Burnaby Lake runs

Run 704: The internal battle

Quite often I will think about what I will write about a run while I’m still actually out running. For example, I knew that today’s entry would be titled “The internal battle” shortly before the running part ended (and when the internal battle also ended).

When I went out today, I was planning on taking it a bit easier, because I was expecting it to be warmer and still humid. In fact, the forecast this morning even specifically mentioned it would be humid:

Note to add: Feels like 16 my butt!

When I left it was 22C, but it rose to 24C by the time I got to the lake and ticked up another degree during the run. Humidity was in the mid-60s, which is gross, but if you look at the previous run, you might be thinking, “Humidity was even higher then, yet you did a lot better. Why? Has science been lying to us all this time?” And the answer is: I don’t know why, exactly!

But there seems to be some magic line where if the temperature is X and humidity is Y, then the run will be POO. Today it reached into the POO zone. I did handicap myself a bit by running counter-clockwise, which is the “harder” route–it starts out all technical and windy and doesn’t offer any nice straight stretches until you get to the Cottonwood Trail about 3 km in. Conversely, running clockwise starts you on the Avalon Trail, which is perfectly straight, save for one gentle curve. After that, the trail tends to slope gently downhill for much of the way.

So, there was that. But I started out okay. The hip was fine for the first few km, then when I could feel it, it was muted, not really a factor. But the humidity really wore on me. By the sixth km, the bottom began to fall out, with a pace of 6:22/km. After 7 km, it had fallen further to a yuck-o 6:32/km. This is where the internal battle began and while it lasted only a few moments, it went something like this:

Sensible Me: You’re not going for a personal record, you planned on taking it easier today, there’s no shame in ending the run a bit earlier than planned!

My Ego: Do you want to be a quitter? You can make up time on the Avalon Trail. If you stop now, you’ll only have done one measly 10K this week! Sure, no one will really know or care, but YOU’LL know! Keep going, hoser!

My Ego, after some more thought: You know, if your pace continues to flag, it’s going to drag down your average and look bad. Maybe cut your losses now and look better!

Yes, in my mind, my ego calls me a hoser.

The call was pretty easy to make. My pace was falling off a cliff, so I listened to both Sensible Me and Me Ego, after some more thought. To prove the hip was fine, I did run a decent amount for the remainder of the 3K around the lake and felt fine.

However, when I was trying to do the same on the river trail, I started experiencing stomach cramps and about half an hour after getting home had to make a beeline to the bathroom to attend to an urgent nature call. So the roiling of my gut may have had some impact that I was not fully aware of, too. At least that’s what My Ego is telling me!

In the end, it was not a bad effort and I think if I’d run clockwise and conditions had been better, it would have been perfectly fine. But I’m content with settling with “just okay” after Wednesday’s faboo run.

In fun resurfacing news: I was surprised and delighted to see that they have done some patching along the trail that borders the athletic fields. As I’ve noted before, the trail here is narrow and floods even when they just run the sprinklers on the fields, due to strangely poor drainage. Sometime in the last two days workers came in and did a couple of things: they filled potholes, shored up parts where the trail is a bit sunken and laid down what appears to be a preliminary section of new gravel along the eastern part that right-angles past the row of trees that you can see in your favorite map software:

I’m hoping this is all leading to a Grand Resurfacing™. I should know the next time I am on the trail. It may seem weird that I am kind of obsessed with this, but until you’ve had to choose between going through a long, deep puddle in the middle of your run route or detour into a marshy field that will have you sink into water past your ankles, you just can’t appreciate the anticipation of this being addressed after more than ten years.

Stats:

Run 704
Average pace: 6:14/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:30 a.m.
Distance: 7.02 km
Time: 43:44
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temp: 24-25ºC
Humidity: 54%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 151
Weight: 162.2
Total distance to date: 5162 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (270 km)

Run 703: Cloudy, cool and hip hip (hooray?)

