Run 625Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:16 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 28:34
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Humidity: 45%
Wind: moderate
BPM: 156
Weight: 165 pounds
Total distance to date: 4705 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (60 km)
I was going to run on Saturday but did some errands and then had a kind of lazy day after that (I did go for an hour-long walk, so not totally lazy). Sunday the weather was showery, so I waited for a break, but the weather never really changed, so I ended up having two lazy days.
Monday was Monday. I only run on Mondays when it’s a holiday.
Which meant I ran today, Tuesday, with a four day break in-between runs. Longer than I’d like, but on the edge of being acceptable. This was a post-work run, so I set off to the river trail.
It was not four degrees warmer than Thursday’s run, and humidity was lower, but the balance was pretty close, which meant I sweated, but not a lot, and my mouth did not turn into a mini-Sahara. It also helped that the sun was lower, so most of the run was in the shade. Yay shade.
My left foot was a bit sore to start (probably a posture thing–as I sit here typing this, I have my feet on a foot rest, but had my right foot resting on top of the left one, smooshing it in a way that’s probably not great), but it settled down quickly, and there were no issues after that.
BPM was similar to Thursday, but my overall pace was faster at 5:41/km. Curiously, the fourth km was by far the fastest, a zippy 5:08/km. I’m not sure why I was moving so swiftly at that point. Maybe I slipped into “must finish quickly so I can eat dinner” mode. By comparison, the previous km was 6:06/km. That difference is kind of crazy. Maybe I was so slow in the third km that I ended up being well-rested for the next one.
Overall, a fine run, with no apparent side effects from the four days off.
Run 624Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 2:49 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 29:08
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 157
Weight: 166 pounds
Total distance to date: 4700 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (55 km)
Today started out cloudy, which would make for a nice run. By the time I headed out it cleared up, but it was okay, because the temperature stayed around 22ºC, which is well below the threshold of “Why am I running in this crazy heat?” Humidity was higher, too, so unlike the previous run, I was not plagued by dry mouth. It was nice.
After the last run I had some soreness in my left knee, extending down into the shin, so I was concerned how this would impact the run. Surprisingly, it didn’t seem to have any effect, perhaps because the three days off gave it enough time to sort of recover. I didn’t experience any other issues during the run and at times I felt pretty good, even distracted enough to think about other things, as I do when I get in the proverbial zone.
My BPM was right around average for the runs of late and my pace was only a tick or two higher at 5:48/km, but also within range, showing that I was able to come back from the Xtreme Heat run without complication.
Officially I hit 4,700 km total today, though it’s higher, since I didn’t track runs from the start, but 4,700 is a pretty good number. It’s enough to get me to Honolulu with almost 300 km to spare, though my shoes might get a little wet.
The Sauconys have not been scooping up gravel the last few runs, leading me to believe this is more a me problem than a shoe problem. I’m not sure what has changed, but I’d like to continue not scooping rocks and debris into my shoes.
In all, a decent run. My next will be on Saturday and I may go clockwise yet again, as progress on the resurfacing of the side trails is moving strangely slowly, so they remain closed (this is doubly odd, because they never actually closed the main trails while resurfacing them, so I’m not sure what exactly they’re doing on the side trails. Maybe they’re adding more trees or something).
This slim volume is basically Kevin J. Anderson and Martin L. Shoemaker telling you why they use voice dictation for their writing, and the specifics of how they do it. Their techniques differ–Shoemaker dictates while driving a one hour commute to and from work (and emphasizes the safe way to do so), while Anderson usually takes a digital voice recorder with him when he is out on hikes, keeping fit while staying productive. They sometimes overlap methods and Anderson in particular makes use of typing services, which can transcribe at a typical cost of one cent per word or thereabouts. He admits this is not suitable for all writers. A 100,000 word novel would cost $1,000 to transcribe, a hefty sum for a lot of people, especially those new to writing.
Each author also uses dictation for brainstorming, tossing out ideas, character background and more into their recordings. Shoemaker uses Dragon Professional 15.0 to transcribe his recordings and is satisfied with its accuracy, noting that cleanup is always part of the editing process, regardless of writing method.
They cover all the basics–when and where to dictate, overcoming the embarrassment of talking to yourself in public, getting comfortable with the sound of your own voice, and more.
