Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.52 km
Weather: Cloud and sun
Temp: 15ºC
Wind: strong with occasional gusts
Calories burned: 817
Average pace: 5:02/km
Total distance to date: 1313.95 km
Note: I ran all three optional loops today: Piper Mill, Conifer Loop and Spruce Loop.
The start of today’s run my left shin felt a little creaky but once I’d warmed up it was fine. Conversely, my right foot toward the end of the run was hurting a bit, probably due to a pair of ingrown toenails (yuck) that I had trimmed earlier. It wasn’t too bad but I could tell I was shifting weight around to compensate. Everything seems okay now so there shouldn’t be any lasting damage. Time, as always, will tell.
I tied my best opening km today at 4:42/km — again, this was not intentional. It seems that some days I just have a lot of pent-up energy that comes out when I start. Fortunately I don’t wilt after these fast starts anymore so it doesn’t seem like as much an issue anymore. I also put in my second fastest pace overall: 5:02/km. This is only one second behind my best pace. If I had known I was going to be that close I would have pushed a tiny bit harder. Oh well, it’s nice to have goals.
Weather-wise it was a mix of sun and cloud and seasonal temperatures, with a strong wind blowing. This combination insured I would not overheat, so I’m not complaining.
As for the dogs, let me say this: grr. A lot of dog owners had their dogs off-leash today (because their dogs are always well-behaved, y’know). A larger one nearly bowled into me as it veered across the trail toward me. The couple who owned the dog seemed to find it mildly amusing. Another guy had a pair of dogs, a larger one on a leash (hooray) and what looked like a Mexican Hairless off leash. I nearly stomped the Mexican Hairless as it charged straight at me. I don’t blame it, given that its view of the world is about two inches above the ground but come on, dog owners, leashing your dog not only protects others, it protects your easily squishable dogs, too!
While passing the fields I noticed two families of geese, each with a pair of goslings. Since I had previously seen one family in the same general area with six goslings I am hoping these weren’t among the group because losing 4 of 6 goslings would be pretty harsh for momma and poppa goose.
For the first time I used the pedometer in my iPod to track the walk to and from the lake — about 38 minutes each way, a combined 9560 steps and 415 calories burned in addition to the 817 from the run. Not bad!
Chart (average pace is bolded if different than the last km):
| km | May 18 | May 16 | May 14 | May 11 | May 9 | May 7 | May 4 | May 2 | Apr 30 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:42 | 4:54 | 4:51 | 4:50 | 4:55 | 4:52 | 4:42 | 4:58 | 5:02 |
| 2 | 4:47 | 4:57 | 4:55 | 4:56 | 5:03 | 4:59 | 4:50 | 5:00 | 5:11 |
| 3 | 4:51 | 4:59 | 4:59 | 4:59 | 5:06 | 5:04 | 4:54 | 5:02 | 5:13 |
| 4 | 4:53 | 5:00 | 5:02 | 5:01 | 5:08 | 5:07 | 4:55 | 5:04 | 5:13 |
| 5 | 4:54 | 5:01 | 5:03 | 5:02 | 5:08 | 5:09 | 4:56 | 5:05 | 5:13 |
| 6 | 4:56 | 5:01 | 5:05 | 5:02 | 5:10 | 5:10 | 4:57 | 5:05 | 5:12 |
| 7 | 4:57 | 5:02 | 5:06 | 5:04 | 5:10 | 5:12 | 4:58 | 5:05 | 5:12 |
| 8 | 4:59 | 5:03 | 5:08 | 5:05 | 5:11 | 5:15 | 4:59 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
| 9 | 5:00 | 5:04 | 5:07 | 5:05 | 5:12 | 5:17 | 5:00 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
| 10 | 5:01 | 5:04 | 5:07 | 5:06 | 5:12 | 5:19 | 5:00 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
| 11 | 5:02 | 5:04 | 5:07 | 5:06 | 5:12 | 5:20 | 5:01 | 5:06 | 5:13 |