Today’s run had me filled with trepidation: Would my left hip be hip (fine) or most unhip (sore)? Would I be able to run 10K or go conservative and only do 5K?

As it turned out, I turned in my best run at the lake so far this year, breaking both the six-minute mark and coming in under an hour for the first time in actual years. Woo.

It started out weird, with the Apple Watch claiming a BPM after 1 km of 97, which would be possible if I was actually a godlike supernatural being and not a guy with a sore hip. I paused the run for a few moments, which sometimes lets the watch “catch up” and the BPM leaped to 158, which seemed too high, then fell back to 149, which is my Goldilocks BPM zone. I continued on.

Three big factors in today’s performance:

  • The temperature was a relatively cool 22C and stayed there the entire time
  • The sky was mostly overcast, with only a bit of sun poking out near the start
  • An actual breeze was blowing, providing additional cooling (and occasionally resistance)

This meant I sweated a lot less than usual (in fact, on the back half of the run I was sweating very little), and I was seeing much better results while putting in the same usual effort. I let my BPM go up slightly to 152 because it didn’t feel like I was working harder. Of the 10 km, only two were above the six-minute mark and one was right on it, the rest were all under, with the first km being a rather zippy 5:36/km. I felt good. It was nice.

So, the hip. Was it sore? Yes, I could definitely feel it. But at the same time, it was clearly not affecting my pace. Was the soreness being covered up by a rush of endorphins? The proverbial runner’s high making me oblivious to the pain? Maybe a tiny bit, but mostly I don’t think so. It was clearly not as bad as Monday, so may be on the mend. We’ll see on Friday.

Other things:

  • I went Watch-only. After the three workouts (two 4K walks, the 10K run) and listening to music for about 100 minutes, the battery was down to 16%. I could probably squeeze more juice out of it by turning off always-on mode, but it is about three years old now, so I am not overly surprised it drained so much. Well, maybe a little surprised that it dipped below 20%. I basically didn’t do anything with the watch in the few hours before the run, other than wear it.
  • I skipped the sunblock, hoping it would neither be sunny, nor cloudy-but-still-sunburn-y, and it looks like I was right! Sunblock has helped a lot this summer, but it is horrible and sticky when running, and I always think I’ll rub some of it into my eyes when wiping sweat away.
  • I also forgot to protect my nipple. Ack! But it turned out that I didn’t sweat enough to cause any issues. The last km or so on the walk back I could feel the start of something (not something good), but it went away after I washed up, and my chest is happy for now.
  • Without the phone, I did not wear my SPI-belt, which I believe caused some minor abrasions on my belly after Monday’s run. My evidence is that the abrasions perfectly match where the buckle of the belt lines up when I’m wearing it. I did feel weirdly naked without the phone, even though the watch has cellular, so I can still make/take calls and messages. But it was nice to carry less junk, too.

And now, I will bask in a good result and the good feeling from it.

Stats:

Run 703
Average pace: 5:55/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 11:53 a.m.
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 59:22
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 22ºC
Humidity: 64%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 152
Weight: 164.4
Total distance to date: 5155 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (263 km)

Run 702: Sweaty, sticky, with trick hip (ee)

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)

Run 701: Caution in the wind

It was 22-24C today, which was fine, but humidity was still 50%, which is kind of gross, but admittedly not as gross as 76%. I decided to start my run at 1 p.m. and an additional benefit was the Cottonwood Trail is nicely shaded at that time.

I deliberately ran slower due to the leg issue on Wednesday and also a mysterious left knee issue that popped up yesterday when I walked to uptown New Westminster (there are two long, steep hills on the way). The good news is the knee was fine, but the upper left thigh was still a little sore, though not as bad as Wednesday. Basically, a bionic replacement for my left leg would be handy, though it would probably misfire and cause me to run in circles or something.

Another change today was an actual breeze! This summer it’s not only been weirdly humid, there’s been very little wind when running at the lake. Today, possibly related to the weather breaking and becoming sunny again, there was an actual wind blowing in from the west. It felt nice!

