I set off a little bit earlier for a run where conditions were similar to the previous in terms of weather (sunny) but a bit cooler by two degrees. This and going the “hard” way around Burnaby Lake meant my pace was a tad slower and my BPM a tad higher, but both were still fine.
I did something that made my right hip a bit sore yesterday (not a run day) and was concerned it might affect my run, but I think jogging actually helped it, because it wasn’t an issue and feels better (for now, at least).
The only off-note was another Off-leash Friday. Whether it’s a coincidence or not, it seems like people are more likely to have dogs off-leas on Fridays. At least they proved to not be problematic. The only one that approached me was post-run, and it was a tiny white furball.
Overall, it was nice to end the week with a full-deal run and to experience no issues. Here’s to getting slimmer, getting stronger and tackling 10Ks again, possibly as we shift over to spring next month.
Still Creek and bridge, post-run.
Run 850
Average pace: 5:47/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 120:58 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:07
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 5-6ºC
Humidity: 72-68%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 172.0
Total distance to date: 6140 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (275/513/788 km)
Brunette River, pre-run. Maybe looking just a smidgen like early spring.
Quite often it happens this way: I don’t feel like running, I faff about doing other stuff, I finally convince myself to get out, then have a really good run.
That basically happened today. By the time I headed out, it was just past 11 a.m. But it was unexpectedly sunny, and the temperature had warmed to a relatively mild 7C, so conditions were good. In the interest of time, I ran the river trail, and it was fairly quiet, despite the later hour.
I came out of the gate a little hot with a pace of 5:38/km, which led to a bit of a sag for the next two km, but recovered for the final two and ended with a flourish, with my overall pace being 5:44/km, besting my last two runs. My BPM also edged down a little lower at 149. I was almost two pounds lighter than on Monday’s run, so I was slightly more aerodynamic, too.
With no issues to report, this was a perfectly fine mid-week run.
Brunette River, post-run.
Run 849
Average pace: 5:44/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 11:19 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 28:51
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 7-8ºC
Humidity: 70%
Wind: light
BPM: 149
Weight: 172.3
Total distance to date: 6135 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (270/500/770 km)
Where: Piper Spit, Burnaby Lake (Burnaby), Tlahutum Regional Park (Coquitlam) Weather: Sunny, 8°C
The Outing
Today was a surprise edition of birding. The weather predicted some rare sunshine, so we took advantage with a trip to Piper Spit and Tlahutum Regional Park.
First, my camera: Closer examination revealed a lot of carbon build-up on the contacts of the lenses that my previously gentle cleaning had not touched. Using a brass brush and isopropyl alcohol, these were cleaned much more thoroughly. The contacts sparkled!
And the good news is it worked. The telephoto lens worked without any issues at all. It was nice to go back to blaming myself and not the equipment for lousy shots.
Fortunately, I got some good shots, with several chickadees and squirrels fighting for the “most adorable” award.
Piper Spit presented an unusual case of light that was at times too bright, but better still than rain. A woman teased us about a possible owl sighting, but we were not precisely sure of the location, and no owls were sighted. We were sad.
On the other hand, a bufflehead showed up in the mix, and we got some nice shots of his shiny iridescent head. The gulls seem to have taken up semi-permanent residence now, claiming the landmass off the pier as their kingdom. Or gulldom. It’s also the place where they gather and collect weird things like golf balls and other stuff we probably don’t really want to identify.
And a surprise appearance by barn swallows! We’ve seen them in March, but I don’t recall ever seeing them in February before, and especially not the first week of the month, so that was a neat treat. The albino pigeon was back, too, easily identified by, well, being pure white. But also by being banded. I’ve seen one other albino here, but it is not banded.
There was some avian drama to be had and the pecking order (heh) appears to be:
Crows > coots
Goose > crows
Coots, of course, mostly terrorize themselves.
Tlahutum presented a surprising number of birds, but they tended to be farther away, and by then the light was getting low and golden. Still, we saw some mergansers, gadwalls and yet more swallows (way up high). The fields of tall yellow grass did look rather pretty in the golden light of late afternoon.
