Back in October I espied a strange sight at my old jogging grounds at China Creek Park. It was this sitting on the northeast baseball diamond:
At long last (and with summer long gone) the city had decided to bring in fresh bark to spread over the badly-deteriorated trail at China Creek. Hooray!
We then move forward to November 19th. With summer even more long gone than before, I noticed that the number of bark piles had shrunk:
Apparently more bark had been delivered and various people had in turn spread it around the trail at the park. This created a visual effect not unlike that of a burrowing Bugs Bunny. It also made the trail entirely unusable:
Not to be deterred, the jogger below simply chose to run inside the trail, with the added bonus of making each lap a tiny bit shorter. Also note her colorful attire. Not many people can successfully pull off combining green, blue, black, pink and turquoise. Actually, I’m pretty sure no one can.
I will be strolling by China Creek in the next few days and will be curious to see what the state of the bark is. For the sake of the joggers, the walkers and even the misinformed dog owners, I hope it’s all nicely spread out. Well, moreso than it is now.
Has it already been four weeks since I last ran? Yes, yes it has.
And I hates it.
My weight has been slowly creeping up as I lose all discipline and self-control. I am becoming soft and squishy yet I know the ankle is not ready, so I must continue to bide my time and ignore those sweet, scrumptious donuts.
The 84th day from today is January 16th, 2012. January 17th is when the doctor at the clinic officially cleared me for running again. I have vowed to blog for at least the next 84 consecutive days as a result. That will show my ankle who’s boss! Or something.
He didn’t want to send me for an x-ray because he said his treatment would be the same and why irradiate your body if you don’t need to? On the plus side I didn’t have to pee in a cup.
Since the ankle has been improving noticeably each day since my last run I don’t believe any bone is fractured because this kind of healing simply doesn’t jibe with that. Even my laughably bad Internet self-diagnostic skills have me feeling confident about that.
On the other hand it might be a bone bruise and clearly four weeks off was not sufficient for it to heal up fully. I can very clearly feel the discomfort/pain by applying pressure to the affected area so I’ll be checking periodically on the ankle to see if I can perhaps shave a few weeks off because 12 weeks is a freaking long time.
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.
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!
Distance: 11.08 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 20ºC
Wind: slight
Calories burned: 774
Average pace: 5:19/km
Total distance to date: 1053 km
I have discovered of late that the longer I go between runs the harder it is, as if I lose my conditioning faster by not running as frequently. On the plus side I have also noticed that I recover quicker than before in terms of soreness/achiness and the like.
And so with four days off since my last run I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty and it wasn’t. In terms of discomfort it was probably the worst run I’ve had in quite awhile — and yet I still managed to beat my previous run by three seconds on average, probably due to the lower temperature and running Burnaby Lake clockwise, which slopes more downwardly. And despite the lower temperature I still felt hot and sweaty. A rare light breeze came up but only long enough to be a tease. It felt like a portent of changing weather.
Along the way I felt a nagging pain in my right shin but has subsided dramatically over the course of 24 hours, leading me to cautiously believe that it was sore and not hurt. I also had a weird phantom twinge of pain flare up during the first half of the run in my left upper thigh. It came out of nowhere and left the same way. I think it may have been responsible for the absolutely huge drop between my first and second km — 8 seconds, which may be some kind of record. By the end of the run I had my stamina back and was starting to feel a bit better but overall it was a dismal affair.
I knew things were not going to go well when I could not select a playlist at the start of the run. Apparently my iPod did not sync properly so I had to run for 60 minutes with only the sound of my own wheezing to serenade me. I did not prefer this to music.
Here is hoping the next run is an all around more pleasant experience.
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
Distance: 12.73 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 890
Average pace: 5:21/km
Total distance to date: 1042 km
It seems summer was shifted forward one month. After a tepid and cloudy July, August was pretty nice and September so far has been spectacular, with temperatures well above normal for this time of year. That’s the good news. The less-good-news is the run at Burnaby Lake was very warm (25ºC when I started), very humid and generally uncomfortable until the final few km when the lateness of the hour meant it finally started to cool a little.
I decided to run counter-clockwise (the usual way) and after having done the previous two runs clockwise I can now say with certainty that clockwise is easier. The south side of the lake has a low but steady uphill slope which serves as a braking mechanism in the latter part of the run. Going in the other direction, the north side of the lake has one much steeper but shorter climb and nothing else noteworthy, being mostly flat. I suspect my sluggish pace would have had a few seconds lopped off it had I run clockwise.
And sluggish it was. Despite starting with a typical 4:52/km I immediately gained four seconds on the next km and added three or four seconds for every km after until the 5 km mark, dooming my overall time (at 5 km my pace was a lowly 5:06/km). I plodded on and on the plus side my shins did not feel nearly as tender as on the previous run and I’m only experiencing some minor soreness now. I also managed my longest run once again, adding 400 m for a total distance of 12.73 km, so that was pretty good. The number of slugs was down, too.
I also had a train running alongside me on the north side of the trail for the first time. Weird that it hasn’t happened before. The clacking of the wheels on the track is oddly soothing. I also jogged by a horsey near the end of the run. Yes, a horsey. And apparently there is a law forbidding men from having horses now because every one I see has a woman attached to it.
