Outdoor runs

The itty bitty black slug run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW < NEW
Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Cloud and sun
Temp: 9ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 701
Average pace: 5:36/km
Total distance to date: 1140 km

It felt rather cool this afternoon under a cloudy but non-threatening sky. I opted to wear my jacket and initially it was a wise choice. About midway through the run the sun came out and by the 6K mark I was warm enough that I doffed it but it was nice not to be all chilly for the first stretch of the run.

I opted for a CCW router today and set a deliberate pace. After Monday’s slog I was merely hoping to improve. If you look at my initial km below it may look like I backslid even more, coming in at a poky 5:17/km, a full 14 seconds slower than on Monday. However, if you look at the next km you’ll see I only dropped by two seconds to 5:19/km. This was the difference. I maintained a much steadier overall pace today and ended up with an average time of 5:36/km, 17 seconds better than the 5:53 on my previous run. I am quite pleased by this.

I did experience some light cramps but elected to just keep going steady and let them subside instead of breaking.

As for conditions, it was entirely pleasant once the sun came out and crews were out again spreading fresh gravel along the northern stretch. And in a sure sign of spring I spotted the first black slug of the season on the trail, a little baby one maybe 1/4 the size of a mommy or daddy slug. It was about as cute as something that leaves a trail of slime behind it can be.

Unlike the last two runs the left pad of my foot did not feel sore after the run. I’m not sure if I had been favoring it or if something else was happening but it felt fine today, so that’s also a bit of good news.

Chart:

Apr 4 Apr 2 Mar 23 Mar 19 Mar 16 Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:17 5:03 5:13 5:10 5:08 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:19 5:17 5:22 5:20 5:22 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:24 5:25 5:28 5:26 5:32 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:26 5:30 5:34 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:27 5:33 5:37 5:34 5:42 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:29 5:37 5:40 5:36 5:47 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:31 5:41 5:43 5:38 5:49 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:33 5:46 5:46 5:41 5:51 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:35 5:50 5:49 5:43 5:52 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:36 5:53 5:50 5:44 5:53 5:47 — — —

The skunk cabbage is in bloom run

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sun and cloud
Temp: 9ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:53/km
Total distance to date: 1130 km

Despite a weather forecast calling for rain it turned out to be pleasantly sunny and mild for the run today. I chose to run Burnaby Lake clockwise or the ‘easy’ way (the north side of the trail slopes in a more downwardly direction if you go clockwise) but the week off took its toll and I found the first half of the run especially hard to manage. The second half was easier as I fell into a slow, steady pace that insured I would not be fighting cramps (or for my own breath).

Various observations:

  • no, you silly bug, my nose is not a secret shortcut; please stay out
  • a goose was sitting dead center on the trail. It moved as a I approached but ruefully. I could tell it was comfy.
  • despite the nice weather I did not see anyone for over the first 4 km
  • the titular skunk cabbage is indeed starting to bloom again and certain patches are beginning to live up to its name. Without prevailing winds it’s not so bad — yet!

With an average pace of 5:53/km I have backslid again. That’s the bad news. The good news is it’s no worse than my previous low so I’m at least treading water, so to speak. My first km reversed the trend of slower starts by being quite a bit quicker — 5:03/km vs. the last run’s 5:13/km. This was not planned so it’s nice to see.

Chart:

Apr 2 Mar 23 Mar 19 Mar 16 Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:03 5:13 5:10 5:08 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:17 5:22 5:20 5:22 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:25 5:28 5:26 5:32 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:30 5:34 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:33 5:37 5:34 5:42 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:37 5:40 5:36 5:47 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:41 5:43 5:38 5:49 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:46 5:46 5:41 5:51 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:50 5:49 5:43 5:52 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:53 5:50 5:44 5:53 5:47 — — —

 

The ‘I have a bad feeling about this’ run

Distance: 10.05 km
Weather: Sunny!
Temp: 7-8ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 702
Average pace: 5:50/km
Total distance to date: 1120 km

I again ran clockwise today but I had a feeling this was not going to be a great run, despite the weather being absolutely perfect. I opted to not wear a jacket and that was wise, as I would have overheated, especially with the sun out.

