Average pace: 5:13/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW)
Ran Piper Mill Trail and Conifer Loops
Distance: 11.02 km
Weather: Cloudy, humid
Temp: 18-19ºC
Wind: none to light
Calories burned: 798
Total distance to date: 2377 km
For reasons I can’t entirely explain I got really lazy after the last run and kept putting off the next, to the point where I’d gone the entire work week without running at all, five days in total.
Come Saturday morning I rectified this by heading out shortly after 11 a.m., weighing on whether conditions and the time-off would favor or hinder me.
Weather-wise, a low pressure system finally bumped up against the high pressure ridge and dropped the temperature down from an average of about 25ºC down to 18ºC. The cooler temperature should definitely work in my favor. Also in the plus column would be the cloudy sky, with nary a bit of sun to beat down on me. On the negative side there was no wind at all and humidity was high — 75%.
As it turned out, that humidity and still air took its toll, making the last few km of the run in particular a real slog. The first part my right Achilles tendon felt very stiff and sore as it worked out its kinks and it really didn’t start to feel okay until the last few km, when I had no energy left to run. 😛
In the end I matched my previous pace exactly, coming in again at 5:13/km. I suppose holding steady under the conditions could be considered a quasi-victory of sorts.
The trail showed little sign of the few showers we’d seen after the month-long dry spell, though the work on the trail along the athletic field is now complete. The fencing is still gone (permanently?) and the freshly gravel-covered section is now at least twice as wide as it was before right up to the corner where it abruptly shrinks back to its original width. The gravel has been pressed nice and firm, so it’s already fine for running on.
I plan on taking a more normal two days off before the next run. Hopefully the conditions will be decent and the foot will be flexible enough to not give me much trouble.
