Exercise

The suspiciously fast run

Average pace: 4:35/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran Freeway Trail
Distance: 13 km
Weather: Hazy cloud, sun
Temp: 22-24ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 940
Total distance to date: 2219 km

This was a weird run.

I bought new shoes — the Merrell Trail Gloves, a minimalist trail running shoe. The construction of the shoe is immediately noticeably superior to the 1010s I’ve been using, with fabric, stitching, laces and tongue all better. The soles are not as chunky, though they are also made by Vibram, like the 1010s. They retain a lot more of the slipper-like feel of me beloved MT110s. The only downside is they are a bit tight to get the feet into but are cozy (and not too tight) after that.

I was a bit concerned about how the run would go because my left foot was already warbling even before I set out. When I got to Hume Park I noticed that I’d placed the Nike+ sensor up a little higher than I’d meant to on the laces. This meant it would not lay as flat, possibly affecting accuracy.

The weather was warm and with little wind there was a mugginess for much of the route around the lake. It wasn’t horrible but it definitely contributed to leaving me feeling worn out. Also for some weird reason I went clockwise and decided to throw the Freeway Trail detour into the mix, to see how it had changed since the last time I’d run it.

This helped stretch the run out longer than normal, probably not a great idea with the left foot already acting up, but my curiosity has now been satisfied. As it turns out, fresh gravel was poured along almost the entire stretch that I ran along, taking care of all the dips, squishy dirt and uneven surfaces. This was good. Because the trail is not used nearly as much as the others, the gravel was still loose and felt quite lumpy under my minimalist soles. This was less good.

Having already stretched the run out, I opted to skip the three optional loops I normally take on the north side of the lake. I finished at just over 59 minutes and with a pace of 4:35/km, having run a shade over 13 km.

This is the suspicious part. I went back to some of the detour runs I did last June when the first boardwalk was being replaced and compared distances. One run, in which I had included the optional loops, came out to 13.06 km, a scant 60 m more than today’s. It seemed the Nike+ sensor was being a bit generous with the distance, probably by a factor of at least a few hundred meters. However, the time of that run last year was about 64 minutes, so even taking into account the extra distance, my pace was still apparently faster today (back then it was 4:58/km).

But 4:35/km seems way off. I felt fairly springy to start but definitely did not toward the end. I felt hot, sweaty, tired, the left foot was achy (but tolerable) and the right tendon was occasionally pinging, though it ended up fine for the majority of the run.

When I uploaded my data I was informed that I had set four new records for fastest 1K, 5K, 10K and mile:

1K: 3:53
5K: 21:56
10K: 45:47
mile: 6:39

Even more bizarrely, the 1K record apparently came during the 7th km. That’s often been where I’ve started running out of gas, not magically conjuring it. My pace allegedly shot up by 11% then plunged by 13% for the next km. I’m trying to remember where the 7K mark hit and it may have been near Still Creek. A couple on bikes (grr) were there and heading the same way as me. I silently pointed to the two (1) No Bikes signs as I went by but picked up my pace to give myself a little extra distance. The last thing I wanted were a pair of cyclists at my heels on a fairly narrow stretch of the trail. They may have heeded the signs, though, because I didn’t see them again. If they did turn around and leave the trail, they’d be the first cyclists to do so and I offer my e-thanks to them for doing so!

So while 3:53 seems absurdly fast, it is at least possible that it was still my fastest km. I’m going to move the sensor down lower on the shoe and see how it compares on Tuesday. I may calibrate it at the track, too.

For the record, here’s the splits as seen on the Nike+ site:

Lickety splits

The one lingering concern is that my right tendon, which did not bother me much at all during the run, is still feeling sore hours later. I suspect I simply overworked it (especially if the times are actually accurate) so I’m hoping it will be okay tomorrow after some rest. I’m going to start icing it after runs, I think.

Also I caught a glimpse of a snake slithering into the grass along the Cottonwood Trail, first snake of the year. It’s not a good thing or a bad thing, just a thing. Plus snakes are cool.

A shorter zippier run

Average pace: 4:46/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny, some cloud
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 363
Total distance to date: 2206 km

I was originally going to look for running shoes tonight and run tomorrow (Friday) but the weather was nice, the body was willing and so I went out anyway and did a 5K run on the Brunette River trail.

As is usually the case with shorter runs, my time was a good bit faster, with my average pace 4:46/km. As a bonus my left foot normally doesn’t start to really sing until the 5 km mark, so it only made its presence known just as I was wrapping up.

