Average pace: 4:36/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 11.50 km
Weather: Sun and variable cloud
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: moderate to strong
Calories burned: 771
Total distance to date: 1974 km
In a surprise twist, the weather was pleasant for today’s run, with the temperature a mild 15ºC and the sun even poking out periodically. I ran clockwise around the lake, establishing a strong pace up front. This turned out to be important as I flagged during the 6-7K stretch for no particular reason I can discern. Or maybe it was that strong pace up front wearing me out. Oops. The last four km was one of the most consistent I’ve had in a long time and that helped bring my average pace down to a zippy 4:36/km.
The run was otherwise unremarkable. Everything ticked along, there were no issues with wayward dogs, people hogging the trail or any of the other stuff that sometimes comes up. At the end of the run I noticed a park employee putting up a new sign at the entrance to the park. I couldn’t read all of it but the top said Canine Code of Conduct. Considering how often dogs are running around unleashed, I suspect the park’s received increasing complaints about them, hence the new sign. I’ll see what the rest of it says on the next run.
Average pace: 4:37/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 11.51 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 8-10ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 781
Total distance to date: 1951 km
I headed out at 9:30 a.m. for today’s run and it was a brisk 8ºC, rising to a still cool 10ºC by the end. Low cloud gave the lake a socked-in feeling, with the mountains and surrounding area blotted out.
As expected, my pace was much better. It took me a minute or so to step up but once I did I finished out the run without difficulty, coming in with a pace of 4:37/km, a full 16 seconds better than Monday’s effort. It didn’t hurt that I had to move just to get my hands warm initially.
En route to the run I was walking along the Brunette River trail and noticed several park employees with cameras by the river. I couldn’t see what they were looking at, moved on and a few steps later saw a couple down at the edge of the river, looking over it. Then I heard a huge splash and assumed it was the couple’s dog mucking up the recently rehabilitated stream. But no, upon closer inspection I could see several salmon heroically working their way upstream through an especially shallow stretch of water. Neat.
There were no fish sightings on the run, which is for the best because any fish I’m likely to come across there would be dead and stinky. There were quite a few people, though, including one group that looked to be a photography outing and another that seemed to be a big, spread-out group of walkers. They were a bit annoying, often arrayed in a way to completely block the entire trail. Some people never seem to think about the possibility of others existing in the same space as they do.
The cold seems to have also gotten rid of the flies as this was my first fly-free run in awhile. After nearly gagging on clouds of the buggers recently I can say I am glad they have moved on/disappeared/gone to a better place.
I am a bit wary of Friday’s run. It looks like temperatures will remain low and rain is quite likely. I don’t mind running in the rain that much but the iPod has been a pain to use lately and having to tote it around in a plastic baggie to try to keep it functional makes it that much worse. I must ponder possible solutions.
Average pace: 4:33/km <– ties record for personal best (under 10K) Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 9.28 km
Weather: Clear
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 630
Total distance to date: 1928 km
This past week has been a bit of a bust for running.
I missed my usual Saturday run because I went to the island to visit the family. I had planned on doing a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule the following week. Tuesday (today) I ran as scheduled but come Thursday I was feeling tired and unmotivated and opted to ksip the run. I felt like I had been on the go all week with no time to relax.
Late Friday afternoon I was struck by a 24 hour flu bug that left me in a weak, kitten-like state and I ended up missing Saturday’s run as well (it is Sunday morning as I write this, though I’m, posting it on the day of the run, October 2).
I’m now planning to go back to a Mon/Wed/Fri schedule this week. We shall see how it goes.
As to today’s run, I didn’t quite plan the route as efficiently as possible so I came in a little under 10K. My ankles also felt a little sore around the 7K mark, what I believe is lingering issues from the uber-walk. On the plus side, I finished with a record-tying pace of 4:33/km, my best for under 10K and I believe I would have maintained that had I been able to push the small distance needed to get over 10K. I think I may have been running faster to stay warm. 😛
It was only about 12ºC for the run, the coolest since before summer. It actually took a few km before my hands warmed up. I also wore my long-sleeved t-shirt and didn’t feel that was a bad call (although a short one probably would have been fine, too). The sun had set before I finished the run and despite the clear sky the light faded fast.
My runs this week should be different, as for now it appears I will have the option of running in the day. I’m actually curious to see what Burnaby Lake park will look like after being away for a week or so. I predict many fallen leaves.
Speaking of the park, one thing I’ve neglected to mention is that back in August they put up temporary signs at key points on the trails that read thusly:
FIRE DANGER STAY ON TRAIL
No Smoking
It is interesting to note that a week into October those signs are still in place, there has been no precipitation this month, almost none last month (driest September in Vancouver in over 100 years) and just a few days ago — again, in October — the forest fire danger has been elevated from High to Extreme, the highest level in goes to.
