I was a tiny bit paranoid about it being cold, so wore two layers up top, which came in handy on the south shore, when the breeze actually picked up. Maybe this is more of an afternoon thing, as I didn’t start the run until almost 2 p.m. today.
Conditions were otherwise fine, with a mix of sun and cloud. The slower pace meant I encountered no issues and really, it was a nice way to start the week. I wanted to keep my heart rate below 150 and the average was 148. My pace was obviously slower, but still under the six-minute mark at 5:56/km.
Also, somewhat randomly, I got a badge for completing my longest run ever (on the Garmin Forerunner) because I squeezed in an extra 0.1 km somehow.
All the snow is completely gone now, woo.
The killer dog actually came post-run as I was crossing through Hume Park on the way back home. A dog on a leash (thankfully, as you will see) was staring at me while its owner was watching her kids in the play area. Every time I glanced over, the dog was still staring. Not moving, not showing any reaction, just the stare.
And then it suddenly went berserk, lunging hard on the leash toward me, snapping its teeth and barking in that “I want to tear your throat out and murder you dead” sort of way. The owner managed to calm the dig down after a bit. I stopped and stared back at them, because turnabout is fair play or something. I couldn’t tell how she was reacting because we were too far apart, which makes the dog’s sudden MUST KILL mode all the more puzzling.
It looks calm here (also fuzzy and low-res because it’s a zoomed-in and cropped phone photo) but this dog was ready to kill (me!)
Stats:
Run 762Average pace: 5:56/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:57 p.m.
Distance: 10:04 km
Time: 59:35
Weather: Mostly cloudy, some sun
Temp: 8-9ºC
Humidity: 64%
Wind: low to moderate
BPM: 148
Weight: 163.4
Total distance to date: 5670 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (342 km)
My first 10K in two weeks, thanks to that kooky snow.
A few observations in list form because I like lists:
Trail Conditions:
It was sunny and mild! It started out at 9C and ended at 10C. I could feel warmth from the sun.
There was an actual slight breeze on the Cottonwood Trail
The snow was gone, save for a small easily-avoided strip at the start of the Spruce Loop
I wore one layer up top (long-sleeved) and this was sufficient
The trail was still littered with debris and broken pointy branches were still ready to gouge eyeballs in several places. But it was also dry, so I didn’t end the run with mud splattered halfway up my legs.
My condition:
Despite really not trying to, I started out very fast, getting an award for fastest 1K ever
I felt good to start, but at one point the big toe on my right foot started to hurt. It cleared up, but was weird.
At the 6K mark, I started to feel stomach cramps. They cleared up after a short time.
The cramps returned briefly at the 9K mark
The cramps returned a final time just as I was finishing the run, rather intense. This didn’t seem to be caused by the run, so maybe I ate something bad or drank too much before heading out (just fluids, not like bourbon or something)
I definitely felt a bit fatigued in the last few km
BPM was a bit higher at 154, but not really surprising; my pace was a solid 5:49/km.
My equipment condition:
The Garmin Forerunner had my heart rate spike all the way up to 176 (!) near the start. I was running at a good clip, but this still seems excessive.
Despite this, I simply kept running, moderated my pace and saw no further upward spikes. It was solidly in the mid 140s to low 150s after that.
I experienced multiple instances of the music not playing properly. At one point it simply stopped altogether. I paused the run, chose a song, and it played normally after that.
It also stopped when I attempted to skip to the next track on the AirPods.
A third time it stopped altogether. I can’t recall the last time I had so much trouble with the Music app. Annoying, I sez!
Overall, it was nice to get a full 10K in, and we shouldn’t see any more snow disruptions until next winter. Onto spring, warmer temperatures and all that!
Stats:
Run 761Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:05 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 9-10ºC
Humidity: 67%
Wind: low
BPM: 154
Weight: 163.1
Total distance to date: 5660 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (332 km)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. A hint of blue sky! It didn’t last.
My first run since our latest (and hopefully final) snow of the season, and a few general observations:
Mild! It was 9C, the warmest it’s been all year. It was nice. EDIT: I thought about this later and remembered we had some record high temperatures in January. I checked and on my January 13th run it was 10C (at 9:00 in the morning). So I actually had to wait almost two months for it to get nearly that warm again.
