2K

Last night I had a terrible sleep, getting hours less than normal and not doing great with the hours I did nominally sleep. I then had a terrible early morning. My Garmin Forerunner did something it’s never done before: Given me a rest day, not sue to overreaching on my workouts, but from lack of sleep.

I went out, anyway, leaving early to beat the proverbial (and real) heat. On this count, I succeeded, as it was 23C when I started and 24C when I ended, which is quite warm for mid-morning (and the humidity made it feel warmer), but much better than the early afternoon high of 32C.

When I select Run as a workout, the watch always has a suggested workout, which I inevitably skip, but I’m always interested in what it offers. Today the suggested workout was: Rest Day, due to “excessive fatigue.” It also offered something to the effect of, “If you insist on running, keep it short and gentle.”

Which I did.

I opted for a 2K run, as that would put me near the Nature House at the end, and close to a drinking fountain. I started at the fountain by the dam and ended the run just as I crossed the foot bridge at Eagle Creek, then visited the aforementioned fountain.

The run was slow, by design, with an average pace of 6:10/km, which is pretty slothful for a mere 2 km. But it went without issue and my training status was Productive afterwards.

I opted to not time any of the walk back because I knew the watch would yell at me, plus this would allow me to adopt a more leisurely pace and to stop and take photos and such. And that is exactly how it played out.

After the first five km or so (after the brief run, the walking part after would encompass about 12 km total), I began to feel tired. Later, I began to feel very tired.

I have remained very tired since. I do not remember the last time I was this very tired.

On the one hand, I’m glad I went out and did something–I needed to get out and touch trees. On the other, so very tired. I am hoping I sleep well tonight.

Bonus side note: I turned over my left running shoe and discovered this particular Speedgoat had a rather large hole in the bottom. I have no idea when it formed. I opted to wear my old Saucony Peregrine 13s, which have intact heels but are wearing out on the top, which is kind of strange, really.

But I was reminded how I don’t like them much–the laces tie in a way that the bow sits at the top point of my foot and tends to bind a bit. It’s not terrible, but it is annoying. I will have to search for new Speedgoats or a goat-like alternative.

Stats:

Run 871
Average pace: 5:53/km
Training status: Productive
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:26 a.m.
Distance: 2.03 km
Time: 12:30
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-24°C
Humidity: 63-60%
Wind: light
BPM: 148
Weight: 167.7
Total distance to date: 6,217 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (355/685/1,044 km) Saucony Peregrine 13

Today was finally the day! After my last run on April 12th, I discovered a new (but not improved) Baker’s cysts behind my right knee, almost exactly a year after the last one. The training status for that run was Strained, which I found alarming. I had to take some time off, to let my right knee heal.

The bumpity-bump is still there, though it’s a tad smaller, and it doesn’t actually hurt or anything. The past week, I’ve been building up to running again by doing a series of exercise-type walks, working on more and more stretches of running. Today, I decided it was time to just run.

But then I balked, a bit. I opted, instead, to split my usual 5K run in two, doing a 2K today and a 3K on Friday and, assuming nothing explodes, implodes or falls off, I will resume regular 5K runs next week.

When I got to the lake, I found the parking lot was closed.

As I did not come by car, nor am I a car myself, this was not an issue, but there was a guy on the trail near where I had wanted to start with a weed whacker, so my original plan of going counter-clockwise reversed to clockwise.

Although I felt trepidation, the run itself was fine. 2K seems really short. It’s just a little over 11 minutes, which feels like completing the warm-up part, then stopping. But I stuck to the plan. My first km was a brisk 5:35, then I slipped to 5:44/km, as the reality of running more than a few minutes hit me. My shins were tender to start, but as mentioned in the last walk-run post, this is normal for having not run in a long while.

But my BPM was a nice 150, the weather was pleasant, and I feel fine now. My training status went from Maintaining to Tempo, and after the walk back to the lake, is now back to Productive. Woo.

Random note: I tried to “fix” my sagging SPI-Belt (which I really ought to replace) by tying a knot into it and…it worked! It didn’t budge at all during the run. But I should still get a new one.

Stats:

Run 863
Average pace: 5:38/km
Training status: Tempo
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW, short loop)
Start: 2:23 p.m.
Distance: 2:03 km
Time: 11:27
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17°C
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 170.5
Total distance to date: 6192 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 5 (332/618/950 km)

Well, that didn’t go as planned.

But it did go very similarly to the last run, at least to start.

I walked to the lake at a brisk pace and felt fine. I started a counter-clockwise run and waited to see if the right knee would start to ache, like the last run six days ago. It did. I waited to see if that ache would diminish to discomfort. It did. I then checked my pace at the 2 km mark–6:08/km–and called the run.

It’s possible if I had kept going, the knee would have felt better still, again like the previous run, but today felt different. It felt worse. And I didn’t want to risk making the knee worse, so I grudgingly stopped the run after only 2 km.

There’s not much else to say. I started with a deliberately slower pace, but I don’t think it made any difference. My knee was going to do what is was going to do no matter how slow or fast I ran. Alas.

More physio and we’ll see what’s next. I am holding off on further runs for the time being.

It was nice for running, at least!

Stats:

Run 785
Average pace: 6:02/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:47 p.m.
Distance: 2.03 km
Time: 12:15
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Humidity: 58%
Wind: light
BPM: 148
Weight: 165.5
Total distance to date: 5807 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (479 km)