Run 409
Average pace: 6:01/km
Location: Burnaby Lake CCW
Distance: 5.18 km
Time: 31:56
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 9ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 171
Stride: n/a
Weight: 171.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3325
Device used: Apple Watch and iPhone 6
For the past month or so I’ve been planning on resuming running, having completed an entire run back on December 20. In fact, I was hoping to get a monthly streak going for 2016. That didn’t happen because I got sick, got better but was recovering, sort of got sick again, then actually did get sick once more. This weekend I felt sufficiently recovered from all of that to get out and run.
Run is a bit generous, though. My pace was so slow you may be excused for thinking I used a walker for assistance. In my defense:
- I was wearing new shoes for the first time, the Hoka Speedgoats. New shoes usually lead to slower runs the first few times.
- I am obviously still not 100% after battling multiple viruses
- I am really out of shape, and what little shape I have is reminiscent of a pear
- my left foot (you know, good ol’ #@$%!) was hurting even before I started
That said, conditions were decent, with the rain holding off apart from an occasional sprinkle, and the 9ºC proving balmy enough that I could have worn a regular t-shirt and not the long-sleeved one (the running jacket, which I briefly considered, would have been way too warm).
I elected to break in the custom orthotics with the new shoes, even though I’ve been wearing them relatively trouble-free for weeks now. This may have been a mistake as halfway to Burnaby Lake the left foot started to hurt. It remained tolerable so I stuck to my 5K plan, once more using my Apple Watch and iPhone combo. It seems reasonably accurate but distance seems to be a little generous, with me hitting marks slightly before I’d expect. I’ll probably switch back to the TomTom for the next run.
The first 500 m, on the spiffy resurfaced section of the trail, went fine. No matter how out of practice, that first stretch you always feel great. I knew this would change and braced for it. As I moved onto the Spruce Loop trail, it changed. Suddenly it felt like I had lead weights in my shoes, in my lungs and possibly tucked away in other spots. I thought about pausing the run, about walking for a bit, but instead I pressed on and let my pace drop.
Somewhere between the 2.5 and 3 km mark the second wind kicked in, though it was a gentle kick. This was still enough for the lead weights to go away. My pace didn’t especially improve but I felt a lot better and finished out the run without any further undue suffering.
I walked back from the lake and the left foot, while still sore, did not present a notable obstacle.
Overall, I’m disappointed at the sluggish pace, but it is totally in line with the conditions of the run. I am pleased I got out and completed the full 5K and look forward to more runs soon. The addition of the custom orthotic will be interesting to observe, as it’s bound to be quite noticeable when running vs. walking (I don’t particularly notice it now during my day-to-day walking).
The Speedgoats were a mixed bag. On the plus side, they passed the shoelace test, with both remaining tied for the entire duration. The right shoe felt a tad loose on the walk back but still remained secure.
On the other hand, they did nothing to prevent the left foot from hurting. I think I’m pretty much doomed to all shoes being like this without an orthotic in them. Stupid foot.
More distressing was the fact that my socks had blue stains on them from the interior of the shoes. The trail was wet and squishy and I came out of it with mud splattered up my legs and my feet not exactly drenched but very much damp from a few unavoidable plunges through water. The interior of the shoes had a few wet spots and these appeared to allow the color to leech from the shoe to the sock, the first time I’ve had this happen in any running shoe. I was kind of shocked, actually. This shouldn’t happen, especially in a trail runner. I’ll be looking into whether this is a known defect of the Speedgoats or just bad luck on my part (49 reviews on the official Hoka site did not yield any mention of the issue).
