Lead legs upgraded to iron…or maybe leather

I was not looking forward to the run today because I’d made essentially zero progress in the last few and was concerned about having another sluggish jog.

The weather was mild, 15ºC, a light breeze and cloudy. Because of Important stuff, like watching cartoon movies. I ran in the morning instead of the afternoon, but was back to the usual direction, counter-clockwise.

I knew based on where I had completed the last run that this one was going to be a nice improvement. Boosting that, my legs did not feel like lead at all and I managed to push — a little — during the last km. My breathing settled earlier, I had a better start, it was an all-around much-improved run.

The overall pace of 5:26/km easily beat my previous of 5:37/km and a good part of that came in a much faster opening km of 5:03 vs. 5:15 previously.

My next run I’ll be running clockwise (backwards) again, so it’ll be interesting to see how my times compare. I suspect they will be worse but we shall see.

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):

km May 23 May 20 May 18 Jan 25
1 km 5:03 5:15 5:13 5:04
2 km 5:15 5:24 5:23 5:20
3 km 5:21 5:31 5:30 5:31
4 km 5:25 5:35 5:35 5:36
5 km 5:26 5:37 5:37 5:37

Lead legs and the fear of burning

Today’s run was on the warmest day of the year yet, with temperatures around 20ºC in the shade and probably a few degrees warmer in the sun. There was little in the way of breeze, which was nice after the last gust-o-rama.

After hurting my left shin a few times I had theorized that I was perhaps making injury more likely to happen by always running on the same path and in the same direction, which would lead me to favoring the same side (and leg) over time. Today I began the nutty process of testing this theory by running clockwise around the path at China Creek park and it felt genuinely weird for the first few laps. Oddly, despite the beautiful conditions, I did not encounter any other joggers, though there were numerous people out tanning, throwing Frisbees, kicking soccer balls and otherwise exercising or hanging out.

Speaking of encounters, I came across that weird bubble phenomenon where people outdoors think of themselves as being the only person out there and thus pay absolutely no attention to anything around them. In this case it was a little girl who was part of a larger class out exercising. She walked onto the trail directly in my path. I had enough time to put a hand on her shoulder and stop the inevitable collision.

The run itself went perhaps marginally better than I had hoped. I figured the combination of it feeling warmer than usual and running in the opposite direction would lead to a slower run but I maintained a 5:37/km pace. Stamina was an issue early on but fine for the latter part. The lead legs kicked in midway through, though. I tried pushing a bit in the last km or so but my legs were less than willing to agree with my brain’s clever plan to improve my overall time. At least I’m not getting slower.

Except for my starting km. I’m not sure why my time is so slow there, unless it’s a subconscious effort to not burn out early or something.

The fear of burning came at the end of the run when I looked at my arms and they were red. I thought I had managed the neat trick of burning them on one of the few sunny days we’ve actually had this spring, but they were simply flushed and have resumed their normal pale appearance.

Chart (purple indicates the run was done clockwise)

km May 20 May 18 Jan 25
1 km 5:15 5:13 5:04
2 km 5:24 5:23 5:20
3 km 5:31 5:30 5:31
4 km 5:35 5:35 5:36
5 km 5:37 5:37 5:37

Sun, wind, run

Ran my first full 5K since January 25th and oddly enough my pace was exactly the same as that day – 5:37/km.

The weather was actually spring-like with the temperature around 17ºC. It was a bit breezy, however, with The Weather Network reporting winds up to 20 km/h. I most noticed this when running the northern part of the trail and the wind was blowing against me. It’s mostly a psychological thing, though at the end of the run the wind was strong enough to blow the water coming out of the fountain back onto my hand. It also leaves your mouth parched like nobody’s business. The sun, though pleasant, was not hot enough to be uncomfortable. It was nice ducking into the shade of the trees lining the trail, too. And speaking of the trail, the few dry days have managed to make it much easier to run on, although it’s still bumpy in spots.

This was also the first official day of the year for Extremely Pale Shirtless Guy Tanning at China Creek.

For the run itself, I felt slow. My opening km was 5:13 vs. the 5:04 in January but the pace in the second half settled down instead of continuing to fall off a cliff. Despite the slowness I didn’t encounter any problems.

Handy comparison chart:

km May 18 Jan 25
1 km 5:13 5:04
2 km 5:23 5:20
3 km 5:30 5:31
4 km 5:35 5:36
5 km 5:37 5:37

Another fine winter’s run

With the temperature around 11ºC (normal high 17ºC) and the sky a sullen gray I headed off to China Creek, choosing to upgrade my run length to 25 minutes as I continue to move closer  to the realm of the 10K run.

