Run 336
Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce Loop, Conifer Loop (2) and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny and very muggy
Temp: 27ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 387
Total distance to date: 2814
It was 27ºC when I headed out on tonight’s run. Warmer than I’d like but not as warm as some previous runs. I was hoping it would be semi-tolerable. I wore my New Balance MT110 minimalist shoes for the first time in a long time, to see if the extra room helped my accursed left foot.
The good news is I finished the run without fainting, throwing up or spontaneously exploding.
The other good news is the MT110s were fine. My foot started to feel a little sore after the run but only a little. I remember why I like minimalist shoes. They’re light, flexible and provide a firmer, more natural grip on the trail. I’ll keep wearing them for now.
The best news of all: the laces never came untied!
The bad news: this was the most uncomfortable run I’ve had all year. It was very warm but worse, very muggy. This is in part due to the time of day–between 5 and 6 p.m. the sun is low and the earth is fully baked, yet to to cool off for the evening. The wind also tends to die down late afternoon. I was sweating like crazy, my mouth was parched, my stamina was sucked away over the course of the 5 km like I had a vampire hanging off my neck the entire time. While km to km my time didn’t drop drastically (in the usual 2-3% range) I started out slow (5:14 for the first km) and added 4-8 seconds each km, ending with a dismal pace of 5:27/km.
This time it definitely wasn’t the equipment, it was all me. I almost packed it in at the 3K mark but pressed on, even as I felt queasy from the heat. I even managed a minor uptick in speed for the last 400 m.
If conditions are the same on Thursday I am taking water with me, even if I’m forced to wear one of those giant foam hats with the beer cans on the sides. Except using beer would probably not be a good idea.
On a scale of one to five collapsed joggers, I rate tonight’s jog four out of five collapsed joggers.
Run 335
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 6.03 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26-29ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 464
Total distance to date: 2809
We are back to Official Summer Weather™ again and it was already warm when I headed out late in the morning and got noticeably warmer during the run. The first km was fine, the second I began to flag but not significantly more than normal. At this point my left shoelace came untied for the billionth time.
I ran with it untied for about 2 km, stopping at a bench on the second boardwalk to re-tie it. I carefully paused the workout on the iPod. I made sure the screen didn’t turn off while I re-tied the lace. I carefully touched the Resume button onscreen when I started running again. Satisfied that I had done everything correctly, I pressed the power button on the iPod (this turns the screen off, to prevent unwanted tapping) and put it back in my shorts pocket.
All seemed well until a few seconds later when Nike Lady piped up to say “workout stopped”. This seemed ominous but slightly less ominous than “workout ended”. I kept running and a moment or so later she said “Workout resumed”. She kept quiet except to count out the km for the remainder. Why this happened I have no idea.
After tying my shoelace back up I found I could not get my pace back. I felt parched and overheated–the main reason I don’t like stopping during a run in warm weather–but I wanted to do better than 5K and managed to hit 6K and a turgid overall pace of 5:20/km before stopping (for real). The last two km definitely felt like a slog but 5:20 still seemed a little slow. Here’s how the splits broke down:
Everything seems normal until the 4K mark when the pace drops to a strangely sluggish 5:48/km. It picks up again after that and though still slower than normal is probably a better reflection of how I was running for the last two km.
Here’s the split in graph form:
This is something that never happens during a run. You can tell I really mean it because I have used italics! I’m trying to think if something happened that made me stop or move especially slow and there was a few moments where I had to nearly stop when a clump of people, well, clumped up and blocked the way, but that happened right at the start of the run and had no real effect on my pace (the first km was still under 5:00/km). The only thing I can think is that I slowed as I neared the bench to tie my shoe and the sensor got confused or something and thought I went from jogging to crawling on my hands and knees.
In any case, it probably dragged my overall pace down by ten seconds or something. That’s just a guess because I’m not a mathologist.