I am expecting winter to be unusually unpleasant as payback for this very dry summer and early fall. It shall make for interesting runs.
Average pace: 4:36/km Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 10.58 km
Weather: Low cloud
Temp: 16ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 718
Total distance to date: 1908 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
It was a pleasant 16ºC as I set out tonight, starting my run at Lower Hume Park and heading off to Burnaby Lake from there. The bridge on the Brunette river trail is finished and feels very sturdy. It also smells pleasantly woody, much like the new boardwalk at the lake.
The nice thing about tonight’s run is my glasses did not fall apart and only two bugs plopped onto them. Other than those, I did not notice any others land on me, unlike the previous run where they were festooned all up and down my arms and everywhere else.
As it turns out, I got back right around the same time the sun was setting so there was still plenty of light. In fact, the sky began to clear toward the end so it paradoxically got brighter as I was wrapping up the run. The parts of the trail where the canopy is thickest definitely had a gloomy aspect to them, though.
My only misstep was in terms of calculating distance. Once I hit 5K I jogged an additional 500m or so, hoping to end the run just over 11K. I goofed and came up about 500m short so next time I use this route I’ll run to the 6K mark before turning around and heading back. Other than that the run went well, with a fast 4:36 pace, showing that the soreness from Sunday’s power walk didn’t slow me down. I also passed the 1900 km mark and if I stay on track will hit 2000 sometime in October.
Average pace: 4:34/km<– personal record (for runs over 10K) Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.50 km
Weather: Sunny, warm
Temp: 17-20ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 780
Total distance to date: 1886 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
I had two goal for today’s run:
Start earlier to beat the heat (for real, this time).
Improve my sluggish pace of 4:44/km on Monday’s run.
Related to #2 was the fact that today is my birthday and I wanted to reverse the trend of getting slower over the past four runs to prove that turning one year older did not mean I was actually slowing down.
The good news is that I not only beat Monday’s pace, I came in at 4:34/km, my fastest 10K+ time to date, besting my previous best of 4:45 on September 9th.
I set records for:
fastest 1K: 4:19
fastest 5K: 22:15
fastest 10K: 45:23
fastest mile: 6:57
It was already warm when I started out but fortunately the earlier start meant it only got as high as 20ºC by the time I completed the run. My energy level remained fine throughout.
My only real issue again was bugs, specifically giant clouds of them that are impossible to avoid. I actually lost count of how many landed on my glasses or got stuck to my sweat-covered face. Bleah. Why can’t these things find a nice pile of poop to socialize on?
I also came close to crushing a dog under my foot. A woman was walking a tiny black ball of fur that on closer inspection turned out to be some kind of dog. As I jogged by the unleashed dog decided it wanted to playfully run alongside me. I didn’t see it until it was beside my right foot. If, at that point, a root had appeared in front of me, I would have automatically stepped to the right and smooshed the dog. Dear dog owners: the leash bylaw is not there because the city hates dogs or enjoys being mean to dog owners. It is there to protect everyone — including the dog itself!
Other than that, the run hummed along nicely, with a low, steady decline instead of a lot of hills and valleys.
Location: Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 11.49 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 23-19ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 779
Total distance to date: 1851 km
Tonight’s run was a virtual repeat of Tuesday’s, with my pace being virtually identical (the one second difference could be a rounding error). I had intended to ease off a bit and indeed my right calf and ankle both felt a bit sore starting out but once I’d warmed up they felt fine.
Speaking of warm, tonight saw a late summer surge with the temperature a balmy 23ºC at the start of the run and a still-mild 19ºC by the end. This higher than average may also explain why the run was so buggy. It felt like running though the alpha code for Ultima IX. At certain points along the trail it even felt a bit like rain except instead of drops of refreshing water splatting against my face, it was tiny bugs. Yuck.
There were several other joggers out and because of the bridge closure, we would pass each other as we looped back and forth. Except for one girl — I watched her make her way past the fence and onto the bridge. Remember, it’s just narrow support beams right now and while it’s now towering hundreds of meters above a gorge, you would still do some decent damage if you fell into the shallow water below. Since I was running I never saw if she made it across safely but I’m going to assume the lack of bloodcurdling screams and/or ambulance sirens means she did.
I passed another fellow jogger several times and we did that polite jogger nod each time. After the third pass, he looped back and I looped behind him, putting us on the same side of the trail. This is where I abandoned my slow and steady pace as I strove to catch up and hopefully pass him. It took probably the better part of a km but I eventually did. The point where I was catching up shows plainly on the Nike+ chart, with my pace nearly matching that of the first km (and this at the 7K mark). After I passed him it dropped off by over 5% before rising back up to my usual level. I’ll find out tomorrow how much I’ll regret turning on the turbo charger.