I did put on the jets just a little for the last stretch, and my final km came in at 5:57/km. My first was a decidedly more casual 6:31/km. In fact, the first half of the run my pace got faster every km, then slowed and plateaued until that final burst.

Overall, it went about as well as I could have expected. Here’s hoping some time off over the weekend will leave my left leg feeling sparkly and fresh.

Stats:

Run 701
Average pace: 6:15/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 1:09 p.m.
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 62:38
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-24ºC
Humidity: 50%
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 148
Weight: 163.9
Total distance to date: 5140 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (248 km)

Run 700: The thighs that bind

Best news: No bears!
Good news: Only 22C instead of 32C like on Sunday.
Bad news: Humidity was still 58%. What is the deal with the high humidity this summer?
Ominous news: My upper left thigh was sore right at the start of the run and stayed sore throughout.

I mulled about doing only 5K early on, but pressed through and toward the end the thigh didn’t feel as sore, though I’m pretty sure endorphins had kicked in at that point, numbing my brain to the pain.

I have no idea why the thigh was sore. Maybe I did something in my sleep. I could set up a webcam to find out, but it would probably be like watching a found footage movie and creep me out. Despite the thorny thigh, I still finished with a perfectly cromulent pace of 6:05/km. The difference in temperature really helped, as did the partially cloudy sky. I like the sun, but it’s nice to not have it relentlessly beating down on you while you run. Stamina-wise, I felt fine throughout, so the actual 10 km distance wasn’t an issue.

I’m also impressed at how steady my pace is. I hit exactly 150 for my average BPM, though it dipped a little below and above that at various points.

In all, my official 700th run was good (I probably have a dozen or so that went uncounted in my early days of running). Here’s hoping the thigh behaves better on Friday.

Stats:

Run 700
Average pace: 6:05/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 11:31 a.m.
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 61:06
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Humidity: 58%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 163.7
Total distance to date: 5130 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (238 km)

Run 699: A bear runs through it

This run was odd in a number of ways:

  • I don’t normally run on Sundays
  • I ran in the early afternoon when it was already Africa Hot™
  • The course I took was a never-before crazy quilt of a little of everything

To explain:

Nic and I may go birding tomorrow, which is normally a run day, so it occurred to me that when I went out for my walk today, I might do a run instead and get one in if I do miss yesterday.

I decided it might also be a good chance to test the “higher heat is better than higher humidity” theory. Verdict: Higher heat is better! My first km was a zippy 5:55/km. And the reason I flagged a bit after is more due to the circumstances than anything else. To explain even further:

I was a little over a km into the run when I saw a young couple with a kid in a stroller approaching me. I eyeballed the route to the right I would take to navigate around them, but then the guy gestured like he wanted to talk to me, which he did.

I had a sense of déjà vu.

Sure enough, it was the same subject the woman had warned me about last week:

Note: Not the actual bear or trail. BUT THEY COULD BE.

But even better, they reported not just a bear on the trail, but a mother bear and two cubs. You know how sensible mother bears can be when they think their cubs are threatened (do you see me getting gutted with one swipe of a claw? I do!. I nodded to them in appreciation for the info, said, “No thanks!” and immediately turned around.

My plan was to simply reverse course and run counter-clockwise. By the time I got to where the bears had been seen, they would be long gone, possibly sated by having gobbled up other joggers in the meantime. Or berries.

I made my way around and at the fork where the trail splits between main and the Spruce Loop, I chose the side trail, as I always do. As I approached the first corner I heard what sounded like barking up ahead (at this point I had turned the music off so I could hear my surroundings) and this seemed odd, because just past the trail here is a business park where you wouldn’t normally find dogs. It spooked me and I noped again, turning back and deciding to finish the run by doing a combo of:

  • Lake trail
  • Crossing Cariboo Raod
  • Running up Cariboo Place
  • Running the river trail until I hit 5K

Here’s what the route looks like from the Fitness app:

Yes, I do jog close to Costco.

