View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Gloomier and milder.
This is what a difference in the weather makes. It was cloudy and cooler, leading me to lop an impressive 22 seconds off my average pace while running the same route. My BPM also dropped from 164 on Wednesday to 151 today.
In all, it was nice to get back to more runner-friendly conditions.
The FIRE DANGER signs are back up and that is usually followed by showers. Just as I was checking my stats post-run I felt the first few drops. To be fair, it never amounted to much more than drizzle, so the signs will likely stay up for more than 24 hours.
This is when people always start smoking.
And when I say I ran the same route, this is mostly true, because at the 4.11 km mark I was passing a guy who smiled at me in polite acknowledgement. I nodded back and was going to keep running, but he had that “I want to talk to you” look, so I paused the run and he advised me that up farther on the Cottonwood Trail several people had just seen a bear and he had just turned back himself. I thanked him for the bears-up, turned around and finished the remainder of the run going back the way I came. The lake loop has some pretty good lines of sight, but there are also a fair number of blind corners and turning a corner while running directly toward a bear has never struck me as a good idea, so the decision to turn back was an easy one. This effectively lopped off about two km or so from my walk back, which was fine by me.
In all, a nice, if somewhat unusual, conclusion to the week, running-wise.
Post-run, I checked out Piper Spit. It was just me and the pigeons.
Stats:
Run 943 Average pace: 5:47/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, mostly) Start: 10:47 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 29:07 Weather: Cloudy Temp: 20°C Humidity: 72-70% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 167.9 Total distance to date: 6,547.5 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (142.5/301.5/444)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Warm and getting warmer.
It is set to hit 30C or higher today in New Westminster, so I made sure to get out relatively early to beat the heat. And I did, kind of.
It was 23C when I started the run, 24 by the end. This is warmer than usual but below my arbitrary ceiling of 25C, after which it starts to get uncomfortable (so says I). If you take into account the “feels like” temperature, it was actually already at that point.
I started out slower than normal and marginally picked up the pace before the end, but given how it felt, I’m content with a pace of 6:09/km and a BPM of 154. While the sun was at my back during the long stretch along the Cottonwood Trail, it was still beating down mercilessly and I did not like it.
On the plus side, there were four topless joggers and no dogs off-leash.
Still Creek, post-run. The breeze was warm and didn’t really help much. But still!
Stats:
Run 942 Average pace: 6:09/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 9:44 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:55 Weather: Sunny Temp: 23-24°C Humidity: 57-54% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 154 Weight: 167.6 Total distance to date: 6,542.5 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (137.5/288.5/426)
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Slightly shifted to the right for a better view.
I missed two runs last week for not-great reasons, so I was determined to get out today, and I did!
As I headed out, the sky was overcast but it was already 20C. By the time I started my run, it had mostly cleared up, but the temperature actually stayed 20C, though it was a tad humid at 74%. Despite missing a few runs, I didn’t encounter any issues.
I adopted a more moderate pace and while I did beat my pace of a week ago by posting 6:05/km, it was still a bit pokey. I will probably start putting in a bit more effort next week, as the rest of this week looks Africa hot.
Speaking of hot, I took advantage of the fountain by the dam pre-run, the one by the playground post-run and the one at the Nature House, which is situated about three km after where I ended my run. It was, as they say, more the humidity than the heat.
There were people about, including one person running with a dog off-leash (tip: this is not a good idea), though the dog was at least focused. It seemed there was a fair amount of coyote poop about. I think. I am not a wild animal poop expert. But there were definitely piles of berry pits on the trail in poop-like piles.
In any case, it was good to be be back out.
Still Creek, post-run.
Stats:
Run 941 Average pace: 6:05/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 10:07 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 30:34 Weather: Mostly sunny Temp: 20°C Humidity: 74-70% Wind: light to moderate BPM: 152 Weight: 167.6 Total distance to date: 6,537.5 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (132.5/275.5/408)
Where: Reifel Bird Sanctuary (Delta), Richmond Nature House, Terra Nova Park (Richmond), Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby) Weather: Sunny, 20-28°C
Reifel Bird Sanctuary
South pound at Reifel: Mostly empty, a little slimy.
We started bright ‘n early at Reifel, where the clouds quickly burned off and it was actually kind of warm. You know it’s warm at Reifel when the breeze feels pleasant.
