Return to Burnaby Lake: Run edition

I decided to wait an extra day before running again for two reasons: first, to give myself an extra day of recovery after my first run in Quite A Long While and second, to get myself back into the Monday/Wednesday/Friday pattern I had been following last summer.

I walked the 3.5 km or so to the Central Valley Greenway but once there was put off by the appearance of a tractor and pickup truck trundling along the narrow roadway. Since the construction crews are going to be working there for a good long time I walked the extra distance to Burnaby Lake proper, my old stomping/jogging ground of last summer, back when my stupid ankle was not being stupid.

I planned for a basic 5K and conditions were ideal: it was a few degrees cooler than Tuesday but well above freezing and the sky was completely cloud-free. There were several moments when I could feel the actual warmth of the sun. Spiffy. I brought along gloves but removed them shortly after starting the run. This time freezing up was not an issue.

My greatest moment of concern came at the 1.76 km mark. The cramps had returned and unlike the band these cramps were neither musical nor fun. I paused the workout and walked for about 10 seconds, getting my breath under control, then resumed at a deliberate pace. I managed fine the rest of the way and reached that magical point where I knew I could do the total 5K. I even tasted a wee bit of that old stamina.

I expect my calves to be sore as all get-out in the morning.

The ankle still feels fine.

My overall speed, as mentioned elsewhere, can be described as ‘brisk tortoise’ with an average pace of 5:39/km. I deliberately started out a bit slower in order to minimize cramping and you can see a couple of impressively massive dips in speed as my out-of-conditioned body plodded on. But plod I did and in the last few km you can see how I hit my plateau and the pace flattened out just like it ought to (only about 30 seconds slower than I’d prefer). I declare my second run of the year a success.

Stats:

Total time: 28:23
Distance: 5.02 km
Calories: 351 burned

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