All of this is good stuff, and both writers present their use cases in convincing fashion. The book does lack a certain amount of depth–this is Anderson and Shoemaker relating their experiences, with a minimum of advice, technical or otherwise. Those looking for more specifics on using voice dictation for writing may be better served by checking out The Writer’s Guide to Training Your Dragon by Scott Baker (which still covers the latest version of Dragon as of this writing, August 2019) or Chris Fox’s 5,000 Words Per hour.
Still, this is very much a worthy read, if for no other reason than to provide a little more incentive to making the jump to using voice dictation.
Run 623Average pace: 6:08/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 3:55 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 30:57
Weather: Sunny, hot
Temp: 30ºC
Humidity: 36%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Weight: 164.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4695 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (50 km)
I did not plan to run today, but I ended up running, even though it was kind of nutty to do so. Let me explain.
On Friday I planned to run, but slept in and then deferred to Saturday, as I did not want to run later Friday when it would be too hot. Remember the “too hot” part.
Later Friday I developed a pain in my abdomen reminiscent of “men of your age” infections of yore. Saturday morning, instead of running, I went to my favorite nearby walk-in clinic. Except they wouldn’t see me until noon, so I went back at noon. The diagnosis was vague and uncertain, though I had sugar in my urine, so the diabetes alarm was raised once again (this has happened throughout my entire life–so far each actual test has come back negative). The doctor gave me a bunch of other tests to take, similar to the ones my own doctor wanted me to take, but which I had been putting off, because I’ve been kind of lazy during vacation. She also suggested I drink lots of water and drink Metamucil, to prevent blockage/infection, though I assured her I was pretty regular already.
Sunday morning (today) Jeff drove me to a LifeLabs that was open on the weekend and they took more pee and also blood. The blood removal was the most efficient I’ve ever seen. It was kind of eerie.
After this, we went out for breakfast at IHOP (mmm, blueberry pancakes), then came home. I opted out of going to the Pride parade because the thought of sitting/standing ion place for hours on end did not seem enticing. Jeff ended up going off (unplanned) to watch it on his own.
It was very hot today. By mid-afternoon it was up to 30ºC. I decided if I couldn’t run, I’d at least walk, so I put on my running clothes (they are much more comfortable for warm weather) and set off to walk to the lake and back (around 8 km total). When I got to the lake, I decided to keep going, so I did that. When I got to Still Creek, I contemplated doing a run to finish off the loop around the lake. Remember, now:
it’s 30ºC
I had blood taken just hours earlier
I have abdominal pain
There was no good reason to run. None. But I had already missed two potential run days and didn’t want to miss another, so I made an agreement with myself to only run for as long as it was comfortable. If there was any pain/aches/fainting, etc. I would stop. And so I sent off doing what was essentially the reverse of my usual 5K clockwise circuit.
The first km was relatively zippy, considering the heat, coming in at 5:28/km. This changed and by the third km I was firmly in “Why am I doing this?” territory, with my pace way down to 6:39. I rallied and came back to 6:12 before wrapping up with 6:23 for the final stretch. This was one of those runs where I really wanted it to end.
Despite how I felt, I was fairly confident once I made it past the halfway mark that I would be able to finish. Fortunately, the Avalon trail was in shade at this time of day, probably the only thing that kept me going to the finish.
My mouth was very dry. Like, it was the Sahara in my mouth. To paraphrase America, the heat was hot. The humidity was high enough to make the air feel like a furnace, but not high enough to keep my mouth moist.
And yet the most interesting stat from the run was my BPM–a mere 155. This means that both my mind and body were being sensible. As I slowed, I did not push to maintain an unsustainable pace. I fell back into a slower, but steady pace and kept to that. I didn’t over-exert. I was smart! This is one of the few times I checked my BPM mid-run, too. If it had been crazy-high, I would have stopped, but it was pretty steady in the 150s throughout.
And the abdominal pain, though still there, is now a much more muted kind of ache, so it didn’t present an issue. Really, the only issue was the weather itself. And my decision to run in it. 😛
I’ve always assumed that when I get a stitch in my side while running it’s because I’m going too fast–basically pushing my body too hard and the stitch is my body’s way of saying, “Whoa, slow down there, partner!” Because slowing down would always seem to make the stitch go away.
It turns out that apparently no one really knows what causes these stitches because they haven’t been studied much. The consensus seems to be they’re relatively innocuous, not a sign of impending doom, and that even pro athletes get them. I have to admit, on one of my last runs I got a stitch and didn’t feel like I was pushing hard at the time, so my own theory may be so much hooey.
