Africa hot

Here’s how the temperature went this morning:

• Wake up: 18C. This is the overnight low.
• Head out for run: 22C
• Start run: 24C
• End run: 25C
• Get back from run: 28C

In other words, in less than three hours, the temperature has gone up 10 degrees. It is hot.

I headed out early, though perhaps not quite as early as I’d have liked, but I need my beauty sleep! Still, it was before 10 a.m. and not too bad when I started, but there was very little breeze, which is good for Dry Mouth Syndrome, but not really good otherwise. The sun beat down on me for almost the entirety of the Cottonwood Trail. The humidity was relatively high.

It felt like it was taking a lot more effort to produce worse results. Still, I can’t be too disappointed. I am still recovering my form and my knees (a tiny bit stiff, but otherwise fine). My left hip acted up on the walk to the lake again, but for the run didn’t seem to be a factor. Taking these things into account, I can’t be too piqued by a slovenly pace of 6:10/km and a BPM of 156.

A few other people were also out jogging. One of them ahead of me was wearing a blue t-shirt and white shorts. I lost track of him for a few minutes when the trail got bendy, but when it straightened out, he had taken his short off. Hubba hubba. Would it provide incentive to keep me going, to close the gap? He was not running fast. For a time I was edging slightly closer, but when we hit the Cottonwood Trail I felt my energy start to drain away, and he pulled a bit ahead. With his shirt off and his long white shorts, he looked like a boxer trying to find the fight. My luck turned when he stopped at the bridge over Still Creek. I got full opportunity to ogle up close. He rated about half a hubba hubba. A hub.

After the run I supped from every available fountain. Here’s how I rate them:

• Fountain by the playground at the athletic field: Shoots water about a km out, but the button is super stiff, so it takes an unusual amount of effort to press and hold. Fountain also sits in sun all day so water always starts out hot. 6/10.
• Fountain by dam. Shade much of the day so water cools quickly, but flow is so weak you almost have to perform mouth-to-mouth on the fountain to get a drink. 6.5/10.
• Fountain at Hume Park, near the water play area. It’s the perfect height for adults, has good flow and the water isn’t piping hot to start. 9/10.

Also, right near the end of the run, I passed another guy running shirtless. He was a hubba. Curiously, he was doing these weird spinning movements before setting off, which reminded me of a boxer.

Overall, the run kind of went as expected, maybe a little worse. Conditions look to be the same on Wednesday, so I’ll see if I can set out earlier.

Stats:

Run 797
Average pace: 6:10/km
Training status: Maintaining
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:48 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 30:59
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-25ºC
Humidity: 69-64%
Wind: light
BPM: 156
Weight: 166.7
Total distance to date: 5865 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (535 km)

I made a tactical error today by deciding to start my run in the early afternoon. It was 27C to start and 29C by the end. This was bad because:

• I am not used to running in high temperatures yet. It’s only the first week of June, for Pete’s sake.
• I am still well off from being in the condition I was prior to missing 25 days of running
• In addition to being Africa hot, the humidity, in sharp contrast to last year, started at a low 32% and dropped to an even lower 30% by the end.

The latter led to EDMS¹Extreme Dry Mouth Syndrome, which is quite unpleasant. But more than that, my energy was sapped out like some analogy I can’t think of right now. Like the sun was a giant vampire, and I was holding my neck right up to it.

At least I remembered sunblock and avoided getting burned again.

The heat was bad enough that I had to stop and regain some energy several times before continuing, like when I would play Halo and get my shields knocked down to nothing and have to hide until they filled back up. Except without the cool armour or aliens.

Amazingly, my BPM was only 152, probably because my pace was turtle-like for much of the run (I also saw a turtle at the lake, which is almost like seeing a unicorn) and my pace looks better because, as I said, it took a km or so before the heat really started knocking me down.

My knees felt decent, though, and they are just a little bit stiff now, some four hours later as I type this, so despite the run being a miserable slog, it’s gone better in terms of the legs holding up.

After arriving at the lake, I hydrated at the fountain by the dam and was just prepping to start when a trio of shirtless young guys (combined age probably equal to mine) came running over the dam, then stopped at the same fountain to drink as sweat glistened on their unnaturally perfect bodies. One of them was wearing shorts so, well, short, I am guessing his day job is as a go-go dancer.

I didn’t want to head out and then have them all gleefully glide past me, so I waited and sure enough, they bounded off like gazelle. It turned out they only got as far as the parking lot, where one of them was climbing a fallen tree for reasons. I reluctantly ran past them, but never saw them again, so I guess they either turned back or got beamed aboard their spaceship to be returned to the Planet of Young Men With Exquisitely Chiselled Bodies.

Anyway, it’s fitting that this was the highlight of the run, because most of it happened before I began running.

Next time I will run earlier, and if it looks to be hot ‘n dry, I will bring water.

Stats:

Run 780
Average pace: 6:11/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW then CCW)
Start: 1:18 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:06
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27-29ºC
Humidity: 32-30%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 152
Weight: 166.0
Total distance to date: 5785 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Saucony Peregrine 12 (457 km)

Blargh, I say.

I did not want to run today, but I did That One Weird Trick To Make You Run–I put on my jogging clothes. Once I’m dressed to run, it’s extremely rare for me to not go out.

And so I did, around 12:30 p.m., once again rolling the dice on the higher heat of the afternoon being better than the higher humidity of the morning. But it turned out I got both, anyway. It was 29C and humidity stayed at 45% through the run, which made the stretches without shade feel very hot and awful. The timing of my first two km was slow, even though my BPM was trending above 150 and even though I turned in a nice 6:03/km on the Cottonwood Trail for the fourth km, I decided to just do 5K today. Adding to the hot ‘n humid conditions, the sore upper left thigh (let’s call it the hip for short, shall we?) at first felt like it was just reminding me it had been sore, but then it became clear it was sore.