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
Distance: 12.33 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 862
Average pace: 5:10/km
Total distance to date: 1029 km
I knew I would feel more discomfort in my shins tonight because of the two back-to-back runs a few days back and sure enough that is how tonight’s run began. In fact they felt so tender I wondered if I would even complete the run at all. You can see this early on where despite starting with a decent time I add an impressive five seconds after the first km. The achiness never got worse so I managed to keep my pace stable. Then something weird happened.
The endorphins kicked in, I found my zone or something clicked because I managed to make up for that slow stretch over the rest of the run and recovering from a sluggish start is something that doesn’t happen very often. By the end of the run I not only managed to match my previous pace, I ended up exceeding it (the iPod actually said my average pace was 5:09/km before the Nike+ site cruelly rounded it up to 5:10). With the pain receding and my energy bursting I felt like I could have kept on going strong (my pace for the 12-12.33 km stretch was 4:44) but knowing I might regret this performance in the coming days I cooled my jets.
I ran the loop in reverse again and am almost leaning toward preferring it this way, though I can’t say exactly why just yet. During the 12+ km stretch there is only one small spot where you have to cross a road that leads to the rowing center and it’s usually dead quiet there. Tonight as I emerged from around a blind corner (carefully, as it is a blind corner) a motorcycle came roaring around with the driver evidently one of those “There can’t possibly be anyone else ever on the road!” types, as he came far too close to me for my liking. I later nearly had a fellow jogger smoosh into me doing the same thing on another blind corner. Pay attention, people! Please. 🙂
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
Distance: 12.04 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 841
Average pace: 5:11/km
Total distance to date: 1017 km
This was the first time I’d done back to back runs in, well, so long that I don’t recall the last time I did it. Sometime during the Jurassic era, I think. I was curious to see how I would feel and happily the consecutive run days did not have any negative effects that I can detect.
With my energy level improving I opted to shake things up a little at Burnaby Lake by running the loop in reverse. Overall it didn’t feel much different though it may be slightly easier in reverse as the ground tends to slop more downhill this way. I took one minor wrong turn but it only extended the run by a very small amount. I almost made a wrong turn down the path to the Nature House and while it sounds terribly quaint it is also very much the wrong way to go. I made a quick u-turn and felt a bit like one of those tankers having to turn in a narrow strait. This was more due to my speed and limited space than girth, however. I barely missed stepping into the ditch. That also would have been the wrong way to go.
I was at the 5 km mark before I started to feel anything at all in my legs and the achiness was fairly minor tonight. I pressed on and did my first 12K run, finishing with an average pace of 5:11 (5:08 for 10K). I’m pretty pleased with the result.
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
I opted to do a sort of remedial 5K run today, basically to see how the legs/body would feel without putting as much stress on them as a full 10/11K run would.
For a change of pace and because it’s conveniently close, I ran along the Brunette River trail as seen in this BlurryTech™ iPod nano video still:
The run gently slopes uphill on the way in but it’s so gentle it hardly counts. It’s otherwise flat and mostly shaded by the trees. The sun was just coming out as I ran and in the exposed parts of the trail where the sun hit it was hot as all get-out. Other than that, it was comfortable enough.
The first km was fairly brisk — 4:47/km — but after that my times fell off a cliff. At the 2 km mark I felt like I was plodding along. Mostly just tired and still feeling the effects of the cold. I finished with a pace of 5:01 which, if extrapolated over a full 10K would probably have ended up as a decent 5:11 or 5:12.
The legs seem to be holding up after the run, which is the main thing I was looking for, so I rate this one a qualified success.
Distance: 11.66 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 815
Average pace: 5:18/km
Total distance to date: 1000.27 km
I didn’t run for a full week due to a persistent energy-sapping cold. I approached tonight’s run knowing that I was not going to be anywhere close to fast. I only wanted to reach Nike level Blue — 1,000 km logged. I needed to run about 11.39 km to do it.
I set out and was immediately struck by how very humid it was. Not good, since humid conditions tend to sap my energy and my reserves were already low. Despite a decent first km my time fell off in big chunks over the middle part of the run, due to both conditions and light cramping. The latter half was steadier as the cramps eased and I established a workable pace. I finished with a sluggish time of 5:18/km. It’s funny how a year ago that would have been a record-setting time and now it’s a disappointment.
By the end my shins, especially the left one, were tender enough to give me pause. But I did achieve two milestones as I evaluate whether I’ll be in shape for the next scheduled run:
1) I did my longest run to date at 11.66 km. My next goal, logically, is 12 km. That would only require a minor extension of my usual run, so it shouldn’t be difficult.
2) I reached the Nike level Blue, which means I’ve now tracked 1,000 km on my Nike+ sensor. Not bad for a lazy slob who didn’t run at all for over 20 years! The next Nike level is Purple at 2,500 km. It will be…awhile before I reach that.
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
Distance: 11.61 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 811
Average pace: 5:12/km
Total distance to date: 988 km
It was warm and a bit on the muggy side as I set out tonight. While I experienced no cramps or weird tendon issues, the heat and pace left me tired and dried out. You know it’s going to be a dry run when you start smacking your lips less than 1 km in.
My shins felt a bit tender after and I am now seriously considering strengthening exercises on my off-days, especially as I’m focusing more on distance and form for the next while rather than just improving my speed. To that end I ran my longest run to date tonight, coming in at 11.61 km. It was also my first run to come in at over an hour at 1:00:26 to be precise. Despite theextra distance and not running with the aim of setting a PR I finished with a decent pace of 5:12/km (5:11/km for 10K).
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
