fast legs

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Sun and cloud
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light breeze
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:17/km
Total distance to date: 837 km

What better way to celebrate the nation’s birthday than with a stinking long run?

As expected, it was pretty quiet when I got to China Creek late in the afternoon. It had been cloudy for much of the day but was clearing up as I got to the park and most of the run was done under the sun, though it was not warm enough to be a bother.

My initial km was a whopping six seconds shorter than my previous run, which surprised me as I didn’t feel I was that far off my pace. However, I felt good and kept my pace consistent. In the end the consistency paid off as I ended up beating my previous best of 5:19/km by two seconds (three on my iPod but the cursed Nike+ site rounded up, as usual). As you can see by the chart below it wasn’t until the halfway point that I caught up to Tuesday’s pace but then I did a better job of maintaining my pace. I stopped at 10K despite feeling good because my right shin had been feeling tender (hence the two day layoff since the last run) and I didn’t want to push it. Both legs held up fine, though.

Joan congratulated me incorrectly for my farthest run yet. Oh, Joan, you silly but well-meaning person!

Nothing unusual at the park today, which is kind of a change of pace.

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):

Distance: 11.04 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 17-18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 772
Average pace: 5:19/km
Total distance to date: 827 km

Tonight I felt like Goldilocks. With the temperature a comfy 18ºC, a light breeze from the east and the cooling of the night air, conditions were just right for today’s run. My biggest worry was getting conked by a baseball by one of the two games in progress. Fortunately none of the balls turned into noggin homing missiles.

Obligatory odd thing on the run: An old white lab was strolling and sitting about for most of my run and until the very end I never saw the owner. In fact, I’m still not sure the person I saw the dog with at the end was the owner. In any case, toward the end of the run the dog decided to lay down square in the middle of the path. From a distance he looked like a large white rock that had been dropped into place. On my first lap past him I hooked right. He stirred slightly. On the second lap I hooked left and he stirred not at all. Dogs are weird.

The other thing that stood out tonight was the large number of runners. There were half a dozen out at once and more than that over the length of my run. Nearly all were running counter-clockwise, so I felt a bit like someone driving down the right side of the road in England. No collisions to report, though I do roll my foot over an exposed root once as I dodged a fellow jogger.

The run itself went very well. I had a good start and a much better pace than the last run and felt no discomfort. Toward the end my second wind had kicked in nicely and I opted to do what I have never done before and go for that extra km. I finished with 11.04 km on the run and an average pace of 5:19/km — my best pace ever for a 10K. I am pleased. So was Joan, who, instead of giving me congrats for yet another phantom 500K completed, instead accurately acknowledged my farthest run to date. Thanks, Joan!

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):

Distance: 10.02 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 18-20ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 700
Average pace: 5:21/km
Total distance to date: 801 km

After an extra day off, I tackled my first run of the week on the first official day of summer. In a strange turn of events, the weather was actually summer-like! In fact, it was the hottest day of the year to date and so I avoided the glare of Mr. Sun by running around 8 p.m. in the evening. It was still 20ºC and cooled to a still balmy 18ºC by the end of the run.

The park was abuzz with activity, with one ball game ended, another in progress, a soccer scrim midfield, people playing badminton, smoking pot and walking their wiener dogs (which is not to say everyone was doing all of these things, though that would have been most interesting to see).

I tried to pace myself a bit slower to start, hoping to have more juice for the second half of the run and it worked! My first km came in at 5:00/km instead of the zany-fast 4:53 of the previous run and yet my overall pace came in three seconds faster, at 5:21/km — my second fastest 10K to date. My knee didn’t bother me at all and I maintained good form and pace — my back did not start to ache, I did not find the final two km a horrible slog. By the end the air was starting to cool and my biggest issue — a very parched mouth — was alleviated somewhat.

Overall, a very good run.

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise):

And unlike many sequels, this one is actually better than the first!

Conditions for my second run after the long layoff were decent. The temperature was 7ºC with little wind and an overcast sky. I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and shorts and probably would have been fine with a regular t-shirt. My hands did not feel like frozen blocks of ice this time.

There was a hard, steady rain yesterday and the trail at the park showed the effects — several large puddles to be dodged, the southern stretch particularly boggy in several places and more exposed roots poking through than I’ve ever seen. I did a walk around first to size things up before the run proper.

By the second km I was feeling a cramp but this time in my stomach. I maintained my pace and within another km or so it eased up, allowing me to better hold my pace. I was faster at each stage of the run than a week ago and finished by shaving seven seconds off last week’s run, bringing my pace down from 5:44 to 5:37. Not bad!

