It was 29C when I headed out today, but the wildfire smoke that rolled in and blotted out the sun yesterday had already moved (largely) on, so I ran under hazy blue skies that looked like they actually belonged to this planet. I didn’t run quite as much as I would have had it been a bit cooler, but still did a respectable bit of jogging.
Being a stat holiday, the trail was reasonably busy, though I only saw one other jogger. There were multiple groups of cyclists, though, and while this is normally no big deal, the incredibly dry conditions means that anyone riding fast on a bike (which is to say everyone) will kick up large clouds of dust, which then lazily drift over to the opposite side of the trail, where I am running.
I ended up well-coated.
But overall I felt pretty decent, with no issues, other than the whole hot heat thing.
Stats:
Walk 50Average pace: 8:14/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.33 km
Time: 60:28
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 29ºC
Humidity: 43%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 132
Weight: 176.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 384.33 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
See title. July saw no measurable precipitation, started with record-breaking temperatures in the 40s and is ending with temperatures in the 30s (for reference, today’s average high is normally 25C, though 30C doesn’t seem as hot anymore after experiencing what 42C feels like).
I know talking about the weather seems kind of dull, but it really has been remarkable. Up to mid-June people were still making “Juneuary” jokes. Now the bush outside the office window is withered and sad in a way it’s never been before, but still green, for the time being.
Wildfire smoke is expected to roll in today, and indeed it looks cloudy out. With a province-wide fire ban in effect, we get quotes like these from this CBC News story on enforcement of the ban because people gonna people:
Hunter said there have been instances in the South Coast region where they have discovered campfires within metres of campfire ban signs in provincial parks.
I’m going out to take photos today, so I don’t necessarily want it to rain today, but I wouldn’t object to some nice showers overnight. I love summer (unlike a lot of people), but it’s making it tough to love this year.
It was a rather stifling 34° C as I headed out to end the work week, but there was a decent breeze blowing at times as well, which gave the effect of forging your way through a desert under an unforgiving sun. Less than ideal for exercise, really.
Apart from a few very brief sprints here and there, I stuck to walking and encountered no issues, apart from getting a bit sweaty. It was nice to just walk and zone out for a while, even if the air was thick and hot.
Stats:
Walk 49Average pace: 9:05/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.49 km
Time: 68:02
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 34ºC
Humidity: 29%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 125
Weight: 177.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 377 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
During our now legendary “heat dome” event that unofficially ended yesterday (today’s high was a relatively bone-chilling 27C) I opted to do something I almost never do–wear sunblock. And it worked really well. Even as I strolled about in 42C heat and sweated like a very sweaty person, I remained burn-free and am as shimmeringly pale as ever. You’d never know I’d been out of my ice cave!
Anyway, I feel like I am somehow getting more sensible as I get older. Will sunblock leave my exposed skin feeling vaguely sticky and gross? Will dust, grit and small animals adhere to it as I spend time outdoors? The answer is yes, but it doesn’t matter, because it’s better and healthier to avoid a nasty sunburn. Sensible!
I’m also thinking about getting new socks and underwear. I won’t say the prospect of this excites me, exactly, but it is perhaps a little enticing.
Don’t worry, though, I still don’t see bingo as an entertaining recreational activity. Yet.
Today is allegedly the last day the “heat dome” is stuck over BC, as it’s now moving toward Alberta. That means instead of being insanely hot, it was only regular hot, with a high of 33. It was a bit below that when I went on my walk and as strange as it seems, it felt actually not that bad when compared to 42 degrees.
I did run a tiny bit through a few shady stretches, but not much, because it’s still not great weather for harder exertion. I kept up a decent walking pace, though, and had no issues, save for my left shoelace mysteriously coming untied twice. The second time the shoe seemed to be mocking me for trying to tie the lace so there was no way it could possibly come untied.
The next walk/run should feature temperatures below 30 degrees–brr!