Late! I didn’t actually start the run until 1:41 p.m., the latest in quite a while. I was just busy in the morning, and jogging when it would be milder in the afternoon had a certain appeal.
Destruction! See below.
There was still some snow on the trail, as the photo below illustrates, with probably more being on the side trail and the south shore, but not enough to make the run unnavigable or anything, just a tad annoying in certain spots. It did help keep me from running too fast early on, though. The snow was both compacted, yet somewhat squishy, so there was no way to get a good grip on it.
I dressed in two layers and think I may have been fine in a long-sleeved t-shirt. Because of the week off, I chose on-the-fly to just do a 5K, and given the greater snow on the south side of the lake, I’m okay with that. I’ll do 10K next time, assuming we don’t have a blizzard in the interim.
As for destruction…yes! The heavy snow brought down more trees and branches, several of which were still down on the trail today, which is a little odd, given the snow happened last week. Multiple branches on the first boardwalk effectively made it one-lane in places, and a number of trees are leaning precariously over the trail, dangling their branches directly at head level, forcing you to bob around them. I mean, it keeps you focused, because you really don’t want to stab yourself in the face with a branch at a running pace.
I had no issues, other than the right ankle feeling a little creaky. Nothing serious, just kinks being worked out after the week-long layoff (the treadmill doesn’t really count).
In all, a decent run on an iffy trail. I’ll be glad when the weather is better, the trail is tidier, and I can focus just on running, not being stabbed by nature.
Here be snow, and pointy branches
Stats:
Run 760Average pace: 5:51/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:41 p.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:28
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 9ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: low
BPM: 151
Weight: 163.7
Total distance to date: 5650 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (322 km)
It’s been milder and less winter-like the last few days, though still short of seasonal, and while the amount of snow I saw on the trail yesterday would have precluded running (especially with the remaining snow being very squishy and slippery), it’s possible enough might have melted overnight to make a run possible. But I didn’t feel like checking, and there was probably still too much snow still, anyway.
So yet another treadmill workout, with a load of YouTube videos.
The workout was fine, pretty much the same as the last 5K I did. Actually, I checked and my BPM was a tad higher and my pace a tad slower. Fat and old, I guess!
Today, I wore both my Apple Watch and Garmin Forerunner 255 for my treadmill workout, to see how they compared. Let’s take a look! Also, I messed up a bit at the end on the Garmin, as you will see.
Heart rate: Identical. Yes, both the Garmin and Apple watches agreed my BPM was 121. This is good!
Average Pace: Garmin thought I was faster, 9:00/km vs. 9:10/km for Apple
Total distance: As expected, Garmin logged more, 5.13 km vs. Apple at 5.02 km
Calories burned: Despite being slower, Apple felt I burned more calories, 391 vs.376 for Garmin.
Where I messed up was the end. The Garmin watch prompted me to enter the distance, which I thought was odd, because it clearly tracked it, not realizing this was a calibration step (which it notes after entering the distance). I should have entered the distance showing on the treadmill’s display, but did not, so it’s slightly off. I’ll see if it lets me calibrate again next time, though I’m also not sure if I really want to wear two watches on the treadmill (or at all).
The 5K workout went fine, though. I felt more vigorous doing it mid-afternoon than mid-evening.
Another day, more snow. I didn’t feel like going for a walk and having to navigate the shoveled vs. unshoveled areas, so with 17 minutes to fill on my exercise ring, I once again did half an hour on the treadmill. And in mid-evening, which will probably not help my sleep.
Kind of dumb, but at least I’m keeping the cardio up.
Today would have been a run day, but no, it had to snow. And snowed again today, with only 20 days until spring. Who ordered this weather? Not me!
The workout was once again fine. 30 minutes on the treadmill, all the usual sweaty goodness. I watched a couple of videos on film criticism (one knocking soft reboots, the other outlining how terrible the blocking and pacing of Jurassic World Dominion was). The videos were also fine. I agreed with the points made.
Today wasn’t actually an exercise day, but I was 4 minutes short of completing my exercise ring, it snowed last night (grr) so a quick walk around the block in a soft, slushy mess, was unappealing.
And so, treadmill!
