Run 321
Average pace: 5:00/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny, somewhat humid
Temp: 20ºC
Wind: moderate to gusting
Calories burned: 388
Total distance to date: 2727
A shorter run tonight and with the hip not being sore exactly but feeling a bit more noticeable after a pair of longer runs, I didn’t plan on pushing too hard. Toward the end of the run I thought I had a good pace going so I pushed anyway and finished at an even 5:00/km–one second off my best pace of the year. If it wasn’t for the mysterious sag at 3.5 km…
Although it was warmer and a bit humid the later time kept the run comfortable. A breeze strong enough to make me tug my cap down tighter helped, too.
Overall this was a better-than-expected run and a nice continuation of the improved time from the previous run. Excelsior!
Run 320
Average pace: 5:12/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 11.04 km
Weather: Cloudy with heavy rain
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 849
Total distance to date: 2722
My goals today were:
run a full loop around the lake
beat the slug-like pace of the previous run while also avoiding actual slugs
As I head off to the lake I noted the sky to the south looked mostly friendly, while the sky to the north looked dark and ominous, with a curtain of rain already falling over Burnaby Mountain. I was unsure which side would win this North vs. South scenario but had not prepared for rain.
You can probably guess how this ends up.
I tried applying a little more gas this time and the hip was again mostly fine, only making its presence felt when the other parts of my legs quieted down, as if they had all agreed that balance was essential:
Hip: I’m feeling pretty good now. Someone want to take over?
Left thigh muscle: I’m on it. It’s only been a few km, I can start throbbing for awhile.
Hip: Sounds good. How about you, Left Foot Pad?
Left Foot Pad: I’m lined up to start hurting around the 8K mark.
Hip: Excellent. We’re set.
I knew my pace would generally be slower since my body is still not tuned for longer runs quite yet but could feel I was ahead of the last run’s languid saunter.
Everything was fine and just as I hit 4K mark the first few drops of rain began to fell. These few drops turned into a torrential downpour that lasted the next four km. For the final three km it eased off into light showers. I was left suitably drenched.
It didn’t affect the run, though. Except for a dip as I neared the 10K mark I stayed on a fairly even pace and finished at 5:12/km, a whopping 15 second improvement over the previous run. I also didn’t step on any slugs to my knowledge. Mission accomplished.
As a final note, the number of puddles I dodged was approximately ten million.
Run 319
Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 11.03 km
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 22-23ºC, humid (felt like 25ºC)
Wind: moderate to breezy
Calories burned: 849
Total distance to date: 2711
Despite the title of this blog post I am not pregnant.
To my knowledge.
Instead, I woke up and felt strangely nauseated. I called in sick, slept in a little and when I got up the nausea had passed so I had breakfast and it seemed to stay down okay. I planned for a rare weekday afternoon run because running when it’s warmer is still preferable to not having a big chunk of my evening eaten up by a run.
I planned on doing a full loop around the lake and set out on a deliberately slower pace to better accommodate the goal. My first km reflected this, coming in at a poky 5:10/km. The hip was no big thing but the thigh muscles hurt both on the walk to the lake and for a good part of the run. It wasn’t until well past the halfway point that they finally went from aching to feeling warmed up. By then the left foot was starting to act up, though it stayed tolerable for the entire run, only getting notably sore on the walk back to the Production Way SkyTrain station.
The weather was a mix of sun and high cloud, was warm (and felt warmer) and was humid. Despite this the slower pace kept things tolerable and I completed a full loop, coming in at 11.03 km, though my average pace was a not-exactly-lightning-quick 5:27/km.
Another complication during the run was a few times when I felt like my gorge was rising–my gag reflex almost but not quite kicked in on several occasions. This is a rather unpleasant sensation when running. By the time I got to the SkyTrain my stomach was cramping up. I think this may be related to the Chinese food I had for dinner last night. Maybe MSG doesn’t agree with me or something.
When I got home my appetite was suitably curbed and I ate an uncharacteristically light post-run meal.