Overall, this was a fine shorter outing, and I was pleased that my camera is back to behaving normally again.
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. It got progressively cloudier as I jogged.
Today’s run was weird and a bit contradictory, but in a good sort of way.
First, it was cooler–only 5C. I wore two layers up top, and it was a little chilly walking to the lake, but tolerable, and I was fine for the run. I did try my windbreaker before heading out, but it’s a little too snug due to my current blimp-like shape. But I’ll be able to wear it again, probably by the time the weather warms up and I won’t need it.
Normally cooler weather means I need to work harder, yet my BPM of 150 was actually lower than Friday’s run, when it was a balmy 9C. Yet it felt like I was working harder, as if my heart rate and stamina have someone become disassociated from each other. Like I said, weird.
Once again, no issues on the run, though I started lagging a lot on the 4th km, with my pace drooping to 5:59/km. This surprised me, so I put in a little more effort on the final km (5:33/km) and ended up matching Friday’s pace of 5:48/km. I’m happy with that.
The trail was pretty empty for the most part, with only a few other joggers and a couple others out walking. The only doggo was on a leash and jogging alongside its owner (who I’ve seen several times now, possibly a new regular).
Overall, a good way to start the week.
Brunette River, post-run, about 2.5 km east of the dam
Run 848
Average pace: 5:48/km
Training status: Strained
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop)
Start: 9:45 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:10
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 5ºC
Humidity: 75%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 174.2
Total distance to date: 6130 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (265/496/761 km)
Right where you expect to see them, unless they are ingesting or burping out passengers. This one was flying so low overhead that I had to actually pull back with my telephoto lens to get the whole thing in.
This was taken at Sapperton Landing on another unusually balmy midwinter day, as part of an experiment to find out what’s up with my camera.
(I think I found out. More test results soon.)
I don’t recognize the livery, but you could probably find out on the internet.
We expected cloudy skies today and that’s what we got, though it started to brighten just as we were winding up. But at least it didn’t rain.
For the first half hour or so at Reifel, things seemed about normal. It was cooler than the previous visit, and a bit of wind made it feel cooler, still, but nothing like the deep freeze of mid-January. I forgot my gloves, but while my hands got cold, they didn’t get numb or fall off or anything.
We saw a million mallards near the entrance, and the blackbirds and sparrows near the entrance were being much chattier than usual. Maybe they’re excited about spring coming next month. I am!
We continued down to the bird blinds (nothing to see there, boo) and made our way up the west dyke trail. It was there that I first had a glitch with my camera.
The first of what would be too many to count. If I had to put a number on it, though, I’d say at least dozens. It got progressively worse, persisted through two batteries and by the time we were wrapping up at Reifel, I was pretty relieved that I wouldn’t have to continue doing battle with the camera.
We made a short trip to Piper spit after. Good news: the light was better! There were shorebirds! Bad news: My camera was still being dumb.
I missed a lot of shots. Not one-in-a-million shots, but good shots all the same.
But when the camera was not testing my patience, we noted that Reifel was pretty waterlogged, maybe the worst we’ve seen it. The downside of this was we saw no shorebirds there. On the plus side, we did see wood ducks again, and most of the other species were well-represented. Raptors were present, but tended to be farther away, but we did get to see a Sandhill crane shove its head in a Rona bucket again. It loves that bucket.
While we saw juncos, their numbers weren’t as insane as they were at the Richmond Nature House last week. And we saw buffleheads! They moved to the other side of the pond when we got close enough to shoot. Coincidence, or were they toying with us humans?
And the Canada geese were back, subtly cluing us in to their presence through prolonged and loud honking. A collared goose approached me, not to hiss and dominate, but apparently hoping I had pockets of seed. It stood there so mournfully, I couldn’t bear to take its picture. Also, my camera wasn’t working.
Piper Spit offered a nice contrast, as we not only got brighter skies, but also a few species we didn’t see at Reifel, like green-winged teals and dowitchers. The gulls seem to be here semi-permanently now, and several were bathing, as they also seem to do a lot. And of course, there was coot drama.
