Run 516: 4,000 km! Also: super hot and yucky

Run 516
Average pace: 5:30/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 6:45 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 27:39
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light
BPM: 152
Weight: 159.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4003 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

While walking to the river trail for tonight’s run I made the call to do a shorter 5K run because:

  1. it felt even hotter than on Tuesday
  2. the air quality was worse
  3. there was little in the way of a breeze
  4. the air quality was worse–did I mention that? It was bad. The fine particulate matter they keep talking about was a lot more tangible.

So I ran 5K and turned in an average pace of 5:30/km, which is not that zippy for 5K but pretty decent given the conditions. The air was thick, soupy and slightly stinky. It felt warmer even though officially it was 29ºC again. I sweated profusely.

Other than a moment or two when a cramp threatened but didn’t materialize, I experienced no complications. It was just kind of a gross, unpleasant experience. I saw no other runners, so apparently some other joggers have had enough of this weather.

We’re in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave and it’s hot enough that they’ve doubled the number of fire warning signs on the trail (the bonus sign is on the bottom):

fire danger and more fire danger
Fire danger plus more fire danger

I did not see any briquette barbecues during my run. I’m a little surprised I haven’t seen anyone smoking, though. Fire bans is usually when the smokers show up.

Oh, and I hit a major milestone–or is it kilometerstone?–tonight, passing the 4,000 km mark in total distance. I’ve been running for eight years now, so it averages out to about 500 km per year. Not too shabby. My best year was significantly higher than that–980 km–but I don’t think that will happen again. In 2012 I was on fire instead of all the forests.

This was the last run before I start my vacation so I now have the luxury of doing each run in the morning when it will be mercifully cooler, if still hazy and yucky. Cooler and yucky is still better than hotter and yucky, so I’ll take it.

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Run 515: Orange haze

Run 515
Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 6:18 pm
Distance: 8.02 km
Time: 45:36
Weather: Smoke haze, sun
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 46%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 154
Weight: 159.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3998 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

The change in the weather not only brought much warmer temperatures, it also brought–thanks to a switch in the winds–a high haze of smoke carried in from the forest fires burning in the interior. The entire day was cast under a hazy sun, with the light an eerie orange.

This made running feel a bit like being on an alien world. Also the fact that the air had the quality of soupy smoke and it was hot as heck. The sweating returned in abundance, though the humidity meant I kind of self-hydrated through the run, unlike Saturday’s cooler but drier run that left my mouth parched.

I was a bit concerned starting out due to this combination of unpleasant conditions and planned a conservative run. Indeed, save for the first and last km, which were faster, my pace was remarkably steady. Weirdly, though, it didn’t feel nearly as bad as I’d expected.

It was hot, but the haze kept the sun from beating directly down. There was an intermittent breeze. The heavy humidity kept me from drying out. And while the air was filled with “fine particulate matter” (fancypants talk for bits of stuff from the smoke), I couldn’t specifically detect it. I didn’t come out smelling like a campfire, anyway.

I was surprised by the number of other jogging fools out with me. We are all masochists.

In the end I actually beat Saturday’s pace by three seconds (albeit over a shorter distance) and felt a lot better doing it.

Two other things I’ll mention. Somewhere between the 5 and 6K mark I heard the scissoring of legs behind me and to my left. A moment later a runner zipped by me. He was really trucking, which seemed silly to me, given the conditions. I thought of goosing my pace a bit to keep him in sight and see how long he could maintain his torrid pace but he was out of sight in nearly an instant, a phantom on the trail.

A short distance before the increasingly rickety Deer Creek Brook bridge and I saw him coming back, having short-turned before the bridge. As he went by I noticed that his mouth formed a perfect O. His face had the same look one might observe of a fish that’s been out of water just a tad longer than it would like. Given this heart-attack-imminent look, I didn’t feel so bad about being left in his dust.