As for the run, though I couldn’t muster the stamina to keep going past 6K, my feet and legs held up. The left foot started to hurt on the walk to the lake entrance and by the time I got to the dam was hurting quite nicely. I took a long drink from the faucet near the dam (it’s the best thing ever after a hot run) then sat down at a picnic table, took off my left shoe and thoroughly massaged my stinky and troublesome left foot. It did not hurt to do this and in fact it felt noticeably better after. It continued to feel pretty good until about a block before home.
When I got in I massaged it again and once more it felt much better. This foot is weird. It was kind of nice not riding the SkyTrain back for a change, though. It probably broke down again, anyway.
The other interesting things that happened technically occurred after the run but while i was still on the trail:
an adorable fuzzy golden caterpillar made its way across the trail in front of me, looking like a tiny hairy accordion. Or something. It probably got eaten by a robin.
an adorable fuzzy little chipmunk made its way across the trail in front of me. It was very tiny but crashed into the brush like it weighed a hundred pounds. Odd chipmunk. Probably not eaten by a robin.
At around the 7K mark I was walking along with my earphones still in but the music turned off. I heard something behind me, that telltale sound of rubber rolling over gravel. A moment later a guy on a bike rode past. I gave him the evil eye, as usual. He was followed by two young daughters on their own bikes. They looked to be about six and nine years old. The three of them disappeared around a corner.
I come around the corner and the younger girl is lying in the “ditch” tangled around her bike. Dad is coming over and chuckling about how she can’t ride a bike or something. He starts to pull the bike off and she yells “Ow ow ow!” but really didn’t appear to be hurt in any way*. I continue to walk by and a short distance ahead is a sign where the path splits. Every time there is a split there are signs. I look back to good ol’ dad and then point to the “No cycling” sign then continue on. I do not see them again.
I don’t know if they went back the way they came, started walking the bikes or got airlifted out by chopper. But it felt like karma had finally come to the Burnaby Lake loop.
Here’s hoping for less heat, fewer bikes and a better pace for the next run.
* I don’t blame the girls for being there and really hope the one who crashed was fine. She appeared more put out than actually injured but I’m not a doctor, nor do I even play one on TV.
Run 331
Average pace: 5:13/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny, humid
Temp: 30ºC
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 387
Total distance to date: 2788
In which I run under mostly similar conditions with a three day break and manage to add six seconds to my average pace.
It was 30ºC for tonight’s delayed run and while the temperature was the same, it was much more humid. This was good news for my mouth and throat, which were not left feeling desert dry like Thursday’s run. On the other hand it was apparently bad for the run overall as my pace lagged enough to come in at a relatively slovenly pace of 5:13/km.
Apart from a few odd twinges from my left knee, nothing particularly stood out on the run. I slogged along at what I thought was a decent pace for the first few km but in fact the first km was a full ten seconds off compared to the previous run. I guess it really is the humidity.
The weather promises to be a few degrees cooler by the next run so hopefully I will find the eye of the tiger or some other important tiger-related organ by then.
Yesterday I bought a pair of fancy new Nike shorts for running because my current pair are starting to develop a kind of post-run lingering odor that even I’m not liking. I also bought a MEC t-shirt for running that is on sale and will get more if I deem it worthy.
I also–hold onto your hats–bought ankle socks, both for general use and for running. The latter even have a tiny bit of padding in the heel and the ball for extra support. I’ve never been excited about wearing socks before.
I was all set to try these multitude of new items today but the temperature rose so quickly in the morning that I had to cool my jets (ho ho) waiting for the temperature to peak and then start to decline in the afternoon, looking for that sweet spot to arrive where the heat would not be unbearable. I even spent some of this waiting time buying my first-ever hydration gear, a simple North Face belt and bottle. The belt is probably as close to minimal as you can get but still seems bulky to me. I toyed with just carrying the bottle in my hand. I wondered what I could do with duct tape.