Average pace: 4:35/km <– personal record(for runs over 10K)
Location: Burnaby Lake
Distance: 11.49 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16-17ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 779
Total distance to date: 1829 km
Ran Piper Mill trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
Success!
It’s pretty rare for me to do runs on consecutive days as I like the day off to rest and recover but given my short, botched run yesterday I was determined to get in a proper run today.
Conditions were in stark contrast, as if two entirely different seasons had bumped up against each other. Yesterday the air was thick and warm, with the temperature soaring to an unseasonably high 30ºC. Today it felt more like an early fall day, with the sky cloudy and threatening showers and temperatures only into the mid-teens for the morning.
I headed off with a simple plan:
Ride the SkyTrain to Production Way/University station.
Walk to Burnaby Lake from there.
Reverse the process to complete the run!
It took approximately 22 minutes to get to the lake vs. 38 minutes if I had walked the whole way. Definitely faster but not remarkably so. Although the morning sky was gray it did not rain, which was nice. The cooler temperature was ideal for running and I sprang off to a zippy start, noting a Running Room sign placed beside the trail. Apparently there was an event taking place. This turned out to be the Rhythm of Life run sponsored by the Burnaby Hospital. It had begun an hour before I started my run, at 8:30 a.m.
The first tangible sign of the run (apart from the Running Room signs) came around the 2K mark when I arrived at Piper Spit. There was a water station there replete with cups of water. Tantalizing as they were, I was not a participant and went on by. By now I was starting to encounter some of the official entrants, with their numbers pinned to their shirts. Many looked pretty casual and some walked rather than ran. The walkers in particular tended to cluster in groups that hogged the entire width of the trail, which was a minor irritant. I also saw very little of the usual runners etiquette–the waves, the nods, things like that.
As I got to the athletic fields it became clear that the eun was primarily moving clockwise– opposite to me. It was a little awkward having so many joggers constantly streaming toward me but also kind of fun, too. Less fun was a wobbly cyclist on one of the boardwalks. Boo to you, cyclist, I say!
I knew my initial pace was decent and kept pushing to maintain a good pace. The only bit of discomfort was a little soreness around my right ankle, which I believe is a remnant from running on the rail ties. It was slight and didn’t slow me down.
By the end I came in with a best-for-over-10K average of 4:35/km and a bunch of new personal records:
Fastest 1K: 4:19
Fastest 5K: 22:29
Fastest 10K: 45:44
Fastest mile: 7:01
While I wish the total round trip time for the run had been shorter I am very pleased with the performance on the run itself. I am not keen on running three days in a row so my next run will likely be on Tuesday.
Average pace: 4:39/km <– ties personal record(for runs over 10K)
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 11.54 km
Weather: High cloud
Temp: 16-17ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 782
Total distance to date: 1807 km
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
After Saturday’s Mega-Run™ I opted to do a more conventional run today and stick to a clockwise loop around the lake. It was warmer than the previous run to start at 16ºC but the high cloud kept it cool and it was only one degree cooler by the end.
I felt just a little sluggish getting started but picked up the pace after and ended up tying my best 10K+ pace at 4:39/km (and on a longer run, too). Apparently a lot of people choose to labor by running on Labor Day as I encountered quite a few joggers and people out walking this morning. Everyone courteously stepped aside to let me by and I in turn politely offered thanks and that little Queen wave as I ran past.
Although I had no issues with the run — save for wishing I had gone to the bathroom before leaving — I did feel, appropriately, more labored than the past few runs, possibly a side effect of Saturday’s long outing coupled with pushing harder when I sensed I was on or near a record-setting pace. It was one of the few recent runs where the urge was not there at the end to keep going. Ironically, my pace shot way up for the last 500 m. I don’t know why that happened, exactly. Maybe I just really had to go at that point and the faster I ran the sooner I’d be able to. I can’t remember the last time the line tracking my run on Nike+ ended up green.
Having said that, I did get the urge to start jogging again on the Brunette river trail. That particular walk seems very long now after having run it a few times. 😛
Overall, another solid run. I also broke the 1800 km mark and dropped my average pace (for all 202 runs) to a new low of 5:17, too. Woo!
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW), Brunette River trail and Lower Hume Park
Distance: 17.26 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12-17ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 1170
Total distance to date: 1796 km
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Confer and Spruce Loops.