Speaking of heart attacks, I had my music set to shuffle play and They Might Be Giants’ song(let) “I’m Having a Heart Attack” came on. I felt a bit uneasy at this possibly providing unintentional narrative to my run so skipped to the next track, which was The Cure’s “Hot Hot Hot.” It’s like the music knew.

Overall, this turned out to be a surprisingly decent run. Here’s hoping the trend continues, as the next two runs are likely to be under similar conditions.

July 2017 weight loss report: Down 2.6 pounds

For the month of July:

July 1: 163.1 pounds
July 30: 160.5 pounds

This continues the downward trend that started in May and has picked up a wee bit of momentum. Three times in the past week I dipped below 160 pounds, once tipping the scale at 158.6 pounds.

For the year to date I have gone from 165.9 to 160.5 pounds, a total weight loss of 5.4 pounds. Not super-dramatic but I am getting close enough to my goal that I no longer despair and feel the urge to give up and switch to an all-donuts diet.

And body fat for the first half of the year:

January 1: 19.1% (31.7 pounds of fat)
July 30: 16.6% (26.8 pounds of fat)

Down 2.5%/4.9 pounds of fat. Again, not numbers to make your socks roll up and down but a continued improvement over previous months. Onward and downward, I say!

Run 514: The 10K that felt like 100K

Run 514
Average pace: 5:44/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:53 pm
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 57:34
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-25ºC
Humidity: 37%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 153
Weight: 159.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 3990 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

I indulged in a bit of a lazy morning and started today’s run early in the afternoon as a consequence. In terms of temperature it wasn’t too bad, only a few degrees hotter than the morning and at 24-25ºC still below the “this is kind of too hot” point. On the northern side of the lake I sweated a bit but didn’t sweat much at all on the southern side. A good breeze helped, too.

For whatever reason, though, I was tired for the whole run. Even the walk to the lake was a bit slower than recent days. Because it was afternoon I choose to go with a steady but slower pace, anyway, but my legs especially just seemed to lack the fuel to carry me much beyond a plodding pace that averaged out to 5:44/km. This isn’t terrible–in fact, it’s about what I would have expected for my first 10K last weekend (where much cooler weather helped), but it was still enough that by the 6K mark I seriously considered calling it. I also mulled pausing the run or walking for a bit.

In the end I turned my mind to other things to distract myself and got through the full 10 km. There was no photo finish. 😛

The trail itself is seeing construction/resurfacing along several areas. The rocky section by the 5K marker I complained about previously did indeed turn out to be a base layer that has since been covered over with crushed gravel. It looks like most of that stretch that floods is going to be built up with new material, leaving only a few other small areas that are still affected by heavy rains.

The work on South Shore trail and Avalon trail doesn’t appear to have progressed much, though I’m curious to see how they resurface Avalon. It’s a shared use trail that horses are allowed on and is the only place on the Burnaby Lake Loop with a rock dust surface, which is very fine and maybe better for horses? Most trails feature either crushed gravel or compact dirt. I’m assuming they’ll keep it the same for the horses. Won’t someone think of the horses?

There was a notice posted at several entry points to let people know the Cottonwood trail would be closed for a few weeks to have its footbridge replaced, starting July 31. Indeed, I could see piles of gravel and three steel girders near the bridge as I ran by. Since there’s no detour route on the Cottonwood trail, this means the loop will not be doable for at least two weeks.

Those two weeks exactly coincide with my vacation, when I played on…running the loop. I’ll have to run clockwise to Still Creek and double-back, which will get me 10K. Not as satisfying as a full loop around the lake, but better than a kick in the pants. I’m hoping that, as with the boardwalk replacement in 2012, the time estimate is overly generous and it only takes them a week or so to complete. It’s not a big bridge. I clear it in about four steps.

I wonder if they might target the bridge at Deer Lake Brook. It’s bigger (and has stairs at both ends) and when I ran on it today it felt especially bouncy on the eastern end. It hasn’t felt bouncy before. Bouncy is not a good quality for a bridge to have.