There was some incipient goose drama, but for the most part, it was pretty quiet, with many of the ponds and waterways absent of waterfowl. Several ponds were also looking quite slimy, including the London Slough1Dictionary Fun Fact: It can be pronounced sloo or slow, but not sluff, where it means something that can be shed or cast off, which gave us slimy mallards and equally slimy turtles. Everyone seemed pretty chill with the green slime. And speaking of the slough, one of the logs there was, as Nic put it, a veritable United Nations of waterfowl, with mallards, wood ducks, wigeons and mergansers all sharing space, a turtle at the end keeping an eye on them.
The vast marshlands are looking pleasantly green and verdant now, with wildflowers providing ample opportunities for the billion types of pollinators buzzing about. The first of the main ponds on the Outer Dyke (approaching from the north) appeared to have a lot of birds over yonder in the eastern end, so we went to the secret third bird blind and indeed, the area was replete with dowitchers and lesser yellowlegs. They were a little too far away, alas.
We encountered a pair of Sandhill cranes and they were in a restful mood, probably due to the heat. One even folded down on its legs in a comfy patch of shaded grass.
There were goldfinches and yellowthroats, but they mostly remained elusive, as is their way. Herons were more present than in other recent trips, on the ground, in the water and in the air (but not pooping).
We saw more beetles going at it. I’m ready to declare them the horniest bugs of summer, though the dragonflies are putting in a good effort, too.
In all, a perfectly pleasant tour of the sanctuary, with a few birds we haven’t seen lately sneaking back in, like a few mergansers and pintails.
Richmond Nature House
My arm with a ladybug on it, photo courtesy of Nic.
Next was the Richmond Nature House. I did not take any photos here, but Nic shot a rufous hummingbird and a furtive chickadee that came out briefly to check one of the feeders that still had seed in it. Actually, I did take one photo–of a fire hydrant surrounded by flowers. And Nic took photos of me. Or at least my left arm, which had a ladybug on it.
Terra Nova Park
Vast marshlands at Terra Nova, looking north toward the coastal mountains.
We moved on to Terra Nova and for me, it was all planes planes planes! There were only a few birds here–again, probably staying in the shade to avoid the mid-afternoon heat. Terra Nova always offers nice scenery, though. And planes.
The tide was the lowest here I can recall seeing. A collection of herons were gathered south of the Iona Beach jetty, noodling about in an area that would normally be under water. And when I say noodling, I mean standing, because that’s what herons do.
Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake
A pair of poop monsters with urban towers in the distance.
We ended our birbing at Piper Spit and by now it was up to 28C, but the breeze meant it didn’t actually feel that hot. The spit is still a no-feeding area (though a few people were doing that and will end up in bird hell or something. Actually, the birds like the seed, so it would probably be some other kind of hell, like, uh, the no bird feeding hell, where you are waist deep in seed no matter where you go, constantly slogging through), so while there are birds, they don’t hang around the pier itself as closely as usual. We didn’t see anything unusual here and did not magically summon the crane this time. We did observe at length a blackbird on the lily pads giving itself a good bath, though. There were also pigeons acting like red soldier beetles, if you know what I mean. The ladies (or men? I am not a pigeonologist) seemed unimpressed.
As a special bonus, we did not have to wait for a train to pass when leaving.
In all, a good outing.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
The Birds (and other critters)
Sparrows and sparrow-adjacent:
American goldfinch
Anna’s hummingbird
Barn swallow
Black-capped chickadee
Brown-headed cowbird
Cedar waxwing
Common yellowthroat
European starling
House sparrow
Red-winged blackbird
Rufous hummingbird
Song sparrow
Spotted towhee
Tree swallow
Yellow warbler
Waterfowl and shorebirds:
American coot (not yet!)
American wigeon
Canada goose
Great blue heron
Hooded merganser (!)
Lesser yellowlegs
Long-billed dowitcher
Mallard
Northern pintail (!)
Sandhill crane
Wood duck
Common:
American crow
Rock pigeon
A few gulls
Raptors:
Bald eagle
Non-birds:
Western painted turtle
Bugs and insects:
Red soldier beetle
Great blue skimmer (dragonfly)
Eight-spotted skimmer (dragonfly)
Blue damselfly
Hover fly
Paper wasp
Sand wasp
A billion others I could not classify or have forgotten
This one from YouTube, inviting you to experience the analysis of every torture scene in the various Call of Duty games. And apparently there are 46 torture scenes.
At over 42 minutes, that’s almost a minute/torture. And the video is a year old, so there are probably more torture scenes now, since I can’t imagine Activision lets more than a year go by without cranking out something Call of Duty-related.
In any case, I am equally intrigued and horrified that there are actual dozens of torture scenes in one of the most popular video game franchises.
