tired legs

Run 488
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Start: 10:21 am exciting new addition (actual excitement not as advertised)
Distance: 5.05 km
Time: 28:40
Weather: Overcast
Temp: 10ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 171
Stride: n/a
Weight: 166.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3830 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

I chose to start a little earlier than normal today because the forecast unsurprisingly promised rain, this time by 1 p.m. or so. These predictions are invariably optimistic, so I expected rain much sooner and then rain for the rest of the day.

I was correct.

In a case of deja vu all over again, when I got to the lake I had to go potty. Unlike the last time, there was both toilet paper and sanitizer, so I got it over with quickly, while pondering what exactly it is about arriving at the lake that makes my bowels and bladder loosen.

Unlike the last time, it was much cooler, only 10ºC instead of 15. We are on the second to last day of April and the average high temperature is supposed to be 15ºC but thanks to climate change or Trump or aliens, the weather so far this year has been much cooler (and wetter) than normal. I expect to see icebergs floating in Burnaby Lake in a few years.

10 is still dandy for running, though, and it also meant no bugs because they are tiny little wimps. I headed off and for the first km held back a bit, hoping to keep more in reserve for the middle of the run. In the end, my pace was almost identical, coming in at 5:40/km vs. 5:39/km last time. Total time worked out to ten seconds (28:40 vs. 28:30). The last four runs have all been pretty consistent so I think if I can keep running three times per week I’ll see the numbers slowly start improving again over the next month, assuming we don’t get spontaneous blizzards icing over the trails in May.

I did notice that by heading out earlier there were a lot more people on the trail, many wearing gloves, which is sad to see on April 29th. There were also quite a few runners, though the side trails remained mostly clear, bless them.

No odd incidents and no cyclists, though one puny off-leash dog kept getting under my feet as I was walking out. I almost said something to the owner but opted to keep it internal because people who knowingly allow their dogs off-leash will just act stupid and defensive no matter how politely you ask that they control their dog, because they are dumb jerks who should (and do) know better in the first place.

As for the rain, a few drops began to fall just as I exited the trail, so I chose to walk to Production Way station and take the SkyTrain home rather than risk a good soak on the last 4 km walking back.

It is now coming down in the proverbial buckets.

In the end, I am not displeased with the effort, but it will be nice to see a little improvement moving forward.

Run 485
Average pace: 5:51/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 29:31
Weather: Cloudy, hazy sun
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 166.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3815 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

I returned to Burnaby Lake for the first time in awhile for today’s run and in theory, the conditions were much better than the last run. Instead of cool temperatures and incessant rain, it was cloudy but an incredibly mild 17ºC (which is actually a bit above the monthly average). In practise, it was in some ways worse.

For one, the much warmer conditions saw the sudden appearance of billions of bugs. I had barely started running when one flew into my eye. Several others landed on my glasses and other places. It was thoroughly annoying. Why do these things exist? Why I ask!

Also, the dramatic shift in temperature also contributed to my energy being sapped more readily. I was about a minute slower than the last run and the difference was noticeable early on. At times it felt like a slog. At other times it felt like a slog with lots of bugs.

Still, I persisted and managed a pokey but not jaw-droppingly awful pace of 5:51/km. Despite my right heel acting up in the past week for reasons unknown, it wasn’t a factor and was only a minimal nuisance intermittently on the walk back home.

Being pleasant and Easter Sunday, the trail was quite crowded but people were well-behaved, save for the one woman who suddenly zipped past me on a bike just as I was finishing my run. I shot darts at her with my eyes but she just kept going. I like to think she suffered two flat tires the moment she turned off the trail. Then her bike exploded, somehow. Stupid cyclist.

Overall, a plodding effort but I’m glad I made it out all the same.

As for the poop, when I got to the lake I found I had to pee. No problem, I could use the porta potty. A bigger concern was I also had to go #2. You know, poop. The porta potty was conspicuously filled with a large volume of liquid, almost as if someone had poured a bucket of water in it. Splashback was a legit concern. There was also no toilet paper.