One bonus of heading out later was fewer people out in general (and no cyclists, yay). Still, I’m glad I finished the run, both for the achievement and because finishing meant it was over. This is one of those rare times when my two-day break before the next run will feel truly welcome.

Book review: All Our Wrong Todays

All Our Wrong TodaysAll Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a sucker for certain story types and time travel is one of them. The plots in time travel stories are almost always of the “pull one loose thread and the whole thing unravels” variety, with the science ranging from sounding possible to being completely silly.

All Our Wrong Todays is a sometimes odd combination of extremes, with its tone shifting from being very light to very dark and back again. And again. The science is presented with a veneer of plausibility, even as the framing device (which in this case is an actual device, a kind of perpetual motion machine that produces endless free energy) seems wildly unlikely.

But this is ultimately more a story about a person–in this case a shiftless 30-something named Tom Barren–coming to grips with who he is and what’s important to him than it is an action-packed time travel adventure.

Though there is action. And time travel adventure.

Told from a first person perspective, author Elan Mastai does an almost too-convincing job presenting Tom as an irredeemable loser. A nice guy, sure, but also an unambitious, inept, unthinking clod. Since it’s Tom himself describing these qualities, the self-loathing threatens to smother the reader. At one point I nearly put the book aside. I stuck with it, though, and things pick up as Tom is forced out of his somnolent existence after he screws up time in a big way. As in many time travel stories, messing up timelines is pretty easy while fixing them proves much trickier.

For a first novel, Mastai has done a terrific job crafting an entertaining yarn. Yes, the science is wonky but watching the different players interact across different timelines–including Tom engaging in an epic internal battle with his other selves–is worth the ride.

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Run 513: The first 8K of 2017

Run 513
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 6:30 pm
Distance: 8.02 km
Time: 44:35
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Humidity: 56%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 161.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3979 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

Three differences between Tuesday’s run and tonight’s:

  • It was 22ºC instead of 28ºC. This was very good.
  • I ran 8K instead of 7K, taking advantage of the longer clockwise route. This was nice because the longer runs build up my stamina.
  • My pace was 5:33/km vs. 5:37/km. See the first bullet point: Cooler really does equal faster.

I was a bit concerned at the start Due to some weird gas in the stomach. I could feel the water I had before the run sloshing around. It seemed a good bet that cramps were to follow, like some scene from an irritable bowel syndrome TV commercial. I started out a bit slower than normal but the cramps never materialized and the gas passed (ho ho).

For the first half of the run I actually ended up feeling fairly energetic and only felt like I was pushing in the last few km as I worked to maintain my pace (my last km was also the fastest).

For the third run in a row I sweated like some kind of robot designed specifically to sweat. A sweatbot. I have no idea why I am sweating so much but it’s on the verge of being irritating as it constantly threatens to sluice down into my eyes. If I end up having to get a headband I may cry a little.

The trail work on the Avalon and South Shore trails doesn’t seem to have progressed much in the last few days but just before the 5K marker (not the 5K mark of the run, the actual 5K marker of the Burnaby Lake Loop) the trail was covered with fresh gravel. Except it wasn’t really gravel, it was more like just plain rocks. I have no idea what they’re doing there but it ain’t friendly for running. Or walking. Maybe it’s intended as a base to allow drainage after they put the crushed gravel on top. There are spots in this section that do flood after a good rain. But for now it’s not exactly feet-friendly.

I passed quite a few other joggers tonight. Not too many pedestrians and no cyclists, so yay.

Overall, a good if excessively sweaty run.

Run 512: A very sweaty 7K

Run 512
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 6:30 pm
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 39:38
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28ºC
Humidity: 41%
Wind: light
BPM: 159
Weight: 160.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3971 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

Tonight’s run was a bell curve covered in sweat.

