It was quite nice today–mild and sunny, a perfect day for a walk.
But instead, I went on the treadmill.
I walked to the store and back, though, so I did go outside, just not for a general walk. So it’s totes OK!
What’s weird about today’s treadmill workout is I literally did not have to change any of the stats. Every stat you see below for today’s workout exactly matches yesterday’s workout. What are the odds? Also, a lot of 3s in there. Is 3 a lucky number? Will I win $3 million soon? Here’s hoping! Faintly!
On my non-run days, I normally complete my exercise ring by going out for a walk. Since I walk fast and usually have a few minutes on ye olde exercise ring before heading out, I can wrap the whole thing up in less than 30 minutes. Easy peasy.
But after yesterday’s BDI1Bad Dog Incident. See here. I didn’t really feel like strolling to the park and face the possibility of being bitten repeatedly and torn apart. So I did a 30-minute workout on the treadmill and watched some YouTube videos.
The workout was fine.
And I’ll confess, I kind of watch The Tech Chap’s videos not just because he is a knowledgeable sort of person and his videos are well-made, but also because he’s totally the kind of guy I’d be chasing after if I was magically single and 30 years old again. And if he was into guys. And a billion other factors that would need to fall into place to support my absurd fantasy scenario.
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!