Despite some rain the trail remained puddle-free, though the usual sections were rather mushy, meaning I did have to watch my foot placement. My time at the 20 minute mark was almost identical to my previous 20 minute run but as I shaved a second off my pace, I managed to pick it up for the last five minutes.

I later took photographic evidence of the deteriorating condition of the trail (one pic is below) but they all came out blurry for some reason, so I’ll probably have to take another batch. I’m hoping to get a response from the city on when or if repairs will be made to the pathway.

This was my first run since coming back to regular jogs where I could feel the shift between my stamina holding up and my legs getting tired. In other words, my energy level was keeping pace better and as a result my leg muscles were working a bit harder to keep up. This is generally a good thing. I may try a full 5K on Wednesday.

The Nike+ site is currently experiencing server errors but I have all the handy stats from iTunes, so here they are for today’s run. I’m including everything just because I can!

Time: 25:06
Distance: 4.54 km
Pace: 5:32/km
Calories: 308

Total workouts: 95
Total distance: 706.79 km

And in this fuzzy shot you can see how the bark mulch has been stripped away by the rain, exposing the soil and rock underneath. There are several sections of the trail like this, with others also having many new exposed roots coming through. Not so great for jogging and unpleasant, too, for walking.

In other running-related news, Jeff visited his doctor and found out he has tendinitis and is on a 5-10 day Advil regime to bring down the inflammation. He may or may not be able to resume running at that point so he is going to be out for at least a few weeks if not more. Not surprisingly, he is not happy about this!

Rain! Run! (in that order)

Because of the computer nonsense I had ot deal with yesterday I postponed my run to today. With the trail dried out from the rain and an extra day off I should have been faster but strangely I fell back slightly to 5.33/km. Not bad but a tad disappointing.

It was 12ºC and overcast as I headed to the park. One block away and a torrential downpour began. Figures. I hid under a tree and gave it a minute, thinking it might be one of those transitory cloudbursts. It quickly eased to a mere steady rain and I headed off. The shower stopped entirely halfway through and then started again promptly as I left the park, as if there was an invisible tripwire I was hitting that was turning it on and off.

I did feel a bit labored in the first half of the run but not overly so, with both stamina and leg muscles feeling it. The second half was better and my time improved in the last km, an encouraging sign. If Jeff is still out next week, I will probably move to either 25 minute runs or a full 5K for my runs.

I also hit a new milestone tonight, with the Nike+ sensor saying I have completed just under 702 km total distance run. Not too shabby for a guy who hasn’t jogged since high school!

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part — er, no part this time

With Jeff out for the week due to a mysterious ankle injury, I’m no longer referring to these mini-runs as part of the Couch to 5K plan. Instead I call them the ‘getting my flabby out-of-shape body back up to speed’ plan.

Today’s conditions can be summed up in two images:

Summer in 41 days!

And at China Creek Park:

Nike hipwaders optional

I should point out that this isn’t as bad as it’s been, as here is the same view from a previous run:

However, the latter shot is from December 2009. When it’s, you know, winter. If the trees weren’t in bloom it could have passed as a day in February today.

The trail is eroding even worse now. The southern part has always been a bit dodgy when it rains, with large puddles and muddy stretches being typical. However, even the higher northern ground is getting soft and much of the mulch (say that three times fast) has been swept away by the numerous rivulets. It is a mess.

And it was part of the reason I fell back two seconds on my previous pace, coming it at 5:31/km. A couple of times I nearly lost my footing and my first lap was a bit slow as I staked out a path that would not leave me face down in the mud. No doubt only having a day off between runs also knocked me down a notch. I’m very much rebuilding my stamina at this point.

The run otherwise went well, though. I have managed to get past the mental hurdle of ‘oh god how much more before this ends?’, which is an important step! Here’s hoping Friday’s run is a little drier and warmer.

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 10

I cheated again today as I was running solo and just did another straight 20 minute run.

The weather was very mild — 15ºC, overcast and a light breeze. The sun briefly came out near the end. I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt but found it too warm. Note to self: stop overdressing — again!

With the muscles in my upper legs still a bit sore from Friday’s run, I managed the first 10 minutes with a slightly better time but it felt much easier than the previous run. The last four minutes, on the other hand, were harder as I struggled to maintain my pace. It paid off as I finished with an average of 5:29/km vs. Friday’s 5:33/km, a four second improvement. Nice!

The trail has deteriorated to the point of silliness and I am really hoping the city will be putting fresh mulch on at some point soon. There are long stretches where the mulch cover has completely stripped away due to the rain, exposing the clay and stones underneath. The worst part remains the numerous exposed tree roots, which constitute a genuine tripping hazard for runners and walkers alike.

