Good news: I wore my shiny new OR running shirt, and it was nice to have a much lighter top for a run. It’s orange, but I didn’t wear my orange hat because I am naturally resistant to color coordination.
Not really good news: It was hot today (31C) but even though humidity was reported to be 43%, it felt a lot higher, with the air having that warm, soupy quality that saps all of your energy away. I did actually run a bit on the way back, but only in short bursts, since it was pretty gross. I think I made the right call.
As a result, the stats are all tuned down appropriately, but I still think it was a good effort. If sweating is a valid measure, it was one of my best efforts this year.
Stats:
Walk 52Average pace: 8:52/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.58 km
Time: 67:11
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 31ºC
Humidity: 43%
Wind: light
BPM: 124
Weight: 177.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 399.66 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
Today was a change of pace with the temperature in the mere high teens after a break in the weather finally arrived yesterday, along with the first showers in almost two months. It was humid, but the lower temperature offset that (though I did sweat a bunch, of course).
After pausing to fix another bugged song on the iPhone (Apple has definitely borked something since enabling both lossless and spatial audio options recently), I made it to the end of the trail and ran without any difficulty to the beginning. I could see I would fall short of getting in two full km of running, so when I got to the gate I turned around and ran back until I hit that second km, hinting at farther runs to come. My pace for the two km of running was decent:
5:50/km
5:53/km
I also ran the majority of the way back once off the river trail, putting in a total of 7.75 km in total. The cooler temperature makes a huge difference in how easy it is to keep moving because I’m fighting my own limits instead of fighting my own limits and also fighting hot/muggy/smoggy/smoky conditions. And my BPM was only slightly higher, despite being much faster than the previous outing.
Overall, a pleasing result.
Stats:
Walk 51Average pace: 7:53/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.75 km
Time: 61:08
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 17ºC
Humidity: 82%
Wind: light
BPM: 135
Weight: 177 pounds
Total distance to date: 392.08 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
It was 29C when I headed out today, but the wildfire smoke that rolled in and blotted out the sun yesterday had already moved (largely) on, so I ran under hazy blue skies that looked like they actually belonged to this planet. I didn’t run quite as much as I would have had it been a bit cooler, but still did a respectable bit of jogging.
Being a stat holiday, the trail was reasonably busy, though I only saw one other jogger. There were multiple groups of cyclists, though, and while this is normally no big deal, the incredibly dry conditions means that anyone riding fast on a bike (which is to say everyone) will kick up large clouds of dust, which then lazily drift over to the opposite side of the trail, where I am running.
I ended up well-coated.
But overall I felt pretty decent, with no issues, other than the whole hot heat thing.
Stats:
Walk 50Average pace: 8:14/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.33 km
Time: 60:28
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 43%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 132
Weight: 176.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 384.33 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
It was a rather stifling 34° C as I headed out to end the work week, but there was a decent breeze blowing at times as well, which gave the effect of forging your way through a desert under an unforgiving sun. Less than ideal for exercise, really.
Apart from a few very brief sprints here and there, I stuck to walking and encountered no issues, apart from getting a bit sweaty. It was nice to just walk and zone out for a while, even if the air was thick and hot.
Stats:
Walk 49Average pace: 9:05/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.49 km
Time: 68:02
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 34ºC
Humidity: 29%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 125
Weight: 177.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 377 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
What’s a little weird is after a slothful eight days off, I was certain I would put in a worse performance on today’s walk/run–yet I was actually a fair bit faster, if a little pokey on the running bits.
Still, the weather was pleasant (even if the Fire Danger signs have been upgraded to Extreme Fire Danger signs) and the dust kicked up from passing cyclists was not that bad. I ran the back half with only a brief musical interlude around the midway mark and had no issues to speak of. BPM was higher as expected, but still within range.
All in all, not great, but not bad, either.