Perhaps not as sore as last week, but sore enough to tamp down any thoughts of sprinting. I mean, given conditions, it was academic, anyway, but still. I am concerned what Wednesday is going to be like. They’re currently calling for a high of 25C (not bad!) and T-storms, which makes me think of letters raining down from the sky. So, assuming no lightning strikes, it may be a much more reasonable day weather-wise. We’ll see how it goes, with caution as my middle name.

Also, I encountered four Parks putt-putt cars on the trail, which I think is a record. And there was a guy (without helmet) riding a bike. I secretly wished him flat tires, as I do all cyclists who go to Burnaby Lake.

Stats:

Run 702
Average pace: 6:18/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:25 p.m.
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 31:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 45%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 152
Weight: 164.2
Total distance to date: 5145 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (253 km)

The plan today was to do a 5K, stretch past that if I felt like it, and to run clockwise, figuring I’d have more shade and it would generally be less gross. And I was right.

Temperature was about the same as Wednesday, but humidity was a bit higher. Blergh. Fortunately, going clockwise mitigated a lot of this, as the south side of the lake is generally cooler and shadier. I actually didn’t feel that bad at the 5K mark, but knowing I had the slog of the Cottonwood Trail ahead of me (about 2 km in the sun) and with temperatures continuing to rise, I opted to walk the rest, which turned out to be a good idea, because I was pooped.

I’ve been seeing a bunny every time I run lately. But only ever one, which is odd. Is it the same bunny? Is it their chosen representative? Are all the bunnies at the lake brown? Will I be seeing many more of them soon?

As for the run, while it was definitely the right call to go clockwise, I can say I’ve had my fill of the hot and humid combo. I didn’t have any issues while running, though, and actually emerged less sweaty than the previous run (though still quite sweaty). I also put a pasty on my right nipple (uh, trigger warning for people sensitive about sensitive nipples) and it seems to have worked really well. I’ll scream loud enough to let half the city know when I go to take the two band-aids off.

Also, today’s run gives me a palindrome for the total distance. Enjoy, number nerds!

Stats:

Run 698
Average pace: 6:15/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 9:54 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:26
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26-27ºC
Humidity: 64-71%
Wind: nil
BPM: 148
Weight: 165.2
Total distance to date: 5115 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (223 km)

It’s a little of everything today! Also, I divided the run report into sections because why not?

Early start, early shmart

I once again set out early (8:30 a.m.) to beat the heat, but did not beat the heat. It was 26C when I arrived at the lake. This is actually not so bad, but the humidity was still 60%, which made for another gross, sweaty run. I kept at a pace of around 150 BPM and made the decision around the 4K mark to only do 5K and run/walk the rest of the way out, which I did.

I am comfortable with this decision. I am running to keep healthy and in shape, not push myself to XTREMES. So if the weather is going to be stupid and muggy, I will adjust accordingly! For the next run, I’m going to start clockwise, which should make the earlier part more bearable as the south shore:

• Has more shade
• Seems to have more breeze (the north side, especially the long Cottonwood Trail, seems to be a wind-free environment
• Is more interesting, so if I only do 5K, it will be a better experience overall

I’ll judge how I feel at the 5K mark, then either continue to run, or choose a more leisurely pace.

On the plus side, doing a 5K today gets my run stats to a nice even 5110 km.

Trigger warning: Explicit nipple discussion

Other than being all sweaty and yuck,y I didn’t experience any issues today except for The Sensitive Nipple™. Warning: If you are sensitive to discussions about sensitive nipples, you may want to avoid the next paragraph. I’m not kidding!

The Sensitive Nipple: So the issue seems to happen when we get that magical combination of high temperatures and high humidity. I wear t-shirts that wick away sweat, but when you start sweating excessively, there’s only so much they can do. At that point the shirt becomes saturated and instead of billowing freely, with air happily passing through and about, the damp fabric clings to your skin and the movement of your body as you run causes the fabric to ride over the skin repeatedly. When the skin is actually a nipple, this can cause Sensitive Nipple. Basically, my right nipple (and to a lesser degree the left one, though I can’t figure out why they are affected differently) will get irritated to the point where it…sort of lactates blood. Yes, it’s as gross and weird as it sounds. Now, it’s not gushing blood out in a big jet of ichor, it’s more just a little dot will form on my t-shirt and then slowly soak in and spread. And also the nipple becomes extremely sensitive to touch, but not in a sexy “nipple play” way, more of a “touch this and I WILL KILL YOU” kind of way.

Anyway, my best solution will likely be to cover it with a band-aid when running, to prevent chafing. I have a hairy chest, so taking the band-aid off afterward is good times, too.

Phantom Bear

After the run and between the 7-8K mark on the lake loop, a woman approached me as if she wanted to say something, which she did. She asked me if I had seen the bear that was allegedly spotted in the exact area I had just come from. I said I did not see the bear. She said there was a report of another bear, too, though this may have been the same bear spotted twice. I must have sounded convincing, as she continued down the trail into Bear Country. I was kind of bear-wary the rest of the way, though it always surprises me when bears are spotted, as the lake is square in the middle of a dense urban area. Heck, there are highways to the north and south of the lake. Maybe they hitchhike in.

Stats:

Run 697
Average pace: 6:17/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 9:24 a.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:35
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26-28ºC
Humidity: 52-60%
Wind: nil
BPM: 149
Weight: 164.6
Total distance to date: 5110 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (218 km)