I could feel my left knee a bit during the run but it never hurt and didn’t slow me down. For a few moments there was a twinge around my ankle/lower left shin and that spooked me but it went away quickly and did not return.

Although my performance was better, the improved pace meant that by the time I hit 5K I was happy to stop and recover rather than feeling all, “Haha, whee! Let’s keep going!” That’s okay. In time my stamina will be back where it once was and I shall run not unlike the wind. Or at least a strong breeze.

Chart:

Four months later and I have finally completed another jog. Woo!

My plan was to complete 5K.

Conditions were favorable for the time of year, with the temperature ranging 3-4ºC, only a slight breeze at the start and partly cloudy skies, with the sun actually poking out a few times. I walked a circuit at China Creek Park first to check out the path and while there were no puddles the trail was rather mushy in spots, about what I expected given the recent rain.

I dressed in shorts since my manly tree trunk* legs don’t feel the cold much, wore a t-shirt with my jogging jacket and eschewed gloves, remembering all the times I’ve overdressed on previous runs. After the first km my hands still felt like blocks of ice so I was wondering if I’d made the right call but they warmed up a short time later and were fine the rest of the way.

By the second km I was beginning to feel some cramping in my chest and my legs suddenly gained roughly 300 pounds each. At this point the only other jogger out sailed past me. He was something like four feet taller than me so I figured he was fast due to his huge, hill giant-like stride. It couldn’t be because I had lost every trace of my conditioning!

As it turned out, I only lost most of my conditioning. My first km came in at a perfectly respectable 5:07/km but the rest of the run fell off the cliff, with my time plunging to 5:26 by the second km and continuing lemming-like for the next two km before leveling off as I finally hit my stride in the last stretch. By that point I was fully warmed up, the cramping had diminished and the legs, though still heavy, didn’t feel quite as burdensome.

Afterward, I felt fine and recovered quickly. My knee did not bother me at all and my legs are otherwise fine. I think my left shoe is a bit wonky up front so I will probably look for a new pair soon. I’ve put in probably over 700 km on these ones, so they’ve served me well.

Chart:

* haha, no

Tonight’s run was baseball and soccer-free, so the risk of getting whacked by sporting equipment was down to zero. Yay! It was 21ºC, sunny and with only a very slight breeze blowing.

A few other joggers were out, along with the usual contingent of people with their dogs, including a guy with a puppy that refused, utterly, to chase after a thrown ball. I think the owner got more exercise than the puppy.

I started faster tonight, coming in at 5:06 and had no dramatic slowdowns during the run. Only a second separated the last two km, with my average pace being 5:27, three seconds better than my previous pace. I also decided to run farther since I knew I wouldn’t be breaking any speed records and actually went on even more than I had intended because my sweaty fingers could not get the scroll wheel on the iPod to turn so I could select End Workout from the menu. An unconventional way to push yourself, I suppose. The total distance was 10.64 km. Curiously the pace for the final .64 km shows as 5:04, which is blazingly fast for me after already running 10 km. I wonder if it was bugged or if I really did boogie once I was off the clock.

The title of this post refers to the clouds of gnats or gnat-like bugs that hang around the path near the trees. I’m pretty sure I inhaled about 50,000 of them along the way. At one point I could feel a bunch of them softly bouncing off my face as I ran through one of the clouds (which are very difficult to see until you’re right on them). I’ve eaten worse.

The chart:

I had a couple of goals for tonight’s run. I wanted to improve the time on my first km and tighten up the overall pace a bit. When I got into the final km, I created a third goal: beat the fountain. In my previous run I had finished a little ways past it but this time it seemed possible to finish before reaching it.

And I did. Woo. Plus there was only one bee again and this time it was down low so I didn’t have to shush it away when I went to get a post-run drink.

However, there were four soccer balls kicked into my path during the run. You’ll never get to the World Cup with that kind of ball control, guys! The guy on the scooter with the dog in tow also made a re-appearance. For awhile it felt like the jogging version of Groundhog Day.

There were two baseball games underway when I arrived but both wrapped up in the first 15 minutes or so. At one diamond they later resumed with some ad hoc baseball-ish game using a large plastic ball (the kind you kick around). It was a bit weird but everyone was very excited about playing. Almost too excited, if you know what I mean.

Speaking of which, for three laps a couple of guys were parked near the path smoking those funny cigarettes. It was a bit distracting.

For the run itself, it was 18ºC, with a mild breeze and the sun low enough to not be an issue. Yesterday we had winds gusting up to 70 km/h so there were a few branches on the path but nothing that couldn’t be easily navigated around.