I waited and watched as the temperature climbed to 35ºC (95ºF for those south of the border). This is not merely Africa hot, it’s too dang hot to even consider running. Much of the trail around Burnaby Lake is shaded but at 35 the air takes on an aspect that brings to mind a blast furnace.
And so it was that the rarest of things happened: I postponed a run because the weather was too nice.
It’s supposed to be a little cooler tomorrow. I shall try again then.
Run 330
Average pace: 5:07/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Weather: Sunny, hot
Temp: 30ºC
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 388
Total distance to date: 2783
Tonight’s run was basically a repeat of Tuesday, with the pace being an entire second faster at 5:07/km. The differences:
I ran counter-clockwise, so no stinky skunk cabbage. This was GOOD.
It was several degrees warmer at 30ºC. This was BAD.
It was less humid, which meant my throat and mouth were parched less than 1 KM in. This was BAD.
I felt less creaky starting out. This was GOOD.
The right shoelace came untied at .65 km in. This was VERY ANNOYING.
Overall I can say I was glad to get this one over with. At least if it’s still hot on the weekend I have a chance to choose a time when it is slightly less hot to run.
Run 329
Average pace: 5:08/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sunny, humid, stinky
Temp: 29-27ºC
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 388
Total distance to date: 2778
And creaky, too!
This is our first week of genuine summer weather and even though I headed out tonight after dinner it was still a positively balmy 29ºC.
I started the run by not choosing wisely…on the router to take. I went clockwise and this put the sun at an awkward angle for much of the run, where it was coming in from the side, making it hard to avoid (it was lower in the sky, so beaming straight toward my face). The usual counter-clockwise route would have been more shielded from the sun. Alas.
The start of the run my whole lower body felt weirdly creaky, like my legs needed to be oiled or something. Even my usually solid knees were feeling rusty. It sorted itself after the first km but it was not an encouraging start.
I maintained pace as best I could and though it was not a blazing pace, it stayed fairly steady. I even managed to hit my peak (4:50/km) right at the end. I was probably hallucinating a giant lake of cool water ahead of me. My average was 5:08/km, slow for a 5K but not too bad for the conditions.
The conditions were as follows: very war, very humid (the not-dry mouth is always a good indicator) and very stinky. It seems the rains of not-too-long ago, combined with the heat ‘n humidity, brought out the full piquant aroma of the skunk cabbage along the trail. And there is a lot of it. The second boardwalk (as you move clockwise) is pretty much lined with it on both sides and the stink was almost enough to induce a gag reflex. A plant that truly lives up to its name.
This was the first run using fancy Dr. Scholl’s inserts, which offer bonus gel cushioning on the heel ad ball of the feet. The inserts felt fine but when my left foot started feeling sore shortly after the run they didn’t seem to make much difference. A longer run may be a better test, though I think the issue is the gel does not come up close enough to adequately cover the affected part of my stupid dumb foot.
Overall, not a horrible run, not a terrible run, just kind of blah. One bonus is the hip didn’t seem to factor in at all. Yay.
Run 326
Average pace: 5:03/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 5.05 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 28-33ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 388
Total distance to date: 2757
I kept expecting the forecast to change for today but it never did. It turned out to be hot, just as predicted, with the temperature at 28ºC at the start of the run and rising to 33ºC by the end. Africa hot indeed.
I wore my Adidas Energy Boost shoes again and with my feet and other body parts all feeling fine heading out it would be a good test to see if the new shoes really were the, uh, smoking gun responsible for my two terribad runs in June.
Despite the high temperature it was not too humid so the heat was merely hot and not actually oppressive. I didn’t even sweat that much.
I ran counter-clockwise as that route offers more shade and felt quite decent to start. By the end I was definitely feeling the heat (ho ho) but I still managed to pick the pace up a touch to finish at 5K. I prepared for a possible 10K but suspected I would cut it short to be on the safe side.