I am not going to watch the video, though. The thumbnail is enough.
I pondered what to do today: Regular 5K? Wee 2.5K? 5K but short loop? In the end, I did a regular 5K but adopted a more moderate pace from the outset–the first km was a leisurely 6:13/km and I was remarkably consistent, only picking up the pace a bit for the final lap and ending with an overall pace of 6:11/km. Slower than usual, but it was also warmer and I am clearly not at 100% capacity for stamina post-chest cold yet.
I didn’t have any issues, though, thanks to the more modest pace.
A snake almost got squished, though, as the title notes. I was running through one of those patchy sun/shade areas and did not see a garter snake sunning itself in one of the sunny patches until the last moment. I lengthened my stride into a ind of step/jump to get over it, and it was only as I passed above that the snake finally moved and slithered off the trail. A lucky snake!
Large stretches of the run were curiously quiet, too. I don’t think I saw anyone else on the trail for the first 3 km, then a bunch of people appeared on the Cottonwood Trail, where we all baked a little in the unrelenting sun (don’t worry, showers are called for tomorrow).
I also took a brief break at the Nature House, about halfway through the run, to get a drink at the fountain. This had no appreciable effect on my pace, good or bad.
Overall, it was nice to get back to my regular routine, but this is the most tired I’ve felt post-run in a good while.
View from Deer Lake Brook bridge, post-run.
Stats:
Run 940 Average pace: 6:11/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 10:08 a.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 31:08 Weather: Sunny Temp: 21-22°C Humidity: 66-62% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 165.8 Total distance to date: 6,532.5 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (127.5/262.5/390)
Ah, the joys of early summer: Warm weather and sun, light breezes, shady trees, and rowdy, barking dogs.
Wait, let me back up.
I decided to walk to the lake and back today (an 8 km round trip) and declared the walk back to be exercise, so I timed it on my Garmin. This just generally means I walk without stopping to take photos, admire the scenery, etc. I did all that stuff while walking to the lake.
For the most part, the second leg of the walk was fine, until I got to a group of people on the river trail with three dogs between them. One dog was on leash, the other two were not. All three dogs were kind of large. The two unleashed dogs were running all over the place, making it difficult for anyone else (pedestrian or cyclist) to navigate around them. Then they got even more, uh, unleashed and started circling and snapping at each other (playfully), ignoring everyone and everything else. Several times I had to stop, as they were giving me no way to move forward. One owner kind of waved his hands around, like he was vaguely trying to shepherd his dog. This seemed to have no effect on the dog.
The dogs eventually whirled enough out of my way for me to pass. Both owners had leashes in their hands, but their dogs were obviously too precious to be leashed–except when they get to the end of the trail and return to the sidewalk, where they will immediately leash their dogs because:
They don’t trust their dogs enough to not run into traffic and care about the dog’s safety.
But otherwise don’t care about anyone else’s safety with regard to what their dogs–which they already show they don’t trust, per the above point–will do.
Dog owners.
As for the walk, it was fine. Here are some pleasant photos, none of which contain dogs, rowdy or otherwise.
Sun, shade and riverA fallen tree forming a natural bridge on the Brunette River.The fish ladder and start of the Brunette River. A great blue heron is fishing at the end of the ladder.
Stats:
Walk 133 Average pace: 9:13/km Location: Brunette River trail Distance: 4.02 km Time: 37:05 Weather: Sunny Temp: 26°C Humidity: 42% Wind: light BPM: 113 Weight: 167.1 pounds Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Total distance to date: 943.03 km
Where: Centennial Beach, Beach Grove, Boundary Bay Dyke Trial (Delta) Weather: Partly sunny, 17-19°C
Boundary Bay: Sometimes it’s a bay, and sometimes it’s this.
My suggestion to start out at Crescent Beach/Blackie spit was thwarted a few km short of the target when traffic mysteriously came to a standstill. There were a lot of dump trucks and other vehicles ahead of us and they seemed to be turning around for some reason. We could see little flags on the road, but not enough to quite discern what had happened or was happening. We pondered taking another route in, but couldn’t be sure it wouldn’t also be blocked, so we headed to our original destination of Centennial Beach.
The weather was pleasant enough, with partly sunny conditions, but the wind was gusting regularly, which brought a delightful (?) challenge to shooting bugs and birds on bobbing branches.
This time, the raptor trail delivered a Northern raptor right up front and it swooped over the area numerous times, often while being harassed by blackbirds, because the area is clearly not big enough for all of them.
