Where’s the shade?

A few days have passed, and I thought the time had come for a new post.

What’s going in my world now?

Well, with the passing from June into July, I am now starting my training buildup for the Wine Glass Marathon in Corning, NY.

Training for a marathon means extra time on the roads, longer workouts, and harder workouts. Making those workouts doubly tough is the southern summer heat and humidity. Mark Hadley has been known to say “the heat and humidity in the south is the poor man’s altitude training” or something close to it. I may have paraphrased just a little.

Today, my workout today fell right in the middle of Mark’s comment. My SPF 100 sun screen feels like a second layer to skin, but it did little to keep away the cooking feeling that I experience during my run. Cars in the summer time can often over heat and when they do, the steam rolls out of their radiators. Sweat was running down my arms and legs before even left my drive way.

My workout today was an 8 mile tempo but with a catch, I wanted to keep my heart rate between 160 and 169. I started with a 1 mile warm up (like a warm up was really needed and then a 1 mile cool. As if such a thing was really possible today).

Here are a few observations from my workout today.

·         In the first mile of my tempo, my heart rate averaged 144.

·         The second and third miles, it averaged 155 and 156.

·         Miles 4-8, it pushed into the 165 to 166 range.

·         Climbing hills pushed up heart rate as expected.

·         Flat roads were better for controlling my heart rate.

·         Pushing over 170 beats per minute, my legs suddenly felt weak and I no longer felt in control.

·         During the last 3 miles, I went 6:41, 6:59, and 7:07. I was not even breathing hard.

·         My max heart rate was 196 which occurred when I was just starting.

·         My max heart rate while running my tempo was 172.

Tip of the day:

“Running during the heat of the day should be done in the shade if at all possible.”

Several sections of my course today were shaded. Upon just transitioning from the direct sunlight to the shade made me feel better. But it was not just my perception that I was feeling better. I could see the difference directly in my heart rate. If I were in the shade for more than 100 meters, my heart would drop 5 or 6 beats per minute. This was with no change in effort or terrain. I just went from direct sunlight to the shade.

Charlotte summers are brutal on runners. The best advice that I can offer is to pick the shadiest course possible when running during the heat of the day and make sure to hydrate.

And be wise about your running.

 

Sharing one thought at time,

The Cool Down Runner