10K

Last week I had pondered doing a 10K run for the first time since my knees issue started up, and today as I headed out, I knew a few things:

• That I would run at the lake
• That I would go counter-clockwise
• That I would do a full loop, even if it was 5K

When I got to the lake, conditions were very similar to Friday. Despite the forecast giving a better than 50% chance of rain, it stayed dry, and my single layer was fine in the balmy, calm conditions. I thought about trying for 10K and began at a slower pace. My first km was a pokey 5:58/km. Even slower than I planned. I did pick up the pace a bit, getting to 5:46/km by the fourth km, but when I hit 5K and found myself still going, my pace seemed to naturally slow. And slow some more. My times starting creeping past the six-minute mark. Not surprising, given how long it’s been since I last ran a 10K. By the 9th km, I was at 6:06/km and wanted to finish stronger. I applied gentle boosters (my BPM only rose to 154) and it was enough to lift my final km to 5:39/km, bringing my overall average down by two seconds. Nice!

I get a bit obsessed with numbers.

M<y legs could definitely feel the extra distance, with all the muscles being all, “What is going on? What is happening?!” but I’ll see how the knees feel later today and tomorrow. The left hip seemed to appreciate the slower start.

And the dogs! There were a fair number of dogs being walked at the lake, but all of them were on-leash. Hooray. Maybe people are more rule-abiding on Mondays.

Overall, I am glad to finally have gotten another 10K in. If nothing else, I will finally have an answer to how the knees will hold up to the extra effort. The last 10K I did was on April 7th (Run 769) of this year–seven months ago! I did not expect to take this long to try again. I noted after a 5K run for Run 771 that my knees had felt stiff after the previous two 10K runs (Run 770 was a sort-of 10K). Little did I know what was to come.

Also, my pace for that last 10K on April 7th was 5:41/km, which is faster than most of my 5K runs since have been, showing that there has been some long-term impact due to the knees, even if it’s just me being more cautious in how fast I run.

Still, it felt good to do a full loop around the lake again. We’ll see how good it feels later!

Run 826
Average pace: 5:55/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:36 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 59:25
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 10-11ºC
Humidity: 86%
Wind: light
BPM: 151
Weight: 168.6
Total distance to date: 6020 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (155/293/448 km)

The original title of this post was going to be April showers, but it stopped raining about two km in. The sun even threatened to come out, but it was only a threat.

The skunk cabbage is now at the stage where it earns its moniker. It’s not terrible, but when you move past a large clump of them, you definitely notice the odour. At least I was running.

My goal today was to do a more casual run, to just take it easy. I kind of broke my own promise on that. I did start a little bit slower, but then went on to finish with a pace very close to Monday’s.

It was busier than I expected, too, especially given the weather, though it was a stat holiday (Good Friday). A lot of people were running, many of them overdressed. I almost felt overdressed wearing two layers up top.

I did have one minor complication in the final km when my left hip started feeling a bit wacky, but it worked itself fairly quickly and did not affect my pace.

I had to dodge a few puddles, but it wasn’t that bad, and when I stopped to tie my right lace just short of the 5K mark, I noticed someone running ahead of me–the spitfire! In all the years I’ve seen her running, I have never actually been behind her. I kept pace past the fields and down the Cottonwood Trail, but once the trail started getting windy, I lost sight of her, as she had enough distance on me. She was also pulling away a bit near the end because I tend to go into cruise control on the Cottonwood Trail, and she apparently does not.

I did not see her at the end, which made me very slightly sad.

Overall, it was a fine run, even if I did break my own promise on how to run it.

Oh, and another sign of spring: They finally unlocked the fountain. Yay! The water was very cold and delicious.

Stats:

Run 769
Average pace: 5:41/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:00 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 57:04
Weather: Showers and cloudy
Temp: 8ºC
Humidity: 92%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 164.8
Total distance to date: 5725 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (397 km)

The forecast today was Mostly Sunny but for the first 4 km of the run it was Completely Cloudy and a bit on the chilly side. Then it did clear up and the forecast became accurate. The difference in how warm it felt was remarkable, even if the temperature didn’t actually change much. I’m still glad I wore two layers.

As a slight change of pace, I decided to skip the Piper Mill Trail, partly because I started well back of the 0K marker and really, just to be a different.

I established a good pace early and managed to maintain it throughout, even in parts where I’d normally flag a bit. My BPM was going into the mid-150s, but today I was okay with that. My overall BPM ended up being a perfectly fine 153 and my pace of 5:39/km is my best 10K performance since I started running 10Ks again last year¹Actually, I also hit 5:39/km on Feb. 8th, but that was running clockwise, or the “easy” way around the lake..

No issues at all, really, and I even set up a playlist, so the music wouldn’t abruptly end with 2 km left.