The day started out with me oversleeping. I had a late breakfast and set off to run a few hours later. Despite the excess sleep, I actually felt a little tired just doing the 4K walk to the lake. Hence the whole ‘I have a bad feeling’ thing. I started off and my initial 1 km was off by a full three seconds — 5:13/km. There’s pacing yourself and then there’s just plain slow. I pressed on and finished with an overall pace of 5:50/km, six seconds off my previous run. I’m not too happy with that but I’ll chalk it up to mitigating factors (excuses!):

  • the sun was out; the sun also tuckers me out a little when I’m not used to it
  • I was over-rested and felt ‘off’ because of it
  • I missed Wednesday’s run due to hail (!), making it harder to build off of Monday’s run
  • I experienced some cramps

I stopped briefly to pause two times. The first was when I came upon a truck on the path that had two men shoveling out gravel to fill in potholes (I had already passed the woman running a small tractor that was smoothing down the gravel). It seemed safer to carefully walk by than continue running. And it was a convenient way to catch my breath. I next paused at about the 6K mark and that was because I was plain pooped. I pressed on after that till the end, though. The whole run felt hard.

Still, I am obviously far off peak condition so I accept this as just another step to getting there. Excelsior!

Chart:

Mar 23 Mar 19 Mar 16 Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:13 5:10 5:08 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:22 5:20 5:22 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:28 5:26 5:32 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:34 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:37 5:34 5:42 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:40 5:36 5:47 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:43 5:38 5:49 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:46 5:41 5:51 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:49 5:43 5:52 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:50 5:44 5:53 5:47 — — —

 

Avoiding the goose-stepping run

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sun and cloud mix
Temp: 5ºC
Wind: calm
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:44/km
Total distance to date: 1110 km

Today’s run was much the same as Friday’s but with one change — I ran counter-clockwise. I was interested to compare this to my last few runs because CCW around the lake requires a smidgen more effort as it is has a fair bit more uphill parts.

This turned out to have no impact, as I easily beat my previous average pace by 9-10 seconds (iPod =10, Nike+ site= 9, me=wishing Nike would fix this nonsense so the two would agree with each other).

Animal-wise, the geese were back. No hissing incidents though a (likely mated) pair crossed in front of me when the trail intersected a path leading to a viewpoint on the lake. There was enough space between them to charge forward but I moved around instead because I wasn’t in the mood to test how quickly a goose can snap its head forward and pack me in the leg. The clouds of bugs were back in the usual spots and I swear they have mutated to giant size. Yuck. I’d say I hope the cold kills them off but that’s mean and spring starts tomorrow so also quite unlikely.

Not that it felt overly spring-like. A mix of mostly cloud and a little sun and hovering around 5-6ºC, still unseasonably cold for this time of year. The last few km of the run were hard but I worked to maintain pace and managed to stave off cramps though I felt a little bloaty because I foolishly drank a little Coke Zero before heading out.

Chart:

Mar 19 Mar 16 Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:10 5:08 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:20 5:22 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:26 5:32 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:31 5:37 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:34 5:42 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:36 5:47 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:38 5:49 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:41 5:51 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:43 5:52 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:44 5:53 5:47 — — —

Bonus chart! It seems the Nike+ site now shows split times for your runs. Neat. No idea how accurate the data is but here it is, anyway. I have used a new plugin to generate the table called Websimon tables in the vain hope that it would make table creation a bit easier. What would be nice is if the Nike+ site allowed you to export your data to…anything. Maybe in the summer.

[ws_table id=”1″]

The Goosed Run

Yes, I have been bad. I fell off not one wagon but two of them. The first was posting something every day to the blog. My fear of spamming nonsense and/or haikus in an effort to get something, anything up froze me not unlike the proverbial deer in the headlights and I ended up posting not a thing. In fact, that will be my next topic — drafts of posts that have never seen the light of day and why they were kept shuttered away.

The second wagon I fell off of smells of sweat — running. I had one day with a good excuse when having the blood samples taken left me seriously woozy for the better part of the afternoon. But the next two days I had no such excuse, I simply didn’t run. I have made amends and am back on schedule.

Like my previous run I did the approximate 19 km route:

  • briskl walk 4 km to Burnaby Lake
  • run 10K around the lake
  • briskl walk 5 km back home

This is good for about 1200 or so calories burned, which if I keep to my schedule, should help in keeping me slim ‘n trim. That and declaring Doritos an enemy of the state.

First the usual stats:

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sun and cloud mix
Temp: 7ºC
Wind: initially brisk then light
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:53/km
Total distance to date: 1100 km

Overall the run went well. I was again primarily concerned with cramping up and moderated my pace to prevent that from happening. This resulted in my average pace being six seconds slower than the previous run, which is disappointing but understandable. And it certainly beats having to deal with cramps. Plus this was with a week and a half between runs and that’s just enough time to start losing the edge again. Given that I was still planning on doing 5Ks at this time I’m not going to beat myself up over a few seconds.