I’ll probably still slow down when I get them, though, partly because it still feels logical (to my mind) and also because running hard with a stitch is, in fact, hard.
Run 622Average pace: 5:42/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:02 am
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 28:39
Weather: Sunny, veiled cloud
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 57%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 159
Weight: 166.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 4690 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (45 km)
When I got to the lake this morning, I was planning another counter-clockwise run, but knowing I’d have to skip the first two side trails, I planned to start on the other side of the dam, near the 0K marker, for that all-important psychological boost of finishing the 5K at or before the 5K marker. Then I thought, “Why stop there?” and opted to start at the 10K marker, giving myself an extra 300 meters to play with.
But as I walked to my start point, I thought about the noise and stink of the work around the dam, and the torn-up main trail that I would have to navigate right at the start, then decided to run clockwise, so I made my way back to the fountain near the dam (still ahead of the 5K marker, but not by as much) and set off.
Conditions were nearly as humid as Monday and it was a little warmer, so I was sweating even before the run started. Then I sweated a whole lot more. I didn’t push hard at the start, but I also didn’t hold back or try to set a steady pace, I just ran at whatever speed I felt comfortable with, then slowed down after.
As it turned out, my first km was a relatively blazing 5:14/km–this is the closest I’ve come to breaking the 5:00/km mark in a long time (and is something I doubt I will break, unless I specifically set out to do so). I’m not sure why I was so zippy, but that first km is why I ended up with an overall improvement of five seconds on my average pace, because every other km ranged between 5:41 and up to 5:58. My slowest km was the third and to be fair, I did improve in the following two km, so after burning hard and fast to start, I found some reserves to pick the pace up a bit for the back half of the run.
There were no issues otherwise, and the trail was relatively quiet, just a few other joggers and walkers, not even many people out walking their dogs. I managed to run a good bit after, even beating my average walk pace (8:02 vs. 8:28) vs. Monday.
I did actually rest after the run on the bed for about 20 minutes or so, because did I mention it was humid? I felt a little more tuckered, as a result, though I am up and aboot now.
I’ll probably run clockwise again on Friday, but we’ll see. They are predicting light rain, so that would be a relative novelty for a summer run. It might be refreshing, or horrible. Hard to say.
Despite going up on the last day of the month (I hate when that happens), I managed to defy the odds and come out with my weight down for the month, marking the fifth month my weight has either declined or at least stayed the same (I was up in February and May).
And yet for the year to date, I am still down less than a pound, so what’s going on? How can I keep losing weight and not really lose weight?
I think there are a few factors at play:
I am exercising more. Specifically, I am running more often, back to my normal three times per week, and regular exercise is a good way to help control weight–but not lose weight.
I have cut down on snacking, but my total calorie intake has not shifted dramatically.
These two factors combined mean a couple of things will happen:
I will lose weight, but slowly.
The slowness is partly due to a change in body composition. As I run more, I burn fat and replace it with hunky, sexy muscle. But hunky, sexy muscle is denser than fat and weighs more.
My theory is that my body fat should be down over the year to date, even if it it is essentially unchanged this month. Let’s see if it is!
January 1, 2019 body fat: 32.2 pounds, 19.2% July 31, 2019 body fat: 30.9 pounds, 18.6%
Although still not dramatic, there is more change here, as I’ve shed 1.3 pounds of fat, but only dropped 0.8 pounds in actual weight. So this is good news, albeit not exactly the blistering pace of weight loss/fast loss I was hoping for. But if I keep running regularly (we’re tentatively planning on getting a treadmill for the spare bedroom, so running will be easy ‘n convenient, even when the weather is bad or it’s dark out and you might run into a werewolf) and do a bit better on snacking (it’s getting there), I should see more rapid declines. I’m trending in the right direction, at least, so I’ll take it.
Also, I managed to lose weight during vacation, something that is the opposite for most people, so I offer some self-kudos for that. Woo, I say.
And the stats:
July 1: 166.9 pounds July 31: 166.3 pounds (down 0.6 pounds)
Year to date: From 167.5 to 166.3 pounds (down 0.8 pounds)
And the body fat:
July 1: 18.4% (30.8 pounds of fat) July 31: 18.6% (30.9 pounds of fat) (up 0.1 pounds)
Run 621Average pace: 5:47/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:30 am
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 29:07
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 61%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 159
Weight: 165.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4685 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (40 km)
It turned out that since smoothing down the damaged part of the main trail leading to the Spruce Loop, still being resurfaced, the park workers have since resumed work and have re-damaged the main trail again, which made the first minute or so of today’s run a bit tricky, given that the trail was filled with unexpected ruts, piles of dirt and was also in one of those sun/shade areas where your eyes don’t have time to adjust to the ever-changing lighting.
