Run 522
Average pace: 5:33/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:32 pm
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 55:44
Weather: Mainly cloudy
Temp: 19-21ºC
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 162
Weight: 157.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 4063 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone
I spent the morning contemplating whether I would do my regular Monday run or consider Sunday’s run in lieu and just resume again on Wednesday, but as the time ticked on by in its usual way I feared LMS (Lazy Monday Syndrome) might kick in, so I headed off shortly before noon, planing on not quite putting the proverbial pedal to the metal today, given only 24 hours of rest.
I arrived to conditions very similar to yesterday, but perhaps a little more cloudy–a good thing for running. When I got to the lake I felt the need to visit the Jiffy John®, which at this point is hardly unexpected. At least I didn’t feel the need to visit it at the 5K mark. As I approached yonder potty I noticed a red truck parked right in front of it? Who parks right in front of an outdoor potty? They’re generally thought of as stinky ans yucky.
Someone who is using it, it turns out. Using it very thoroughly. While a woman walked a dog back and forth along an adjacent bush, I waited–almost ten minutes. And it was already occupied when I got there. The only way I would spend ten minutes or more in a Jiffy John® is if I was forced to at gunpoint or something.
Anyway, the guy finally finished, they got into the red truck, and left. The potty had a Devil’s Tower of toilet paper covering up the business. I hate when people do that. The rolls they put in are not intended for Devil’s Tower emulation. It’s wasteful and silly. It’s a toilet. It’s going to have poo in it. Hiding it under ten pounds of toilet paper is fooling no one–but it is insuring someone is going to need to use the loo and find all the toilet paper is already stuffed into a great heap inside the potty.
Unlike yesterday I did not start the run by nearly plowing into someone. Instead, the theme of the day was the old favorite dogs unleashed/cyclists. The cyclists were paired off and the second pair came along at an especially inconvenient time. They were heading toward me, but I was also just about to pass a slow-moving couple on the right. Would I defer to the cyclists and let them go by first? I would not! Instead I moved left to pass the couple and forced the cyclists to nearly ride completely off the trail (which would technically have made their presence within the boundaries of the bylaw, I suppose). As always, I hope these jerks got flat tires, chased by rabid geese or some combination thereof.
Despite not intending to run as hard as yesterday I ended up with a similar pace–5:33/km vs. yesterday’s 5:31/km. I slowed through the 7-9 km stretch but put a little zing in for the final km.
There were more people out than I expected, possibly because I was running right around noon.
The main trail where it splits with Spruce Loop was still closed but I saw a small clue on what the issue might be, as a little putt-putt gravel truck trundled past me later on, heading in that direction. Possibly some repair work or shoring up around one of the footbridges. Still odd that the detour is there without any explanation, though.
The only complication during the run was a bit of discomfort along the right edge of my right foot, but I think this was caused by twisting the foot inward on a tree root before starting the run. It seems to be fine now.
Overall, this run was a solid follow-up to yesterday’s return-to-form. I might be a tiny bit sore tomorrow but as compensation my legs will look like tree stumps! Yes.