There were perhaps more people on the trail than expected, but I had no problems with navigating around them, and even the trail itself is in better shape, with some of the sunken bits patched up and all the stabby branches now pruned away, at least until the next big storm hits.

This was also my first run after ditching the Apple Watch, and it was nice to just go out instead of fiddling with a watch on each wrist.

Overall, I am quite pleased.

Stats:

Run 768
Average pace: 5:39/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:34 a.m.
Distance: 10:04 km
Time: 56:48
Weather: Cloud and sun mix
Temp: 7ºC
Humidity: 61%
Wind: low to moderate
BPM: 153
Weight: 164
Total distance to date: 5715 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (387 km)

First, the weird part: Without planning it in any way, I started today’s run at 11:58 a.m.–the exact same time I started Monday’s run. Freaky.

It was a gorgeous day and I think we may, barring a weird cold front, be firmly into one-layer territory. I probably would have been okay even wearing a regular t-shirt. The sun was nice, I actually sweated!

And speaking of sweating, I can’t say why, exactly, but this run tuckered me out by the end. I was aiming to stay around 150(ish) for BPM and the first half went fine, but by the 8th km my pace drooped to 6:03/km. I didn’t feel bad, nothing felt like it was going to fall off, but I was clearly not gliding along effortlessly. I picked up the pace for the last km and ended with an overall pace of 5:50/km and a BPM of 153, both of which are perfectly cromulent.

These stats also match my last 10K–another weird coincidence–except there, I was superfast at the 8K mark, not super-slow. Maybe dropping the frequency of the runs has left me slightly out of tune. Or it’s somehow spring allergies. Or aliens.

It was a bit busier on the trail, no doubt due to the near-perfect conditions. I did pass three people, too! One was a younger couple running and to be fair to them, they were pretty casual (when I first saw them ahead they were walking). I still felt a tiny ego boost passing them, though. The other person was on a bike (boo) and as I passed, I noted to them that bikes were not allowed on the trail. She responded by laughing because that’s what bike-riding rebels do, I guess.

Shortly after this, I emerged onto the parking lot by the rowing club, which bifurcates¹Fancy $10 word! the trail. I paused the run where the trail resumes, to see if she would attempt to continue, but when she emerged into the parking lot, she appeared to amble off toward the rowing club itself. I don’t know if it was a ruse or not, but considering I’d already passed her once, I chose not to stick around.

Then I came home and napped after cleaning up, which I almost never do after a run anymore. I almost feel like going back to nap right now. But I won’t!

I am curious to see how Friday goes, though. The weather looks worse and I may head out earlier as it won’t make much difference.

Stats:

Run 765
Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:58 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:32
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12-13ºC
Humidity: 63%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 163.0
Total distance to date: 5695 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (367 km)

Feeling my way means I set out to mostly run by feel, instead of monitoring stuff like pace and heart rate by checking the watch regularly and adjusting accordingly. I didn’t have any particular goal with today’s run, I just wanted the usual–keep the BPM close to 150, have a decent pace.

As it turns out, I am apparently not very good at going by feel, or at least today I wasn’t.

For BPM, it skewed slightly on the higher side at 153, mostly due to going a bit fast in several sections. My pace was all over the place. I tried to start slow, but my first km was still 5:40/km, then the second km was 5:33/km. I was more successful at moderating my pace after that, though the 6th and 8th km were also faster than expected. Conversely, the 9th km was a sluggish 5:59/km, which surprised me. I was running out of gas, and given how often I’d been stepping on the gas (without meaning to) this should not have been surprising at all.

In the end, my pace was a perfectly cromulent 5:50/km overall. But the watch again said I need 72 hours or so to recover. It says that after every run, pretty much. I think next week I may go back to my traditional Mon-Wed-Fri runs and see what it says then.

As for the conditions today: sunny! It was quite pleasant and while there were people out and aboot, no issues or complications arose. I started my run shortly after noon, as it was still 0C when I got up and I was willing to wait for warmer temperatures because spring is almost here, baby.

Here is a visual breakdown of my per-lap performance:

Stats:

Run 763
Average pace: 5:50/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 12:10 p.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:26
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 9-10ºC
Humidity: 62%
Wind: low
BPM: 153
Weight: 163.1
Total distance to date: 5680 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (352 km)

My first 10K in two weeks, thanks to that kooky snow.

A few observations in list form because I like lists:

Trail Conditions:

• It was sunny and mild! It started out at 9C and ended at 10C. I could feel warmth from the sun.
• There was an actual slight breeze on the Cottonwood Trail
• The snow was gone, save for a small easily-avoided strip at the start of the Spruce Loop
• I wore one layer up top (long-sleeved) and this was sufficient
• The trail was still littered with debris and broken pointy branches were still ready to gouge eyeballs in several places. But it was also dry, so I didn’t end the run with mud splattered halfway up my legs.

