I headed out a bit earlier today, though the weather did not threaten showers or anything. Mostly I am warming up (ho ho) to the idea of morning runs. As it turned out, the run itself began exactly at noon.
It was cloudy and cool on the walk to the lake and warmed up one degree, to 4C, by the time I got there. My hands were a bit cold, as were my arms (despite two layers), but it wasn’t horrible or anything, and I knew I would warm up quickly once I started running–which I did.
I made sure to avoid sprinting like a madman because I knew the low temperature would put a strain on my system beyond the normal “oh hey I’m running five km” strain. As it was, my BPM was four higher than the last run, which doesn’t seem bad, except last run’s BPM was weirdly high and today’s is right at the edge of my upper safe limit if you go by the formula of “subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum exercise heart rate.” This is a little concerning, but I actually felt fine during the run. I even felt good on the last km, finding a comfortable pace, so we’ll see how it goes over the next few runs, especially if it remains chilly.
Other than the higher BPM, the run went fine. The trail was not very busy and the few other runners I saw were pretty bundled up and most of them looked vaguely uncomfortable.
This was also the first time since I resumed running in August that I completed all three of my weekly runs–woo! It may actually become a (healthy) habit again.
After the run and as I was walking out from the lake, I saw a Stellar’s Jay hanging out by the stump where Fred the demon squirrel resides, so that was neat, as I’ve never seen one at the lake before.
Stats:
Run 671 Average pace: 6:06/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop back) Start: 12:00 p.m. Distance: 5:03 km Time: 30:42 Weather: Sunny Temp: 4ºC Humidity: 67% Wind: light BPM: 163 Weight: 179.5 Total distance to date: 4961 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (81 km)