Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.03 km
Weather: Hazy sun, sun
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 782
Average pace: 5:20/km
Total distance to date: 1256.19 km
My plan today was to ease back on the pace a bit, to reduce the risk of strain/shin splints (my legs feel fine when walking and running but the shins are a bit on the tender side). The weather was very much the opposite of Friday, with the temperature a relatively balmy 15ºC (warmest of the year, run-wise) and hazy sun in a mostly clear sky.
Ah yes, the sun, my nemesis. There hasn’t been much sun this spring so I’m not accustomed to running in it. I put in a pace of under 5:00/km for the first 2 km of the run and found myself gasping for breath. This is not good. It is, in fact, bad. The warmer temperature, sun and generally mugginess was all adding up to extra strain. I eased off a bit and still found it difficult to find a pace I could maintain. By the 6K mark I had to take about 30 seconds out to recover. As it was, it ended up being an old-style run with 2-3 seconds added every km and a final pace of 5:20, a full 19 seconds short of Friday.
Still, as I get used to the sun again, the times should start going back down. I am also pondering shifting my runs to the cooler morning.
Joan still congratulated me for another 500 km.
My left foot was feeling slightly creaky after the run, which was another disappointment.
But for the first time at Burnaby Lake I saw a (vibrant green and yellow) garter snake slither across the trail ahead of me. Neat.
The highlight of the run came after, when I got home. I felt something on my neck and brushed at it and a small black bug fell to the kitchen floor. It had probably hitched a ride back from the lake. It crawled for no more than a second or two before a spider darted out and made a meal of it. Ah, nature.
Chart:
km | May 7 | May 4 | May 2 | Apr 30 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 4:52 | 4:42 | 4:58 | 5:02 |
2 | 4:59 | 4:50 | 5:00 | 5:11 |
3 | 5:04 | 4:54 | 5:02 | 5:13 |
4 | 5:07 | 4:55 | 5:04 | 5:13 |
5 | 5:09 | 4:56 | 5:05 | 5:13 |
6 | 5:10 | 4:57 | 5:05 | 5:12 |
7 | 5:12 | 4:58 | 5:05 | 5:12 |
8 | 5:15 | 4:59 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
9 | 5:17 | 5:00 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
10 | 5:19 | 5:00 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
11 | 5:20 | 5:01 | 5:06 | 5:13 |