With the temperature up around 28ºC I adopted a steady-but-not-quick pace, hoping to endure the heat. I actually managed better than expected, coming close to Saturday’s pace (5:37/km tonight vs 5:34/km on Saturday). While that run was 3 km longer, it was also 11 degrees cooler. You kind of notice a difference like that.

At the midway point I could feel cramps threatening, so I eased up, then picked the pace back up for the last few km when the potential cramp crisis passed. Other than that the only other real issue was sweating. I sweated a bunch, especially around the forehead, where it always dribbles down and threatens to get into my eyes. No wonder headbands became so popular in the 80s.

They still look too dumb to wear. My finger can wick sweat away at no extra cost.

I felt a little bad for the people riding the SkyTrain with me on the way home. I’m pretty sure I didn’t smell spring fresh. Or summer fresh. Or any kind of fresh.

The only other complication came when I turned onto the Piper Mill Trail. A large group of nature enthusiasts were gathered and studying pine cones or something. They also blocked the entire path. Even though any of the dozen or so could have seen me, not a single one acknowledged my presence or moved to let me pass. I actually had to stop and then make my way around them off the trail. I hope they got attacked by a swarm of rabid butterflies, the jerks.

Still, even the nature-loving but people-hating clods could not take away from this run going better than expected.

Run 511: The first 10K of 2017

Run 511
Average pace: 5:34/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:45 am
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 55:52
Weather: Overcast, light showers
Temp: 17ºC
Humidity: 82%
Wind: light
BPM: 159
Weight: 160.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 3964 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

Today I planned to run my first 10K of the year. And I did.

Today the forecast said it might shower. And it did.

But I didn’t care! It actually didn’t start to shower until nearly the 9 km mark and even then it was more of a light drizzle than rain.

I headed out early because I knew it would be a lot harder to motivate myself if it did start to shower before I got outside. Once I’m out and heading to the run I’m committed, regardless of the weather. Well, I’d probably reconsider if the weather was erupting volcano or something.

I started around 9:45 a.m. and it was around 17ºC, so pretty comfy for running, especially without the sun beating down from above (not that I don’t love you, sun–you can come back now). It had sprinkled earlier so the air was still quite humid and I sweated copiously during the run. Again, this was different than sweating from the heat of the sun. I’m not sure how to describe the difference. It was wetter? Everything was wetter.

There were actually quite a few other runners out, including an entire gaggle that came running in together just before I started near the dam. Pedestrians were fewer but still more plentiful than expected, given the gloomy sky. I guess clouds aren’t as scary on weekends.

I started with a slower pace, knowing I was likely to commit to a full 10K, and kept the pace very steady, with no greater than a ten second variance at any point. In fact, here it is, straight from the Activity app:

10K run July 22 2017

I found some pep at the midway point and again in the final km, when the end was in sight, but stayed pretty consistent, otherwise. Even better, I had no issues at all–no cramping, no soreness in either foot. I had no real doubt I’d push through to 10K but the first long run of the year you never know until you’re actually out there. A pace of 5:34/km for the first 10K is pretty good for me. It’s better than some of the 7K times I’ve pulled recently.

Also I forgot to mention it, but I saw a cute brown bunny hop across the trail in front of me on Thursday’s run. I don’t think bunnies are supposed to be there, so it was probably a released pet or the offspring of the same. It was still very cute.

Overall, I’m pleased with today’s run and the week in total. This is the first time this year I’ve done an extended run all three days: 7K. 7K and 10K. My amazing math skills tell me that’s 24 km. Not too shabby.

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Book review: It was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences

It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Killer SentencesIt Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer’s Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences by June Casagrande
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is like the perfect date for a grammar geek. It’s funny, smart, reasonable, and hates semicolons.

June Casagrande does an excellent job of guiding writers through the pitfalls of crafting a sentence, carefully illustrating the many ways one can fumble with just a few words. She offers solid instruction on how to avoid the pitfalls, be on guard for common errors, and generally improve the sentences that form the foundation for all writing, whether it’s fiction or non-fiction.

