tired legs

The post-Nashville run

Average pace: 5:06/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 13ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 364
Total distance to date: 2475 km

After another two weeks between runs, mainly due to a near week-long trip to Nashville on business, I approached today’s run with some trepidation. I headed off to the lake to do a wee 5K again and noticed a few changes. The Brunette River trail now has a permanent wooden fence built alongside the north area that was restored last year, completely blocking it off. The fence is short enough to be trivially easy to get over (I could do so without having to climb it) but it sends a clear message to keep out.

People will climb over it and trample everything anyway because that’s what people do.

I also noticed someone had parked a fancy Range Rover in front of the gate at the entrance to the trail. The gate with the “Do not park in front of gate” sign on it.

Then there was a handmade sign below the one warning about bears in the area saying it was some young bear’s one year birthday, along with a cartoon picture of the bear. Sadly I don’t recall the name of the bear. I also have no idea what the sign meant.

When I got to the lake I checked out the fish ladder at the dam and a bunch of salmon were gathered there, eagerly waiting to be let into the lake so they could die, as is their way at this time of year.

The trail was in fairly good shape as the weather has been dry and there weren’t a lot of leaves on it. As I started out I was immediately struck again by how incredibly stiff my right Achilles tendon was. It took most of the run to limber up. Worse than that, though, was my right hip which was also quite sore for some reason. It continued to ache for most of the run. No idea why and I’m hoping this was a one-time deal.

Despite feeling sluggish as all get-out, my pace ended up being 5:06/km, only three seconds off my previous. I consider this perfectly decent after two weeks of eating everything in sight and basically indulging in what can be described as anti-exercise.

A final note: I saw three (!) cyclists on the trail and all three were walking their bikes. I have never seen so many thoughtful cyclists all at once. I salute them!

I’m hoping to check out a treadmill at the Canada Games Pool in a few days as the sun is now setting before 6 p.m., effectively eliminating the possibility of running after work until the spring (weekends excepted).

The flabby run

Average pace: 5:19/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops
Distance: 6.15 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 444
Total distance to date: 2460 km

It’s been over two weeks since my last run and with so few runs over the last month and a half I am officially in kind-of-out-of-shape territory.

Witness today’s run.

Conditions were surprisingly pleasant. Our early winter temporarily retreated and it was a balmy 18ºC and sunny, with a light breeze blowing. It was entirely comfortable, weather-wise.

I walked to Burnaby Lake and pondered whether to do 5K or 10K. I chose 10K but knew I’d probably bail partway through. The run started out fine, though I could feel I was definitely off my usual pace. By the second km I could feel much more clearly that I was slower. I even started developing a stitch, something that normally only happens when I’m pushing too hard, which was absolutely not happening. My pace fell 9% in that second km and I decided a shorter run would give me less depressing results than a 10 or 11K run.

I felt an odd sense of obligation to make up for lost time once I reached Still Creek and the halfway mark, so I continued on, deciding to stretch the run to 6K and then walk the rest of the way around the lake. That last km seemed to stretch on forever, partly because I misjudged where I’d be at the end and partly because I just really wanted to stop running. I wasn’t in pain, I was just tired.

I did improve my pace in the last km, ending on a high note but with a terrible overall pace of 5:19/km (my prior run on September 22 was 5:05). The only real way to fix this is to run more. It’s more complicated now with the sun setting so soon after I get home but some combination of running around the golf course at lunch (the college is next to it), combined with treadmill runs at the Canada Games Pool and maybe runs at a lit track may help during the week, with the usual longer run on the weekend.

It’s hard to imagine my times getting even worse unless I take even more time off but there’s always hope!

The rush hour run

Average pace: 5:16/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops
Distance: 11.32 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19-24ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 818
Total distance to date: 2438 km

I pretty much hated everything about today’s run.

After a week of cooler, cloudy weather with showers tossed in, the weather strangely turned summer-like for the long weekend. I decided to head out relatively early to beat the heat.

The temperature matched my last run a week ago (more on that gap later), starting at 19ºC and rising to 24ºC. You notice that kind of rise. It also started out and stayed humid, which was the real problem. I started out not exactly fast but moving along crisply and felt light on my feet–a good thing. It was pleasant. As the temperature rose the effect of the humidity also rose and I began to flag.

