Today I decided to take advantage of the cooler weather to go for a longer run, at least in terms of total distance–I still kept the run part to 5K.
A few actual sprinkles at the start made me switch at the last minute to a long-sleeved running shirt, but this ultimately proved unnecessary, as the sprinkle ended before the run started and only briefly returned after I was done.
As for the run itself, my pace was slower–as expected–due to the lake trail being a lot more fiddly than the wide, flat expanse that is the river trail, but it was in line with what I was expecting. Around midway through, I almost started developing a stitch in my lower left back, but it ultimately fizzled out before amounting to anything. My feet held up and while my legs may be a bit stiff tomorrow, I emerged otherwise intact. Woo!
It felt good to be back at the lake and the combo of it being a weekday and also a rather gloomy one for mid-August meant there were few people on the trail–and no dogs at all!
Some random notes:
- A construction crew was shoring up the river bank and I had to navigate between trucks and a running excavator to get past them. This is where making eye contact with the people operating machines that can smush you is very important.
- The trail on the lake was in generally good shape with no puddles from the showers, and work proceeds on the resurfacing between Piper Spit and Phillips Point. This leaves the area around the athletic fields as the one last major stretch that needs resurfacing. Some original resurfacing is starting to show its age, but is still generally holding up.
- The Spruce Loop has multiple trees that are leaning very conspicuously over the trail. I suspect the next major wind storm will topple at least one of them.
- The bridge at Dear Lake Brook has a few steps that feel like they are on the verge of collapse. I’m kind of surprised they haven’t started work on a replacement bridge yet. Maybe next year!
- I did three walks instead of two (normally one to the lake, one coming back from the lake) because I accidentally ended the second one early. I’d still like to see a confirmation for ending a workout on the Apple Watch, so you can hit the “No, I did that by accident” button.
- Splits show a pretty typical pattern: Fast(ish) start, slowing by the middle, then picking up toward the end.
- The spibelt pretty much flopped. It kept drooping, low enough to start bumping into my junk, which is not something you really want while running. I’m not sure if it’s because the iPhone 12 is bigger and heavier than the iPhone 8 I used previously, because the belt is too loose, or because the donut I have on the waist currently is pushing it down. Fortunately, the phone actually sits pretty still in the pocket of my shorts, so I just ran with it tucked away in the left front pocket.
Stats:
Run 652 Average pace: 6:16/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 12:57 p.m. Distance: 5.02 km Time: 31:30 Weather: Cloudy Temp: 16ºC Humidity: 82% Wind: light BPM: 154 Weight: 178.2 Total distance to date: 4870 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12 Shoes: Brooks Caldera 4 (20 km)
