improvement is better than a kick in the athletic cup.

Run 375
Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:52
Weather: Overcast, some sun
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 377
Weight: 162.8 pounds <0.2
Total distance to date: 3085
Device used: iPhone 6

Run 376
Average pace: 5:46/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:58
Weather: Overcast, some sun
Temp: 23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 377
Weight: 162.8 pounds <0.2
Total distance to date: 3090
Device used: iPhone 6

Having two very solid runs during the week, I still found myself approaching the weekend run with some trepidation, because the mid-week runs were so much better than my previous efforts. It seemed odd. Good, but odd.

My plan was to take the best of the mid-week runs by starting on the river trail, then to continue on to the lake, possibly stretching out to 7K instead of 5K. Looking at the first 2 km of the run, I could see my pace was already well off, though the drop from the first km to the second was about the same. On Thursday I finished the first km at 4:46/km and today lagged behind at 5:00/km, ending with a lousy overall pace of 5:32/km, a big drop from the mid-week efforts.

I walked for the next 15 minutes mulling why this happened but have no good answers. Difference in the time of day? Temperature? Humidity? Alignment of moon/planets?

I then decided to do another 5K because why not? I was halfway around the lake so I’d have to walk it, anyway, and running would get me home sooner to lay down and think further about being slower. Starting just past the bridge at Still Creek, I ran a second 5K and my pace was unsurprisingly slower at 5:46/km but I actually didn’t feel too bad (I got a small stitch in my lower right side on the first run). I took solace in the fact that I did 10K, albeit in a bit of a cheaty fashion.

The only downside came around the 3K mark when I saw a large bug ahead of me. When I say large I’m not talking giant African beetle that can cut your fingers off with its pincers, more like something a little smaller than a housefly but way bigger than a gnat. The reason I saw it at all was because of its size. It flew straight into my mouth, like a bullet fired from a gun. Then it got lodged in my throat. At first I thought I had managed to swallow it (trying to stay positive, I kept thinking free protein, free protein) but it became clear I had not. I started to cough and this moved it into a position where it grew exponentially more irritating. I started gagging and choking. I mixed in more coughs for variety. I was less than a km away from hitting 5K, I didn’t want to stop.

Finally it seemed to go down. I ran into another cloud of them and tried punching the bugs, with limited success. I actually improved my pace over the last km, perhaps lifted by the sense that I was no longer choking to death.

Overall, I am disappointed at my slower pace for these runs, but quietly satisfied that I managed two 5Ks. I am most curious to see what Tuesday will be like.

Run 372
Average pace: 5:42/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19-22ºC
Wind: high
Calories burned: 385
Weight: 163.8 pounds <1.2
Total distance to date: 3070
Device used: iPhone 6

Today’s run was much the same as last Sunday’s, except it was warmer and I was a bit slower. I didn’t have the energy to do a real final burst but the last three km were steady, a plus.

I didn’t end up running during the week because I am bad and lazy. I’ll try again this week, guilting myself into it somehow.

Otherwise today’s run had no complications. The left foot was sore on the walk back but about the same as it’s been, no better and no worse. It bugs me, that foot. I shake my fist at it.

Run 371
Average pace: 5:36/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:13
Weather: Cloudy, some sun
Temp: 14-16ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 384
Weight: 165 pounds <1
Total distance to date: 3065
Device used: iPhone 6

After the abysmal effort of last Sunday I knew I was bound to do better today. And I did, hooray!

My pace of 5:36/km is slow in the grand scheme of my running but is my best pace so far this year. I didn’t feel tired heading out and even had enough pep to push a tiny bit during several stretches. I started out strangely disoriented, as for the first time in awhile I began thinking about other things while running (good) and was taken by surprise by the announcement that I’d hit the 1K mark (neither good nor bad). Surveying my surroundings, it seemed I was farther ahead than seemed plausible to have hit 1K, suggesting the GPS was going nutty (bad). As it turned out, I was thinking I was running counter-clockwise when I was actually going clockwise.

I blame it on being so fully absorbed in the task and not going loopy.

The run proceeded without any cramps or other issues and only one cyclist, a little kid on a bike following a jogging parent. It was almost cute (no cyclist is ever cute). The main complication came at the second boardwalk, where a large group of adults, kids, dogs and strollers were assembled and largely not moving, part of some gathering or another. This is the primary reason I don’t like weekend runs, the trails are often filled with people on official outings. Surprisingly, they parted not unlike the Red Sea and I threaded my way through only having to ease up on my pace a little.

The rest of the run was uneventful and the left foot, though sore again on the walk back, was tolerable.

Overall, an encouraging run after last week’s terrible slog.

Run 370
Average pace: 5:59/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 30:06
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 16-21ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 385
Weight: 166 pounds
Total distance to date: 3060
Device used: iPhone 6

I skipped the run last Sunday because I was feeling fat and lazy. I was also actually fat and lazy.

Vowing not to skip again, I suited up today under unusually summer-like conditions, with clear skies and the temperature climbing to a balmy 21ºC by the end of the run.

On the plus side, I experienced no issues in terms of cramps or other discomfort, there were no cyclists on the trail, the two large groups of walkers I encountered were well-organized and didn’t block my way and the weather, of course, was gorgeous. Although it felt warm it was not uncomfortable (the lip-smacking is in reference to my mouth and lips feeling dry, something I wouldn’t normally expect in mid-April conditions. The trail itself was in good condition, having been dry for some days, so no puddle-dodging required.

The one bad part, other than the left foot feeling sore post-run (most keenly on the last 2.5 km of the walk home) was my pace. I was super slow, managing to come in 17 seconds over my previous pace on Easter. It was my first 5K in a long time in which I finished with a time over 30 minutes. Within the first few hundred meters I knew it was going to be a slog and I simply could not muster any gas to even finish with a pseudo-sprint. Put it this way: my first km was 5:34/km. I was in danger of having feisty old grannies walking by me.

I dropped 19% after 2 km to 6:38/km before finding some small reserve of energy, finishing each of the next three km with a pace of 5:54 or 5:55/km. I am somewhat encouraged that at least the bottom didn’t keep falling out. I am further mollified by the fact that I ran at the same pace three years ago, on April 16 2012. I am less mollified that it was a 10K run. I probably would have ended a 10K today curled up in a ball near the side of the trail.

Still, my plan is to resume my thrice-weekly runs starting this week, so the next is set for Tuesday. I’ll gauge in the next week or so if I’m ready to jump back into 10Ks again.

I’ve also added my weight to the stats at the top of each jogging post to see if it correlates at all. I’m currently 166 pounds, with a target of 150 pounds (my average weight in 2012 when running was around 145 pounds). Will shedding those 16 pounds make me fly like an eagle, albeit an eagle with strangely human legs? We shall see.