Run 395
Average pace: 5:37/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 10.03 km
Time: 56:32
Weather: Sunny
Temp: 25-26ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 756
BPM: 161 <- exciting new stat
Weight: 155.6 pounds
Total distance to date: 3214
Device used: TomTom Runner Cardio
I don’t normally run on Saturdays, but given my shifted-due-to-Africa-hot schedule this week, it was the next logical day to head out.
I headed out mid-morning to beat the expected high of 30ºC, and the temperature was warm but not stupidly hot at 25-26ºC. It felt warmer in the exposed parts of the trail but tolerable.
This was my second run using the TomTom Runner Cardio watch and the first 10K using it. It worked fine, though I sweated more, and it felt like it was slipping a few times. It wasn’t, really, as I had it secured tightly enough to leave a nuclear blast-like afterimage on my arm for a good while after the run ended and the watch was off. It did move slightly, and I pushed it up my wrist periodically to ease my paranoia that it would squip down to my hand and twirl uselessly.
I listened to music this time and it was much more entertaining than my breathing. It’s also nice to have the phone safely tucked away in the belt before the run.
After starting out I decided to try accessing some of the other screens showing assorted stats during the run. The first screen was a menu of different options that contained about a million items. I got scared I’d screw something up and just put it back to the default slowly-filling-circle screen. I’ll read up on the different options before the next run and like a good scout, be prepared.
The run itself was a middling 5:37/km–not great for a 10K but not too bad given conditions, the infrequency of 10Ks this year and the fact that the TomTom GPS is probably more accurate (and less generous) than the GPS in my iPhone. The only issue I experienced was my left foot starting to feel a bit sore around the 7K mark. It held up for the rest of the run, but did hurt noticeably on the walk home. My great footrest experiment continues, so we’ll see if the left foot holds up better on future longer runs.
While the dandy new faucet by the dam has not yet been broken, someone did remove the spigot attached to it that had ensured a narrower water flow good for filling water bottles. The spigot and its rubber washer were sitting on a post next to the faucet. Maybe someone really hates water bottles. I tried reassembling it but couldn’t manage the task, possibly because the threads on the faucet may have been partly stripped or possibly because I am as mechanically adept as a rock.
Overall, I am neither pleased nor disappointed by the run. I am happy that I got in a full 10K but will reserve judgment on the pace until I get more runs in on the watch and/or the temperatures come back down a bit.