Overall, a shorter but still productive bird outing, but I was very cross with my camera by the end. I am researching to see what the issue might be (cold? some mechanical defect? karma?), but would settle for winning the lottery and just buying a replacement.
Overdressed alert: I actually came back in after stepping outside and put on a second layer. It turned out I didn’t need it, though it was probably nice to have for the walk to the lake. It had started to lightly sprinkle, and I was thinking of cold rain, but the shower eased up and it stayed dry for the run.
My original plan was to do a quick one-hour workout by running the river trail. I managed to talk myself into doing a short loop at the lake and then, while running, talked myself into going all the way around the lake.
When I finished the run, my watch declared my training status as Productive. Yay! When I completed the 5K walk around the lake, it declared my training status Overreaching. Whoopsie!
The run went fine, with no issues other than me just slowly getting back into shape. Unlike Wednesday, there was no danger of me coming in over 6:00/km, and my overall pace of 5:48/km was a seven-second improvement. My BPM was even slightly lower. The only complication was a dry catch in my throat around the 3 km mark. As this point in a run I am breathing through my mouth (insert joke here), which means I was pulling in air onto this dry patch in my throat, which made it worse. It settled down after a few minutes, but was a bit annoying in the interim.
What wasn’t annoying were the people and dogs on the trail. Every dog was leashed, and all the owners saw me coming and made room for me to pass. Everyone was so friendly and polite! It almost threw me off. I almost expected a dragon or something to appear later to compensate.
But no dragons appeared.
And then on the river trail coming back I spotted extremely early blooms. We’re only halfway through winter. This is weird, but pleasant.
Riverside blooms, an unexpected sight in early February.
Overall, I’m pleased with my first full week back running. Here’s hoping my knees and other assorted body parts cooperate as I rebuild my stamina for an eventual return to 10K outings.
Stats:
Run 847
Average pace: 5:48/km
Training status: Overreaching (oops)
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:44 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:11
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 9ºC
Humidity: 88-89%
Wind: light
BPM: 153
Weight: 175.4
Total distance to date: 6125 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (260/488/748 km)
It’s the free version, since I’m still paying for Apple Music. And this is the first thing I saw:
First, I was terrified. Then I wondered if maybe McDonald’s had some kind of playlist (the song “Grease” immediately comes to mind), then I realized it’s just an ad, because you get ads in the free version.
I don’t like ads, I no longer like McRibs (I did when I was 14, proof that teens think they know everything while knowing very little), but I am curious to try out alternatives to Big Daddy Apple these days, so I’ll see how it goes.
EDIT: Mobile Syrup’s newsletter the following day had this:
As noted in New Year resolutions for 2024 I said I would check in every month to see how I was faring. It’s time for Check-in #1!
To recap, my resolutions were (I’ve numbered them this time to make it easier to check progress, but they are not in any particular order):
Get to 150 pounds. But for real this time. Gotta go with the classics.
Finish my prototype game. Title to be revealed soon™.
Complete my blog redesign. Another classic. It could happen!
Revive my newsletter. I am actually working on this now, and have moved from Substack to Buttondown for the hosting.
Complete one of my unfinished novels. Likely either The Mean Mind or Road Closed. I’ve been itching to get back into writing again, and either of these stories will be fun to noodle around on.
Start a new blog or something. I kind of have something in mind, we’ll see what happens.
Focus on:
Being happy
Staying healthy
Bringing good into the world
Getting decent sleep, which will help with all of the above
I ended January up 2.6 pounds. Whoops. FAIL (so far).
The game is in progress. I did not expect to have it done by the end of January. IN PROGRESS.
I have actually been working on my blog! IN PROGRESS.
I did not get out the first issue for January as promised, and I am rethinking the whole thing. STATUS TBD.
I have chosen the novel to be completed. IN PROGRESS.
I have not done anything on this yet, but am still mulling. IN PROGRESS.
