Walk 109: Form over function

View of Brunette River, early in the walk

I was going to do the other part of my 5K today (the 3K part) after not doing it on Friday for reasons, but then slept in (bad), though I had a good sleep (uh, good). In the end I did a good old-fashioned walk-run, with a fair bit of running mixed in, including one full km of uninterrupted running at a pace of 5:30/km.

The only AOC1Area of Concern was my right ankle. Right near the end of that 1 km stretch, it started to twinge again. I stopped running (as planned) and when I tried a bit later, it twinged once more, but then seemed to settle down. I don’t think it’s actually hurt/sprained/broken or anything, but it’s weird and off-putting. I have enough trouble with my knees now, I’d like the ankles to behave. Maybe I need to look up ankle workouts.

As for the experience otherwise, it went well. The weather was mild, with a light breeze and a mix of sun and cloud. Humidity was high enough to avoid DMS2Dry Mouth Syndrome, always a nice bonus.

The title of the post is not in reference to me, as I try to keep my form functional when running. There was a guy who ran past me, though, who had a unique running style. He was also wearing a polo-style shirt, which is super rare for running (it’s 99.9% t-shirts and the other 0.1% is shirtless). Usually when you run, you pump your arms up and down. It kind of happens automatically. Some pump fast, some pump slow, some pump with gusto, some pump in a more minimalist manner. I am pretty average here. The main thing that is common to all runners is the motion is vertical.

This guy was doing it horizontally. He almost but not quite looked like he was flailing his arms. It did not seem very aerodynamic. He ran past me to the end of the river trail and circled back, so I hastily grabbed a photo as he went by, to see if I could capture the arm motion. I was partly successful:

Anyway, despite the late start, it was nice to get out and move my body.

View to left of the turtle nesting area, approximately halfway through the walk/run.

Stats:

Walk 109
Average pace: 7:58/km

Location: Brunette River trail/Burnaby Lake
Distance: 10.02 km
Time: 1:11:53
Weather: Sun and cloud
Temp: 17°C
Humidity: 63%
Wind: light
BPM: 130
Weight: 170.7 pounds
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255
Total distance to date: 823.63 km

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