I dithered a bit on getting out today and wasn’t sure if I’d walk, run or do some crazy combo. As is the case when I face this sort of indecision, I walked to the end of the river trail, hoping to find an answer along the way. And I did!
I decided to do another looping 5K run at the lake, this time going clockwise because of variety and all that.
I got to the lake under partly cloudy skies–nice for running! I started out, thinking about where I’d be on the trail when I hit the 2.5K mark and had to turn around. I noticed it was very humid.
Setting down the Avalon trail, I passed a few people and off in the distance noticed someone walking down from the Freeway trail. No one walks on the Freeway trail pretty much unless they have to, because it is completely exposed and, true to its name, within sight of the highway, which is not really the most scenic thing to look at when out for a nice run.
This turned out to be the case, because when I got to the spot where the trail splits, the turn-off for the lake loop had a big ol’ sawhorse blocking it with a TRAIL CLOSED sign on it. Fooey.
Having no choice, I continued on the Freeway trail. The sun also came out. Combined with the high humidity, I began sweating like crazy and felt like some invisible energy vampire had suddenly arrived to take my energy, because that’s what they do.
When I reached the first fork leading back to the lake loop, there was another sawhorse, but this one was pushed aside, so I tentatively set down the path. The parks people were doing some kind of remedial work at Ramsay Creek, and I could see equipment parked on the bridge. Another runner (or at least I think he might have been as he was drenched in sweat) was walking ahead of me and seemed to get through, but I decided to head back, along the forbidden part of the trail that was CLOSED, thinking I would not encounter any work, equipment or things of that nature due to the CLOSED part.
I was right! In fact, the trail was blissfully empty right up until I approached the first sawhorse from the other side. I zipped around it, feeling a little naughty about the whole thing.
Since I was going to come up short on 5K, I had to cross over the dam and run a ways counter-clockwise to make up the difference. I found a tiny bit of gas to finish and ended up with a pace of 6:15/km, only one second slower than my previous lake run. Not bad considering how humid it was. Did I mention the humidity? It was very humid.
Other than the energy-sapping humidity, I encountered no issues while running, so overall I’m pleased to have gotten out and continue to build on my 5Ks. I don’t have any great plans on where to take this, I’m just going to keep running regularly for as long as I can and take any improvements in stamina and increased leg sexiness as they come.
Stats:
Run 657 Average pace: 6:16/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 3:29 p.m. Distance: 5.02 km Time: 31:25 Weather: Sun and cloud Temp: 22ºC Humidity: 62% Wind: light BPM: 152 Weight: 178.1 Total distance to date: 4895 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12 Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (20 km)
