Run 649: The third pandemic run

In a way it’s both hard yet easy to believe this is only the third time I’ve been on a run since the pandemic took hold here, which was in mid-March (about five and a half months ago).

At first, the park trails were super-crowded because everything was closed and there was nowhere else to go. I said, “Nope!” to jogging among crowds of potential virus carriers and for awhile I just avoided running outside out of that fear of catching COVID-19 (and to a lesser degree being asymptomatic and spreading it to others).

But as I continued on my daily walks and those walks began morphing into walk/runs I knew I would eventually decide to do an actual run again.

That day was today.

I had a 70 day gap between my previous two runs. This time it was an impressive three months, as my last run was on June 1–92 days ago.

That last run saw my pace drag to a slothful 6:28/km, but while I was slow today as well (the splits reveal that I really ran out of gas on the final km), my time was actually much better, due to all those daily walk/runs. Perhaps the most impressive change was my BPM. Despite three months between runs, it fell from 163 to 151.

6:04/km still ranks as Pretty Slow, though, so I am eager to see that pace improve.

Overall I felt pretty good. I felt a bit of a burn, but it was mild. I took it relatively easy, knowing that this was going to be tougher than the 2 km stretches I’d been doing lately.

Pace-wise I started out fine, then immediately saw a big drop in the second km. The next two saw my pace improve back to where I started before my energy reserves magically floated away. I did not commit to a heroic burst of speed at the end, I just keep going until my watch blissfully informed me it was all over.

The heel was fine. I mean, fine in that I can feel it, but it doesn’t hurt at all to run on. The new Caldera 4 shoes are nice so far. They are lighter than my Cascadia 12’s, yet have more cushioning and so far have done a much better job of keeping debris out.

I’m not sure when I’ll do my next run, but I suspect tomorrow will be a return to the walk/runs, as I have a feeling my legs are going to be a wee bit sore in the morning.

Below I’ve included the previous stats in brackets for comparison. I’ve omitted a few stats that aren’t especially relevant for comparison.

Run 649
Average pace: 6:04 km (6:04/km)
Location: Brunette River Trail (Burnaby Lake, CCW)
Start: 4:49 p.m.
Distance: 5.02 km (5:03 km)
Time: 30:29 (32:33)
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23ºC
Humidity: 54%
Wind: light
BPM: 151 (163)
Weight: 171.8 pounds (175.1 pounds)
Total distance to date: 4855 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 8
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 4 (5 km)

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