In the end I did complete 5K, and it actually wasn’t that bad considering the heat. The volume of bear sightings is more concerning, though. I called this one in and am hoping they can capture and relocate the bears. I have no idea where they are coming from, since the lake is almost completely surrounded by two highways. Maybe they are driving in by van. For future runs, I am going to invest in a clip-on bell, so I can jingle all the way and alert the wildlife to my presence long before they see me. I may also look into bear spray, though I don’t like to imagine scenarios where I would feel it necessary to use it.

As for the run itself, no issues despite the heat. This coming week should be more like normal summer weather, so as long as it stays bear-free, I expect it to be generally more pleasant.

Stats:

Run 699
Average pace: 6:14/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW) and Brunette River Trail
Start: 1:11 p.m.
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 31:21
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 32ºC
Humidity: 42%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 163.8
Total distance to date: 5120 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (228 km)

Run 698: A bunny, a good call, a 5K run

Cottonwood trail: When it’s hot, it feels like it goes on forever. (It goes on for about 2 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)

Run 697: Strategic retreat, a phantom bear and sensitive nipple

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)

Run 694: For the first time in two days, another 10K!

View from Cariboo Dam, just prior to starting the run.

It was forecast to get up to 28C today, so I opted for a mid-morning run to beat the heat. Here’s my run report in handy list form, because I like lists.

  • Good News: I ran another 10K. Yay! I can now say it’s been two days between 10K runs, instead of 988 days.
  • Less-Than-Good-News: Around the 5K mark, an upper left thigh muscle began to twinge a bit. It settled after a few km and is fine now. I blame my body for being weirdly asymmetrical. It may also not surprise you that I am also left-handed.
  • Bad News: None, really. This run felt a lot harder than Monday due to the warmer temperatures (though they were not bad), but mainly the still-high humidity. Humidity is like a superpower designed to drain all energy from your body. It works very well!
  • Fun Fact: For whatever reason, I mistype “humidity” almost every time. I didn’t this time because I was concentrating hard enough for Mavis Beacon to sit up and notice.
  • Trail update: They are putting the final touches on the trail resurfacing near the dam. Where will they resurface next? (Please please please be the trail along the athletic fields.)
  • Sensitive subject: A few years ago I had a weird issue when running if my chest got wet, whether through perspiration or precipitation–my nipples would become strangely sensitive. It almost feels like this might be making an unwelcome return. It’s both weird and annoying. So far it is only hinting. I will give it a hint to go away and see if that works.
  • Award time: I got an award in the Apple Watch Fitness app for most calories burned in a running workout, 723. I find this somewhat odd that it didn’t happen years ago. Maybe I have more calories to burn now.

Award:

Finarly I did it.

Stats:

Run 694
Average pace: 6:12/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Start: 10:00 a.m.
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 62:08
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22-25ºC
Humidity: 64%
Wind: light
BPM: 150
Weight: 165.6
Total distance to date: 5085 km
Devices: Apple Watch Series 5, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: Brooks Caldera 5 (198 km)

Run 543: Annoyed

UPDATE, August 21, 2022: The update is just to fix minor typos I noticed when reading through this post years later. I do have to LOL (as the kids say) when I refer to my pace being "plodding" at 5:20/km, when today that would be blazing fast. Good ol' aging!
Run 543
Average pace: 5:20/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 12:01 pm
Distance: 5.02 km
Time: 26:48
Weather: Party sunny
Temp: 12-13ºC
Humidity: 63%
Wind: light
BPM: 173
Weight: 153.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 4222 km
Devices: Apple Watch, iPhone

Note to self: NEVER RUN ON A STATUTORY HOLIDAY

I didn’t feel like running today, but by late morning, a combination of guilt and rainy skies predicted for tomorrow prompted me to head out.

Today is Thanksgiving in Canada, a stat holiday. It is also a day I normally don’t run.