My condition:

• Despite really not trying to, I started out very fast, getting an award for fastest 1K ever
• I felt good to start, but at one point the big toe on my right foot started to hurt. It cleared up, but was weird.
• At the 6K mark, I started to feel stomach cramps. They cleared up after a short time.
• The cramps returned briefly at the 9K mark
• The cramps returned a final time just as I was finishing the run, rather intense. This didn’t seem to be caused by the run, so maybe I ate something bad or drank too much before heading out (just fluids, not like bourbon or something)
• I definitely felt a bit fatigued in the last few km
• BPM was a bit higher at 154, but not really surprising; my pace was a solid 5:49/km.

My equipment condition:

• The Garmin Forerunner had my heart rate spike all the way up to 176 (!) near the start. I was running at a good clip, but this still seems excessive.
• Despite this, I simply kept running, moderated my pace and saw no further upward spikes. It was solidly in the mid 140s to low 150s after that.
• I experienced multiple instances of the music not playing properly. At one point it simply stopped altogether. I paused the run, chose a song, and it played normally after that.
• It also stopped when I attempted to skip to the next track on the AirPods.
• A third time it stopped altogether. I can’t recall the last time I had so much trouble with the Music app. Annoying, I sez!

Overall, it was nice to get a full 10K in, and we shouldn’t see any more snow disruptions until next winter. Onto spring, warmer temperatures and all that!

Stats:

Run 761
Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:05 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 58:20
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 9-10ºC
Humidity: 67%
Wind: low
BPM: 154
Weight: 163.1
Total distance to date: 5660 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (332 km)

Winter is back and blasting us with The Cold™ again, but no snow so far (they saw it may be coming, boo).

After a lazy week in which I did a treadmill workout on Monday and nothing at all on Wednesday, I set out to get back into the routine and did a full 10K this morning.

And it went fairly well!

It was sub-zero the entire time, and I wore my running pants and three layers up top. Two layers may have sufficed, but the walk to and from the lake would definitely have been chillier. It was slightly breezy in New West, but there was really no wind at all at the lake itself. My hands warmed up faster than expected.

I set out to run at a modest pace and kept to that. The Garmin Forerunner did not freak out on my heart rate this time. It claims a peak of 169, but that happened near the end when I was accelerating to pass another runner, and it quickly fell back after I resumed my normal pace. My overall pace was 154 BPM, a bit on the higher side, but understandable given the cold.

The weird thing is it didn’t feel as horrible as last Friday’s run. That one sucked corn dogs.

I didn’t have any notable issues here, and it was nice having the phone in the front pocket, where I could easily change music volume if needed (I did do that once). My laces came loose and I had to retie at Eagle Creek (near Piper Spit) but no interruptions otherwise.

Overall, it was nice to be back out. Here’s hoping I’m not facing snow drifts on Monday.

Stats:

Run 759
Average pace: 5:53/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:45 a.m.
Distance: 10:03 km
Time: 59:03
Weather: Sunny
Temp: -3 to -1ºC
Humidity: 38%
Wind: low
BPM: 154
Weight: 162.2
Total distance to date: 5645 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (317 km)

With bonus bladder hijinks!

It was cooler today, so I wore my windbreaker. In retrospect, I think two layers would have been sufficient, as there was little wind.

I started a little later, but was otherwise planning a pretty ordinary run. I made a tactical error before heading out by drinking way too much soda (aided by not heading out until later), which meant my teeny-tiny bladder sought relief three times before I started my run and twice during the run. It was kind of ridiculous.

What was also kind of ridiculous is the heart rate reported by my Garmin Forerunner 255, which has generally been pretty accurate. All started well, with my first km being 5:45/km and my second slowing a bit to 5:51/km. I was planning on a fairly mellow run today and wasn’t even going to really check on my BPM much at all and so far, all seemed to be proceeding normally.

After the third km dinged, I saw my pace was 5:39/km, which is faster than intended. I checked my heart rate and noticed as I pulled the sleeve of the jacket back that the last digit was an 8. Could my BPM be 148? That would be too low, given the speed and cold. 158? A little high, but quite plausible, given conditions. But no, it was 168, which is, as scientists say, way too high.

I then deliberately slowed my pace but my BPM stayed stubbornly high. I later paused the workout for Bladder Crisis #1. This brought my BPM down to 136. But it started climbing higher again, even as my reported pace was perfectly average. It peaked at 175. I then not only paused the run, I came to a full stop and waited 10-15 seconds. I checked the heart rate on my Apple Watch, on my right wrist. It reported 136. That seemed about right. The Forerunner reported 153, which would be accurate if I was actually running and not standing still. At this point (roughly halfway through the run), I took the Forerunner off, wiped the bottom of the watch to maybe help the sensors, and wiped down my left wrist for good measure. When I resumed running, the Forerunner now went in a new direction: opposite! It now claimed my heart rate was 80, which is basically impossible if I’m even just walking at a brisk pace. Over the course of a few km, it barely got up to 100 BPM.

