The nearly run down twice run

Location: Burnaby Lake, CCW
Distance: 11.02 km
Weather: Overcast, some light rain
Temp: 13ºC
Wind: moderate
Calories burned: 771
Average pace: 5:06/km <– PERSONAL RECORD (tie)
Total distance to date: 1234.12 km

Yes, it’s déjà vu yet again: another run, another personal best for the year to date, another ‘500 km’ completed according to Joan Benoit Samuelson.

The left foot is a minor annoyance now, so it seems to mending nicely.

The wind made the walk and start of the run a bit chilly but I warmed up soon enough. I extended my run a bit by adding in the Conifer and Spruce Loops. I got to the halfway mark a short way past the bridge, just alongside the start of the athletic fields. I always feel a bit intimidated doing a follow-up to a run where I knock a good chunk off my average pace and today was no exception. I pushed a little harder than I might have in the hope that I could at least equal Monday’s effort and at the end came in at a pace of 5:06/km, knocking seven seconds off Monday’s run and tying my best runs to date. Now I’m really intimidated for Friday’s run — but in a good way!

Weather-wise it was cloudy and a light rain began at around the 6K mark that persisted for about the next four km. By the end it had stopped and the sun came out so I arrived home as dry as I’d left. I liked that.

Vehicles were my bane today. The construction of the Brunette River habitat continues and as I approached the construction site a dump truck with trailer was trying to execute a tricky back-up around a tight corner, occupying the entire roadway in the process. The woman guiding the driver asked me to move back a bit at one point and I happily obliged, as that was preferable to being smooshed by a giant dump truck. The third time was the charm and I continued to the lake.

On the run itself I got onto the long straight stretch of the Cottonwood Trail that parallels the train tracks. I heard a rumble behind me and glanced back, thinking it was a train (I’m all logical like that). It was actually a park vehicle bearing down on me. I nimbly moved further to the side of the trail and let it pass. It stopped to collect the garbage from a nearby trashcan and I stepped on the gas a bit to gain some distance before it could terrorize me again. Okay, I was more startled than terrorized but go with it. The same vehicle sneaked up behind me at the end of the run. It was the stuff of nightmares. Very mild nightmares. Mostly I don’t expect vehicles on the trail.

Some additional remedial work has been done on the trail, shoring up parts where pipes allow water to pass under it. The parts that get boggy in the rain haven’t received the same treatment but here’s hoping.

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