I’ll try to do another full loop on the next run. It will be interesting to see how they compare. The current forecast is suggesting cooler temperatures and a good chance of rain, so better but wetter conditions.
Run 318
Average pace: 5:01/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.05 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 388
Total distance to date: 2700
Tonight’s run was a strange, contradictory and somewhat unpleasant experience.
The good news: My second best pace of the year at 5:01/km. This was due mainly to cloudy skies and cooler temperatures, a nice change from the mugginess of late.
The strange news: both of my thighs, but especially the left thigh, were noticeably sore during the run and even on the walk after. If any part of my legs are sore from a run it’s typically the calves or tendons.
The contradictory news: combining the above two items and having my second fastest run of the year.
The somewhat unpleasant news: I had to go to the washroom (in all ways) when I got to the lake and had to use the port-o-potty. At least they refilled the hand sanitizer.
The soreness of the thighs and the hip, come to think of it, both started after I got the new shoes. I think my stance may have changed somehow and it is now Wrong. I plan on getting new shoes–even if it’s another pair of my Nike LunaFly 3’s–before next week. They must have Laces Never Untied® technology.
Overall I suppose I am pleased more than not by this Jekyll and Hyde run. The stamina held up thanks to better conditions and the ailing parts can hopefully be corrected by better technology.
As long as it doesn’t require bionic limbs. I can’t afford those.
Run 317
Average pace: 5:12/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.05 km
Weather: Sunny, some high cloud
Temp: 23-25ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 389
Total distance to date: 2695
I adjusted my weight in the iPod’s Nike+ app from 170 to 165 pounds. As a result I burned 11 less calories running the same distance as the previous runs. This is a sneaky way to get me to run more. I’m okay with that.
Once again I planned tentatively on a full loop around the lake for my Sunday run but as with last Sunday this did not happen. In fact, it was warm enough (up to 25ºC but feeling warmer) and noticeably humid that I packed it in shortly after hitting 5K just past Still Creek.
The hip was not a particular factor again, so that is once more good news.
The left foot started to hurt but not until after the run. Paradoxically it usually hurts more when walking then running so after walking a little less than 2 km around the lake after the run I started running again for another 2 km or so, stopping when I got to the Avalon trail. I ran a little over 7 km in total so not too bad. The south side of the lake had more of a breeze and generally felt cooler so that run was probably faster. It felt better, apart from the foot nagging at me.
I am probably going to look at both new shoes and something to put in the left shoe to help cushion the pad of the foot. This is one of those times where more is more and more padding will probably make it easier to run on.
The 5:12/km pace is not horrible but disappointing after my times had generally started improving again. It looks to be a bit cooler on Tuesday so that run may prove faster.
Now that I am reading more I have moved my list o’ books from the Errata page to their own page, cleverly titled Books. It is available from the menu at the top of the site.
I’ll be adding more reviews and converting some (or all) of the existing ones to link to my Goodreads page, making it my Officially most Used Social Media Site™.
1. It was short and I wasn’t in the mood for a 1,000 page epic.
2. It was cheap. Cheap is always a good price.
3. I’m a sucker for apocalypse stories, especially ones that aren’t the start of a 20 volume series.
3a. I like to give a few untried authors a shot every year.
The Final Winter or as I like to call it, The Final Winter Where Every Character Shares Every Thought They Have with the Reader starts out with some measure of promise. A small assortment of people are effectively trapped in an English pub as an apocalyptic snowstorm rages not only outside but all across the world. Shortly into the story all phone service goes down and the power flicks off, leaving the group of people completely isolated.
A few others from a nearby supermarket and video store make their way over and the rest of the short novel chronicles the group trying to survive the storm and each other because most of them are miserable wretches.
The ending is right up there with “it was all a dream” or “and it turns out they were Adam and Eve”. It’s hokey as all get-out.
