Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:27 am
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:47
Weather: Cloudy, light mist
Temp: 6ºC
Humidity: 92%
Wind: light
BPM: 164
Weight: 163.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 4390 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 6
Today’s run was overall a positive experience, with better-than-expected results.
The stinky part refers to what must have been a leaky sewer line in the area as a couple of stretches along the trail were rather stinky, with the piquant order rather distracting, albeit short-lived. Either that or a bunch of skunk cabbage spontaneously erupted.
On the plus side, the combination of milder temperatures and rain meant the last traces of snow are gone and the trail was mostly dry, so I was no longer actively fighting the conditions.
It was hovering around 5-6ºC and I wore running pants and two layers up top. Given that there was little wind, I would have been fine with a single layer up top (long-sleeved) and shorts would probably have been okay, too, though I didn’t feel too warm with the pants.
A very light misty rain fell during the second half of the run but it wasn’t enough to cause any chafing issues with my delicate chest. The dual layers may have helped there.
The threat of rain meant the trail was lightly populated, though pairs of people proved a bit vexing at times, with joggers and walkers both providing the bare minimum amount of room to get by. On the second boardwalk I encountered two couples, the men in back and the women up front. I clomped loudly on my approach from behind to signal my imminent arrival and the guy on the left moved slightly to accommodate me. For the women I actually said, “On your left” which got no response. As I nearly bowled the women on the left, I added, “Coming through!” which got their attention but minimal movement all the same. At least the boardwalk wasn’t still decked out like Superman’s Fortress of Solitude. I guess some people just get really wrapped up in their conversations or something.
My left knee was sore to start and while it isn’t slowing me down (that I can tell) it’s got me thinking more seriously about at least trying a compression sleeve to see if it helps. The second half of the run the knee did feel better, though. It was at the midway point that ailment number 2 arose, though: my right ankle started to hurt. I’ve actually felt this while walking or just ambling about in the last few days. It is random and as was the case on the run, intermittent. It persisted on and off from about the 5K to 7K mark, then cleared up after that. I’m unsure what caused this–bad posture while sitting, weird foot shenanigans while sleeping. I’m not expecting it to be a continuing issue like the left knee, but it may persist for another week or so.
As for the actual running itself, I purposely slowed down three or four times to calm my breathing and bring my heart rate down. My goal was not to improve my pace, but to get the BPM below 170. In the end I did both–my BPM was 164 and my pace improved to 5:39/km, better than expected.
I am going to try to run around the golf course this week and hope that the rain doesn’t turn the trail into a big stretch on nonsense.
Overall, I’m happy with today’s run, especially considering this time last year I wasn’t running outdoors at all due to the piles and piles of snow.
