UPDATE, later that evening: The right knee ain't right. It is very stiff and will not flex back like the left one, which is relatively fine. There is also a mass on the back of it that is either inflammation, fluid buildup or an incubating alien. I'll be setting up an appointment with my doctor to have it probed. I suspect inflammation, as applying a heat pack to it seems to have reduced it, though the knee itself is still sore/stuff. Exciting (and terrible) times in Kneeville!
I missed my last two runs:
- Friday: My nose was busy torturing me, so I opted to skip.
- Monday (yesterday): I wanted another day to recover from the pummelling at the, uh, hands of my nose
Which means the last time I ran was last Wednesday, nearly a week ago. I would be rusty, but only planned for a 5K, and deliberately waited until late morning to head out, hoping the warmer weather would further incentivize me to take it slow ‘n steady–and it did!
In fact, it was 20C, which is exactly double what it was last Wednesday. I actually sweated. I felt a little tired after the 4K mark. I was glad I was not running 10K.
The humidity level was way down, too, at around 50%1Weirdly, the Garmin app reported humidity as 80%, which is way wrong, and also reported the temperature as 14C, also way wrong. The actual Forerunner watch had the temperature right, at least. This meant that I experienced for the first time in a very long time the dreaded DMS (Dry Mouth Syndrome). It wasn’t that bad, but I was looking forward to slurping from the drinking fountain by the playground, conveniently just past the 5K mark where I would be stopping. Except they were literally demolishing the playground and the fountain–if it was even still working–was fenced off and inaccessible. I was sad. Several kids were standing nearby, bawling their eyes out2OK, not really.
I slathered myself liberally with sunblock before heading out, so escaped an embarrassing early spring burn, and my knees also survived. However, on the walk back, I discovered a certain walking pace (on the faster side) made the knees start to actually hurt. Adjusting the speed down a little made a significant difference, so I think I found the magic spot where the muscles and tendons get stretched in a way they really don’t like right now. Noted for future reference.
The actual run part went reasonably fine. I had a BPM of 151–I was finding it difficult to keep it down, probably due to a combination of it being much warmer and me being flabby and having to work harder. But still, perfectly cromulent. And the sun actually felt nice, not oppressive. It looks like it will be cooler and possibly damper for my next run.
Bonus post-run shot of the lake, now getting covered in baby lily pads:
Stats:
Run 775 Average pace: 5:54/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW) Start: 12:47 p.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 29:40 Weather: Sunny Temp: 20ºC Humidity: 50% Wind: low BPM: 151 Weight: 167.3 Total distance to date: 5760 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (432 km)