Average pace: 4:45/km <– personal record
Location: Burnaby Lake, CW
Distance: 11.93 km
Weather: Steady rain
Temp: 14ºC
Wind: none
Calories burned: 846
Total distance to date: 1462 km
Ran Piper Mill Trail, Conifer and Spruce Loops.
By coincidence I finished today’s run with the exact same distance as Wednesday — 11.93 km. It was not supposed to be as long but thanks to the iPod click wheel that’s how it ended up. I’ll get to why shortly.
The forecast for this afternoon was for a 30% chance of precipitation and less than 1 mm. A 30% chance pretty much means 100% so I went prepared, bringing along the plastic baggie that would keep my iPod dry and functional. The sky was overcast and while one part of it looked fairly non-threatening the other had the look of imminent rain. I walked through Hume Park and to the Brunette River trail and as I approached the overpass there the first few drops began. By the time I got to the lake it was pouring steadily and it kept raining for the entire run and the walk back. By the time I got home my hands were almost numb from the cold. Our brief summer tease of two days ago turned out to be just that, a tease.
I ran clockwise to get the detour part of the trail out of the way as soon as possible and it seems I misremembered how it sloped because there are three distinct hills going down this way, meaning it is a bit easier to run clockwise, rather than the other way around as I had noted previously. Because I was not burdened by warm temperatures and needed to keep moving just to keep from freezing I kept up a good pace throughout. I even picked it up a bit as I came out of the Spruce Loop and another runner whisked ahead of me. I had seen her prepping earlier near the halfway mark and had expected her to already be well past me as she would be only a few km in vs. my 9 km or so. I took up the challenge to keep up but she pulled ahead. I valiantly gave it my best and reached a point where she was ahead but no longer gaining ground, so I consider it a moral victory.
As I came in toward the dam for the finish I pulled out the plastic baggie and reached in to end the workout on the iPod. Although it was dry my hands were not and wiping them on my drenched shirt and shorts wasn’t helping. Even a tiny bit of moisture on my fingertip was enough to render the click wheel useless. I could bring up the workout options but not scroll down to the fourth one, End Workout. I kept running and trying, adding about 300 or 400 m to the run and was finally able to get it to shut down just as I reached the literal end of the trail (at Cariboo Road).
I then tried to see if I could get the music to at least resume for the soggy walk home but gave up after numerous attempts. I now officially hate the iPod and the click wheel. I’m seriously considering using the much heavier iPhone for my runs. Stupid click wheel.
On the plus side, I finished four seconds ahead of my previous best pace, finishing with a new record of 4:45/km. Woo! I also set records for the following:
1K: 4:28
5K: 23:31
10K: 47:23
I didn’t experience any notable pain or discomfort. Even the left foot behaved itself, more or less.