I picked up the pace by the end but it was too late. I braced myself for the overall average: 5:16/km, a full four seconds slower than my last run. Bleah.

I’m going out again in two days and plan on breaking in my new MY110s (2013 edition). They’re a full size bigger than my last pair (9s instead of 8s) and I’m hoping the extra roominess will make my toes happier.

The gap in the run doesn’t have a good reason to go with it like “I was abducted by aliens and only just returned to the planet” or “I was rescuing orphans caught in a typhoon”. I was just indolent and unmotivated. This summer has been hard for running (I’ll expand on that later in a separate post).

The rush hour part was due to the number of people on the trail, quite a few more than I’ve seen recently. I chalk this up to it being a sunny Saturday and will probably stick to Sundays in the future, although as we enter Fall and the weather changes crowds of people on the trail probably won’t be a problem.

The actual run went okay for the most part. My left foot began to feel a bit sore toward the end and once more I skipped the walk back. This concerns me but it’s not affecting the runs yet. Bollocks was about the same as always, needing some time to warm up and then fine until my pace flagged. When my stride becomes more plodding the tendon definitely feels it a lot more. It doesn’t feel like it’s ever slowing me down but I do wonder. I haven’t been able to break five minutes on a 10K+ run in quite awhile and did it regularly last year so obviously something has changed.

Anyway, none of the geese chased or bit me so there’s that.

The return to humidity run

Average pace: 5:14/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail and Conifer Loops
Distance: 10.03 km
Weather: Cloudy, a few sprinkles, humid
Temp: 22-25ºC (felt like 24-26)
Wind: nil to light
Calories burned: 725
Total distance to date: 2415 km

I was bad this week. I kept putting off runs after work due to lack of motivation and a few days of distinctly un-summerlike weather. And so it was that five days passed after my quite decent previous run.

I set out today a few minutes past noon with the temperature already climbing above the average but with the sky overcast and threatening showers. The tone was set a mere two blocks out as I started to sweat from the humid conditions.

Along the river trail I noted two changes. The tipped-over port-0-potty has been removed, likely until next summer (if it returns at all) and a crew had been by to fill the majority of potholes, no small task since there are approximately five million of them. This time they put a little more effort into the job as they used a crushed gravel mix that had a cement-like solidity. Each hole was filled to just overflowing then tamped down firmly. This compares to the previous job, where loose gravel was poured into the holes to less than full, so that any vehicle that passed over a pothole would shoot the loose gravel out from under its tires.

I started out the run trying to repeat last time with a brisk initial pace and was mostly successful, coming in at 4:39/km vs. 4:37/km five days prior. That two second difference became three on the second km. Not great and a sure sign this run would be slower but if I could keep it up for just a few more km…but the bottom fell out on the third km. Last Sunday I was at 14:21 but today I was a pokey 14:32, 11 seconds off. And I had eight km to go. Blargh.

The rest of the run was a variety show of weather–mostly clouds but occasional sun, a few sprinkles, no wind for the most part but an occasional breeze, including an especially welcome one that came just before I reached the Deer Lake Brook bridge. By this point my head and body both felt like they were starting to overheat from a combination of the rising temperature, high humidity and still air. I contemplated ending the run earlier about four times.

In the end I pushed on to the 10K mark and stopped there, walking the last km, mostly along the Avalon Trail. I knew my time would be mediocre at best and feared that adding another km would make it that much worse (it probably wouldn’t have but tell that to a heat-addled brain 10 km in).

My average pace ended up at 5:14/km, not quite the disaster of my 5:19/km pace a week and a half ago but still a letdown from last Sunday.

My next run will probably be a 5K in a few days.

The left foot behaved, though it started getting a little sore on the walk back. Bollocks* started stiff, loosened up, then started to mildly ache again for the last few km, possibly due to my sluggish pace, which seems to be harder on it. I don’t think it affected my time.

* my new official term for my right Achilles tendon until I come up with something better

Happy feet, slow feet

Average pace: 5:22/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops
Distance: 11.02 km
Weather: Sun
Temp: 21-25ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 798
Total distance to date: 2284 km

The best part about today’s run was that I managed 11 km and my left foot did not hurt. Woot, I say. It did start to feel a little sore on the walk back when I was on the last block of Fader Street, about 100-200 m from home and even then it was fine to walk on. To quote Portal, this was a triumph.