But my tricky feet somehow got me through and I completed a counter-clockwise 5K today, surprising myself by coming in six seconds faster than Saturday’s run and proving that I am not as freakishly consistent as I could be. My pace was 5:47/km and this time the only issue I had was sweat and plenty of it. It was 21ºC, so actually a bit cooler than the last few runs, but humidity was way up, so I sweated early and often. No real dry mouth, the one benefit to a sticky, humid run.
My BPM was up, but only slightly, and I had a very steady pace, save for the second km, where I dipped a little before resuming my previous pace. Overall, I felt good, and managed to do a fair bit of running post-run as well.
I saw a snake ahead of me on the second boardwalk and as I approached, the snake slithered between the boards and out of sight. I wonder if the snake had any idea where it was going or was just confident that anywhere but under my approaching foot would be a better place to be. I saw another snake on the previous run, doing that “slither across the path in a panic as a human approaches” thing. I have not seen any pythons so far this year.
As for the gravel in shoes, it appears the new Sauconys share the same property the Brooks Cascadia 12s have in how they can effortlessly scoop gravel up and deposit it into the shoes. Like the Brooks, it happens almost exclusively while walking, so clearly there is something about my exercise walking gait that makes this a lot more likely to happen than when I run, which is preferable if it has to happen at all.
But today I stopped and emptied gravel and grit out of my right shoe three times post-run. It’s getting a bit silly. I still like the shoes, though.
I’m starting to think about trying a 10K soon, maybe before my vacation ends. I’ll see how the next few runs go before committing, as any 10K will have a horrible long time and will leave me a little depressed, even if it goes as well as can be expected. Basically, my body is probably ready now, I’m just not sure if my mind is.
Run 620Average pace: 5:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 2:20 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:35
Weather: Sunny with some cloud, windy
Temp: 24ºC
Humidity: 45%
Wind: light to high
BPM: 157
Weight: 165.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4680 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (35 km)
Thanks to running on Thursday instead of the planned Wednesday, I ended up running today–a Saturday–when I didn’t want to. I prefer weekday runs because of the smaller crowds on the trail. Weirdly, crowds were not an issue on the trail today, as it was not that busy, despite quite nice weather.
Although temperature was similar to Thursday, it was quite windy at times, but generally in a good way, with the breeze feeling cool and pleasant, not something I was fighting against. My mouth didn’t even feel particularly dry, something that’s generally been the case so far this summer.
I felt a bit of a stitch in my lower left abdomen early on, but kept steady and it went away. No other issues during the run, with the knees again fine and the sore left foot feeling better.
My energy level was also the best of the last three runs, and I did not feel tired even during the final km. This was reflected in my BPM, which dropped from 161 to 157, a nice improvement and a sign that my stamina is improving at last.
What was weird was my pace–5:53/km. This is identical to my previous run and only one second off the run before that. I don’t think I’ve ever had such a set of eerily consistent runs. The total time of today’s run and the previous is separated by three seconds. I could never be this precise on purpose. Think about it. If you break the run down to seconds, this is how they compare:
Run 1: 1772 Run 2: 1775
That is a 0.17% difference, which is ridiculous.
Although I am tempted to do a fourth clockwise run around the lake just to see if this would freakily happen again, I am leaning toward counter-clockwise, as they have done a bit of remedial work on the section of the main trail that got trashed as they resurfaced the side trails (which is still ongoing). It’s been quite awhile since I’ve run counter-clockwise and bypassed the side trails, so it will feel a bit different and I’m all over the novelty factor.
Overall, today’s run was solid. The pace was unchanged, but I felt better, my BPM was lower and I had enough energy to run multiple km afterward, even coming close to matching my 5K pace.
Run 619Average pace: 5:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:25 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 29:32
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light
BPM: 161
Weight: 166.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4675 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (30 km)
It was not quite as warm today as Monday, but I ended up sweating more because the heat/humidity mix was leaning a little more to the “you’re going to sweat” side of things.
Today’s run was interesting in how much it was the same, yet different, than the previous one.
BPM was identical at 161. Average pace differed by a mere second, and total time by only 10 seconds. Spread over 5 km, that’s pretty tiny.
