Africa hot

Average pace: 4:56/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.31 km
Weather: Sunny and hot
Temp: 26-28ºC
Wind: light to strong
Calories burned: 820
Total distance to date: 1660 km

It was considerably warmer for today’s run and I figured my time would be about five seconds off Wednesday’s pace and was right, coming in at 4:55/km (rounded up on the Nike+ site to 4:56). That actually impressed me after experiencing just how hot it was. Though there was a strong breeze blowing at times it wasn’t consistent and a few parts of the trail felt like running through a furnace, the air still and hot.

I chose to run clockwise again and maintained a decent pace until the midway point. I had just hit the Cottonwood Trail somewhere between 6 and 7K and my pace felt absolutely plodding. I managed to find a reserve of energy and improved my pace dramatically for about half a km before settling back to a slower pace for the stretch. I skipped all three optional loops because by that point in the run I just wanted it to be over so I could attach my mouth to a faucet. That shaved about 500 m off but I still finished comfortably above 11 km.

I’m just glad I won’t be running tomorrow. The high is forecast to be above 30ºC. Yikes.

The dead branches were still on the trail but more park workers were out so maybe they’ll get to them eventually.

A family of four (mom, dad, boy, girl) were on the trail with their bikes. This is normally an annoying thing but they amazingly were walking their bikes — in single file, too. I was duly impressed! No dog incidents before, after or during the run was also nice.

The only animal incident came as I looped around the fields. A rather large garter snake appeared, heading from the sun-baked field to the shadier grass on the other side of the trail. I didn’t see it until the last moment when my foot almost landed on it. I did a quick jig to hop over it and shot a look back because it was quite a bit bigger than the other two snakes I’ve seen, though it was still the same color, a vibrant blend of yellow and black stripes.

Overall I am happy with how the run went, considering the warm conditions.

Chart

Average pace: 4:55/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.29 km
Weather: Sunny, hot and humid
Temp: 28-29ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 801
Total distance to date: 1580 km

Early yesterday the forecast for today was looking like partly cloudy, cooler and a chance of showers. Instead it was sunny, hot and humid, just like Friday! In fact it seemed even hotter than Friday and once again only a merciful wind tempered the run.

I opted to run clockwise to get the detour out of the way and despite having to fiddle with the cord of my iPod at least four times to keep it from flopping out of my pocket I turned in a stellar first km, coming in at 4:29, only one second off my best-ever pace.

I came back to reality shortly after that. The low point came between the 8-9K mark, about where it normally hits me. I had a good finish, though, which always pleases me. This was the first run where getting a drink at the faucet near the dam had to be done a bit cautiously. I was very warm and the water was very cold so I only took a few small sips to acclimate a little, then drank like the proverbial man in the desert.

This was a run in which my senses were hit in different ways. There was the smell of fresh cut grass, which was pleasant. The giant tractor hogging the entire width of the trail that forced me to carefully make my way along the dubiously spongy grass along the edge was less nice. Then there were several times where I could taste the tangy scent of manure in the air. Hot weather and manure on the wind is not an ideal combination but fortunately the aroma passed quickly.

My favorite part of the run came at the fields. For some reason some of the sprinklers were running and two of them were hitting the path so I got two brief but refreshing splashes of water along one of the most-exposed parts of the trail. I was tempted to divert and traipse through all of them.

I skipped all three trails again but comfortably finished above 11K, as per usual since the detour went into effect. It’s been nearly a month now and I’m curious how close they are to on-schedule. I’ll find out in about four weeks.

Also, I achieved a new milestone today. My best year for runs was 2010 when I completed 513 km. Today I surpassed that by coming in with 516 km and I have five and a half months to improve on that. Joan was so excited she congratulated me on another 500 km. Thanks, Joan!

Chart

Average pace: 4:59/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.62 km
Weather: Sunny, hot and humid
Temp: 27ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 824
Total distance to date: 1568 km

It was hot again and there was a decent breeze at times but early morning showers meant it was also humid. Hot and humid is not a good combo for me.