I considered my options as my bowels rumbled in warning. All of them were not good. The nature house has washrooms but it was two km down the trail. Abandoning the run would still require travel over multiple km to find a loo. Being early spring, there wasn’t enough foliage to conceal me if I wanted to make like a bear in the woods. The last option was to simply go and forsake wiping. Yuck.

But I did it anyway because every alternative was worse.

I felt much better after, then the better feeling went away as I ran and plodded (see above).

The extended forecast is calling for rain or chance of rain every single day so my next run is probably going to be both cooler and damper. Yay (sort of).

Run 483
Average pace: 5:40/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.04 km
Time: 28:35
Weather: Overcast, some drizzle
Temp: 9ºC
Wind: moderate
BPM: 162
Stride: n/a
Weight: 167.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3805 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

Yes, it may seem crazy but here it is the same week and I’m posting another outdoor run. Woo.

Today I went to have blood taken for some testing and did what one would naturally do after losing some blood–I went for a run.

(I did eat a banana first.)

I headed out mid-afternoon under gray and threatening skies–they threat never materialized beyond some very light and sporadic drizzle) and even though it was warmer than Saturday at 9ºC, I wore a long-sleeved shirt because the wind was promising to gust again.

It turned out the wind was not a factor at all and I never felt cold. Perhaps because of this, I was faster, beating my sloth-like previous pace of 5:54/km by coming in at a less-slothful 5:40/km. This is still well off my usual 5K pace and I’m feeling tired right now, but I know in time my form will return. I can already tell the legs won’t be as stiff, so hooray for that.

The trail was in respectable shape and I saw no other runners. There were a few people walking their dogs, including several letting their precious scamps run off-leash. I especially liked the guy with two larger dogs letting his dogs squeeze under the fence to frolic around the “Restoration area – no dogs or people” sign. One of the dogs made a desultory attempt to follow as I went by and as I was near the end of the run, I’d likely face the dogs again as I double-back at the end to reach 5K.

Instead, I decided to keep going and hope I could hit the required distance in Lower Hume Park. I did, though with literally no room to spare. I dinged 5K just steps short of the tree that’s fallen across the trail at the bottom of the stairs. But at least I didn’t have to deal with those dogs and their dumb owner again.

My next run is tentatively set for Thursday after work–my first post-work run of the year. It looks to be mild but soggy. I can live with that.

Run 481
Average pace: 5:43/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.06 km
Time: 29:00
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 5ºC
Wind: light to moderate
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 164 pounds
Total distance to date: 3795 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone

For the first time in 82 days, I ran outside. Like, actually outside. Outdoors. In nature and stuff.

It was nice.

Haven’t walked the Brunette River trail earlier in the day I knew the snow had retreated a lot more than I’d expected over the past week. The third patch near the far end of the trail was completely gone and the remaining two patches had shrunk enough that there were comfortably wide paths to avoid the snow. I logically concluded that this meant Burnaby Lake, which I had judged better for running last weekend, would be even better.

My plan was thus: Walk to the lake, then keep walking for 5 km clockwise along the south shore, since I haven’t seen it in those 82 days. I’d then run the remainder, exit the park and head to the Production Way SkyTrain station for a triumphant ride home.

I started walking along Avalon Trail and ominously came across snow quickly. It wasn’t much–a few steps to get by–and the snow was both crunchy and yielding, so not slippery. As I approached the first km I asked myself, “I’ve already walked nearly 5K at this point. Do I want to walk another 4K before even starting my run?” The answer was, “Hell no.”

I started my run.

I wrapped up shortly after climbing the hill past Still Creek, where the path turns onto the Cottonwood Trail. Walking the rest didn’t seem as intimidating at that point.

The weather was cool, hovering around 5ºC, and while clouds gathered as I ran, it remained dry. The trail itself was still muddy and wet enough to leave my legs streaked with dirt. I felt macho.

Despite the chilly conditions, there were quite a few people out, walkers and runner alike. I don’t normally run on Saturdays so this may be typical. The people didn’t pose any particular hazards in terms of navigation.