Stats:
Walk 48Average pace: 8:21/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.41 km
Time: 61:53
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 56%
Wind: light
BPM: 133
Weight: 179.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 369.51 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
I have felt a bit tired all day today and didn’t expect to actually do any running on today’s walk/run, but in the end I cut the distance down a bit and did some running after all, especially since it was a bit cooler.
I felt a bit woozy on the way in, but coming back I managed to pick up the pace and finished with a decent overall pace of 8:45/km. Not exactly a blur on the ground, but certainly better than just toodling along. BPM was down significantly, as expected.
Stats:
Walk 47Average pace: 8:45/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.11 km
Time: 62:17
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24ºC
Humidity: 56%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 119
Weight: 179.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 362.10 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
I was going for a walk/run today at my usual time and despite it being a reported 28ºC, it actually didn’t feel that warm, so I was looking forward to a pleasant outing to start my week’s exercise.
Then it happened, so swiftly and unexpectedly I’m still not sure what happened.
I was walking on the trail between the two staircases separating Hume Park and Lower Hume Park. It’s fairly short, so it only takes maybe five or six seconds to traverse. Midway through I felt a prick on my right leg and my first thought was an accursed mosquito had chosen to dine on me. I swatted at whatever it was and that’s when I noticed two things:
Whatever had done this and was flying off into the brush was BIG. I couldn’t tell what it was except it looked to be about two inches long.
The pain suddenly hit in a way that was also BIG. Whatever the critter was, it packed a wallop.
I briefly entertained the idea of ignoring the bite/sting and press on, but the jolts of pain convinced me otherwise. I didn’t want to aggravate the spread of venom through vigorous activity, so came home with a little under 2 km clocked. Once home I wiped the wound with a cold cloth then put some Polysporin on it.
It doesn’t seem to be hurting now, but I’m also not moving my leg as I type this.
This is what it looked like after I applied the cream:
Today was that most delightful of outings: incident-free.
To wit:
No dog nonsense
No cyclist nonsense
Generally no nonsense
No cramps
No injuries
Bug bites on legs finally not blazing to life as soon as I start moving
No bad weather (it was a bit warm, but everything is relative after you’ve experienced 42°C degrees)
Pleasant breeze
Ran more than expected
For the run part, I took a brief break midway through coming back, but still managed to break the six-minute mark on the first km, so yay on that. As I wasn’t feeling especially motivated heading out, I’m pleased that I ran as much as I did, finishing the week on a high note.
Stats:
Walk 46Average pace: 8:08/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.43 km
Time: 60:25
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27ºC
Humidity: 42%
Wind: light
BPM: 132
Weight: 180 pounds
Total distance to date: 354.99 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
It was much cooler today–about seasonal, which so far this summer has not been the norm–and it started out cloudy on the walk, making for a refreshing change of pace. Speaking of pace, mine was brisk heading out, but when it came time to turn back and start running, I balked because I felt weirdly wobbly, the way you might if you haven’t eaten for quite a while and feel that gross “I need food” feeling. It was especially weird as I had eaten.
Eventually it seemed to ease up, so I did run a decent amount and clipped a few more seconds off my previous pace, with my BPM edging even lower still, probably due to the relative lack of heat.
The dog owner, I should point out, was only post facto well-behaved, because he started with his giant fluffy white dog off-leash. The dog seemed friendly enough, but was a bit too aggressively friendly toward not one but two joggers running by. As I approached as Jogger #3, I slowed from a jog to a walk, and it was then the dog owner actually put the leash on, to my surprise and delight. I resumed running, knowing the gigantic furball would not be able to pounce on me in a “I’m just playin’!” manner. So that was nice.
Stats:
Walk 45Average pace: 8:25/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.37 km
Time: 62:02
Weather: Cloudy and partly sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 43%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 122
Weight: 178.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 347.56 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
In a way, 29 degrees is not that hot when you’ve experienced 42 degrees. But for running it is warmer than I like, so I did not run as much today, but sweated nicely nonetheless.
