Distance: 12.33 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 19ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 862
Average pace: 5:10/km
Total distance to date: 1029 km
I knew I would feel more discomfort in my shins tonight because of the two back-to-back runs a few days back and sure enough that is how tonight’s run began. In fact they felt so tender I wondered if I would even complete the run at all. You can see this early on where despite starting with a decent time I add an impressive five seconds after the first km. The achiness never got worse so I managed to keep my pace stable. Then something weird happened.
The endorphins kicked in, I found my zone or something clicked because I managed to make up for that slow stretch over the rest of the run and recovering from a sluggish start is something that doesn’t happen very often. By the end of the run I not only managed to match my previous pace, I ended up exceeding it (the iPod actually said my average pace was 5:09/km before the Nike+ site cruelly rounded it up to 5:10). With the pain receding and my energy bursting I felt like I could have kept on going strong (my pace for the 12-12.33 km stretch was 4:44) but knowing I might regret this performance in the coming days I cooled my jets.
I ran the loop in reverse again and am almost leaning toward preferring it this way, though I can’t say exactly why just yet. During the 12+ km stretch there is only one small spot where you have to cross a road that leads to the rowing center and it’s usually dead quiet there. Tonight as I emerged from around a blind corner (carefully, as it is a blind corner) a motorcycle came roaring around with the driver evidently one of those “There can’t possibly be anyone else ever on the road!” types, as he came far too close to me for my liking. I later nearly had a fellow jogger smoosh into me doing the same thing on another blind corner. Pay attention, people! Please. 🙂
Chart (All runs at Burnaby Lake except those in blue which are at China Creek):
| km | Sep 2 | Aug 31 | Aug 26 | Aug 19 | Aug 15 | Aug 11 | Aug 8 | Aug 4 | Aug 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 km | 4:52 | 4:51 | 4:51 | 4:50 | 4:55 | 4:54 | 5:04 | 4:51 | 4:51 |
| 2 km | 4:57 | 4:53 | 4:55 | 4:54 | 4:57 | 4:55 | 5:05 | 4:54 | 4:52 |
| 3 km | 5:00 | 4:57 | 4:58 | 4:57 | 4:58 | 4:58 | 5:07 | 4:59 | 4:56 |
| 4 km | 5:02 | 4:58 | 5:01 | 5:00 | 5:02 | 5:00 | 5:09 | 5:04 | 4:58 |
| 5 km | 5:03 | 4:59 | 5:05 | 5:01 | 5:05 | 5:02 | 5:11 | 5:07 | 5:00 |
| 6 km | 5:04 | 5:01 | 5:08 | 5:03 | 5:06 | 5:03 | 5:12 | 5:09 | 5:01 |
| 7 km | 5:06 | 5:03 | 5:10 | 5:05 | 5:08 | 5:04 | 5:14 | 5:11 | 5:04 |
| 8 km | 5:07 | 5:05 | 5:12 | 5:07 | 5:09 | 5:06 | 5:16 | 5:13 | 5:06 |
| 9 km | 5:08 | 5:06 | 5:14 | 5:09 | 5:11 | 5:08 | 5:16 | 5:14 | 5:07 |
| 10 km | 5:09 | 5:08 | 5:16 | 5:11 | 5:13 | 5:08 | 5:17 | 5:15 | 5:09 |
| 11 km | 5:10 | 5:10 | 5:18 | 5:12 | 5:14 | — | 5:17 | 5:16 | 5:10 |
| 12 km | 5:10 | 5:11 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