I drooped a little after the first 2 km–something that tends to happen more often than not so far this year–but recovered and improved my pace for the rest of the run.

There’s not much to add. It was quick, relatively comfortable and helped work off the guilt of eating an apple fritter. Mmm, apple fritter.

I still hate my shoes, though.

The I don’t think I like my shoes anymore run

Average pace: 5:09/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.06 km
Weather: Sunny, some cloud
Temp: 20-17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 796
Total distance to date: 2201 km

My left foot was not bothering me before the run and for the first half it lay dormant, only to come active not unlike a foot version of Vesuvius. Around the 5K mark the pain began and unlike previous runs there was a certain rigidity to the foot, where I could not feel any movement in the bone/muscle when flexing. This changed after a few more km when the flexing returned.

By that point the foot remained sore but it was no worse than it’s been before. After the last run I was hopeful that it was genuinely on the mend but it appears to be lingering on awhile yet.

I impressed myself by maintaining a steady pace and pushing through, though, coming in two seconds ahead of the previous run for an average of 5:09/km.

In reference to the title of this post, I am fairly unimpressed with the New Balance MT1010s I started wearing this year. While they aren’t responsible for my foot problems I still don’t care for the fit and feel. The top half is cheap, almost flimsy and the weird stitching of the tongue to the top of the shoe makes lacing difficult and seems prone to tearing. The shoes generally feel more snug than they should and the laces (since replaced as per a previous post) are crappy and cheap — even though the shoes themselves cost more than the awesome MT110s I wore last year.

I’m going to check out a pair of Merrell minimalist trail running shoes this week and if I like them I may ditch the 1010s long before they wear out. They’ve already worn out their welcome, I think.

The goose-stepping run

Average pace: 5:11/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.06 km
Weather: Cloudy, some sun
Temp: 15-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 799
Total distance to date: 2190 km

In this case the goose-stepping was done by actual geese, as described below.

I was going to run on Thursday but logistically Friday was better so I moved the run back one day. Unfortunately I came home from work on Friday, laid down for a quick nap and conked out for several hours, using up all the daylight in the process. This is why you never lay down for a quick nap when you have other things planned.

I set out today during the lunch hour under a dull sky that didn’t really threaten rain. The temperature was a mild 15ºC and rose steadily to 20 over the course of the couple of hours I was out.

As I crossed Cariboo Road to the entrance to Burnaby Lake park I looked to my right and saw what will probably be the cutest thing I’ll see all month. Possibly all year. A family of geese — mom, dad and three goslings, were waddling quickly in single file across the road, with traffic stopped to allow safe passage. Once across they shifted over to the very path I was taking to the lake. I didn’t want to spook them (or worse, be attacked by a couple of hissing adult geese) so I walked slowly a reasonable distance behind them. In the parking lot of the complex to the right was another line of geese, dozens in all, with many a gosling, again marching in single file, all heading back to the lake after an adventure somewhere else.

Once the geese got to the dam I thought about running clockwise but nixed it and instead just gave them a wide berth as I started off.

After Tuesday’s dismal run I was concerned about today, doubly so considering my left foot was already acting up right from leaving the condo. I pressed on, though, feeling more energetic, whether due to the extra days off, more food in my system or just having seen a bunch of incredibly cute baby geese waddling along.

From the first few km I knew I was ahead of my pace and even better that held right to the 10K mark, which came much sooner than on the previous few runs. This was validated when I hit the 11K mark and had a reported time of 57:24 and an average pace of 5:11/km, easily besting my prior times of 5:25, 5:28 and 5:27. It was also a boost over the 5:17 and 5:18 times from a few weeks back.

Overall I felt much better. The knee was not an issue at all, the right tendon made its presence known a few times, but only for moments and not in any way that impacted my run. As for the left foot, it was sore but stretching it out on the run seemed to help. This was the first time in awhile where it didn’t feel like it was holding me back. Maybe it’s actually starting to get better!

The everything hurts run

Average pace: 5:25/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25-26ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 798
Total distance to date: 2178 km

Blergh.

Here’s today’s run in handy list form because as always, I really like lists:

The Good: My left foot does not seem to be getting worse. It may be getting better but at a rate that can be generously called slow. I also completed the full 11 km loop around the lake. It was also not raining.

The Bad: It was right on the edge of being warm enough to be uncomfortable. That was tolerable, especially with the sun lower for the second half of the run. The bad part was the complete lack of wind combined with the late afternoon warmth meant it was very muggy and the air had that ‘sucking the energy out of you’ quality to it.