I ran counter-clockwise which is the ‘hard’ way because it leaves the shadeless detour part of the run for the end when I am most tired. But as often happens I got my second wind around the 10K mark (at the start of the detour) and actually picked up the pace for the last 1.6 km. I managed to just squeak in under 5:00 minutes with a pace of 4:59/km but I consider that a win given how thick the air felt. I was sweating even before I began the run.

Looking at the splits my times lagged most during the 8 and 9 km sections, which makes sense given the conditions. I was five seconds off the starting km, too. I just got plain pooped, right from the beginning and then throughout. It was the level of poopedness that was the only variable. Not surprisingly, there weren’t many other runners out today.

Other than the heat and humidity, everything else seemed okay — no pain or discomfort, just dry lips and a grateful stop at the faucet by the dam at the end of the run.

Chart

Average pace: 4:55/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.73 km
Weather: Sunny, hot
Temp: 26-28ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 832
Total distance to date: 1557 km

Today’s run was similar to Monday’s though I skipped the Piper Mill Trail.

It was hot — moreso than on Monday — but there was again a decent breeze blowing that made things tolerable. I hydrated (fancy talk for ‘drank water’) before heading out and again when I arrived at the dam (not at the dam itself as that would require a fair bit of finesse without plunging into the river but at a nearby faucet). Then I had to use the port-o-potty but even in the heat the chemicals it uses have kept it smelling remarkably un-port-o-potty-like. Science is amazing. I ran clockwise to beat the heat of the detour and skipped all three optional trails.

The start was again fairly brisk but the increasing temperature as I progressed was noticeable. By the time I got to the Nature House (roughly 2 km from the dam) I elected to make a quick pitstop to refresh myself at the faucet there. It helped, especially as the wind had settled down by then and I had another good finish. My pace was one second slower than Wednesday at 4:55/km but given the hotter conditions that seems reasonable. I am pleased that I am regularly clocking in under 5 minutes with the temperatures as warm as they’ve been.

The legs and feet both felt fine throughout the run. The main barrier right now is definitely the weather. It’s challenging to maintain a good pace with the warm weather but I’m satisfied with my efforts so far.

And thanks to some detailed instructions from Nike I was able to get today’s run and the other missing ones properly synced to the Nike+ site. Yay, all my precious stats are updated. I love stats.

Chart

Average pace: 4:54/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.7 km
Weather: Sunny, hot
Temp: 27ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 826
Total distance to date: 1546 km

Another rather warm day today so I opted to take the detour route and get the fully-exposed-to-the-cruel-yet-welcome-sun part out of the way up front. This seemed to work reasonably well.

I started the run feeling itchy as all get-out after yesterday’s misadventure exploring trails that don’t actually exist. I estimate at least 20 bug bites to go along with a number of minor lacerations from unkind plants. I was hoping the run would be a suitable distraction from this and it was!

I am still unable to sync data through the Nike+ website but have dispatched an e-mail calling for help (update: all missing run data has now been synced. Thanks, Pete from Nike!).

A big help with today’s run was a moderate but merciful breeze. It’s amazing what a little wind can do to help out on a hot day. I did not feel creaky starting out and in fact clocked my first km at a zippy 4:32/km. The shin also felt fine during the run and after. With the wind at my back I managed to lop four seconds off my previous pace. My body may be starting to get slightly used to the warmer temperatures. Woot.

Chart

Average pace: 4:58/km

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.03 km
Weather: Sunny, hazy sun, hot
Temp: 26-28ºC
Wind: light to none
Calories burned: 782
Total distance to date: 1534 km

Today it was summer for real, no foolin’. Temperatures started at 26ºC and peaked by the end of the run at 28ºC. There was little wind to offset the heat, though the sun was blunted slightly by a thin haze across the sky.

I decided to go counter-clockwise and just suffer through the exposed detour route at the end. I also skipped all three optional loops.