And man, I really start feeling it on the uphill parts of the walk back home. It brings to mind that R.E.M. song, ‘Feeling Gravity’s Pull’.

I have noticed that the black slugs I encountered in the past are missing, either gone for the season or wiped out in some great black slug extinction event I never heard about. I suspect the former. We’ll see as the days get warmer. In their place, however, is an abundance of geese. One pair were standing on the edge of the trail as I rounded a corner and the closest took umbrage at my presence, hissing and fluffing out his wings as I strode by. I captured this moment as best I could, Internet meme-style:

 

Temperature-wise I again didn’t need the gloves I took and the jacket could have been shed. It was a touch warmer than the last run but still not warm.

Chart as usual below (and a lusty boo to the Nike+ website, which currently is producing a Firefox-crashing script bug, forcing me to use Chrome to view or edit my running stats. To Nike’s credit they are promising a revamped site come the summer, one of the bullet points for which is ‘No more Flash’. I’m going to guess they are not heavily invested in Adobe stock).

Mar 16 Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:08 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:22 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:32 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:37 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:42 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:47 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:49 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:51 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:52 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:53 5:47 — — —

The back to the bugs run

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sun and cloud mix
Temp: 6ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:47/km
Total distance to date: 1090 km

With conditions about as good as you can get for the first week of March, I set off on my second return run today and I had a nutty plan.

I was originally planning on running 5Ks this week to work on getting my stamina back up but I felt surprisingly good after Monday’s run so I devised a plan that would encourage me to run a full 10K.

First, I set the actual Nike+ sensor to track a 10K run instead of 5K. I’ve done this before and nothing bad happens if you don’t run the full length, you just don’t get the countdown in the last km if you quit early and your run report shows it was set for 10K when you only did 5K, you wimp.

Next, I plotted my route. Unlike Monday I did not take the SkyTrain to Burnaby Lake. Instead I walked there, a distance of about 4K. Once there I chose to start out on the south side of the lake and would quickly reach a point of decision: I could either run 2.5 km, turn around and get the 5K that way or I could keep running to get the 5K and if I was too tired to continue could walk the rest. But that would put me halfway around the lake and mean I’d have about a 10 km walk back home (and no transit tickets or money to cheat my way out of it). So this would encourage me to keep running to…avoid walking.

And it worked!

As the chart below indicates, my pace was slower even from the start vs. my 5K on Monday but that was deliberate. I wanted to avoid cramps if possible and the more measure pace did just that. You can also see after the initial few km of ‘oh god this is what it feels like to be running again’ my pace moderated and settled down.

In comparison to my first-ever 10K on December 30, 2009, I was actually three seconds faster — not bad for not running one in six months (and considering that first 10K was just the capper on regular runs that had me going up to 8K).

Temperature-wise I didn’t need the gloves I took and the jacket was probably optional, though I wasn’t overly warm wearing it. The air still had that last kick of winter in it. As the title of this post suggests, though, it is now warm enough for the bugs to be back. I had to wave them out of my face a few times but had no intake incidents.

Chart:

Mar 7 Mar 5 Feb 6 Feb 3
1 km 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:22 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:30 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:33 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:35 5:33 5:28 5:39
6 km 5:38 — — —
7 km 5:40 — — —
8 km 5:42 — — —
9 km 5:45 — — —
10 km 5:47 — — —

The Return Run: The Sequel to the sequel

Distance: 5.02 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 6ºC
Wind: gusts up to 50+ km/h
Calories burned: 351
Average pace: 5:33/km
Total distance to date: 1080 km

A funny thing happened a month ago.

I completed my run on February 6th and all seemed well. I had improved on my previous time and seemed back on track for a )hopefully) successful year of running.

The day after that run I was walking to the store to get a loaf of bread or BreadQuest as I like to call it. As I walked I felt a funny little twinge around my right ankle. When I got home I poked and prodded and discovered that the spot on my ankle that had been sore — and that I had just taken three months off from running to allow to heal — was every bit as sore as it ever was. Not wanting to risk further injury, I very reluctantly decided to hold off on further running until I could have it looked at.

This time I chose not to go to a walk-in clinic but to sign up with an actual doctor, the same one my partner has had for years — keep it in the family, so to speak. We had a consultation on February 29th and he told me the likeliest cause of the soreness was a small hernia. Unless it gets severe there is no specific treatment apart from icing it and basic monitoring. So I was cleared to run again. Woo!

