I opted to do a short loop at the lake this afternoon, going clockwise for a change of pace.
The complications I encountered were as such:
- I had trouble establishing a rhythm in the first km–I felt like I was constantly on the verge of running out of breath (explanation below)
- Right ankle started to feel tweaked partway through
- The left thigh, still a bit sore from Wednesday, started acting up
- The stitch in my lower left side returned around the halfway mark
The contradiction came in that despite all the above, I finished with my best pace at the lake this year, breaking the six-minute mark and coming in at 5:56/km. My BPM was even lower, too.
Looking at my stats, I can see the culprit for my labored start–I was simply running too fast, despite trying not to do that. My legs apparently have a mind of their own. I fairly blazed at a pace of 5:34/km and this was obviously too fast for me to find any kind of comfortable pace.
The right ankle is one of those weird twitchy things where if I just keep going and don’t push it, it works itself out on its own–as it did.
The thigh was really a minor annoyance.
The left stitch was worrisome, having re-appeared again, but this was likely due to just plain overdoing it. When I hit the halfway mark, I briefly paused the run, walked a bit (I try to avoid coming to a full stop immediately from a run) and took a few moments to re-tie my laces, then set back off. The second half of the run felt much better and I even found a little extra energy for the finish coming down the Avalon trail.
Overall, I’m pleased with the result, while also chastened by the experience. Next time I super-double promise to not put on the afterburners right from the start.
Stats:
Run 664 Average pace: 5:56/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) Start: 2:06 p.m. Distance: 5.02 km Time: 29:47 Weather: Sun and cloud Temp: 10ºC Humidity: 70% Wind: light BPM: 155 Weight: 178.5 Total distance to date: 4925 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (55 km)
