I headed out a bit later than usual, under cloudy skies and pretty much no wind at all (which would have actually been nice later in the run).
I was somewhat surprised when my 4 km walk to the lake was categorized by my Garmin Forerunner as “unproductive”, which a site describes thusly:
Load is elevated, but VO2 max is flat or declining. Consistent with accumulated fatigue or insufficient recovery between sessions.
It’s been three days since I ran, so I’m assuming I was sufficiently recovered, and I’m just generally flabby and soft. I know this will eventually improve.
I opted to go clockwise and wanted to do my first full 5K since the surgery in May. I started out at a moderate pace of 6:17/km, then got maybe a bit too casual after that, slipping to 6:31/km. Yoinks. I actually did not feel bad, though it was humid, and I was all sweaty ‘n such. I picked up the pace for the third and fourth km, and slipped only a tad for the final stretch, during which I had to leap over four (!) large puddles on the very floody part of the trail past the rowing pavilion.
Speaking of rowing, they were having some kind of event and there were tents and people and lots of skiffs or whatever they can their boats. I also, for the first time ever, jogged past a line of porta-potties.
My overall pace was 6:24/km, which is four seconds slower than Tuesday’s run, but it was also my first 5K, so the pace seems reasonable. If I hadn’t slacked so much during the second km, it’s possible my pace would have beaten Tuesday’s. Regardless, it’s fine. I am still out of shape and performance will improve.
The right shin was very slightly tender to start, but settled down fairly quickly and did not impact my pace. Once home, it seems like I might have a Baker’s cysts behind my right knee, which would be weird given how little I’ve run since the surgery. I’ll wait and see if it still seems to be there later. It did not have any impact on my run (the knee and leg both felt fine, apart from the initial tenderness in the shin).
I also saw a turtle. Neat! But it was an invasive Red-Eared Slider, which normally live in the U.S. southeast. They have taken residence at Burnaby Lake mostly through people abandoning them as pets here. Boo for the people doing that. They generally aren’t doing damage or anything, though apparently the young might gobble up some of the food local species might eat. The native Western Painted Turtles don’t mind, though, because they apparently hang out together.
I also saw two topless joggers, one of which inevitably was wearing a heart rate monitor. The topless joggers love showing those off.
In all, I’m glad I got the 5K in and I am hoping the runs going forward are uneventful, apart from maybe seeing more topless runners. Or turtles. But not topless turtles.
Stats:
Run 1,043
Average pace: 6:24/km
Training status: Overreaching
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:01 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 32:10
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 20–21°C
Humidity: 67–63%
Wind: light
BPM: 149
Weight: 169.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,030 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (10/20/30)
Music: Shuffle play