Run 364
Average pace: 5:25/km
Location: Burnaby Lake (CW)
Distance: 5.03 km
Time: 27:13
Weather: Cloudy
Temp: 8-11ºC
Wind: light
Calories burned: 365
Total distance to date: 3029
Device used: iPhone 5c
Various factors contributed to me missing both runs during the week so today’s effort was the first in a week and the first after my appalling tortoise time of 5:38/km. I was confident that unless I got eaten by a bear on the trail I could manage to beat this slothful pace, even with a week of stuffing potato chips into my face.
And I did! My pace was still very slow for a 5K at 5:25/km but it was still good enough to knock a lucky 13 seconds off last week’s run. I had no issues on the run and though my left foot started getting cranky after the run I still managed to walk the rest of the way home (about 9K) at a brisk pace.
The weather was the coolest it’s been since early spring, starting around 8ºC and rising to 11ºC by the end. It didn’t feel particularly cool, though. It was actually kind of nice and though I wore my long sleeve t-shirt, I think I would have been fine in a regular one.
With the rain of late there was a certain amount of puddle-dodging required, though the run itself remained dry. I also remained dry until the very end and I mean this literally. Just moments before I hit the 5K mark I hit the tree-lined section adjacent to the athletic fields. The drainage here has basically stopped functioning so when we have heavy rain it tends to flood from the edge of the field and across the entire width of the trail. I tried skirting the edge but the water and muck was unavoidable.
It didn’t actually matter because farther up the trail was again flooded in an impossible-to-avoid way. Such is the way of running in the fall once The Rains have started.
I also nearly had a dog incident just prior to the first boardwalk (about 1.5 km in) when a couple had let their spastic canine scamper off ahead of them. Judging by the insane way it was capering about I surmised that they keep it locked in the basement most of the time and now that it was out it was determined to enjoy its precious freedom to the full. I keep a wary eye on it but sure enough it abruptly changed direction and cut right in front of me, causing me to do a sudden detour. Had this happened on the boardwalk the detour would have been into the swamp and I would have been rather displeased.
As it was I turned my head back and barked (ho ho) a curt “Leash your dog!” I have no doubt they thought I was rude and some kind of rules Nazi to boot. the rest of the run was free of further incidents of either a two or four-legged nature.
I’m not sure what will happen on Tuesday. It looks like we may get the remains of the season’s first hurricane rolling in, which will make things very windy and wet, plus the sun is now setting before 6 p.m., making it a challenge to complete even a 5K before darkness descends. If I had a mutant power I would want super-awesome night vision. Plus the ability to fly. And invisibility. But only those three. Yes.
If Tuesday looks like a no-go I may try running on the treadmill (bleah) at the Canada Games Pool, try the elliptical there instead or see if the track at a nearby high school keeps the lights on in the early evening.