Today I did just that. It was a chilly but sunny day and also windy as heck, with gusts over 50 km/h. I do not like running in the wind, so I waited until later in the afternoon, hoping it would die down. The good news is it clouded over in the meantime. Wait, that’s not good. As I headed out I quickly realized a single layer was insufficient and came back to grab my jogging jacket and a pair of gloves. The jacket was a good move, the gloves proved unnecessary as my route around Burnaby Lake proved an excellent windbreak due to the copious stands of trees alongside Cottonwood Trail.

The route I took:

  • Sapperton to Sperling/Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station. Total calories burned: about 10.
  • Sperling SkyTrain station to Cottonwood Trail at Burnaby Lake (approx. 1 km). Walked briskly.
  • Cottonwood Trail at Burnaby Lake, north side: 5:02 km.
  • Central Valley Greenway to home (approx. 4 km). Walked briskly.

My average pace of 5:33/km was down from my previous run of 5:28 but considering I’d been off for a month, that’s not bad (and better than the run prior to that when I came in at 5:39). At the 2K mark the cramps became fairly bad so I walked them off for 15-20 seconds and then finished the run without any further issue. The legs feel fine now, no soreness or pain.

I expect a little soreness tomorrow. And a good sleep tonight.

My next run will be on Wednesday if all goes well.

Chart:

Mar 5
 Feb 6
 Feb 3
1 km 5:02 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:17 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:24 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:30 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:33 5:28 5:39

The strobe light run

Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 10ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 351
Average pace: 5:28/km
Total distance to date: 1075 km

Today I started my first full week of running and the weather was again perfect: 10ºC, no breeze and sunny skies. I did things a little differently by riding the SkyTrain to the Sperling/Burnaby Lake station and walking about 1 km to the Burnaby Lake trail, specifically to the bridge that serves as the unofficial halfway point of the 10K or so loop. I then ran along the north side of the lake, toward the Brunette River portion of the Central Valley Greenway, with the intent of doing a brisk cooldown walk for the 4 km remaining after the run.

All went according to plan and even though it still seemed to take ages for each km to be called out on the iPod, I managed to keep going without stopping, the cramps kept more in check this time.

As for the strobe light effect, there is a fairly long stretch along the north part of the trail that is nearly completely straight and the angle of the sun and proliferation of thin, leaf-free trees combined to create a rapidly blinking light effect on my eyes, constantly flashing like I was in a disco. It was almost seizure-inducing but had the neat side-effect of distracting me from the aches and soreness of being horribly out of shape, so it all worked out.

In other good news, I improved my pace by a good amount, knocking 10 seconds off my average pace.

Chart:

Feb 6
 Feb 3
1 km 5:06 5:06
2 km 5:15 5:21
3 km 5:21 5:31
4 km 5:25 5:37
5 km 5:28 5:38

Return to Burnaby Lake: Run edition

I decided to wait an extra day before running again for two reasons: first, to give myself an extra day of recovery after my first run in Quite A Long While and second, to get myself back into the Monday/Wednesday/Friday pattern I had been following last summer.

I walked the 3.5 km or so to the Central Valley Greenway but once there was put off by the appearance of a tractor and pickup truck trundling along the narrow roadway. Since the construction crews are going to be working there for a good long time I walked the extra distance to Burnaby Lake proper, my old stomping/jogging ground of last summer, back when my stupid ankle was not being stupid.

I planned for a basic 5K and conditions were ideal: it was a few degrees cooler than Tuesday but well above freezing and the sky was completely cloud-free. There were several moments when I could feel the actual warmth of the sun. Spiffy. I brought along gloves but removed them shortly after starting the run. This time freezing up was not an issue.

My greatest moment of concern came at the 1.76 km mark. The cramps had returned and unlike the band these cramps were neither musical nor fun. I paused the workout and walked for about 10 seconds, getting my breath under control, then resumed at a deliberate pace. I managed fine the rest of the way and reached that magical point where I knew I could do the total 5K. I even tasted a wee bit of that old stamina.

I expect my calves to be sore as all get-out in the morning.

The ankle still feels fine.

My overall speed, as mentioned elsewhere, can be described as ‘brisk tortoise’ with an average pace of 5:39/km. I deliberately started out a bit slower in order to minimize cramping and you can see a couple of impressively massive dips in speed as my out-of-conditioned body plodded on. But plod I did and in the last few km you can see how I hit my plateau and the pace flattened out just like it ought to (only about 30 seconds slower than I’d prefer). I declare my second run of the year a success.