My average pace was a perfectly cromulent 5:03/km, so the hot weather did have an effect but not a dramatic one. The left foot behaved almost identically to the previous run, feeling fine for the running part and getting sore after about 3 km of walking afterward. A five minute rest “recharged” it for the remaining walk to the SkyTrain station.
Overall I’m pleased at how the run went. The Brooks shoes are looking more like the culprit behind my slow runs so I will stick to the Adidas for now. Eventually I hope to go back to my nearly-new minimalist shoes again. The light weight is nice (though the Adidas are fairly lightweight for a “regular” shoe).
Now I just need to figure out how to make my left foot behave itself for a longer run and I’ll be set.
Run 323
Average pace: 5:32/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.09 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24-26ºC, felt like 27ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 392
Total distance to date: 2737
Yesterday I compared two different pairs of trail runners, the Saucony Peregrine 4 and the Brooks Cascadia 9.
The Peregrines were lighter and more flexible, with the upper more reminiscent of some of the minimalist shoes I’ve used. It also has very pronounced teeth-like knobs ringing the sole. The Brooks is stiffer and heavier but overall I preferred the fit and feel and felt the sole would work better on the tamer trails I run on.
Today I wore the Brooks for my weekly Sunday run. I had a few concerns going in. While new shoes often result in a faster run the first time out (giddy with excitement, perhaps) the weather was looking quite warm and humid today. That would slow me down. The hip was producing a strange twinge of pain for about the first 30 seconds of the walk to the lake before disappearing, meaning it was probably going to be a bit sore. Finally and most ominously, my left foot was sore even before I left.
The new shoes provided ample cushioning so the walk to the lake seemed uneventful and for a pleasant change I didn’t need to use the port-o-potty as soon as I got there.
I made what in retrospect a tactical error by choosing to run clockwise. This is the “easy” way but the southern side of the lake is also a lot more exposed to the sun. I should have stuck to CCW. But in the end it may not have mattered because my left foot started hurting noticeably right away and got bad enough that I knew I wasn’t doing a full run. I managed 5K before calling it quits. I even took the unusual step (ho ho) of sitting on a handy bench by the athletic field for about five minutes to let the foot recover a little.
I walked out of the park and caught the SkyTrain home from Production way station. Once home and with the shoes off, I tried flexing the foot and it hurt so much I ended up taking a Tylenol.
I don’t believe the new shoes made matters worse, as my right foot still felt comfy and fine after the run and the walk. I have no idea why the left foot was especially bad but I think I’m going to get it checked out by a foot doctor and look into extra padding for it for runs in the meantime.
I was hoping to come in around my last 11K pace of 5:12/km but instead finished with an abysmal pace of 5:32/km–for a mere 5K. That’s 36 seconds slower than my last run! The first km I came in at 5:21/km, which is Granny slow, so the run was doomed from the start.
It’s hard to imagine how the next run could be worse. Perhaps a giant sinkhole could open up on the trail in front of me or a crazed bear could come bursting from the bush, with an even more crazed raccoon riding on its back. Or my left foot could hurt even more.
My plan is to stick to the new shoes and see how they fare in the second outing. As I said, the right foot was fine and I felt no discomfort/tightness or anything caused by the shoes themselves.
Here’s hoping the next run is better. It would be difficult for it to be worse.
Run 316
Average pace: 5:06/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.06 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-23ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 401
Total distance to date: 2689
I figured replacing the cheap laces that came with my Adidas Energy Boost® shoes with the nicely braided ones from my New Balance MT110s would solve my untied lace issue, as similar laces on my first pair of MT110s had never come untied in over 800 km of running.
I was wrong.
When I first tied up the shoes the left one (without the Nike+ sensor) felt a bit tight. As soon as I started running it immediately felt too loose, loose enough to come untied. But it didn’t.
Until I hit 400 m remaining. With only 400 meters to go I was not about to stop so I hoped I would not trip on the long, magnificently braided laces. I didn’t.