I watched two videos, one on how movies today feature adults acting like children because they’re written by adults acting like children, and another on how Google is going crazy with ads on YouTube (which was kind of meta). Although both videos were more or less downers, they were informative and entertaining. But I’m too lazy to link them, sorry.
As for the workout, it was half an hour-ish and 3 km in length. It was fine.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Not shown: How brr cold it was.
Winter is back and blasting us with The Cold™ again, but no snow so far (they saw it may be coming, boo).
After a lazy week in which I did a treadmill workout on Monday and nothing at all on Wednesday, I set out to get back into the routine and did a full 10K this morning.
And it went fairly well!
It was sub-zero the entire time, and I wore my running pants and three layers up top. Two layers may have sufficed, but the walk to and from the lake would definitely have been chillier. It was slightly breezy in New West, but there was really no wind at all at the lake itself. My hands warmed up faster than expected.
I set out to run at a modest pace and kept to that. The Garmin Forerunner did not freak out on my heart rate this time. It claims a peak of 169, but that happened near the end when I was accelerating to pass another runner, and it quickly fell back after I resumed my normal pace. My overall pace was 154 BPM, a bit on the higher side, but understandable given the cold.
The weird thing is it didn’t feel as horrible as last Friday’s run. That one sucked corn dogs.
I didn’t have any notable issues here, and it was nice having the phone in the front pocket, where I could easily change music volume if needed (I did do that once). My laces came loose and I had to retie at Eagle Creek (near Piper Spit) but no interruptions otherwise.
Overall, it was nice to be back out. Here’s hoping I’m not facing snow drifts on Monday.
Stats:
Run 759Average pace: 5:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:45 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 59:03
Weather: Sunny
Temp: -3 to -1ºC
Humidity: 38%
Wind: low
BPM: 154
Weight: 162.2
Total distance to date: 5645 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (317 km)
I hemmed and hawed (as grandpa used to say) over what to do for a run today. It was pouring steadily through the morning and I really didn’t want to go out and get drenched even before starting the run part. I successfully put things off until early afternoon. At that point I still had time for a full run, but a shorter one seemed more feasible. It had also stopped raining and the odds of rain were lower. And it was relatively mild–8C.
But I still didn’t want to go out.
So I went on the treadmill instead, doing a 6 km workout, which came to just under one hour. I got absorbed in various videos, so in the end I didn’t mind too much.
I’ll likely be delayed heading out on Wednesday again due to a smoke alarm test, but am tentatively planning to do a full regular run. We will see!
This morning I contemplated what to do today, run-wise, after the technical SNAFU that was Wednesday’s run, everything from just taking a break, to doing a normal 10K, to a 5K to using the Apple Watch instead.
In the end, I opted to take it easier by running a 5K and used the Apple Watch only, to see how it would compare to the Garmin, particularly in terms of heart rate.
My average BPM was 150, which is the exact target I try to hit, so that was nice. The run doesn’t show any weird spikes or dips in heart rate, also nice.
It felt very cold and clammy and took me awhile to warm up. That said, my pace was fairly brisk and consistent throughout. It was kind of a weird run. I did not feel zippy at all, despite what the numbers say (average pace of 5:38/km) At the same time, I also did not feel slow, per se, just…cold and blah. I mixed things up a wee bit, post-run, by diverting onto the Freeway Trail. It’s not especially scenic in the summer and it’s really not scenic at all in the winter, but at least it was a change of pace. And I had the entire trail to myself for the entire 2 km.
At least the sun came out after the run, and I got a few nice shots of the lake.
And proved that my heart is normal, but my Garmin Forerunner, at least on Wednesday, was not.
It was also interesting to do a run with the Apple Watch after using the Garmin for a few months. If I ignore the erratic heart rate monitoring on Wednesday, I’d have to say the Garmin is a better experience almost completely across the board for running:
The Memory-In-Pixel display of the Garmin may not be great indoors, but outdoors, even on gloomy days, it’s very readable, much more than the Apple Watch’s AMOLED display (which is great indoors)
Speaking of readable, all the stats on the Garmin are rendered in bigger, thicker fonts, so at-a-glance info is much easier to parse vs. the Apple Watch’s thin, uniform fonts.
The Apple Watch still keeps up interval info for an irritatingly long time
The vibration feedback is about 1,000 times more prominent on the Garmin compared to the delicate haptic caress of the Apple Watch (and I have the haptics cranked up to full).
