I knew it had been awhile since my last 10K run, but was astonished to find that it was on November 3, 2019 (Run 642)–988 days ago. Yikes. Reading the entry for that run, there’s nothing to indicate why it was my last 10K run. The next entry, three weeks later, does refer to having recovered from a pulled back muscle and pulled upper thigh muscle, so that those would seem to be it.
I’m not sure why I then spent the last 50 runs continuing to skip 10Ks, because at some point I must have been ready.
Regardless of the long delay, today was that day. I knew I wanted to at least match Friday’s 7K and was feeling pretty good as I started out, running at a moderate pace, and keeping the heart rate below 150. It turned out to be a fairly easy decision to keep pushing and end up doing a full 10 km for the first time in that 988 days. I experienced no issues during the run and feel fine as I write this later that same day. My pace was even decent, at 6:05/km (I was not focusing at all on being speedy, but seemed to find a good rhythm).
The weather was unseasonably cool heading out, and it was kind of misty to start, with the cloud cover quite low. It brightened up toward the end of the run, but remained cloudy and cool. The cooler temperatures actually helped during the run–sweating was minimal, even despite the high humidity.
I didn’t see many others on the trail, so it looks like swapping in early fall weather in the middle of July is the key to keeping people away.
Really, the only downside today was not being able to take any pictures. Well, I could have taken some from the dam or turtle nesting area, but they look pretty much the same as always. I was delighted to see that they are indeed resurfacing the trail right up to the dam, with much of it already done well ahead of the August deadline. Now they just need to work on the stretch around the athletic fields and the entire lake loop will be good until the next big storm wrecks everything.
Stats:
Run 693 Average pace: 6:05/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 12:32 p.m. Distance: 10.02 km Time: 60:56 Weather: Overcast, some drizzle Temp: 16ºC Humidity: 86% Wind: light BPM: 146 Weight: 165.8 Total distance to date: 5075 km Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (188 km)