There was another (big) unleashed dog and as I walked by on the way in, it did in fact start to follow along me, but I kept walking and let one of the owners call it back (it eventually responded as I gritted my teeth). When I was running on the way back I passed them again, but by then the dog was tired and listless, so it ignored me in favor of panting a lot. That was fine by me.
As for the walk/run, it went decently. I was tempted to run more, but my gut was feeling a bit off for some reason. I swear I did not eat handfuls of candies before heading out. Still, I bested my previous pace by six seconds, so not too shabby–and my BPM was actually lower. Nice! I’ll work up to that actual 5K run eventually!
Stats:
Walk 44Average pace: 8:29/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.34 km
Time: 62:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28ºC
Humidity: 43%
Wind: light
BPM: 128
Weight: 176.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 340.19 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
I once again encountered the worst weather for running: dogs.
But let me back up a bit. It was hotter than yesterday–around 27C and it was enough to notice. I had put off the walk/run for most of the day and did not run the entire way back. The parts I did my pace was clearly lagging from yesterday. I was tired. But overall I didn’t feel bad. The right ankle muscles felt a bit tight for reasons, but they limbered up after a short while.
So in all, it was a decent outing, right up to near the very end of the trail. At this point, I was walking and listening to music. I spotted two women at the side of the trail, near where you can cut over to the river bank. One was holding up a bike. I shifted left to give them room and continued on. It was then that a stubby-legged hellion appeared out of nowhere and ran at me, running around my feet, yapping and snapping its jaws at me. It was basically a tripping hazard as it kept running around me. I could not extricate myself and quickly got a bit steamed.
I yelled (remember, I still had the music blasting) at the woman, “Leash your dog!” then repeated it for good measure. As her dog kept circling me, I yelled out something like, “Goddamn it!” and that’s when she told me to relax. Yes, I should relax with her off-leash mutt circling me like a land shark. She picked up the dog and I further explained in my yelling voice that there are big signs explaining that dogs have to be leashed. she came back with how this was somehow my fault. I didn’t have a good response for that, because it was completely bonkers.
Before leaving the trail, I turned back and she had gone to the river (hopefully to toss her dog in) but her friend was still standing there holding the bike, so I pulled out my phone while staring at her and pretended to make a call, then turned back again and left. I don’t know if it made her uneasy, but it was the only thing I could think of to give myself some small sense of satisfaction. I then finally removed my AirPods.
In retrospect, what I should have done was:
Remove the AirPods
Explain to her that all dogs are to be on-leash, as per the sign at the trail entrance
Continue on without further word
Bonus: If she had said anything, I should have started recording a video to post on TikTok, possibly set to Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” because it has “dogs” in the title.
Stats:
Walk 43Average pace: 8:35/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.31 km
Time: 62:46
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27ºC
Humidity: 47%
Wind: light
BPM: 132
Weight: 179.0 pounds
Total distance to date: 332.85 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
It was weird being out in temperatures that were actually normal for this time of year. As a bonus (for running) it was also cloudy. I set out midday and found my left leg, especially around the knee, was feeling cranky. Did I sleep on it funny? Has it been hijacked by aliens? I don’t know.
But I do know that when I reached Cariboo Road, I turned around and managed to run all the way to the entrance of the river trail and beyond, coming in at a decent 5:58/km pace for the first km. Woo! Also, the kinks got worked out while running, which acted as a nice incentive to keep going. I worked to keep the pace moderate and finished without any cramps or other mysterious pains or ailments.
In all, it was nice to get out in hospitable weather. We’ll see how it plays out over the summer.
Also, here’s a bonus ex-tree that blocked part of the trail. Usually these happen after a storm has blown through, but I’m willing to blame the heat dome for this because that thing was nasty.
Tree meeting gravity.
Stats:
Walk 42Average pace: 8:12/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.36 km
Time: 60:28
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 59%
Wind: light
BPM: 132
Weight: 178.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 325.54 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