Stats:
Walk 42Average pace: 9:17/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.34 km
Time: 68:09
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 31ºC
Humidity: 42%
Wind: light
BPM: 125
Weight: 179.1 pounds
Total distance to date: 318.18 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
It hit 42 °C today, which breaks the old high temperature record by an impressive 11 degrees. Tomorrow’s high is forecast at 35, which will feel almost mild in comparison. I decided to go for about a 15-minute walk down to the park when it hit 42, just to see what it felt like. My observations, in handy list form:
Opening the front door of the condo building is like opening the grate on a furnace
The breeze feels like it is burning my face
My eyes are hot; this feels hugely weird
Heat radiates from the pavement, less so from the sidewalks
After about five minutes, the metal on my Apple Watch is starting to get hot against my skin
I am sweating like I am running, yet I am merely walking
Kids are still running around and screaming; presumably they are magically immune to heatstroke
The idea of going for my usual 7+ km walk today seems equal parts foolish and ludicrous–I do not go
Coming back and opening the door to our condo unit and getting hit by the cool breeze of the air conditioner is really, really nice. Like, super mega-nice.
I secretly wonder if I’ll be finding out what it feels like when the temperature goes above 42 °C–and how soon that might be
As of 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Lytton had hit 47.9 C, according to Environment Canada. For context, that’s hotter than the hottest temperature ever recorded in Las Vegas, at about 47.2 C, and almost eight degrees higher than Lytton’s record high before this year.
It was 37ºC when I headed out for my walk/run late in the morning and I made a decision before heading out:
No running, as it would be cuckoo crazy in the middle of a record-breaking heatwave
This proved to be wise as it was hot. It dropped maybe a degree on the river trail, mostly in the shade, but the air was thick, the sweat gushed like a fountain and if it weren’t for the slathering of sunblock my exposed skin would be a raging fire right now.
The first km was a bit slower, over 10 min/km as I baked along the sidewalks and pavement. My pace picked up on the river trail, then slowed again as I returned to the land of blacktop.
My BPM was pretty much normal, so I did not over-exert myself. This was good. I even stopped at the top of the stairs coming from Lower Hume Park and took 30 seconds to rest in the shade of a handy tree. I looked longingly at the kids running through the spraying water at the water park. Then I sweated some more and got home.
It looks like it may be hotter still tomorrow and I won’t be able to head out until after work, which is also when the temperatures usually peak. We’ll see how it goes.
All said, I am glad I got out, as it means I’ll have completed my rings for the entire week, an important part of Losing the Flab™.
Stats:
Walk 41Average pace: 9:40/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 7.31 km
Time: 70:46
Weather: Sunny and hot
Temp: 35-37ºC
Humidity: 34%
Wind: light
BPM: 127
Weight: 177.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 310.84 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12
We are in the first day of a heat wave that is being caused by a ridge of high pressure so strong it’s said to cause a “heat dome” over the area, not only keeping it hot, but making it even hotter still as the hot air gets trapped, recirculates and gets hotter.
The high today was 33 °C. I went for a walk at 8 p.m. and it had cooled all the way down…to 31.
I am not inclined to complain about the weather as you can’t do anything about it, and we have AC here, so it’s really not that bad if we stay inside. But yes, it is hot indeed out there.
I wonder how many more heat domes await us in the future.
The 10-day forecast for New Westminster (normal high would be 23°C):
Run 623Average pace: 6:08/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 3:55 pm
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 30:57
Weather: Sunny, hot
Temp: 30ºC
Humidity: 36%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 155
Weight: 164.8 pounds
Total distance to date: 4695 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (50 km)
I did not plan to run today, but I ended up running, even though it was kind of nutty to do so. Let me explain.
On Friday I planned to run, but slept in and then deferred to Saturday, as I did not want to run later Friday when it would be too hot. Remember the “too hot” part.