I think I officially hate the Adidas shoes now. I’m going to start shopping for replacements. The whole tongue/lace design just seems off, with the eyelets difficult to thread laces through, the tongue apparently being designed explicitly to loosen laces and the arrangement being such that the Nike sensor sits up higher on this shoe than on any others I’ve used.
As for the actual run, it was delayed by a day due to spending time with my partner and the weather was a fair bit warmer, with the temperature feeling like 25ºC or so. I could feel the difference and knew I’d be slower and I was. I still came in at a respectable 5:06/km and had an especially strong finish, perhaps eager to get the run over with before I fell flat on my face.
The hip wasn’t much of an issue at all but oddly enough the left upper thigh was aching noticeably, especially when I did the final sprint on the pedestrian overpass near the Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station. It feels fine now but I’m thinking at some point I may have actually pulled the muscle. Weird and annoying.
I am not especially looking forward to a longer run on Sunday as the last few have not gone well but will distract myself by thinking about new shoes.
Run 314
Average pace: 5:24/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Spruce and Conifer Loops and Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 8.06 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-25ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 629
Total distance to date: 2679
I came down from the high of my best run of the year with a loud thud today.
I set out to do a full loop around the lake with sunny skies and a nice breeze blowing. With the temperature ranging from 23-25ºC but feeling higher it was significantly warmer than Thursday’s run and this was the main culprit in dragging my pace way down, to a sloth-like 5:24/km. I started out slower and by the end was basically plodding. I drank deeply at the faucet by the dam afterward. Bless its deliciously cool water.
There were a couple of other issues, too. Here is my Assorted Issues List in a Fancy Box:
[box title=”Assorted Issues List in a Fancy Box” box_color=”#329242″]
laces too tight on right shoe. This was meant to keep the Nike+ sensor secure. I’ll re-jigger then before the next run.
pad on left foot sore. This was mainly noticeable on the walk after, not so much on the run.
right hip still noticeable. The right hip was quiet for most of the run but I still feel it when starting and it was pinging a little past about the 6K mark.
right Achilles tendon sending out signals after 7K. This set off a tiny alarm bell as the right tendon has been fine. The little flashes of pain were not severe but I chose to stop the run at 8K as a precaution. The tendon felt perfectly fine walking after.[/box]
Overall this was a disappointing run but the reasons are all identifiable and for the most part should be the sort of things I either adjust to or will diminish and go away over time. The next run will probably be in the 5-7K range so I will be interested to see how much I bounce back from today.
Average pace: 5:18/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.03 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 27-29ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 557
Total distance to date: 2597 km
I love to complain about the heat when I’m running. Heat is bad. It makes you sweat excessively, slows you down and makes a normal run feel much harder (because it is). But during the summer of 2012 I found that by sticking to my routine I was able to acclimate to the hotter temperatures and while I can’t say I’m a fan of running when it’s in the high 20s or around 30 degrees, it no longer makes much difference to my pace.
But the process of acclimation is one that has to build up each year. This normally happens naturally, as temperatures slowly rise through April, May and June. By the time summer officially begins we are near maximum temperature, barring a few token heatwaves lasting a couple of days.
Such acclimation has not been possible with the temperature freakishly high the past few days. While it was much warmer than usual for Tuesday’s run, today’s was downright uncomfortable, with the temperature ranging from about 27 to 29ºC. I would normally expect to have two more months to build up to these sorts of temperatures.
All of this is to say tonight’s run was yucky.
My feet and legs behaved themselves but I felt sluggish. The air along the trail had that mid-summer thickness in places, where just breathing seems harder than it should be. For the first time in a long time I simply wanted the run to be over. When it ended my pace was 5:18/km, a full eight seconds slower than the previous run.
It looks to be cooler for the weekend so my time should improve. On the other hand I’m planning on a full loop around the lake so my time will probably be worse. But at least Mother Nature will not be to blame this time.