With the temperature forecast to climb to 28ºC by afternoon, I headed out at 11:30 a.m. and started my run near the parking lot by the lake, heading clockwise. This was a good choice as the sun stayed on my back for the run instead of the opposite, which generally feels a lot worse.

As the temperature climbed I found myself feeling sluggish. The breeze helped but the high humidity of last weekend was gone and the dry heat tends to leave me feeling parched and without energy. As a result my pace was 5:22/km, a full four seconds slower than my last 11K run. Disappointing, especially with my feet bothering me quite a bit on the previous long outing. Maybe I ran faster just to get it over with.

I pulled the calf of my left leg last night and felt it twinge a few times but not enough to account for the slower performance. Likewise, I had a few seconds of cramping but it subsided and never slowed me down.

The graph on the Nike+ site is one of the weirdest I’ve seen. Most commonly the line from the start of the run to the end does a gradual decline, levels off about halfway through then ticks up at the end. This one basically follows the pattern except instead of leveling off, each km looks like a mountain valley, up and down, up and down, like I kept fighting to push ahead and then my body said “Nope!” and eased off. I do not remember experiencing anything like this during the run itself.

I am thinking about possibly running again tomorrow to see how it would compare to today’s.

One other thing I’ll say: when I finished I went to the faucet near the dam and drank about eight handfuls of cold water and it was the best water I’ve had all year. There is something absolutely wonderful about cool, fresh water after a long, dry run.

A longer and still pleasantly performing run

Average pace: 5:03/km
Location: Brunette River trail, Burnaby Lake (CCW) to Conifer Loop
Distance: 8.03 km
Weather: Sun
Temp: 24ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 580
Total distance to date: 2273 km

Knowing that pizza was in the offing for dinner tonight I opted to run a little farther than the planned-for 5K. I walked to the Brunette River trail, relished that it was slightly cooler than yesterday and headed off, continuing to Burnaby Lake where I followed the Spruce Loop and Conifer Loop trails before heading back on the main one. I hit the 8K mark shortly after exiting the river trail.

To my pleasant surprise, my left foot did not get sore over the extended distance. My pace was a little slower than yesterday at 5:03/km but when the extra distance is factored in it works out to be nearly the same, so I’m not disappointed there.

The large dip in speed that happened during the 5-6K mark is something I actually noted during the run. I had just left Burnaby Lake and was running up the sidewalk leading back to the river trail. It’s mostly uphill and steeper than any other part of the run. I felt slower and made a mental note to check if that really was the case. Yes, it turns out gravity works just like the scientists say it does.

Other than that, my pace was pretty consistent, so I’m again pleased with the result.

This was my fourth day of running in the past five days (and fifth run) so I’m taking Thursday night off. I haven’t decided if Friday will be a short run, a long one or an in-betweener. I may not decide until I’m actually running because sometimes I’m nutty like that.

A better than expected run

Average pace: 5:01/km
Location: Brunette River trail
Distance: 5.03 km
Weather: Sun
Temp: 18ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 364
Total distance to date: 2224 km

With my new shoes on and my right tendon feeling better, I decided to risk a short 5K run. The first km or so was not exactly comfortable but once I warmed up I found the right tendon actually felt fine and it remained so afterward. I finished with a respectable 5:01 pace, slower than the last few runs but pretty decent given my condition after the previous one.

I’m writing this post a day later (though posting it to the actual run date) and will say that the muscles in both legs are a bit stiff and the feet are as well. The Merrell shoes are a lot more minimalist than my previous pairs and feel a lot closer to running barefoot. I’ve decided that while this will make them completely groovy for when my feet are no longer sore or ailing, it’s less than ideal while they are.

So in a move that would make Imelda Marcos proud, I am going to buy another pair of shoes, specifically a pair of more traditional trial runners with better support. I’ll wear these until I’m comfortable with the condition of my feet then will switch back to the Merrells.

