The Inception run

Average pace: 4:33/km

Location: Brunette river trail, Lower Hume Park
Distance: 5.32 km
Weather: Sun, high cloud
Temp: 20-22ºC
Wind: light to nil
Calories burned: 361
Total distance to date: 1817 km

This morning’s run sucked.

After having a convenient detour pointed out to me by Jeff, I headed out at 9 a.m. It was already 20º C so I knew an afternoon run would have been all kinds of Africa hot, possibly for the last time this summer. My plan was to run Brunette river trail to the fenced-off bridge, take the trail up to the train tracks then cross over all three sets to the other side, where a (unknown to me) trail continues on, following a road that loops back to Cariboo Road. This would add some distance to my run but would otherwise be no big thing. Best of all: no running on railroad ties.

The first sign of trouble was a construction guy standing at the entrance to the river trail. I asked him if I’d be able to get to the bridge. He said a flatbed truck with trailer would be arriving shortly and backing down the trail (!) but other than that I was good to go to the bridge.

It turned out I misunderstood him. He was explaining that the overpass that is part of the Highway 1 expansion would be as far as I could get and it is some ways before the bridge. Indeed, as I approached it I could see the mega-crane truck positioned squarely across the trail and further fencing insuring there would be no passage. My detour route was blocked by another detour.

There is an access road that leads north off the trail a few hundred meters back from the overpass so I ran back and climbed up it. The rail tracks were here but to their left was a nice flat area suitable for running. Some construction equipment was off to the side. I could see the overpass in the distance and as I got closer it became obvious that the construction around and on it would block any attempts to get through. It makes sense that they wouldn’t want Joe Pedestrian waltzing (or jogging) through, so I turned back and simply headed off the trail, passing the flatbed truck and construction guy on the way out. The slow speed of the truck at least saved me from another mega dust cloud.

I stopped the run at Lower Hume Park, covering 5.32 km. My pace was a zippy 4:33/km but a 5K run seems kind of short these days so I didn’t really revel in it. The pool at the main Hume Park was already drained, which looked odd on a day when it would have been packed, another reminder that summer is winding down.

My new new detour plan that I’m going to try out tomorrow morning is to take the SkyTrain to either Production Way or Sperling, walk to the lake, run the loop then head back to the SkyTrain station. I’ll be timing the route to see how well it will work with the fading light of early evening. Now I just have to hope they don’t suddenly decide to take the entire SkyTrain offline tomorrow for maintenance or something.

Chart