And it was very warm. I was sweating a little just on the walk to the lake. Once there it didn’t take long to feel like the energy was being sucked out of me, packaged up and shipped off elsewhere. I had to pause twice to catch a few seconds of rest, one time in particular because I felt like I was pushing too hard (somehow) and overheating. I did manage to finish with a pace of 4:58, though, so it seems that I have made enough of an adjustment to keep my times under 5 minutes even when it is Africa hot (for the Vancouver area).

I felt creaky at the start, with my right ankle feeling a little sore (I twisted it in a less-than-optimal way the other day) but after about the first km the kinks were worked out and both legs weren’t causing any notable problems — stamina was definitely the main barrier today.

The title of this post refers to the first time on a run this year that I’ve encountered multiple men with their shirts off and save for one they all looked like prime candidates for a nice burn given the very white skin they had exposed.

I also had two people ask me questions during the run. This has never happened before. The first question was from a possible fellow runner, though neither of us were running at the time (this was during my second brief pause). We were around the midway point of the detour and he wanted to know if the trail picked up again and I assured him it did. He seemed satisfied. But he kept walking. I resumed my run and a short time later a woman asked if I had seen a man with a beard wearing shorts. I said no and continued on, though I honestly didn’t know if I had seen such a person or not. I don’t pay close attention to the other people on the trail unless they a) get in my way b) do something unusual/stupid or c) are dressed so outrageously that they leave an image seared into your brain. If I did indeed pass by man in shirts with beard, he fit into none of these categories.

Note that some of the stats/splits are missing for this run because I am not attempting to upload any more runs until the one from Wednesday is restored. I did get through to Nike support and after a bit of back and forth have supplied all the info they need to manually add the run (or so I hope). I am a bit concerned because I was asked for my Nike+ user name as part of the info, did so and then was asked to supply it again in a later tweet. Which I did, again. It hadn’t changed in the meantime!

Since it looks to be warm for the next little while I may look into taking some water with me on the next bunch o’ runs. That should help a decent bit, I’d reckon.

Chart

The forecast for today was calling for partly cloudy with a high around 20, so I figured I would run in the late afternoon instead of my usual early evening time. As it turned out, the clouds were all around the edges of the city with blue sky directly overhead. The sun blazed down on me the entire run. It was 21ºC in the shade when I headed out so probably a degree or two warmer in the sun and there was a fair breeze blowing.

My CTN (Cap Tug Number) was two.

On the bright (ho ho) side, my start was thew fastest in months, with the first km coming in just under the 5-minute mark at 4:59. The second km was also brisk. In fact, the fast start meant that I was pretty much on pace with my previous run up to the halfway mark, but by then the relentless sun, shining on me like a spotlight, began to take its toll and my pace flagged noticeably. By the last few km I was feeling baked (and not in the noted BC way) — my whole body had this weird and unpleasant swimmy feeling, my mouth was completely dry, including the tongue. Using a dry tongue to lick dry lips provides about as much relief as you’d expect. As a result, I staggered to the end 10 seconds off my previous pace.

I’ll be sticking to early evenings on sunny days from here on out.

The park was fairly quiet for a Sunday afternoon, though more people began filtering in toward the latter part of my run. One person had a black wiener dog and it made me think, that’s got to be the worst kind of dog to be when it’s hot. You’re covered in black fur, so you get maximum sun absorption and your body is so low to the ground you get bonus heat emanation from that when it’s hot out. A black wiener dog walking over a midday parking lot must feel like the proverbial hot dog. Fortunately this and the few other dogs present did not knock me down. I’m not paranoid about this happening again but I do maintain an extra level of vigilance now that it has happened.

I saw someone use the port-o-potty early in the run and on the next lap I could smell it — and for every lap thereafter. The good news is what I was smelling were the chemicals and not what the chemicals were for. I suppose y design, they don’t actually smell that bad. Still, port-o-potty odor is not on my list of neat things to smell when jogging.

Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):

It was rather warm today and even by 7 p.m. when I headed out for my run it was still about 25ºC, although the sky was hazy. A moderate breeze was blowing. By the end of the run it had cooled a bit, down to around 22ºC.

The first km was my best yet since returning to 10K runs — 5:02 — but I slid quickly after that, falling to 5:08 by the second km and 5:15 by the third. I kept slogging along and at the 6K mark developed a cramp. Fortunately this one only lasted 30 seconds or so and was gone. I have two established patterns as of this run: my pace when it is hot (hot defined as around 25ºC or higher) seems to be consistently around 5:37/km, as it was tonight and my previous (hot) morning run. Many of the average times are identical. The other pattern is in the second half of my run where my performance evens out and each km sees a smaller gap than in the first half. Even tonight once I was past the halfway mark, I was only adding two seconds per km. I like this, as it bodes well for if and when I decide to increase the distance beyond 10K.

There were an unusually large number of puppies at the park. Puppies are very distracting, thanks to their inherent bonuses for cuteness.

Chart:

Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):

With a number of activities on tap for the evening and not wanting to fall behind on my running schedule I decided to do a rare morning run today, starting out just before 11 a.m. The temperature was around 20ºC when I started and creeping past 24ºC by the time I finished less than an hour later. There was a moderate wind and not a cloud in the sky.

Since it was late morning I figured the sun might become an issue and as pointed out above, the temperature climbed fairly quickly and it was quite noticeable. The shade from the trees and the breeze provided a welcome respite from the direct sun but there aren’t a lot of trees lining the path and the wind wasn’t exactly cool. My first 2 km were still brisk but after that the heat began to get to me and my pace slowed by a whopping 11 seconds over the next two km. As usual I found some equilibrium in the second half of the run and things evened out a bit, but I ended with a pace of 5:37/km (5:38 according to the Nike site and its ‘new math’). While this isn’t a great result, considering how warm it was, the fact that I had to go to the bathroom for the better part of the run, the pungent smell of manure wafting across the park and finally a desire to get some food as noon approached, I’m not going to complain too much.

I will, however, stick to the evenings when I can in the future. The difference in comfort is striking.

Chart (red denotes running in especially warm conditions, green denotes cramps during run):

Hot = temperature (30ºC)
Doubles = two baseball games in progress
Run = what I tried to do today!

It seems the weather decided to skip the usual intro to summer with seasonal temperatures and jumped straight into the heat wave part. With the thermometer reporting 30ºC I headed down to China Creek Park at 7 p.m., hoping the sun would be low enough to take the edge off the heat. For the first km I was okay but after that I got really hot and not in the sexy way, more in the ‘sweating like crazy and feeling like you’re going to melt’ way. The trail was only about one-quarter in the shade at this point and I had to make a couple of stops at the water fountain by the 3K mark. The second time I did a dog stood patiently beside me, waiting his turn.

The problem with stopping for a drink is while the water refreshes, resuming your pace takes a little more effort than maintaining it. You also heat up a lot while you are stopped at the fountain, which exacerbates the whole resumption part.

There were two baseball games underway and at one point someone in the southeast diamond hit a ball down the third base line which sent it flying over the trail about 15 feet ahead of me. The girl who ran across and threw it back either did not see me or did not care. All that existed to her was The Ball. If I hadn’t momentarily paused I would have caught it in the side of my head. That was the only near-hit, though.

By the time I got to 4K I knew I would not make it to 10. I had simply started too early and I am not yet back in good enough condition to battle through this kind of heat. I decided I would go to 5K and see how I felt. As I hit 5K I also exited a patch of shade and moved back into the blazing sun. I called it good and stopped there.

My pace was actually 1 second slower than my 10K run three days ago. Ouch. On the plus side, I officially passed the 500 km mark, according to my Nike+ sensor.

Here’s a comparison of how the two runs stack up to the 5K mark. You can see how I pooped out after 1 km.