What did pose a hazard was, surprisingly, not the snow. The south side of the trail did have numerous patches but like the ones on the Avalon trail, they were small and not slippery, so I was able to run over them. So yes, I technically ran in the snow. And the north side of the trail was, unlike last weekend, completely devoid of snow. The patch at Still Creek was gone along with every other. It was a pleasant surprise.

Less pleasant were the numerous fallen trees. Most were either already cut up into blocks or fell alongside rather than over the trail, though a few were teetering ominously. One large tree had a snapped branch, the end of which looked like it had already come free, leaving another large and pointy piece dangling above the path like the proverbial Sword of Damocles. I skirted off to one side as I passed–better safe than stuck with a giant pointy piece of wood in your skull. Another tree had bent over the trail, forming an arch. It looked spectacular. It also looked like it wasn’t going to last. Again, I dashed quickly under it.

The worst bits, though, were the bramble. In many places, large clumps of bramble had collapsed on the trail, as if they had heavily sighed, given up and then surrendered and thrown themselves at the mercy of the park workers. Who then hacked them up. The collapses were sometimes caused by one or more trees falling on them, pushing them forward and in other cases, it may have been the weight of the snow stuck to them and frozen for weeks that led to them breaking.

Most of the debris was cleared off the trail but in a few places the bramble was almost but not quite collapsed, leering over the trail rudely and forcing you to dodge around. One short leg had this on both sides. It felt like running through a bunch of spectral fingers trying to grab you from all sides.

My pace of 5:43/km is slow for a 5K but perfectly in line with what I’d expect after nearly three months of no outdoor runs. More importantly, it just felt good to get outside and run on an actual trail, to feel the shifting terrain under my feet, to adjust my pace without having to press buttons. I’m reasonably confident that any more snow will be in the form of dustings that shouldn’t interfere, and with Daylight Saving Time coming in a few weeks, it won’t be long until I can resume runs after work.

All in all, a good if brambly time today.

I am going to be very sore tomorrow, though. I’m already a little sore today. I’m currently at 33,301 steps according to the Apple Watch. That’s a lot. Which reminds me, I need new walking shoes. Soon™.

Run 479
Average pace: 6:28/km
Location: Canada Games Pool (treadmill)
Distance: 4.56 km
Time: 29:33
Weather: n/a
Temp: n/a
Wind: n/a
BPM: 161
Stride: n/a
Weight: 165.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3785 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch, iPhone (for music) and Matrix treadmill (for running)

It’s been 25 days since my last treadmill run and I can’t say I’ve missed the treadmill because I hate it. But tonight it seemed time to renew my passion for disliking it.

The run went without incident, save for forgetting to turn the fan on at the start. I’m not sure why anyone would leave the fan off, the whole place is incredibly humid, which is not really conducive to a comfortable workout, so every little bit helps. Maybe some people are fanophobes. One might say they’re not fans…of fans. Ho ho.

Anyway, I did remember my water bottle and this compensated somewhat. I still felt slow and sluggish (reflected in my pace) and curiously for the first ten minutes or so my ankles were sore, something that never bothers me when running. Odd, and another reason to hate treadmills. Once I warmed up they were fine and they feel fine now, but still, weird. And unpleasant.

I chose the “fat burn” setting and this apparently increases the elevation periodically, which would explain why the run would become much harder at seemingly random intervals. I ramped the incline down a couple of times but kept the speed mostly at 6 and leaning more toward 5.5 in the last stretch. It’s still hard to adjust settings to my natural pace. I find it works bets if I go all Zen and don’t look at the numbers and concentrate on how my legs feel. Too slow, nudge the speed up. Too fast, nudge it down. It worked a little better tonight than previously.

Overall, though, I’m really itching to run outside again. The heavy rain and mild temperatures have caused the new snow to melt fairly rapidly. The hard crusty snow underneath will take longer so I’m still not expecting anything before March, but hope, like repeated snowstorms, springs eternal.

