Run 618: Post-camping, with fewer people

Run 618
Average pace: 5:54/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 1:27 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light
BPM: 161
Weight: 165.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4670 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (25 km)

On the first full day back from camping, I did some tidying up, put away the clean dishes, swept and then looked around and thought, “What can I do on this beautiful sunny day that involves being outside and such?” and lo the answer came. Run!

Because I am still on vacation, I can not only do lake runs for every run, I can do them during the week, when there are fewer people, so just after 12:30 this afternoon, I set out to do just that.

Arriving at the lake, I saw that my usual way in was now blocked off due to construction at the dam, as expected, so I went the short length up the road and came in through Avalon Avenue. Because I was already on the south side and didn’t know the state of the side trails, I opted to go clockwise for the heck of it.

It was quite warm, but not quite Africa hot. The humidity level was just high enough to keep my mouth from badly drying out, but not so high that I sweated profusely. I set off, hoping that with a week off, I’d at least beat the 6:00 minute mark for my pace. I did that and was only two seconds slower than my previous lake run, coming in at 5:54/km vs. 5:52/km. Not bad, considering I felt pretty out of gas for the last two km.

Although I experienced no issues other than being a bit tired toward the end, I did experience some after the run, namely a weird sort of cramp/gas that kept me from doing much post-run running along the trail on the way out. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but it was mildly annoying.

Around the 4K mark, when I noted that I was feeling a bit tuckered, I did a quick checklist and found that not only were my knees not hurting, I wasn’t feeling them at all. I don’t mean they were suddenly and alarmingly paralyzed, but that they were not sore, aching, cranky or anything other than just knees. It’s been quite awhile since the knees have felt so nothing on a run, and it is probably the highlight of today’s run.

Another highlight was the delightful lack of people as it was early afternoon on a weekday.

It turned out that the Spruce Loop is officially closed for maintenance and the tracks of the machinery taking gravel to it were all over the main trail leading up to it. In some places the machinery had so badly damaged the main trail they may need to do work on it when they are finished on the Spruce Loop. It seemed a bit like curing one patient by taking the medicine away from another. Here’s hoping they have enough medicine (gravel) to go around. The initial work on the Spruce Loop looks promising, though, so it should be quite an improvement when it’s done.

I should note here that the new Saucony shoes are still working well, though it seems they are almost as adept at scooping gravel as my Cascadias. This seems to happen more when I’m walking than running, so maybe I’m walking wrong. I don’t know. I also think I had the laces dialed in a bit too tight this time or my feet were retaining water or something, because the tops of my feet were getting just ever-so-slightly sore by the end.

Also, I have to be fair and say the left foot was hurting a bit for the run. I don’t consider it an issue, per se, as it was already hurting and I don’t think the run had any effect on it, it just underlined it. And it didn’t bother me so much as provide a background irritation.

My next run should be Wednesday. The weather is supposed to be 23ºC (nice) and light rain (less nice), so it seems the inconsistent July weather will be back after two days of actual summer-like weather. At least I won’t have to worry about getting a sunburn.

Leave a Comment