I had it in mind to do a longer run today. I headed out in the morning and with the temperature at 12ºC it was cool enough that I kept my hands in my pockets on the walk to the Brunette River trail. My plan was to run that trail, run the lake (with all three optional loops) then run back down the river trail. I did all this and hit 17.26 km just before reaching East Columbia Street. My pace was a perfectly respectable 4:43/km (which would have been a record for my usual 11K runs a few weeks ago) and my pace actually improved between the 14 and 15K mark.
By the end of the run it had warmed up to 17ºC but it remained completely comfortable, even with the sun out. I felt pretty good the entire way once again, which was especially nice given the extra distance.
The Nike+ site was having a fit after and would not upload my data. When it eventually did it got the stats right but it did not note some records I broke so I’m recording them here:
fastest 1K: 4:20
fatest 5K: 22:30
fastest 10K: 46:04
It’s possibly I may have set a record for fastest mile but there’s no way I’m inflicting the math for figuring that out on my brain. 😛
Average pace: 4:39/km <– personal record (for runs over 10K)
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW), Brunette River trail and Lower Hume Park
Distance: 10.42 km
Weather: Cloudy, some sprinkles
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 707
Total distance to date: 1778 km
I meant to do a more typical run tonight (around 11K) but miscalculated a bit on the distance so came in at 10.42 km, which is still respectable. It was cooler and cloudy and even a few sprinkles fell here and there.
For the course, I ran from Lower Hume Park down the Brunette River trail to Burnaby Lake then went clockwise just past the spanky new boardwalk. I should have continued on another 200 or 300 m but goofed a bit on distance as mentioned above.
On the plus side, the cooler conditions served me well as I finished with my best pace for a 10K+ run — 4:49/km and my fastest 10K to date at 46:26. No problems at all during the run.
Average pace: 4:40/km <– personal record (for runs over 10K)
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW), Brunette River trail and Lower Hume Park
Distance: 11.38 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 772
Total distance to date: 1767 km
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
Tonight’s run was a more typical length but followed a similar route as Saturday’s. I walked to Lower Hume Park and started my run there. I continued down the Brunette River trail and on to Burnaby Lake where I ran to the western entrance to the Piper Mill Trail. I was over 5K at that point and turned back, following the three loops and continuing back to Lower Hume Park. I hit 11K just before exiting the river trail.
The changed route meant I still got in a full run (11.38 km) but with far less walking (24 minutes instead of 76) and my total time out dropped from approximately 129 minutes to 77 or 2:09 hours to 1:17 — a significant 52 minutes less. With the sun setting earlier this is good as it allows me to get a full run in before it starts to get dark and spooky.
As for the run, I came just shy of setting a new 1K record but I did set a few others:
fastest 5K
fastest 10K
fastest mile
And I also set a new record for fastest pace for a 10K+ run at 4:40/km, 4 seconds better than on Saturday and only three seconds off the pace set on my 8K run.
I felt good again throughout the run, with the change in route and scenery providing a nice lift. It will probably level off if I stick to this route but for now I am happy with the results.
Also there are more slugs and roving bands of joggers, both of which I attribute to the early evening shift in time for my runs.
Average pace: 4:44/km <– personal record (for runs over 10K)
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW), Brunette River trail and Lower Hume Park
Distance: 15.02 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17-21ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 1019
Total distance to date: 1756 km
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
I have pretty much decided one of my weekly runs will happen on Saturday and normally in the morning. This is good for three reasons:
It frees up a weeknight evening.
It lets me run in the morning when it’s cooler.
It gets the run out of the way early so the rest of the day is free to laze around and eat nachos.
I headed out this morning at about 9:20 and started my run just after 10, with the temperature a pleasant 17ºC. It climbed to 21 over the course of the run and by the afternoon it was getting to where I was quite glad to have gone out early.
I did the full loop around the lake then continued on the same route as Wednesday, stretching the run to the Brunette River trail and into Lower Hume Park. I wanted to beat my previous best distance of 13K and did it by notching my first run over 15K — 15.02 km to be exact.
In the process I set personal bests in nearly every category there is. The one I didn’t break was Wednesday’s average pace of 4:37/km. I came in at 4:44, which is still a record for a 10K+ run, so I’m pleased with that. Other new records:
most calories burned
longest run, distance-wise
longest run, time-wise (1:11:04)
fastest 1K
fastest 5K
fastest 10K
fastest mile
I also passed the 1750 km mark, which Nike+ considers one of its milestones.
I felt good throughout the run and after the initial burst of speed my pace stayed very steady from the 8K mark forward, with the usual dip halfway between 10 and 11K (though smaller than normal).
While I had set out to break one record (for longest run) it is a very pleasant surprise to have broken so many others as well. Even the cyclists on the trail and unleashed dogs didn’t bother me. Much.