Run 473
Average pace: 5:31/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 27:51
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 11-12ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 165
Stride: n/a
Weight: 159 pounds
Total distance to date: 3755 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I am tentatively planning on attending a NaNoWriMo Write-in Sunday to revive my sputtering novel and so shifted gears and did a run today, Saturday, instead.

It seemed like there were fewer people out and aboot. If this is typical of Saturdays I may have to consider switching weekend run days permanently.

The weather was mild enough for me to opt (wisely) for t-shirt and shorts. Most of the other joggers I saw were bundled up in jackets, gloves, toques and multiple layers. I was sweating just looking at them. I was fine in my usual gear.

The walk to the lake felt strangely effortless, despite me turning in a decent pace. My run was a tad slower than last week but I also felt more relaxed while running, not really pushing at all and also not feeling like I was struggling as before, with that sense of mercy when the run had ended. The pacing pattern matched, with the fast first km, slower second, then progressively faster after that to the end. My BPM was also down, closer to the normal range for runs.

The trail was muddy in spots but puddles had dried. I got a break and managed to miss the rain. Tomorrow looks like it will be soggy. I kind of liked running today because now I can look forward to just lounging about working feverishly on my novel all day tomorrow.

Overall, this was an unspectacular run but given how in frequent the runs have been in the last month, that alone was something worth celebrating.

Run 471
Average pace: 5:26/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 27:28
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 11ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 170
Stride: n/a
Weight: 158.4 pounds
Total distance to date: 3745 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I ran in the morning today and discovered there was some hiking club out in force (several of them carried little hiking club flags with them), so the first half of the run was especially crowded, though fortunately everyone was spread out. I had to dipsy-doodle around remnants of puddles from yesterday’s monsoon more than people. My clever plan to start the run closer to the park entrance to avoid getting to the soupy part of the trail near the fields was thwarted when it turned out the entire stretch along the field was a soupy, lake-sized mess of unavoidable puddles. Hopefully one day they will actually shore up that entire section so it doesn’t go underwater every time it rains.

I started out well then immediately fell back quite a bit on the second km. Surprisingly, I rebounded on the third km and kept improving my pace, finishing at the same pace I started, 5:18/km, with an overall average of 5:26/km (itself a surprisingly nine-second improvement over last Sunday’s run). The only thing I can think of here–because I was not crackling with boundless energy when I arrived at the lake–is that the crowds inspired me to get the run over with as soon as possible. So I did.

The legs were a little stiff after, something that will probably persist until I get back into a regular routine again (once a week is regular but not really often enough for the muscles to readjust).

Other than the high heart rate (my walking BPM was higher today than some of my previous runs, yikes) I am pleased by the effort. I experienced no issues, other than feeling a tad tired toward the end.

The poop was on the Brunette River trail where it seemed a lot of people were choosing to let their dogs walk unleashed, allowing them to fully enjoy the first full day of standard time. One woman was consistently walking ahead of her snow-white canine, completely unaware of what it was doing. And what it was doing was finding a nice big pile of poop in the middle of the trail that hadn’t been cleaned up and rolling around in it in a kind of doggy ecstasy.

I like to think it was karma at work.

Run 470
Average pace: 5:35/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5:08 km
Time: 28:25
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 12ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 168
Stride: n/a
Weight: 157.2 pounds
Total distance to date: 3740 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Twenty six days later and I am finally running again. Early in the month I was felled by an especially nasty cold. That wiped out any chance of running for two weeks, then I lost another week because I was still not feeling great and after work runs were no longer possible because of that whole getting-dark thing. I’ll eventually come up with a plan for dealing with that but for now, today arrived and I was finally feeling up to a run.

I kept it to 5K because of the long downtime (and I feel that was the right call) but conditions were otherwise pleasant–a cool but not cold 12ºC, with little wind and clear skies.

The run went about as expected, which is to say I was much slower than usual given the long layoff. I started out not bad at 5:16/km for the first km but then dropped way off. On the plus side, the drop stabilized and stayed consistent and I actually picked up the pace toward the end, even as I began to feel a bit tired. The only negative I felt while running was a pressure headache, a remnant of the still-somewhat-lingering head cold.