The Apple Watch does always show the time, which is handy
Accessing music is also much easier on the Apple Watch
Pausing/unpausing a workout is simpler on the Garmin
The post-workout info is a lot more detailed on the Garmin
Man, my hands are still cold as I type this. I’m glad my running for the week is done. I’m going to go give my hands a nice hot shower.
Bonus shot of the lake, post-run:
Another glass-like surface.
Stats:
Run 758Average pace: 5:38/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:05 p.m.
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 28:22
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 5ºC
Humidity: 87%
Wind: low
BPM: 150
Weight: 162.2
Total distance to date: 5635 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (307 km)
It was cooler today, so I wore my windbreaker. In retrospect, I think two layers would have been sufficient, as there was little wind.
I started a little later, but was otherwise planning a pretty ordinary run. I made a tactical error before heading out by drinking way too much soda (aided by not heading out until later), which meant my teeny-tiny bladder sought relief three times before I started my run and twice during the run. It was kind of ridiculous.
What was also kind of ridiculous is the heart rate reported by my Garmin Forerunner 255, which has generally been pretty accurate. All started well, with my first km being 5:45/km and my second slowing a bit to 5:51/km. I was planning on a fairly mellow run today and wasn’t even going to really check on my BPM much at all and so far, all seemed to be proceeding normally.
After the third km dinged, I saw my pace was 5:39/km, which is faster than intended. I checked my heart rate and noticed as I pulled the sleeve of the jacket back that the last digit was an 8. Could my BPM be 148? That would be too low, given the speed and cold. 158? A little high, but quite plausible, given conditions. But no, it was 168, which is, as scientists say, way too high.
I then deliberately slowed my pace but my BPM stayed stubbornly high. I later paused the workout for Bladder Crisis #1. This brought my BPM down to 136. But it started climbing higher again, even as my reported pace was perfectly average. It peaked at 175. I then not only paused the run, I came to a full stop and waited 10-15 seconds. I checked the heart rate on my Apple Watch, on my right wrist. It reported 136. That seemed about right. The Forerunner reported 153, which would be accurate if I was actually running and not standing still. At this point (roughly halfway through the run), I took the Forerunner off, wiped the bottom of the watch to maybe help the sensors, and wiped down my left wrist for good measure. When I resumed running, the Forerunner now went in a new direction: opposite! It now claimed my heart rate was 80, which is basically impossible if I’m even just walking at a brisk pace. Over the course of a few km, it barely got up to 100 BPM.
With about 3.5 km to go, I decided to track the rest of the run on both devices. The Apple Watch ended up reporting an overall average BPM of 148. This seemed about right. The Forerunner was still under-reporting my heart rate. After nearly two km, it was reporting around 100 BPM, which is silly. It kept creeping up a tiny bit. Finally, with a little under 2 km to go, I paused for Bladder Crisis #2. After resuming the run, the Forerunner suddenly seemed to recognize my actual heart rate again and reported an average of 152 or so for the remainder of the run.
I have no idea why any of this happened. I do know that the Apple Watch seemed to be reporting a heart rate that was in range of what I was expecting, meaning the Garmin watch was not reporting an anomalous heart, but an anomalous reading. It got very weird when it went super-low. By my estimate, it was off by about 50 BPM at that point.
If I figure out what caused this, I’ll report back. Note that the walks both before and after the run reported perfectly normal heart rates, so this seemed to be specific to the run for some reason.
as for the actual run itself? It was fine. No issues, and the cold was not a problem. I’m undecided on whether all the pausing helps or hurts my overall pace. On the one hand, it gives me a chance to rest, presumably providing more energy than I’d have otherwise. On the other hand, it takes me a little time to get back up to speed, cancelling out at least some of that extra energy advantage. Overall, it probably makes little difference.
As for my real heart rate, I would guess somewhere between 149-152 BPM overall. 137 would be seriously impressive at this stage of my running career.
Stats:
Run 757Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:29 a.m.
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 58:18
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 3-4ºC
Humidity: 79%
Wind: low
BPM: "137" (see text for why this is in quotation marks)
Weight: 162.9
Total distance to date: 5630 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (302 km)