With about 3.5 km to go, I decided to track the rest of the run on both devices. The Apple Watch ended up reporting an overall average BPM of 148. This seemed about right. The Forerunner was still under-reporting my heart rate. After nearly two km, it was reporting around 100 BPM, which is silly. It kept creeping up a tiny bit. Finally, with a little under 2 km to go, I paused for Bladder Crisis #2. After resuming the run, the Forerunner suddenly seemed to recognize my actual heart rate again and reported an average of 152 or so for the remainder of the run.

I have no idea why any of this happened. I do know that the Apple Watch seemed to be reporting a heart rate that was in range of what I was expecting, meaning the Garmin watch was not reporting an anomalous heart, but an anomalous reading. It got very weird when it went super-low. By my estimate, it was off by about 50 BPM at that point.

If I figure out what caused this, I’ll report back. Note that the walks both before and after the run reported perfectly normal heart rates, so this seemed to be specific to the run for some reason.

as for the actual run itself? It was fine. No issues, and the cold was not a problem. I’m undecided on whether all the pausing helps or hurts my overall pace. On the one hand, it gives me a chance to rest, presumably providing more energy than I’d have otherwise. On the other hand, it takes me a little time to get back up to speed, cancelling out at least some of that extra energy advantage. Overall, it probably makes little difference.

As for my real heart rate, I would guess somewhere between 149-152 BPM overall. 137 would be seriously impressive at this stage of my running career.

Stats:

Run 757
Average pace: 5:49/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:29 a.m.
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 58:18
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 3-4ºC
Humidity: 79%
Wind: low
BPM: "137" (see text for why this is in quotation marks)
Weight: 162.9
Total distance to date: 5630 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (302 km)

There is a high wind warning in effect today, though the wind isn’t supposed to really pick up until the afternoon. Still, I thought it might be a bit breezy this morning and as I moved toward the southern side of the lake I did encounter a little wind, but not much. It was almost kind of nice at that point.

My goal for Monday was to ease into the week, try to stay around 150 BPM and just take whatever time I got, as long as it was under 6:00/km.

I accomplished this and gave myself a make-believe pat on the back!

In fact, I was only slightly slower than Friday, at 5:48/km, and my average BPM was down to 149. I didn’t have any issues, save having to suddenly use the loo just past the 8K mark. Because it was later in the morning, there were more people out and a few were semi-oblivious to my presence, but calamities were avoided.

In all, a nice intro to the week.

Stats:

Run 756
Average pace: 5:48/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:49 a.m.
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 58:13
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 6-7ºC
Humidity: 84%
Wind: low to moderate
BPM: 149
Weight: 162.7
Total distance to date: 5620 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (292 km)

I was expecting a low-key run this morning, with middling to average performance, mainly due to the last few days being stressful, this morning being very stressful, and getting up two hours earlier than normal (at 5 a.m.), ergo not getting enough sleep.

In fact, even though I wore the Garmin Forerunner to bed, it didn’t record any sleep data, like it was telling me I literally didn’t sleep long enough for it to count.

There was also a 50% chance of precipitation, but I gambled and wore my windbreaker with one layer. It actually started clearing up as I ran, so I won, woo.

I headed out earlier than ever, about 10 minutes before sunrise (it’s already light at that time) and started the run at 8:20 a.m., opting for counter-clockwise. For most of the first half, I just kept a steady pace and did not check my BPM.

At the 1K mark, a shoelace came untied, which was odd, but that was the only real issue. Unlike Wednesday, there was pretty much no wind at all, and by the 4th km, I was warm enough that I actually took off my jacket and tied it around my waist. I didn’t put it on until I was about 2 km away from home, when I finally had cooled down enough to start feeling the morning chill again.

I almost stopped to take a photo from the bridge at Still Creek, as the sun and clouds were reflecting in a postcard-perfect way, but decided to just keep on going.

In the end I surprised myself by nailing my target BPM of 150, and hitting an average pace of 5:46/km, which is not as blazing fast as Wednesday, but still quite zippy–and fast enough to earn the fastest 1K award.

Other than the conditions being mild (no hands tucked in the sleeves) and just generally getting in better shape, I have no explanation for the improved performance, but I think these two things are the major factors. Both are good and nice!

Beating potential rain is also a nice bonus.

We’ll see what Monday brings.

Stats:

Run 755
Average pace: 5:46/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 8:20 a.m.
Distance: 10.04 km
Time: 57:52
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 5-6ºC
Humidity: 83%
Wind: low
BPM: 150
Weight: 162.7
Total distance to date: 5610 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (282 km)