The buggy run

Distance: 11.18 km
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 22ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 781
Average pace: 5:10/km
Total distance to date: 933 km

Back to Burnaby Lake tonight. With the temperature still 22ºC at 7 p.m. I expected it to be warm and humid and it was. I also expected the bug-filled parts of the trail near the western tip of the lake to be especially bug-filled, given the rain from yesterday morning and the prevailing conditions. And it was very buggy.

I’m pretty sure I inhaled more than one. At one point it felt like I got something lodged in my windpipe and I tried clearing my throat. That didn’t seem to work so I coughed a few times. As I passed over a bridge I suddenly was taken with the urge to retch. This is not what one would call optimal running conditions. Fortunaqtely I did not retch, my stomach settled down and I finished thew run without further incident.

At times my shins felt a bit tender but I believe it was a combination of form (as the feeling went away when I concentrated on my form) and another five day layoff. This one was unintended, as other events ended up squeezing out my running time. I should be good to go again in two days, though.

Despite the mid-run glitch (between 6-7 km, — you can see my pace fall off by three seconds there) I turned in a solid 5:10/km average — identical to my last run, which was also after five days off. I got that consistency thing going.

And I must commend a polite and observant dog owner. She was walking two dogs, one on each side of her. The one on her left was stretched out on its leash, effectively blocking the path. I had to clear my throat as I approached and it served as a cue to her. She glanced back, saw me and neatly pulled the one dog close to her so I could pass. I waved and offered thanks as I did so. Why can’t all dog owners be like this? Thank you, nice lady!

Chart (blue indicates the run was done clockwise; purple = Burnaby Lake):

km Aug 1 Jul 27 Jul 20 Jul 17 Jul 14 Jul 11 Jul 9 Jul 6 Jul 4
1 km 4:51 4:56 4:53 4:56 4:45 4:54 4:58 5:08 4:58
2 km 4:52 4:54 4:56 4:54 4:47 4:56 4:58 5:11 5:02
3 km 4:56 4:55 4:55 4:58 4:56 4:51 4:58 5:03 5:08
4 km 4:58 4:56 5:00 4:58 4:54 5:01 5:07 5:17 5:12
5 km 5:00 5:00 5:01 5:00 4:54 5:03 5:10 5:20 5:14
6 km 5:01 5:02 5:02 5:02 4:59 5:03 5:12 5:22 5:15
7 km 5:04 5:04 5:03 5:04 5:00 5:04 5:15 5:25 5:17
8 km 5:06 5:06 5:05 5:06 5:02 5:06 5:17 5:27 5:19
9 km 5:07 5:07 5:06 5:08 5:04 5:08 5:19 5:30 5:21
10 km 5:09 5:09 5:06 5:09 5:06 5:10 5:20 5:31 5:21
11 km 5:10 5:10 5:10 5:01 4:59

 

 

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