The tired early June run

Average pace: 5:27/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Spruce Loop and Conifer trails
Distance: 11.1 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 21-22ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 808
Total distance to date: 2167 km

Today’s run was a disappointment. With the sky clear, temperature warm but not uncomfortably so and a light breeze blowing I couldn’t ask for much better conditions on a late spring day.

The first ominous sign was that merely walking around home and doing simple chores like sweeping led to my left foot feeling mildly sore. I’d also messed up my sleep schedule a bit over the weekend by going to bed hours later than normal. Even after getting up late to compensate I still felt droopy this morning.

The good news is that the left foot did not fare any worse than the previous run. It was a little sore by the end but still much better than previous times. I still opted to walk to the Production Way SkyTrain station instead of back along the Brunette River trail. No sense pushing it for the sake of burning a few more calories.

The right tendon flared up a bit from time to time but again it was never a major issue. Adding in as more delightful complications: the left shin flared a few times, very briefly and not really painfully. I chalk this up to the leg muscles starting to feel the effects of the year’s running. This should smooth out naturally over the summer. The right knee also made its presence known in a minor and brief way. I think this was the same knee that gave me trouble for one run last year. Again, not a big deal, just another kink being worked out. Or so I hope.

The big problem today was just energy. I steadily lost speed over the first half of the run and by the midway point I was so tired I actually contemplating stopping the run to rest before continuing. I didn’t stop, though, and ended up with a pace of 5:27/km, a full ten seconds off the previous run and effectively erasing the progress I made this week.

Oh well.

It will be interesting to see how the next run’s results compare. Also if my legs find new ways to ache and bother me.

A peppier end of May run

Average pace: 5:17/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran optional Piper Mill, Conifer and Spruce Loop trails
Distance: 11 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 17ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 796
Total distance to date: 2156 km

I just barely squeezed out a full 11 km on today’s run by doing a complete loop right back to my starting point near the dam. The good news is twofold: I slightly improved my pace to 5:17/km while adding a little over 1.5 km over the previous run and my left foot/right tendon fared no worse than the prior run. The left foot may have even felt slightly better. A minor triumph at the end saw me wrapping up the run with a modest boost to speed.

What stood out the most were my leg muscles really starting to feel the effort. The increased speed is obviously making them work harder. I also experienced some mild cramping around the abdomen and muscles around my lower back, also likely due to the strain of the faster pace.

With conditions mild and pleasant I can say this was probably my best run since my left foot became a noticeable annoyance.

The crowded and cranky feet run

Average pace: 5:30/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Ran Piper Mill, Spruce and Conifer Loop trails
Distance: 11.13 km
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 16ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 804
Total distance to date: 2136 km

For the first time ever a flock of geese determined which way I ran. to be more specific, a bunch of geese, including adorable little goslings, were gathered on the trail at the north side of the dam, where I would normally start my run if I was doing my usual CCW loops. I didn’t want to freak out the geese families so I instead went clockwise. This turned out to be good for the geese, not quite as good for me as I’ll explain shortly.

Because of the trouble I’ve been having with my left foot recently I decided to apply a little padding to the affected area in advance by folding over a moleskin bandage over it and holding it in place with a few strips of medical tape.

As it turned out, the padding may have helped a tiny bit, as the left foot wasn’t quite as sore after the run but the fold of the bandage dug into the big toe, resulting in a blister. Blargh, as they say. I’m going to try padding again but will adjust the position of the bandage and also wrap the whole shebang in a tensor bandage to better hold everything in place.

The tendon on the right foot made its presence known throughout the run (and after), though I’m still thinking this is more it getting used to be used again after injury and not necessarily it getting hurt again.

For the run itself I headed out and seemed to be on about the same pace as the run one week prior, which is to say on the slow side. I’ve resigned myself to that until my feet feel better and I run a more regular schedule. I’m clearly well off peak condition.

I noticed a few signs heralding a ‘spring sprint’, with handy arrows pointing in the direction I was heading. As it was about noon I figured the run would likely already be over and indeed I wasn’t seeing anyone else out other than the occasional walker. But lo, somewhere around the 3 km mark (right when I began to feel the first twinge in my left foot) I passed by a few unusually large clusters of people blocking the path. Some moved to let me by, most seemed utterly oblivious to my presence or the presence of anything except the neighbor they were busy gabbing to.