Also in the bad department: my right tendon was twinging more often than not. It still isn’t painful but it’s discouraging to spend only a small portion of a run’ in the zone’ where I’m thinking about other things and not the constant ping of various discomforts. The right knee even made its presence known again near the beginning, although it settled down. And not forgetting the left shin which is growing a bit tender due to the number of runs I’ve put in now. This is the closest I have to a normal side effect of the running right now.

The Blah: I have not been as impressed with the MT1010s as I was with my MT110s, possibly the best running shoes evar. I still can’t part with them despite having put a combined 1400 km of running and walking on them. In all that distance I never had the laces come untied.

Today the MT1010 laces came untied. Twice. The first time was the right shoe a little under 2 km in. I ran to the 2K mark and used the bridge near the Nature House to prop my foot up to tie the lace. At the same time I paused my workout. When the lace was tied, I hit the home button on the iPod, as the screen had shut off. This apparently ends a workout. My run was now declared officially complete at a whopping 2 km.

Undaunted, I started a new run and kept going. Exactly 2 km later the left shoe came untied. This time I didn’t pause the workout, I just bent down, tied it as quickly as I could (overheating all the while) and took off again). Amazingly both laces remained tied for the rest of the run.

The one sliver of good news in all this is my pace combined over the two runs looks like it was 5:25/km, a minor improvement over the previous run. But what a miserable trip to get there.

For the next run I’m going to swap the old braided laces from the MT110s to the 1010s to prevent more untyings.

The tired early June run

Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.1 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-22ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 808
Total distance to date: 2167 km

Today’s run was a disappointment. With the sky clear, temperature warm but not uncomfortably so and a light breeze blowing I couldn’t ask for much better conditions on a late spring day.

The first ominous sign was that merely walking around home and doing simple chores like sweeping led to my left foot feeling mildly sore. I’d also messed up my sleep schedule a bit over the weekend by going to bed hours later than normal. Even after getting up late to compensate I still felt droopy this morning.

The good news is that the left foot did not fare any worse than the previous run. It was a little sore by the end but still much better than previous times. I still opted to walk to the Production Way SkyTrain station instead of back along the Brunette River trail. No sense pushing it for the sake of burning a few more calories.

The right tendon flared up a bit from time to time but again it was never a major issue. Adding in as more delightful complications: the left shin flared a few times, very briefly and not really painfully. I chalk this up to the leg muscles starting to feel the effects of the year’s running. This should smooth out naturally over the summer. The right knee also made its presence known in a minor and brief way. I think this was the same knee that gave me trouble for one run last year. Again, not a big deal, just another kink being worked out. Or so I hope.

The big problem today was just energy. I steadily lost speed over the first half of the run and by the midway point I was so tired I actually contemplating stopping the run to rest before continuing. I didn’t stop, though, and ended up with a pace of 5:27/km, a full ten seconds off the previous run and effectively erasing the progress I made this week.

Oh well.

It will be interesting to see how the next run’s results compare. Also if my legs find new ways to ache and bother me.

A peppier end of May run

Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Conifer and Spruce Loop trails
Distance: 11 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 796
Total distance to date: 2156 km

I just barely squeezed out a full 11 km on today’s run by doing a complete loop right back to my starting point near the dam. The good news is twofold: I slightly improved my pace to 5:17/km while adding a little over 1.5 km over the previous run and my left foot/right tendon fared no worse than the prior run. The left foot may have even felt slightly better. A minor triumph at the end saw me wrapping up the run with a modest boost to speed.

What stood out the most were my leg muscles really starting to feel the effort. The increased speed is obviously making them work harder. I also experienced some mild cramping around the abdomen and muscles around my lower back, also likely due to the strain of the faster pace.

With conditions mild and pleasant I can say this was probably my best run since my left foot became a noticeable annoyance.

The run before it rains run

Average pace: 5:18/km
Location: Brunette River trail, Burnaby Lake (to Still Creek)
Distance: 9.48 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 684
Total distance to date: 2145 km

Tonight’s run was after work so to minimize walking I started the run from Lower Hume Park (about a 10 minute walk), took the Brunette River trail then crossed over to Burnaby Lake, taking the three optional trails before forking off at Still Creek and wrapping up at the Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station. By my calculations I figured I’d come up a bit short of 10K and I was right, covering 9.48 km. Without some creative zig-zagging this particular route will never hit 10K. I will ponder possible alterations to stretch it out.

In the meantime, though, this run went much better than the previous. I shifted the moleskin bandage down to just cover the pad of the foot and my toes emerged unscathed this time. I didn’t feel the first twinge until about 3K in and it wan’t until 8K in that it became a lot more noticeable, much later than before. At the end of the run I could walk on the foot and not feel any pain. The tendon in the right foot also warmed up nicely and behaved itself. While I won’t call them happy feet they were certainly no longer grumpy.

As a result my pace was a lot faster — 5:18/km, a 12 second improvement over Sunday’s 5:30 pace. With occasional spitting and the promise of much worse I wore my recently water-treated running jacket but I ended up not needing it. The skies did open up but they obligingly waited until I was on the SkyTrain heading back. I will note that I felt warm with the jacket. Not uncomfortably so but it’s pretty safe to assume I won’t need multiple layers until after summer now.

The crowded and cranky feet run

Average pace: 5:30/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Ran Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loop trails
Distance: 11.13 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 804
Total distance to date: 2136 km

For the first time ever a flock of geese determined which way I ran. to be more specific, a bunch of geese, including adorable little goslings, were gathered on the trail at the north side of the dam, where I would normally start my run if I was doing my usual CCW loops. I didn’t want to freak out the geese families so I instead went clockwise. This turned out to be good for the geese, not quite as good for me as I’ll explain shortly.

Because of the trouble I’ve been having with my left foot recently I decided to apply a little padding to the affected area in advance by folding over a moleskin bandage over it and holding it in place with a few strips of medical tape.

As it turned out, the padding may have helped a tiny bit, as the left foot wasn’t quite as sore after the run but the fold of the bandage dug into the big toe, resulting in a blister. Blargh, as they say. I’m going to try padding again but will adjust the position of the bandage and also wrap the whole shebang in a tensor bandage to better hold everything in place.

The tendon on the right foot made its presence known throughout the run (and after), though I’m still thinking this is more it getting used to be used again after injury and not necessarily it getting hurt again.

For the run itself I headed out and seemed to be on about the same pace as the run one week prior, which is to say on the slow side. I’ve resigned myself to that until my feet feel better and I run a more regular schedule. I’m clearly well off peak condition.

I noticed a few signs heralding a ‘spring sprint’, with handy arrows pointing in the direction I was heading. As it was about noon I figured the run would likely already be over and indeed I wasn’t seeing anyone else out other than the occasional walker. But lo, somewhere around the 3 km mark (right when I began to feel the first twinge in my left foot) I passed by a few unusually large clusters of people blocking the path. Some moved to let me by, most seemed utterly oblivious to my presence or the presence of anything except the neighbor they were busy gabbing to.

It was also clear that if these people were here to sprint they were doing so at a pace that could be described as very very very deliberate. A lot of them had those giant ATSes with them (all Terrain Strollers). The crowds stretched out to about the 5 km point and there were times where I came to a complete stop as I had no way to get around. There’s a conspicuous drop in my pace in the 4-5K stretch of the run. You’d think getting this mini-break would leave me re-invigorated but it had the opposite effect and I ran for probably a km past the crowds before I fell back into a steady rhythm again.

Overall I’m a little displeased with the run. The left foot is obviously now a chronic issue and the tendon on the right foot has me worried that it may not have healed properly. I’ll have both checked out soon.

I’m planning on running Tuesday and it looks to be my first soggy run of the year. I may get a chance to see how well that waterproofing wax I dipped my light jacket into works. I’d prefer actual late spring weather. 😛

The ‘it only hurts when I walk’ run

Average pace: 5:28/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Ran Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loop trails
Distance: 11.01 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16-18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 795
Total distance to date: 2125 km

This was my first ‘real’ run after hopefully having sorted out the calibration weirdness that suddenly came up on my iPod. The weather was seasonal, temperature-wise, and cloudy, as is normal for the Victoria Day weekend. It had been over a week since I’d last been out and I’m still feeling some of the effects from the lingering cold (mostly tiredness and a stuffy head) so I was not expecting a blistering pace.

I completed just over 11K, a full loop around the lake and ran all three optional trails. My pace started a little under 5:00/km but sagged well before the halfway mark, not a surprising thing. My stamina held up nicely despite the tiredness so I’m sure my times will improve as I feel better. I also suspect that the new iPod + sensor combo is tracking at a slower pace than the iPod alone had and may be more accurately reflecting my fitness level given how few runs I’ve done so far this year.

