I got a late start, so with the weather forecast showing a higher chance of showers in the early afternoon, I opted for the river trail instead of the lake, but to get a few more steps in, I walked to the end of the trail and started there instead.
The run was both better than Wednesday’s–my pace improved by seven seconds–and stinky. The stinky was due to the copious numbers of dead salmon lining the riverbanks. It seems most of them have done their spawning and moved on to the dying. The river was high a few days ago and is low now, so a lot of the ex-salmon are stuck on higher ground until the river level rises again.
In hindsight, I should have gone to the lake and risked a shower.
As for the run, another slow start, with the overall pace saved by a solid finish. The area around my surgery (chest) felt tight for the first few minutes, but eventually felt better. I felt a bit overdressed (I wore two layers, even though it was quite mild again at 14°C), but I’m still not sure what is keeping my pace down. The stiff left knee? Diet? Karma? A little of everything?
Here’s the pace breakdown:
- 6:03
- 5:59
- 5:59
- 5:57
- 5:39
Average was 5:56/km, with a BPM of 147, both better than Wednesday, as I’d expect on the river trail.
A year ago that 5:39/km would have been closer to my average pace. I know my performance is going to decline every year as I get older, unless I train hard enough to compensate (which is very unlikely), but I still feel there’s more here. Maybe it’s just lingering effects from the surgery. Maybe they accidentally removed some of my running genes.
Still, it was a better effort and I stayed mostly dry, so I’m good with that. Also, the few dogs I encountered were all on-leash and well-behaved.
Stats:
Run 1,085
Average pace: 5:56/km
Training status: Productive (!)
Performance Condition: 0
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 12:52 pm.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:48
Weather: Cloudy, some light sprinkles late
Temp: 14°C
Humidity: 69–70%
Wind: low
BPM: 147
Weight: 172.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 7,225 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 265, Samsung Galaxy S26, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Scarpa Golden Gate ATR 2 (205/418/623)
Music: 21st Century Masters, ABBA