The difference today was in how the overall run played out. I started faster and ended faster, but found a steadier, but slower pace in-between the two. This made for a run that felt a lot more comfortable. I felt perfectly fine until heading into the final km. At this point when running clockwise at the lake, the trail is pretty open, meaning the sun is beating down on you most of the time. I was also starting to get a wee bit tired, and the extra exertion to maintain pace was being felt. It still wasn’t bad, though, and certainly not like Monday’s run.
And yes, I meant to run yesterday, but I had an intense bout of vacation laziness I could not overcome.
The left foot was again a bit sore starting out, but not too bad after. I wonder if the orthotic is starting to just get old and I’m feeling the True Foot Experience more now. Maybe I’ll follow up on that next week.
Conditions were otherwise good. A few runners, some walkers, one over-exuberant and unleashed lab (I called out to the owner my favorite three words for dog owners: Leash your dog. I did this twice, to make sure she heard. I don’t think she did, if you know what I mean.)
Another difference with today’s run vs. Monday’s is how I felt after. Monday I was pooped and made a few token efforts to run after finishing the 5K. Today I walked the first post-run km, then ran almost the entire length of what would have been the 7th km of the run. I repeated this a few times, running for longer stretches than normal. I felt positively zippy, which bodes well for the eventual tackling of a full 10K (possibly soon™).
Overall, a good run, despite the deceptively minimal change in performance.
Run 618Average pace: 5:54/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 1:27 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light
BPM: 161
Weight: 165.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4670 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (25 km)
On the first full day back from camping, I did some tidying up, put away the clean dishes, swept and then looked around and thought, “What can I do on this beautiful sunny day that involves being outside and such?” and lo the answer came. Run!
Because I am still on vacation, I can not only do lake runs for every run, I can do them during the week, when there are fewer people, so just after 12:30 this afternoon, I set out to do just that.
Arriving at the lake, I saw that my usual way in was now blocked off due to construction at the dam, as expected, so I went the short length up the road and came in through Avalon Avenue. Because I was already on the south side and didn’t know the state of the side trails, I opted to go clockwise for the heck of it.
It was quite warm, but not quite Africa hot. The humidity level was just high enough to keep my mouth from badly drying out, but not so high that I sweated profusely. I set off, hoping that with a week off, I’d at least beat the 6:00 minute mark for my pace. I did that and was only two seconds slower than my previous lake run, coming in at 5:54/km vs. 5:52/km. Not bad, considering I felt pretty out of gas for the last two km.
Although I experienced no issues other than being a bit tired toward the end, I did experience some after the run, namely a weird sort of cramp/gas that kept me from doing much post-run running along the trail on the way out. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but it was mildly annoying.
Around the 4K mark, when I noted that I was feeling a bit tuckered, I did a quick checklist and found that not only were my knees not hurting, I wasn’t feeling them at all. I don’t mean they were suddenly and alarmingly paralyzed, but that they were not sore, aching, cranky or anything other than just knees. It’s been quite awhile since the knees have felt so nothing on a run, and it is probably the highlight of today’s run.
Another highlight was the delightful lack of people as it was early afternoon on a weekday.
It turned out that the Spruce Loop is officially closed for maintenance and the tracks of the machinery taking gravel to it were all over the main trail leading up to it. In some places the machinery had so badly damaged the main trail they may need to do work on it when they are finished on the Spruce Loop. It seemed a bit like curing one patient by taking the medicine away from another. Here’s hoping they have enough medicine (gravel) to go around. The initial work on the Spruce Loop looks promising, though, so it should be quite an improvement when it’s done.
I should note here that the new Saucony shoes are still working well, though it seems they are almost as adept at scooping gravel as my Cascadias. This seems to happen more when I’m walking than running, so maybe I’m walking wrong. I don’t know. I also think I had the laces dialed in a bit too tight this time or my feet were retaining water or something, because the tops of my feet were getting just ever-so-slightly sore by the end.
Also, I have to be fair and say the left foot was hurting a bit for the run. I don’t consider it an issue, per se, as it was already hurting and I don’t think the run had any effect on it, it just underlined it. And it didn’t bother me so much as provide a background irritation.
My next run should be Wednesday. The weather is supposed to be 23ºC (nice) and light rain (less nice), so it seems the inconsistent July weather will be back after two days of actual summer-like weather. At least I won’t have to worry about getting a sunburn.