The tide was way out, so we got obligatory shots of the vastness of Mud Bay, while mostly avoiding the mud. Mostly.
House sparrows were out everywhere, as were various swallows, but shorebirds were in short supply at Centennial, which was perhaps understandable, because the shore was effectively about an extra km out.
The behaviour of bugs was notable on this outing. We observed what appeared to be a BC miner bee (which looks like a bumblebee with “pollen pants”) being regularly assaulted in the sand by another bee. Examination of the shots left me uncertain what exactly was going on. The beat-up bee didn’t seem to be interested or perhaps capable of flying off, and a few of the rasslin’ poses were of the variety that would make young, uncertain bees uncomfortable, if you know what I mean.
The promised afternoon sun did not really materialize, but the hazy clouds still allowed decent illumination. We moved on to Beach Grove and the Boundary Bay Dyke Trail, which we haven’t visited in a while.
We saw more insects getting it on, specifically a pair of amorous red solider beetles, and a couple of mud dauber (?1Nic did extensive interweb research to ID the various insects and what we discovered is that a) there are a lot of types of insects, like way too many and b) this makes them very challenging to ID) wasps that were connected in a way that suggested love was in the air and in even closer proximity to them.
But what we mostly saw were Savannah sparrows, and plenty of ’em. I got some of my best shots of these pretty boys, along with more horny bugs, some elusive common yellowthroats, and an American goldfinch sitting atop a tree, which I pointed out to Nic. I had my kit lens on the camera at the time and it took off before I could switch lenses, but Nic got some shots, thus ending his curse. For now.
I also had a red soldier beetle climb onto my shoe (the shots didn’t turn out, but I tried) and despite being very aware of the copious horse poop on the trail, managed to step in it twice. Still, if there is any poop you must step in, horse poop is probably the least offensive.
One of the ponds near(ish) to the trail had attracted no less than four different types of shorebirds, so we got our shorebird fix in a concentrated burst, with a few killdeer, lesser and greater yellowlegs and a least sandpiper, which was being mostly shy and keeping partly hidden in the grass.
In all, I was surprised at how many birds we saw, particularly on the dyke trail. And having the 400 mm lens definitely made for a better experience for me, as the birds are often not near the trail, so the extra reach is handy. Also, I remembered sunblock and despite the hazy conditions, probably would have burned otherwise, so yay for that.
The Shots
Shot with a Canon EOS R7 with 18-150 mm kit lens and 100-400 mm telephoto.
I’m mulling another redo of this blog’s look and I’m thinking of going all-in on retro. Not in a crazy way, like trying to simulate the <blink> tag or embedding MIDI samples, but something a little warmer, less corporate-looking.
I shall mull things like colour choices, fonts and assorted bits of whimsy. The downside of this is I am not a programmer and can’t just whip up some fancy CSS using my big brain, so the process will be slow, painful, etc. But possibly worth it.
I could do things like change from a basic white background. But should I?
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run: Warm, but pleasant.
Last Saturday, I got what turned out to be an early summer chest cold. How? No idea. Maybe I should stay in a giant plastic ball when I go outside. Anyway, this meant my chest got congested and I spent a lot of time coughing and trying not to cough. Monday and Wednesday’s runs were scrubbed, but I had tentative hope for Friday.
Friday is today and while I no longer sound like I’m going through puberty and the congestion is definitely clearing up, I originally planned to just walk to the lake and back, to get some exercise. Instead, I ended up doing a short 2.5K run, which seemed about right.
I managed a respectable pace of 5:45/km and a BPM of 150, which is a little higher than of late, but with good reason (and it’s still fine, even if I was totes healthy).
It was still humid enough that the sun was not an issue, and tree canopy shielded me much of the time, anyway. I made it almost to the first boardwalk, then turned around at about the 1.5 km mark, so I wouldn’t have far to walk back. I didn’t experience any issues and saw a garter snake sunning itself on the river trail afterward, which was nice. I crouched to take a photo and when I stood up, it slithered off. I felt bad, but maybe I saved its life by making it move and not getting run over by a mad cyclist.
In all, a nice way to wrap what was otherwise a not great week for exercise.
Garter snake sunning on the river trail, post-run (I ran, not the snake).
Stats:
Run 939 Average pace: 5:45/km Training status: Peaking Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop) Start: 10:49 a.m. Distance: 2.50 km Time: 14:24 Weather: Sunny Temp: 20°C Humidity: 65% Wind: light BPM: 150 Weight: 167.1 Total distance to date: 6,527.5 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: ASICS Trabuco Terra 2 (122.5/249.5/372)