I started walking down the river trail, undecided on what to do, but leaning toward some kind of 5K. As I entered the river trail, I noted a couple with a lovely small dog. The dog was leashed. What smart and responsible dog owners, I thought! They stopped for a moment by the Canine Code of Conduct sign and the woman unclasped the dog leash, freeing her mutt. I was still 20 minutes from running and already annoyed. Later, I watched a pair of people look at one of the new STAY OUT signs posted at the entrance to one of the unofficial trails, then promptly take off down it. They probably had no idea where the trail led, but no sign was going to boss them around! I predict traffic on these trails will increase as a result of these signs (UPDATE, August 21, 2022: All the signs were vandalized and removed within about a month of going up and were never replaced).

I ended up doing a rather plodding 5K, sticking to the usual counter-clockwise route. The first three km were strangely sluggish, despite an equally strangely high BPM of 173. By the fourth and final km my pace improved significantly, but I opted to end it there rather than continue, netting an average pace of 5:20/km. If I had done a full 10K I probably would have finished with a decent pace rather than a mediocre one.

The left leg’s tendon felt a little tight toward the end, but was otherwise manageable. Conditions were also fine–dry and cool, temperatures hovering around 12-13ºC throughout my non hour run time.

As is always the case on a stat holiday, lots of people were out, especially people who like to clump awkwardly and block the trail. Multiple times I had to slow down, divert (in one case entirely off the trail) or even briefly stop. As I was coming out of the Conifer Loop trail, I saw three people ahead of me. Two moved forward to study the map at the intersection of the trails. The third–who clearly saw me–hesitated, then moved forward at precisely the right time to get in my way. How do people pull off these inept moves with such precision? I do not know.

Likewise, I continue to be baffled by my amazing ability to flip small rocks into my shoes now while running. I’m not sure if my gait has changed or if it’s the newish Brooks Cascadia shoes I’m wearing, but I have become expert in the whole “flip a small sharp piece of gravel into the air and have it land on the back of your shoe and then promptly slip down into it and lodge uncomfortably under your foot” thing. This time the gravel was sharp enough that I had to pause the run to fish it out of my shoe and toss it aside while muttering colorful metaphors.

By the end of the run I just wanted to leave, so I turned and headed back to the Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station instead of walking out. I don’t regret my choice.

Overall: bleah.

Run 393: The sounds of silence with bonus extra hot heat

Run 393
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.14 km
Time: 29:11
Weather: Sunny and hot, humid; some high cloud
Temp: 31-33ºC
Wind: nil to moderate
Calories burned: 371
Weight: 157.5 pounds
Total distance to date: 3199
Device used: iPhone 6

With the extended forecast promising hot weather and plenty of it, I opted to head out mid-morning for today’s run, when the temperatures were going to be merely in the mid-20s.

When I got to the lake I checked the weather app and it reported the temperature as 33ºC. As you might notice, this is not mid-20s.

I decided to go ahead and run anyway, setting up for a 10K, but not overly optimistic that I would last that long.

I somehow managed to trigger the countdown on the Nike+ app after carefully putting the phone in my SPI-belt, so I took off. It was then I realized no music was playing. I had a good pace going, so the idea of stopping to get the music playing was not overly appealing. The idea of trying to fish out the phone, start the music, then put the phone back in the SPI-belt while still running seemed laughable.

I kept running, with only my delightful wheezing serving as accompaniment. On the other hand, I got to hear birds chirping, which I normally never do. I believe the chirps interpreted to, “Man, it sure is hot today. Boy howdy.”

My pace took a big hit after 1K, which was not surprising. Nor was the big drop after 2K. It was 33ºC, after all. By about the fourth km, I had settled into a steady, if sluggish pace. I didn’t feel as sluggish as I actually was, probably thanks to an intermittent breeze and the sun being at my back rather than staring me in the face.