Stats:

Total time: 28:23
Distance: 5.02 km
Calories: 351 burned

1 km 5:06
2 km 5:21 (+15)
3 km 5:31 (+10)
4 km 5:37 (+6)
5 km 5:39 (+1)

A cold, wet and semi-triumphant return to running

(I’m writing this the day after the run to capture how my legs feel on…the day after.)

It was cool and a hard rain was blasting down from the heavens, as is often the case at this time of year. I waited and waited some more, aware of how much daylight I had left and how much time I would need.

By 3 p.m. the rain was still falling steadily but had eased up from moonsoon-like to merely light. I knew if I put off running again — I was already two weeks past my ‘all clear’ time frame — that I would keep finding excuses.

So I ran.

I wore a long-sleeved T-shirt and shorts and definitely did not feel underdressed. My hands, in fact, felt like blocks of ice shortly into the run. If I run again in similar conditions I’ll bring along a pair of gloves.

I chose to run the Brunetter River portion of the Central Valley Greenway, a 2km stretch illustrated below via Google Maps.


View Larger Map

I had planned on running 5K and the run started well. I had a spring in my step, I was listening to one of my most favorite songs evar (Guadalcanal Diary’s “Litany (Life Goes On)” and I felt good for just having made the commitment. By the 1 km mark my hands were numb, my lungs were ablaze and I was experiencing unpleasant cramps. None of this was surprising, really. Three and a half months is long enough to lose pretty much all of your conditioning. By the time I got back to the main gate I decided to call it quits with only 2K completed. While it’s quite a bit less than what I planned, it’s a start and I’m confident I’ll last longer next time (which should be Thursday).

As for how the legs feel: Goods new, everybody! /Farnsworth

The ankle is perfectly fine and I only feel some very light stiffness in the leg muscles. So far so good. Hopefully 2012 will be a good year for jogging, as long as the Mayans are wrong.

The meager stats:

1 km: 4:58 min/km
2 km: 5:16 min/km

Total time: 10:39 min. (woo, hardcore)

The first km is actually a pretty decent pace but the crash became very evident shortly after I passed the halfway mark and the reality of not running for 100 days caught up with me. But hey, even the 2K time is still better than some of my runs of yore so I’m still more fit than I was back in the pre-run days.

The fear of running run

Nine days ago I ran for the first time in over a month after my right ankle was left tender ‘n sore. This has been sufficient time for injuries to heal in the past. The ankle began to mildly hurt during the run and I could feel it for a few days after and thus I developed FORI — Fear of Re-Injury. It took until today, with the ankle feeling normal again, for me to attempt another 5K.

Good news: the weather was near-perfect, a crisp sunny day with no wind and temperatures round 11ºC. I finished with a much-improved overall pace of 5:05/km, a full eight seconds better than my previous outing.

The not-so-good news: my ankle feels just as it did after the last run. It took a few km before I could feel it and the pain was more discomfort and not sufficient to slow me down. Nor does it especially hurt to walk on it afterward, though I can still feel soreness in what I believe is the tibia. I’m going in to have it checked out by a doctor tomorrow. I may also be asked to pee in a cup, because that’s something they seem to like.

Times:

km time
1 km 4:49
2 km 4:53
3 km 4:59
4 km 5:03
5 km 5:05

The evil that ankles do -or- The first run of the fall

Back on September 12th I didn’t realize my run that day would turn out to be the last for the summer but I was aching by the time I finished and my right ankle was quite sore. I opted to stay off it and give it time to get better.

Fast forward to today, October 14th, one month and two days later. I finally summoned the wherewithal to do a 5K run and see how things go.

The Good: The weather was great, 15ºC, sunny with a light breeze. I felt no discomfort while running apart from some mild cramping as my lungs were forced to actually work.

The Bad: After a spry first km time of 4:47 my times fell off the cliff. Not surprising at all, so I’m not disappointed. My average pace was 5:13/km, 1:28 slower than my fastest 5K. Number of seconds added each km: 11 (!), 8, 5, 2.

The Ugly: Although my ankle did not hurt during the run and does not hurt to walk on now, I can feel it and this concerns me. Four weeks off should have healed it up properly, so my worry is that there may be some kind of hairline fracture in one of the stupid bones down there. I may get it x-rayed. I’m tentatively prepared to do a follow-up run on Sunday but the ankle shall be the judge of that. Please be nice, Mr. Ankle!

Times:

km time
1 km 4:47
2 km 4:58
3 km 5:06
4 km 5:11
5 km 5:13