Overall, this is a mediocre effort, hampered by a few things that feel very “new writer” to me:
Each scene is told from a particular character’s point of view. This is fine. However, the author doesn’t merely jump into each character’s head, he snuggles comfortably in. Every thought and emotion is relayed in explicit (and often redundant) detail. There is no mystery at all behind anyone’s motivations at any point. Everything is quite literally spelled out for the reader. This gives the story a strange flatness, leeching out nearly all of the inter-character drama.
The plot drives the characters. The author seems to have hatched the plot for the novel and then contorts the situations and characters to ensure that everything moves from Point A to Point B to Point C. There are absurd coincidences, characters behaving stupidly (often wondering to themselves why they are acting so stupidly but carrying on nonetheless), all in service to keep the plot moving forward. The characters feel less like people and more like chess pieces being moved about to get to checkmate. That’s what the bad guy should have shouted at the end, really. “Checkmate!”
Without getting too much into spoilers, the depiction of good and evil flips between cartoonish and grimdark, but the tone shifts are awkward, as if the author couldn’t make up his mind whether to play things straight or for laughs.
The opening where the characters are first introduced and the mystery of the storm is not yet revealed works reasonably well and I was interested in seeing what would happen. By the end I was rolling my eyes regularly and happier about the book being short and cheap.
A disappointment overall and one I can’t recommend. If you’re looking for an apocalyptic tale I’d suggest the nearly 40 year old Lucifer’s Hammer before this.
Run 316
Average pace: 5:06/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.06 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 401
Total distance to date: 2689
I figured replacing the cheap laces that came with my Adidas Energy Boost® shoes with the nicely braided ones from my New Balance MT110s would solve my untied lace issue, as similar laces on my first pair of MT110s had never come untied in over 800 km of running.
I was wrong.
When I first tied up the shoes the left one (without the Nike+ sensor) felt a bit tight. As soon as I started running it immediately felt too loose, loose enough to come untied. But it didn’t.
Until I hit 400 m remaining. With only 400 meters to go I was not about to stop so I hoped I would not trip on the long, magnificently braided laces. I didn’t.
I think I officially hate the Adidas shoes now. I’m going to start shopping for replacements. The whole tongue/lace design just seems off, with the eyelets difficult to thread laces through, the tongue apparently being designed explicitly to loosen laces and the arrangement being such that the Nike sensor sits up higher on this shoe than on any others I’ve used.
As for the actual run, it was delayed by a day due to spending time with my partner and the weather was a fair bit warmer, with the temperature feeling like 25ºC or so. I could feel the difference and knew I’d be slower and I was. I still came in at a respectable 5:06/km and had an especially strong finish, perhaps eager to get the run over with before I fell flat on my face.
The hip wasn’t much of an issue at all but oddly enough the left upper thigh was aching noticeably, especially when I did the final sprint on the pedestrian overpass near the Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station. It feels fine now but I’m thinking at some point I may have actually pulled the muscle. Weird and annoying.
I am not especially looking forward to a longer run on Sunday as the last few have not gone well but will distract myself by thinking about new shoes.
Run 315
Average pace: 5:03/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.05 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 400
Total distance to date: 2684
The second run of June proved to be a nice recovery after the rather yucky run on Sunday. It was cooler and my various body parts were all better-behaved, with the hip not really factoring at all. I finished with my third best 5K pace of the year at 5:03/km. Not too shabby. Everything felt fine after, too.
As an additional bonus, there were fewer slugs (less dodging) and fewer giant clouds of bugs (less inhaling giant clouds of bugs).
I did silently curse a cyclist who was just entering the trail as I was exiting but other than that, the run was blessedly uneventful.
Run 314
Average pace: 5:24/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 8.06 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-25ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 629
Total distance to date: 2679
I came down from the high of my best run of the year with a loud thud today.
I set out to do a full loop around the lake with sunny skies and a nice breeze blowing. With the temperature ranging from 23-25ºC but feeling higher it was significantly warmer than Thursday’s run and this was the main culprit in dragging my pace way down, to a sloth-like 5:24/km. I started out slower and by the end was basically plodding. I drank deeply at the faucet by the dam afterward. Bless its deliciously cool water.