The trail around the fields was a bit soggy and was the reason I ended up with some mud splats on my shoes and up my calves. This is to say that I was dry for about 99% of the run. It was literally in the last few meters that I faced unavoidable puddles and mud. Not that I mind, but if I can choose between mud and no mud, I usually go with no mud.

There were plenty of leaves on the trails but pleasantly, the conditions were not slippery.

My legs are starting to feel a little sore tonight but they shouldn’t get too bad.

Now I just need to figure out where to run during the rest of the week.

Run 469
Average pace: 5:22/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5:08 km
Time: 27:18
Weather: Cloudy, some drizzle
Temp: 15-13ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 173
Stride: n/a
Weight: 154.7 pounds
Total distance to date: 3735 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

Tonight I had no real desire to run. I felt tired (see previous post) and the threat of rain was tangible. Nevertheless I donned my jogging duds and headed out, completing a somewhat slow 5K. For reference, my 10K on Sunday had an average pace of 5:23/km. Tonight my pace was 5:22/km. Granted I was trucking along on Sunday and tonight I was content to simply maintain a steady if unspectacular pace.

There were no issues otherwise. The weather was cool but comfortable and apart from some very light drizzle at the end, it remained dry. The most noticeable change was how much gloomier it was compared to just four days ago. It was gloomy. Where the tree canopy is thickest it was nearly dark. I suspect that I’ll only get another week or so of runs in after work before it gets too dark without some kind of bionic night vision suddenly manifesting itself.

In the meantime I’ll chalk tonight’s run as “at least I went out and did it.”

Run 462
Average pace: 5:16/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5:04 km
Time: 26:34
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 24ºC
Wind: light
BPM: 171
Stride: n/a
Weight: 156.3 pounds
Total distance to date: 3690 km
Devices/apps: Apple Watch and iPhone 6

I had already planned to take it easy for tonight’s run, deliberately holding back after pushing it on Tuesday, to help reduce the risk of re-injury. I’m a wee bit paranoid about it now.

It also helped that I was dead-tired after work and didn’t especially feel like running, anyway. I set off right on time, though, and conditions were unusually balmy for mid-September, with the temperature 24ºC. As before, the dun is now low enough that it doesn’t feel as warm as the temperature would suggest.

For music I opted for random Billy Joel and iTunes uncannily managed to pick from among his weakest songs, so not exactly inspiring stuff to jog to. Nonetheless, I hit a comfortable pace and finished with a more relaxed 5:16/km.

The one change I made to the route was to extend it past the end of the feeder road that leads to the river trail by hooking right onto Cariboo Road and right again down Government Street. I ran until I hot the halfway mark and then turned back, the intention being to avoid the switchback at the end of the run where I reach the end of the trail, double back for about 500 m then come back one more time. This is necessary to hit 5 km as the trail is only about 2 km long. It worked out but I’m undecided on whether I’ll stick to this. The major potential downside is having a train show up after I’ve crossed the tracks, which would force me to idle for about 5-7 minutes and see if the new auto-pause feature of the activity app really works.

Speaking of the app, tonight’s run was the first with my iPhone updated to iOS 10 and the watch updated to watchOS 3. The activity app has a few new options and improvements when it comes to running. The default display shows more metrics (though I’ve pruned it back a little for readability by removing current pace, since seeing that just makes me squirrely) and the run summary now includes temperature (though it still uses Vancouver data, which can be significantly different from where I’m running. Tonight it was 24 but the app reported 17), humidity, elevation and–finally–a map of the route. I only wish the map was available on the web so I could see it on a display larger than a smartphone’s.

I’m not sure why the BPM were so much higher tonight. It may be a glitch with the updated watchOS or maybe it’s just a reflection of me straining while feeling very tired. We’ll see how it changes for Sunday, which could be a cooler and soggy run.

Overall, though, I’m content with tonight’s results.