Later Friday I developed a pain in my abdomen reminiscent of “men of your age” infections of yore. Saturday morning, instead of running, I went to my favorite nearby walk-in clinic. Except they wouldn’t see me until noon, so I went back at noon. The diagnosis was vague and uncertain, though I had sugar in my urine, so the diabetes alarm was raised once again (this has happened throughout my entire life–so far each actual test has come back negative). The doctor gave me a bunch of other tests to take, similar to the ones my own doctor wanted me to take, but which I had been putting off, because I’ve been kind of lazy during vacation. She also suggested I drink lots of water and drink Metamucil, to prevent blockage/infection, though I assured her I was pretty regular already.
Sunday morning (today) Jeff drove me to a LifeLabs that was open on the weekend and they took more pee and also blood. The blood removal was the most efficient I’ve ever seen. It was kind of eerie.
After this, we went out for breakfast at IHOP (mmm, blueberry pancakes), then came home. I opted out of going to the Pride parade because the thought of sitting/standing ion place for hours on end did not seem enticing. Jeff ended up going off (unplanned) to watch it on his own.
It was very hot today. By mid-afternoon it was up to 30ºC. I decided if I couldn’t run, I’d at least walk, so I put on my running clothes (they are much more comfortable for warm weather) and set off to walk to the lake and back (around 8 km total). When I got to the lake, I decided to keep going, so I did that. When I got to Still Creek, I contemplated doing a run to finish off the loop around the lake. Remember, now:
it’s 30ºC
I had blood taken just hours earlier
I have abdominal pain
There was no good reason to run. None. But I had already missed two potential run days and didn’t want to miss another, so I made an agreement with myself to only run for as long as it was comfortable. If there was any pain/aches/fainting, etc. I would stop. And so I sent off doing what was essentially the reverse of my usual 5K clockwise circuit.
The first km was relatively zippy, considering the heat, coming in at 5:28/km. This changed and by the third km I was firmly in “Why am I doing this?” territory, with my pace way down to 6:39. I rallied and came back to 6:12 before wrapping up with 6:23 for the final stretch. This was one of those runs where I really wanted it to end.
Despite how I felt, I was fairly confident once I made it past the halfway mark that I would be able to finish. Fortunately, the Avalon trail was in shade at this time of day, probably the only thing that kept me going to the finish.
My mouth was very dry. Like, it was the Sahara in my mouth. To paraphrase America, the heat was hot. The humidity was high enough to make the air feel like a furnace, but not high enough to keep my mouth moist.
And yet the most interesting stat from the run was my BPM–a mere 155. This means that both my mind and body were being sensible. As I slowed, I did not push to maintain an unsustainable pace. I fell back into a slower, but steady pace and kept to that. I didn’t over-exert. I was smart! This is one of the few times I checked my BPM mid-run, too. If it had been crazy-high, I would have stopped, but it was pretty steady in the 150s throughout.
And the abdominal pain, though still there, is now a much more muted kind of ache, so it didn’t present an issue. Really, the only issue was the weather itself. And my decision to run in it. 😛
Run 618Average pace: 5:54/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 1:27 pm
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:42
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Humidity: 40%
Wind: light
BPM: 161
Weight: 165.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 4670 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 2, iPhone 8
Shoes: Saucony Switchback ISO (25 km)
On the first full day back from camping, I did some tidying up, put away the clean dishes, swept and then looked around and thought, “What can I do on this beautiful sunny day that involves being outside and such?” and lo the answer came. Run!
Because I am still on vacation, I can not only do lake runs for every run, I can do them during the week, when there are fewer people, so just after 12:30 this afternoon, I set out to do just that.
Arriving at the lake, I saw that my usual way in was now blocked off due to construction at the dam, as expected, so I went the short length up the road and came in through Avalon Avenue. Because I was already on the south side and didn’t know the state of the side trails, I opted to go clockwise for the heck of it.