There were a couple of other issues, too. Here is my Assorted Issues List in a Fancy Box:
[box title=”Assorted Issues List in a Fancy Box” box_color=”#329242″]
laces too tight on right shoe. This was meant to keep the Nike+ sensor secure. I’ll re-jigger then before the next run.
pad on left foot sore. This was mainly noticeable on the walk after, not so much on the run.
right hip still noticeable. The right hip was quiet for most of the run but I still feel it when starting and it was pinging a little past about the 6K mark.
right Achilles tendon sending out signals after 7K. This set off a tiny alarm bell as the right tendon has been fine. The little flashes of pain were not severe but I chose to stop the run at 8K as a precaution. The tendon felt perfectly fine walking after.[/box]
Overall this was a disappointing run but the reasons are all identifiable and for the most part should be the sort of things I either adjust to or will diminish and go away over time. The next run will probably be in the 5-7K range so I will be interested to see how much I bounce back from today.
Run 313
Average pace: 4:59/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran Freeway Trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 400
Total distance to date: 2671
The weather was nearly perfect for this post-dinner run, with the sky clear, the air crisp, the temperature mild and a nice cool breeze to top it off. I opted for a clockwise spin around the lake and again decided to stick to a shorter route, with the plan being to try a longer one on the weekend.
The Avalon Trail had enough slugs on it to qualify as a slug land mine field. I don’t think I’ve ever zigzagged on a straight stretch so much before. I toyed with the idea of detouring down the Freeway trail. On the negative side it would stretch out my run but on the positive i’m sure there would be few if any slugs.
I let my feel carry me where they would and took the Freeway Trail. As I’ve mentioned previously they have completely resurfaced the trail with new gravel but unlike the last time I ran it the gravel is now packed down firmly now, making the trail a much better running experience than before.
I saw surprisingly few people on the trail once I hooked back on the Burnaby Lake loop, save for the athletic fields where several groups were kicking and tossing various balls about. Despite the hip feeling much better I still opted to not extend the run, ending it at 5K. I had a little extra walking to do as a result but other than a giant cloud of gnats it was fine.
What surprised me was my pace. I suspect the switch to the uncomplicated Freeway Trail and still-improving hip were what led me to cutting another full eight seconds off my pace. The big news, though, was that I broke the 5:oo minute mark for the first time this year, with my average pace coming in at 4:59/km.
I am quite pleased by this.
I also swapped out the laces from my New Balance MT100’s and put them in my Adidas EB’s, whose unadvertised specialty is having the laces come untied. Not only did this mean the laces did not come untied (and likely won’t ever again) but the neon green makes the shoes 300% more stylin’. Yep.
Run 312
Average pace: 5:07/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.06 km
Weather: Clear
Temp: 19-17ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 401
Total distance to date: 2666 km (Hail Satan!)
After the previous soaking the sun was back out for tonight’s run, as were the bugs. I probably inhaled a few on the stretch toward Still Creek. Mmm, tiny nutritious flying bits. The trail was awash in many black slugs, suddenly reappearing in large numbers after almost completely vanishing. Welcome back, slugs! Sorry if I accidentally squashed any of you.
The hip continues to feel better and my start was the best of the past few weeks. If the improvement continues at this pace I’ll probably feel back to normal in the next week or two.
Right at the start of the run I had to make a detour onto the grass as a large gaggle of geese (mom, dad and at least six kids) sauntered onto the path directly in front of me. The goslings are still small, fuzzy and adorable. The grown-ups remain hissy and mean if you get close, so steering clear is the name of the game here.
The run was uncomplicated apart from a brief flirtation with a cramp just past the 4K mark. I finished under 26 minutes for the first time since the hip turned creaky, another promising sign. The weather was mild, with a pleasant breeze blowing most of the way. I will remember this fondly when it’s 30+ and humid enough to turn the air liquid.