Also, the fountain is completely clogged. But it works! And no bees! (yet)

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 9

As Jeff was in New Westminster today, I decided to skip the prescribed routine for Week 3 of the C25K plan, which is:

  • Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
  • Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
  • Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)

Instead I chose to simply jog for 20 minutes, only the third time in the past six months that I had jogged for this length of time or longer. It was mild out (12ºC) but a light rain was falling so I wore my subtle ‘n gray long-sleeved MEC t-shirt with my shorts. It actually does a surprisingly good job of keeping the rain off, unlike my jogging jacket, which acts more like a sponge. My Nike+ sensor is still ticking so I set out with a Beach Boys playlist to serenade me as I wheezed and struggled through the initial part of the run. Two things struck me: some of the tracks I was listening to are nearing 50 years old. Egad! Also, the surfing songs in particular really start to blend together when played back to back. I’m pretty sure you could mash them into one epic 60 minute ultimate surfing song. I’m less sure that you would want to.

I finished with an average pace of 5:33/km, which is actually better than my last two 5Ks, though in this case I only ran 3.63 km. After the first five minutes I began to feel the burn but adjusted my pace and made it to the halfway mark after going through a few moments of ‘Lordy, it would feel really good to stop now’. The second 10 minutes were easier and I actually picked up the pace a little toward the end. Given the weather, the park was fairly deserted. The trail was a little mushy along the southern side but didn’t require any real dodging to navigate. My initial 1 km came in at 5:09/km. Slow by my standards but not too shabby given how little I’ve been running this year.

All in all, I was pleased with the effort and I’m relieved to know that I’m already set for the end of Week 5, which concludes with a 20 minute run.

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 8

The thing I remember most about today’s run was during the second three minute segment when I kicked it up the proverbial notch, which was followed by a noticeable burning in my lungs, my body’s cute way of saying, “That’s fast enough, thanks!” Apart from that, the run went well for both Jeff and I.

Conditions were a bit damp, which has been the trend this week, but it was still mild. The weather seems to have gotten confused over the whole April showers thing.

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 7

Today’s conditions were pretty dismal for early May — the temperature merely in the single digits at 9ºC and a steady rain falling. Fortunately there was little wind, so it didn’t feel cold.

Week 3 of the C25K program involves two reps of 90 seconds jogging/walking and 3 minutes jogging/walking. It went by fairly quickly and on the 3 minute segments it felt a bit closer to a regular run, completing an entire lap before ramping down to a brisk walk.

Apart from a dog walker or two, the only others taking in the park were two sets of other runners, one a trio of guys being led by a guy with a cap and a whistle (‘I’ll stand here and tell you if you’re running too hard, because watching you run makes me tired’ and a pair of women who seemed to be doing some kind of mixed run/exercise thing. Despite the proliferation of joggers on the muddy course, there were no collisions.

Jeff was keyed up enough that he kept jogging after the jogging part had ended but I told him to stick to the program and he grudgingly agreed. It will be interesting to see if his enthusiasm keeps up as the jogging stretches from 3 minute segments to 5 and 8 then to 20 minutes over the next two weeks. 🙂

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 6

Spring returned!

It was about 12ºC today, which felt downright balmy after the ice-hands run on Wednesday, with the sun out and a light breeze blowing.

While the trail had dried out and the puddles were gone, someone had driven the mower along it, leaving deep ruts along the southern stretch. These ruts are deep enough to actually be a tripping hazard. I mostly ran around them, though the muck is still pliable enough that it’s easy to smoosh down the parts that stick up. I am still hoping that they add fresh bark mulch to the path, several stretches are in dire need of it after the relentless rains of the past winter.

The run itself went well. Unlike Wednesday I found myself with sufficient energy and Jeff maintained his pace for the first four of the six 90-second running segments before slowing. I inadvertently got way ahead of him in the second half when I glanced behind me, saw what I thought was him and kept going, not realizing it was another jogger and that the segment had, in fac,t stopped. Oh well.

Week 3 and 3-minute runs begin on Monday. Woo!

Couch to 5K: The Sequel, Part 4

This one is a quick update because I didn’t run. Woo!

I didn’t run because yesterday I came down with some kind of 24 hour flu bug that left me alternating between feeling like a furnace and an ice cube. Good times.

Jeff did run — his first in the rain and first along the river trail out near his place in New Westminster. He reports the jacket was needed as it was rather chilly and running on the gravel path was harder on his knees than the mulch used at China Creek.

I shall be partaking in Part 5 (of 27) on Wednesday.