But the course forward was clear and uninviting. After hitting 5K I unzipped the SPI-belt to take the phone out and end the run. Then I changed my mind and zipped the belt back up. Then I repeated the entire thing again, once more changing my mind. At this point, the phone burbled “Workout paused” because my fiddling had apparently managed to invoke whatever magic command pauses a workout without specifically trying to do so. I glanced down and saw my pace was 5:40/km–yikes.

I ended the run.

I don’t feel too bad about stopping. The last two km my pace was creeping over 5:50/km and I wasn’t particularly enjoying myself. I hydrated before starting out so didn’t feel overly dry after (the walk back home felt worse for being parched, really) but obviously at these temperatures there is concern over dehydration and heatstroke.

The secret is to start running at 6 a.m. or something.

Also, I’ve decided I don’t like the SPI-belt/iPhone 6 combo. Separately each is fine but they are obviously not really designed for each other. On top of the no-music, I also had this weird thing where the cord on the left earbud kept tugging with each step (you step a lot in nearly 30 minutes of running). I don’t know if I never noticed this before when music would normally be playing or if it was new, but it was fantastically annoying. It made me think of getting wireless earphones until I found out how much they cost. I then chalked the tugging up to being a weird one-time thing.

I did, however, pick up a running watch after. More on that later.

Run 391: The it-feels-like summer first day of summer run

Run 391
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 7.10 km
Time: 39:54
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 26ºC
Wind: moderate to breezy
Calories burned: 526
Weight: 158.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3186
Device used: iPhone 6

Today is the first day of summer and it felt like it. The temperature was 26ºC, right at the tipping point between warm and maybe-a-little-too-warm for my comfort level when running. A good breeze, normally refreshing, meant I suffered from Dry Mouth™ for much of the run.

The run also ended at 7K instead of 10K, even though I was not ailing in any particular way. My left foot behaved itself, I wasn’t cramping up or otherwise hurting. What I was, was slow. Again. The pace was a fairly awful 5:37/km. This past week has been strange and very disappointing, run-wise.

My walk to the lake went fine, showing no signs of the fatigue I’d been hit with earlier in the week. Given the higher temperature, I was still concerned. I started out and had again wrestled with getting the iPhone in the SPI-belt. I’m beginning to not like this combination. If I could have the run start after putting the phone in, I’d be good, but there doesn’t seem to be any way to do that, alas. Maybe this is a conspiracy to get me to spend $450 on an Apple Watch.

When I hit the first km mark, I knew my pace was way off. This continued and although I could have pushed on to a full 10K I had visions of not hitting it until I was actually looping back over the start of the run. The thought was so depressing, I stopped at 7K, as it would at least provide a point of comparison to my previous 7K.

That comparison is also depressing, as it turns out.

Looking at the stats for today’s run, I note a few things:

  • The first km pace was 5:26/km. This is strangely slow–it’s slower than the pace of the entire 7K I ran on June 11, just ten days ago. The phone/belt struggle appears to be partly to blame here. I also see a huge drop in pace right at the 1K mark, suggesting I was mentally defeated by the pace already.
  • My fastest km was the third at 5:22/km, with the fourth km also faster than the first at 5:24/km. It is very unusual for later km to be faster than the first. It’s only happened a few times in hundreds of runs.
  • Save for the third km, every km my pace flagged more and more.

There was also an event sponsored by the Running Room. Fortunately the event had wound down by the time I was running, so I didn’t have to face hordes of runners unused to the trail (I also wisely chose to run in the same direction the signs pointed out), but I suppose I ought to check for these things beforehand when I run on weekends. There were a bunch of people moving from the central gathering area at the rowing pavilion parking lot, but luckily they didn’t clog things up much.

Oh, and a few cyclists walking their bikes. You’re not fooling anyone, cyclists!

Overall, then, a very disappointing outing and the third run in a row (of only six this month) that has gone poorly. I’d say it can only get better from here, but even that almost feels like a bold claim at this point.

We shall see.