I am trying to find things that bring me joy. I am trying to reduce snacking (as always). Bringing good into the world? I am making some moves there. The sleep part is going well overall, with stress interfering here and there, but not regularly. Overall, a lot of this is IN PROGRESS but could be better.
So far…not bad, not great, mostly just starting to roll forward. We’ll see if it’s down Sleek Highway of the Future or hurtling toward a cliff. Check back in another month!
View from Cariboo Dam, pre-run. Gloomy but once again very mild.
Conditions were nearly identical to Monday, with temperatures still well above normal. I wore my long-sleeved shirt because light rain was in the forecast. For the run itself, it was unnecessary, but it helped on the walk to the lake and back.
I originally planned to do a short loop clockwise, but once I started I abandoned the plan and just kept running. Why?
I generally don’t like doubling back the same way I’ve come. The lake trail works great for this because it’s over 10 km long.
I was curious to see the damage on the rest of the trail.
I felt I need to keep pushing to get myself back into shape (but not too hard–still sticking to 5K runs for now. I remember The Knees of 2023).
The run went well. I managed my goal, which was to be under 6:00/km, coming in at 5:55/km. It was close on the fourth km, where my time edged up to 5:59/km, but I tapped my inner reserve of magic running whatsit and got through. No issues to report, either, other than being a bit tired because I’m still getting used to my regular run routine again.
Most of the run was dry and when it did rain, it was more an intermittent drizzle, which was perfectly tolerable. The trail is mostly in good shape, but several sections were washed out, and I noticed a few more ex-trees that had been cleared away. The last few winters have been merciless on this place.
Still, it was good to be out again, and I’m looking forward to it feeling a little easier. I know the mild weather won’t last, but here’s hoping, even if it means horrible climate change or something.
Post-run, I noticed a lot of buds trail-side. I would not have expected this in January!
Stats:
Run 846
Average pace: 5:55/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:09 a.m.
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:45
Weather: Cloudy with intermittent drizzle and light rain
Temp: 12-13ºC
Humidity: 83%
Wind: light
BPM: 154
Weight: 174.9
Total distance to date: 6120 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (255/475/730 km)
What I love about this AI-generated image: It doesn’t look anything like me, and I’m up 2.6 pounds, not 52.6 pounds. Also, the prompt completely missed adding the bathroom scale, so the guy is just standing in the bathroom in a defeated pose. I give it 4 out of 5 sticks of butter!
It all happened so fast. And so fat.
The first half of the month, I was trending down–down! The right direction! Then on January 14 my weight jumped 1.7 pounds overnight, followed by another 0.4 pound gain the next night. This left me 1.6 pounds up for the month, and I never truly recovered. I came close, but on the 29th I had another 1.6 pound overnight increase that sunk me for good.
I can’t explain these sudden increases, they just happen because the body is weird. But what I can say, based on experience, is that these huge, sudden increases are never offset by huge, sudden decreases. When you mega-gain™ overnight, your body is basically putting you into Hard Mode, forcing you to put in that much more extra effort to get back on track.
And I did not. My weight loss train hit a bad switch and is now rumbling along a line through the Fatlands.
This time I am not going to make predictions, or come up with a clever plan. I’m just going to exercise regularly and eat sensibly. We’ll see what happens!
Bonus stats analysis, because I love stats:
Body fat was up, but only by a modest 0.2%
Muscle mass was also up slightly, which is actually impressive, considering how little I ran in January due to The Great Deep Freeze with Snow
Body water is basically unchanged, which is normal
Conclusion: Despite the extra weight, my stats actually seem to suggest things are not as bad as they seem? Maybe?
Weight:
January 1, 2024: 172.3 pounds
Current: 174.9 pounds
Year to date: Up 2.6 pounds
January 1: 172.3 pounds
January 31: 174.9 pounds (up 2.6 pounds)
Body fat:
January 1: 25.2%
January 31: 25.4% (up 0.2%)
Skeletal muscle mass:
January 1: 30.5%
January 31: 30.8% (up 0.3%)
Body water:
January 1: 54.6%
January 31: 54.5% (down 0.1%)
Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds
