Average pace: 5:18/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.05 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 13-14ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 400
Total distance to date: 2561 km
After avoiding a run yesterday due to the day-long downpour, I ventured out today under sunny skies and in mild conditions. I once again wore my New Balance MT100s, hoping to improve on my previous pace with the minimalist shoes.
As I walked along the Brunette River trail I noticed something odd on the trail up ahead. After a few moments I realized it was a tree. Trees are not normally found on the trail. Along the trail, yes. Right across them, not so much.
Apparently a combination of soggy soil and perhaps just enough wind was enough to cause a very tall tree on the other side of the river bank to topple over. It was tall enough to reach across the rover, the opposite bank, the trail (which is actually a gravel service road) and then some. It had cracked apart in several places after thudding onto the ground.
I hopped over and hoped it was not a sign.
It wasn’t. But I had a lousy run, anyway.
I started out slower again but the first km was actually three seconds better than the previous run–a good sign! Then at exactly the 1 km mark (it was just announced on the iPod) I was struck by a nasty stitch in my left side. I slowed but it persisted and by the end of the second km I was six seconds off the previous pace. Later I developed a stitch in my right shoulder, of all places.
I ended up with a mediocre pace of 5:18/km. The last four runs look like this:
- 5:07
- 5:12
- 5:14
- 5:18
This is not a good trend. I dislike it.
The shoes didn’t feel too bad, actually, but clearly my legs and feet are still adjusting as I could feel my upper leg muscles getting worked out, no doubt due to the different stance I was using/forced into.
The walk home was less than pleasant as the pad of my left foot acted up and without sufficient support from the shoe it was fairly cranky most of the way back.
I’m going to put the MT110s back on the shelf for now and get a nice pair of regular trail runners to replace my wearing-out Nikes. Eventually, maybe after I’m comfortably doing 10K runs again, I may try going back to the minimalist shoes.
Re: the cyclists. I am seeing multiple cyclists pretty much every time I run at the lake now. This annoys me because more of them are riding fast, which is the perfect way for collisions to happen, as cyclists ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ON THE TRAILS AROUND THE LAKE.
Clearly the many signs saying “No bicycles” are no longer working. My concern is that as word gets around that you can bike around the lake without consequence, more people will do so. I don’t think the Parks Board is doing any actual enforcement or they’re busting people (“Set your bike down and put your hands on that tree!”) when I’m not there.
Anyway, it’s annoying. There are very few places where bikes are not permitted and this is one of them. It’s one of the things I like about Burnaby Lake–I never have to keep an eye out for some idiot madly whizzing by on a bike. It seems that’s come to an end now. Alas.
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