It was also clear that if these people were here to sprint they were doing so at a pace that could be described as very very very deliberate. A lot of them had those giant ATSes with them (all Terrain Strollers). The crowds stretched out to about the 5 km point and there were times where I came to a complete stop as I had no way to get around. There’s a conspicuous drop in my pace in the 4-5K stretch of the run. You’d think getting this mini-break would leave me re-invigorated but it had the opposite effect and I ran for probably a km past the crowds before I fell back into a steady rhythm again.

Overall I’m a little displeased with the run. The left foot is obviously now a chronic issue and the tendon on the right foot has me worried that it may not have healed properly. I’ll have both checked out soon.

I’m planning on running Tuesday and it looks to be my first soggy run of the year. I may get a chance to see how well that waterproofing wax I dipped my light jacket into works. I’d prefer actual late spring weather. 😛

The early Africa Hot and also under the weather run

Average pace: 4:38/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 6.01 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25-28ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 433
Total distance to date: 2103 km

On Friday afternoon I felt a scratchiness in my throat. By Saturday my sinuses, throat and chest were all in agreement–I had caught the same bug as Jeff, just as he is recovering from his bout. On the plus side I got a handy preview of what to expect.

Saturday was fairly mellow, with lots of napping and then a long night’s sleep, so I decided to still head out for my run today and go as far as I could manage, hoping optimally for a complete loop around the lake.

My first tactical error was doing the full 30+ minute walk to the lake instead of cheating and riding the SkyTrain. Combined with the unusually warm weather (it started close to 25ºC and went up nearly three degrees while I was out) meant that I was already at a somewhat low reserve right from the start.

I headed off and the left foot was annoying me again but was bearable. The heat was less so. I was feeling parched not too far in and it only got worse. I maintained a decent pace despite this but could feel my strength ebbing away. As I neared the five km mark I decided I’d push to Still Creek, the unofficial halfway point, then walk to the Burnaby Lake SkyTrain station.

As I neared the bridge on the creek I momentarily toyed with the idea of continuing but quickly tossed it aside because my mouth was cotton and my stamina was gone (collapsing spectacularly over the last half km). I still managed 6 km and an average pace of 4:38/km so I’m pleased at the effort, given the conditions.

The first 10K of the year run

Average pace: 5:04/km
Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Ran optional Piper Mill Trail
Distance: 11.4 km
Weather: Partly sunny
Temp: 13ºC
Wind: light to moderate
Calories burned: 790
Total distance to date: 2086 km

My first run over 10K for the year was overall a success. The weather held out, was mild and even partly sunny early in the afternoon. I ran Burnaby Lake CCW and added in the Piper Mill Trail but skipped Spruce Loop and Conifer. I stopped just past the yellow stanchions outside the parking lot, so a bit short of a full loop, for reasons I will explain below.

The Good: Stamina was not an issue. This was my main concern and it turned out to be pretty much a non-factor. The 5Ks have given me enough of my stamina back that I never felt like I couldn’t keep going. Quite the contrary, I found a comfortable pace early on and maintained it for most of the run.

Run-time was 5:04/km, which a good 30+ seconds off what my pace had been last October but considering the six months off, I find it’s perfectly acceptable. It also compares better to the same time last year when I started running earlier (March) and ramped up to 10Ks after only a few runs. The closest day to compare is April 27, 2012 and my average pace on that day (with a distance of 11.02 km) was 5:26/km.

The right foot was the usual — I could feel the spot in back when I started out but it quickly faded as I warmed up.

The Bad: My left foot was hurting quite a bit by the end of the run and is responsible for a huge dip in my pace between the 9 and 10K mark where I kept flexing the foot, trying to iron out the kinks or whatever is going on down there. I managed to finally flex it in a way that provided some relief and picked back up to my regular pace for the rest of the run. I did elect to walk to the Production Way SkyTrain station (1 km) instead of walking home (4 km).

I’ll be having this checked out as part of my annual physical next month.

The Pretty: I wore a handsome new orange shirt today, along with a new pair of shorts and my newish cap and I must say I cut a dashing (ho ho) figure.

Despite the Crazy Foot™ the run was a success. I suspect my leg muscles will be reminding me of it tomorrow but the plan is to stick to 10Ks going forward.