Between the snow and other stuff, it has been 22 days since I last ran outside (I did do a 5K treadmill run last week). With the snow finally melted enough, I took to the river trail (along with about three other guys) to get in a 5K run.
And even though my BPM was a perfectly fine 151, it felt a lot harder than it looked. My training status, per my Garmin watch, has been Strained for a week or so now, and today’s run did not change that, though it should hopefully shift to Recovery soon™.
Although most of the snow is gone, there’s enough slush along the trail to still require threading the slush at times, and one spot in particular it was still mysteriously forming a pancake-like patch to slip on. I figure it should finally be completely gone in the next few days. It made today’s run more challenging, but mostly more annoying.
The first km started fine, then on the second km, something happened. I’m not sure what, exactly, but my pace cratered. Observe:
Every km before and after was in the 5:52-5:55 range. Maybe I was having trouble navigating the slush? Maybe I just wanted to curl up in a ball?
Overdressed alert: At the 2K mark, I came to the conclusion that I had overdressed. I saw another guy wearing shorts and a long-sleeved short and thought that was the right way to do it (though he was also wearing gloves, and 7C is way too warm for gloves unless wind chill is like -10C or something). I wore my Nike shirt, OR jacket and running pants. When I reached 2K, I paused the run to tie my jacket around my waist, and it made me feel lighter and faster. I mean, I was faster than the second km, so maybe it worked! I will keep this in mind for the next run. The light rain was inconsequential in terms of how I dressed.
As I was nearing the 1 km mark, I encountered a group of people that had spread themselves across the entire width of the trail. Three of them were in my “lane” and I wasn’t going to move. The first two moved aside as I neared. The last one, a guy holding an umbrella, actually exclaimed (a loud sound of being startled) and literally leapt out of the way. It was the kind of thing you normally only see in a sitcom. It amused me. Maybe it threw me off and affected my pace. Maybe comedy and running don’t mix.
Anyway, it was good to finally get out again, even if conditions were kind of bleah. Hopefully the trails will at least be free of snow the next time.
Run 844 Average pace: 6:00/km Training status: Strained Location: Brunette River Trail Start: 12:02 p.m. Distance: 5:03 km Time: 30:09 Weather: Light rain Temp: 7ºC Humidity: 93% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 173.4 Total distance to date: 6110 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (245/454/699 km)