It was quite warm, but not quite Africa hot. The humidity level was just high enough to keep my mouth from badly drying out, but not so high that I sweated profusely. I set off, hoping that with a week off, I’d at least beat the 6:00 minute mark for my pace. I did that and was only two seconds slower than my previous lake run, coming in at 5:54/km vs. 5:52/km. Not bad, considering I felt pretty out of gas for the last two km.
Although I experienced no issues other than being a bit tired toward the end, I did experience some after the run, namely a weird sort of cramp/gas that kept me from doing much post-run running along the trail on the way out. It wasn’t terrible or anything, but it was mildly annoying.
Around the 4K mark, when I noted that I was feeling a bit tuckered, I did a quick checklist and found that not only were my knees not hurting, I wasn’t feeling them at all. I don’t mean they were suddenly and alarmingly paralyzed, but that they were not sore, aching, cranky or anything other than just knees. It’s been quite awhile since the knees have felt so nothing on a run, and it is probably the highlight of today’s run.
Another highlight was the delightful lack of people as it was early afternoon on a weekday.
It turned out that the Spruce Loop is officially closed for maintenance and the tracks of the machinery taking gravel to it were all over the main trail leading up to it. In some places the machinery had so badly damaged the main trail they may need to do work on it when they are finished on the Spruce Loop. It seemed a bit like curing one patient by taking the medicine away from another. Here’s hoping they have enough medicine (gravel) to go around. The initial work on the Spruce Loop looks promising, though, so it should be quite an improvement when it’s done.
I should note here that the new Saucony shoes are still working well, though it seems they are almost as adept at scooping gravel as my Cascadias. This seems to happen more when I’m walking than running, so maybe I’m walking wrong. I don’t know. I also think I had the laces dialed in a bit too tight this time or my feet were retaining water or something, because the tops of my feet were getting just ever-so-slightly sore by the end.
Also, I have to be fair and say the left foot was hurting a bit for the run. I don’t consider it an issue, per se, as it was already hurting and I don’t think the run had any effect on it, it just underlined it. And it didn’t bother me so much as provide a background irritation.
My next run should be Wednesday. The weather is supposed to be 23ºC (nice) and light rain (less nice), so it seems the inconsistent July weather will be back after two days of actual summer-like weather. At least I won’t have to worry about getting a sunburn.
Run 590 Average pace: 5:47/km Location: Brunette River trail
Start: 7:15 pm
Distance: 5:03 km
Time: 29:11
Weather: Hazy sun
Temp: 27-25ºC
Humidity: 51%
Wind: light
BPM: 166
Weight: 161.9 pounds
Total distance to date: 4530 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone 8
The last few days the Lower Mainland has been blanketed with a thick haze from the many forest fires burning elsewhere. This exact same thing happened last year and just as it was back then, it makes for very humid, sticky runs. It was 27ºC, already on the warm side, though the sun itself was not hitting most of the trail. The parts where it was it painted the area with an otherworldly light, making it feel like I was jogging on an alien planet.
But one where you can still sweat, which I did. A lot.
My goal was the same as it’s been on recent runs–come in under 6:00/km and I did, ending with an average pace of 5:47/km. It’s better than recent runs at the lake, but slower than runs at the river, due to the mugginess leeching my will to move.
Other than the sticky conditions, the run went well. The knees were doing their thing, which is to say I could feel them, but they didn’t really slow me. At this point I’m almost used to how they feel. Almost.
The ickiest point was having a group of cyclists go flying by, kicking up a bunch of dust into the already particulate-rich air. And because there was little wind, I got to run through all of it. I mean, it wasn’t Shanghai-level air pollution, but it wasn’t great, either.
Also, there was a guy standing under the overpass next to a bike. He was wearing jeans and had a very dark tan, which I could see because he was shirtless. Not sexy, just shirtless. He was there the whole time. One pass he was talking into his phone, another drinking from a coffee mug, and yet another contemplating where his shirt had gone, perhaps. It was a bit odd. I didn’t make eye contact.
Other than that, the run went well, hothouse conditions notwithstanding. Onward to Thursday!