The one troubling aspect is not my right Achilles tendon (which feels fine after a run if it’s limber) but rather the pad on my left foot, which continues to vex me. A ways past the halfway point I could feel it and though I kept a steady pace I’m fairly certain it’s inhibiting my overall speed. The worst part came at the end of the run and the walk back home. It hurts a lot more to walk on it than to run.

Two weird parts to this: it began before I resumed my running, so seems unrelated to it and secondly, it seems to pretty much become a non-issue if I give it a little rest. Even just stopping on the walk back for a minute or so and flexing the foot will make a noticeable difference. I may have to see one of those fancy footologists about this after my yearly physical.

Apart from my dumb foot, the run went about as well as I’d hoped. I’m planning on another run tomorrow, so we’ll see how that goes. Foot, I order you to behave.

The Great Calibration Experiment run

Average pace: 5:12/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 5km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 364
Total distance to date: not recorded. Check the next run!

In which I try to figure out what the heck was going on with my iPod and try to get a decent run in, too.

To prepare I charged my old iPod nano (the one with the video camera), charged my new iPod and for good measure I attached a new Nike+ sensor to my new running shoes and linked it to the new iPod. My plan was to run the 2 km of the Brunette River trail with the new iPod, see if it was still out of whack, then run a similar test withe the old iPod and sensor to see how that would compare.

The initial test gave the same results as my last run, with the pace recorded being more like a walk, ludicrously slow and inaccurate as can be. I decided to walk the few hundred meters to Burnaby Lake and set out on a full run (or as much as I could manage, feeling the effects of a head cold). I broke out the old iPod and discovered that it had glitched during its sync (despite my being extra careful, such is technology) and none of the music was available.

Instead of running silently I opted to use the new iPod with the sensor, bypassing its internal pedometer.

It was warmer than usual and that, combined with my cold meant I didn’t have the gas for a full run. I ended at the halfway mark (which with the other part of the test came out to around 7 km) and a pace of 5:12/km. Not bad under the conditions. The left foot was bugging me again, too. I shake my fist at it.

The good news, such as it was, is that the new iPod seems reasonably accurate with the sensor on my shoe. I’ll be sticking to this more traditional setup from now on. It does have one small advantage in that you no longer need to plug a receiver into the iPod anymore, so as long as I bring that there’s no chance of forgetting any of the hardware at home.

The really screwed-up calibration run

Today, while still feeling the effects of a mild cold I headed out for a run around Burnaby Lake. It was about 20ºC, so not nearly as warm as Sunday–to my relief. I walked to the lake, opted to run clockwise this time and was relatively confident I’d be able to complete a full loop this time.

What happened next was odd and has never happened in over 2000 km logged through Nike+ on two different iPod nanos. I’m familiar enough with my pace and the route that I know when to expect the different km to come up (running clockwise I can hit the 4K mark almost exactly if my pacing is just right). To aid even more, Metro Vancouver now has posts marking off each km and I started near the 10K sign, working backward from there.

I passed the 9K sign and no announcement. I figured my pace may be a little slower, what with the cold and all (even though I didn’t really feel slower). I pressed on and it was obvious I had gone well past 1 km, so I figured the iPod had glitched and not announced it. I waited for the 2K announcement. I passed the 8K sign and was nearing the 7K one when I decided to stop. The iPod informed me I had taken 14:43 to run 1.82 km at a pace of 8.06/km.

Which is silly. I can walk nearly that distance in the same amount of time. The calibration was obviously well out of whack for some reason. I tried to think of a cause but the only difference I came up with was running clockwise. I started a new run, spun 180 degrees and headed back the way I came.

I made an effort to pick up my pace and by the time I got back to my starting point the iPod reported my current pace with 5.68 km covered was 4:38. That seemed about right. But then it claimed my average pace was 5:44/km. That’s more reasonable but still silly, as there’s no way my average would be slower than my current pace at the 5K mark. It also claimed it took me 32:38 to run the distance. It had recently pegged me at 22:09 for 5 km so this was again way off.

The final result is I’m not posting either of these screwy runs to the Nike+ site. For Thursday’s run I’m tentatively planing on resetting the calibration on the iPod but also running with my other still-functional iPod, letting both of them track the run and then compare the two.

I just wish I knew what caused the calibration to go south this time. It seems very random (and by the end may have even corrected itself for however long).

For the run itself, my left foot was being a bit of a bother again. I’m mulling wrapping it a bit to see if that helps (pending having the doc check it as part of my annual physical). Other than that, my pace seemed fine, despite the claims of technology to the contrary, so considering the continued higher than normal temperature and effects of the cold, it went fairly decently.