The book ends with some useful appendices, too, though the first one–humbly titled Grammar for Writers–may cause unpleasant flashbacks to English class, depending on the individual. If seeing “Subject + transitive verb + direct object + object complement” gives you the willies, know that Casagrande explains everything carefully, concisely and with a fair amount of humor.

I tend to intuit what works and doesn’t work in a sentence without being able to precisely identify a prepositional phrase or a nonfinite clause, so much of this book felt like a remedial course. I don’t mean that as a negative, either. It’s an excellent guide and Casagrande repeatedly emphasizes that you don’t need to memorize every rule (or variation of the same), that you can–and should–break out a dictionary or two when in doubt, and breaking rules is completely okay, provided you actually understand the rules you’re breaking.

Overall, this is an excellent and entertaining guide to grammar. I feel like any grammatical goofs I’ve made in this review will carry extra shame for me, having read this spiffy primer.

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Run 510: Cloudy with a chance of speed

Run 510
Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 6:25 pm
Distance: 7.03 km
Time: 38:23
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 21ºC
Humidity: 48%
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Weight: 161.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3954 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

A few things were different for tonight’s run. It was several degrees cooler and cloudy, so weather-wise it was much nicer for running. I decided to go clockwise on the lake portion instead of counter-clockwise like I normally would.

And the biggest difference: a much faster pace. Compared to Tuesday’s 5:41/km, tonight I came in at 5:27/km, a fairly substantial improvement. I started again with a not-pushing-it pace (5:18/km for the first km) and while I dipped toward the middle as I usually do, I never felt like I was bogging down and regained speed, ending with the last km at the same pace as the first.

The sun poked out for a few moments here and there but that was it.

The other remarkable feature of the run was the clouds apparently scared away everyone else. I saw a few people near the dam as I was starting out and then saw no one else until after I finished my run and was walking past the athletic fields. It gave the run a real Omega Man vibe. It was weird but also kind of nice. Who knew clouds were so scary?

Overall a good effort and a nice bounce back from Tuesday’s hot ‘n humid jog.

Now featuring less of me

Today I weighed myself, as I do every day, but today was a little different.

Specifically, I was less than I was yesterday. Even more specifically, I was down exactly two pounds, from 160.6 to 158.6 pounds, marking the first time the entire freaking year I have been below 160 pounds.

I celebrated this achievement by eating an entire chocolate cake.

Okay, I had sushi. And it was yummy.

My official goal of 150 pounds is now in sight. My super-secret goal of 145 pounds is…closer. Still, even going by the stricter goal, it’s only 13.6 pounds away, which seems a lot more doable than when I was pushing 170.

And now, (imaginary) donuts.

Run 509: Steady summer sojourn

Run 509
Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Brunette River trail and Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 6:42 pm
Distance: 7.02 km
Time: 39:58
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25ºC
Humidity: 36%
Wind: light
BPM: 161
Weight: 160.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3947 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

The weather for tonight’s run looks very similar to Saturday’s but in this case looks are indeed deceiving as it felt much warmer than the 25ºC would seem to indicate. I took preemptive action by starting out at a slower, steady pace and then just tried to stick to it for the entire run. I did find myself slowing a bit more overall around the midway point–by coincidence the same time by body suddenly decided it was a good time to have a bowel movement, even though I told my bowel in a very stern tone to do its business before we headed out. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned before, jostling your innards about while running is not an optimal action when you gotta go.

But I put it out of mind and by the 5K point felt fine. I even felt fine as I wound up at the 7K mark, not nearly as tired and out of breath as on Saturday–a good thing!

I was actually a little concerned about my calves. I’ve been power-walking on my lunch breaks (walking at a pace around 8:45/km or so) and I can definitely feel the muscles stretching as they get worked over by my merciless pace. They were fine for the run, though. I may ease up a little on the walks, anyway. The irony of injuring my leg while walking would be a bit too rich.

Overall, not a fast run but a good run.