My first lap time was a much better 5:10 and I had another strong, consistent finish. In fact, my 9th and 10th km times were identical. My overall pace was 5:30, a seven second improvement over the previous 10K. Overall I’m pleased with the progress.

Chart:

What a difference nine degrees makes! Not to mention there was no waterslide getting in the way of tonight’s run.

I had an atypically slow start (tentative, I suppose) and that actually affected my overall time, a rather unusual occurrence. The good news is I steadied out into a comfortable pace and maintained it for the remaining 8 km, ending with an average pace of 5:37. Stamina was not an issue at all, to my surprise. My legs are feeling a bit sore, but I don’t consider this odd given that it is only my second 10K in the last 80+ days. I plan on doing some strength exercises on the off days to reduce the chance of injury.

And now the stats:

• Cap Tug Number (CTN): 3 (slick forehead played a factor here)
• Temperature: 21ºC
• Number of bees at the fountain: 1 (it had been plugged up again and was once more a mini-reservoir. I dumped a handful of water on the bee twice before it was convinced to leave)
• Number of smarty pants joggers who ran past me: 1 (he stopped running after getting about half a lap ahead)
• Number of guys wearing climbing gear in a nearby tree: 1
• Number of waterslides: 0 (yay!)
• Number of scrimmage soccer games in progress: 1
• Number of soccer balls kicked in front of me due to the above: 2
• Number of kids who didn’t seem to realize than standing in the middle of the path does in fact create an obstacle: 3
• Number of guys sans shirt: 1
• Number of women sans shirt: 0
• Number of old men on electric scooters racing along the path with a dog in tow: 1
• Number of people out with their dogs: many
• Number of people out with their cats: 0
• Number of coyotes spotted: 0
• Number of drinks I took from the fountain at the end of the run: 3

And the comparison chart where you can see how the times get closer the longer the distance:

Technically today was not my first summer run but weather-wise it felt like it. It was about 19ºC, sunny and with a light breeze (Cap Tug Number: 1). Unlike my previous run I had a faster start then slowed more in the second km, so a different means to the same end. My pace improved in the last km, which is encouraging and I broke the psychological barrier of 27 minutes (the iPod recorded a time of 26:59 but the Nike+ site seems to round up so it reports 27:00). It’s been six days since my last run due to various events taking up my usual running window so the continued plateau in performance is actually a relief.

Tiger Woods congratulated me for circumnavigating the globe yet again. Thanks, Tiger, I appreciate the support!

One minor incident of note during the run: a woman with a pair of large gray short hair dogs (they looked like some hound crossbreed) was sitting in the shade inside the path. As I ran by one of the dogs barked at me, once. It didn’t move or do anything else. Still, it’s the first time I’ve had a dog bark at me and it brought back memories of my childhood, which can be summarized as all the events between getting bitten by dogs. Still, I didn’t let it rattle me. I later noticed the dog barking at other people, so it seemed to just be one of those “Hey, I’m here, you will notice me” kind of things.

If all goes well, this should be my last 5K comparison chart for awhile, as I move on up to 10K.

After eight days off, I was a bit tentative about running, given the litany of problems I have suffered lately, but the weather was pleasant — hazy sunshine, 18ºC and a light breeze, so I decided to give it a go with another modest 5K run. After a warm-up and some stretching I began and ended up shaving one second off my best time for the month. My right calf felt perfectly fine and any creakiness in my left leg worked itself out fairly quickly. Although my first km was not especially fast, I like that I was able to maintain my pace over the 2nd km and picked the pace up slightly in the final stretch.

I am introducing the cap-tug number (CTN) with this update. When I am running and start to perspire my cap begins to ride up slightly on my head. This is not an issue unless it is breezy, which it has been all freaking spring (and now summer). When it gets windy, the cap threatens to lift and take flight, forcing me to tug it back down. Due to the perspiration, this is only a temporary measure, requiring further tugs to insure the cap stays on. Today I had to tug the cap four times to keep it in place, thus the CTN for today is rated 4. A guy actually had a kite out at the park but it wasn’t quite windy enough and he gave up after a short time. Still, that gives you an idea of what it was like (current winds are being reported as 11 km/h).

For a change I opted to do my post-run stretching in the park instead of waiting to do it at home. I almost overdid it while waiting for a fellow jogger to run by. I didn’t have to wait but he was…uh…not wearing a shirt.

I like summer. That is all.

Chart (bolded numbers are overall average time/km):