24 July 2008

Tough Stuff: Hard Runs, Heat, Humidity

It's Take It and Run Thursday at Runner's Lounge. The topic for today is The Tough Stuff.

When it comes to running, I am a confirmed hater of heat and humidity. Trying to train over the last 2 months for an August 23 half marathon has been the most difficult period of running since I got serious about it 5 years ago. Frankly, it's been a little discouraging -- no, I'm not about to give up as I'm too mule-headed for that, but I think that's one reason I haven't posted a blog in about 2.5 weeks.

Just a fer instance: last Saturday was a scheduled 13.1 mile run with the half marathon training team. I woke up feeling good -- looking forward to the run and thinking I would do well. Even 70° and 84% humidity seemed doable. But, from the moment we started running, I was sluggish. By the time we hit mile 8, I was in bad shape (I was hydrating and had ingested a couple of Gu's). Even shorter runs have been hard -- a 6-miler on Tuesday and 4.5 miles today.

The toughest of the tough stuff for me? -- Track repeats, especially 1600m repeats at 90-95% max. (I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them, Sam, I am. -- Not sure why, but that Seuss quote seemed appropriate.)

I've decided there are several factors that are probably a part of this and I'm going to try to work on them over the next 4 weeks before the actual race:

1. Heat and humidity: I have decided that some folks just handle it better than others. David, a college friend of mine, ran in temps that were upper 90's a few days ago. I've not even attempted anything over 80°. While I certainly can't control the weather, I am going to try to do a better job of hydrating well the day before a longish run. I already run early -- 5:15-5:30 AM start during the week and a 6:45 AM start on Saturday.

2. Overtraining: Coach Dean Hebert, blogger at Running Advice and News, posted a Q&A from a reader about hitting a plateau and digressing. The reader's symptoms were similar to mine (though I haven't struggled for 5 months) and one of Hebert's suggestions was that she was overtraining or that her training was stale, too consistent. I can implement some of the suggestions. In fact, I did that today -- I backed off the mileage a bit, ran 4.5 miles rather than 6, and I added several relatively short fartleks during the run to break the steady pace.

3. Mental stamina: Part of my difficulty is that discouragement can be a cyclical downslide. My pride makes me think that every run should at least be good and I really expect every run to be better than the previous one. I know better than that, so, in the words of my favourite TV psychologist, Bob Newhart, "Stop it -- S-T-O-P, new word, I-T -- STOP IT!" As Benjamin Cheever said in Strides: "The runner's high is built on a foundation of runner's lows. The joy is often paid for in advance."

(You HAVE to watch the Newhart video but don't have a mouth full of food or beverage when you do. Word to the wise.)



Run well, y'all,
Bob

6 comments:

Michelle said...

Oh my, that is hysterical and probably oh so true!!! STOP IT DUDE!! Your rockin the running, i certainly know how it feels to run in heat and humidity!! You will do great in the 1/2 marathon, wish i was there with you!!!

Thanks for posting this great video!!

STOP IT!

Joe said...

I live in the south and I do my best not to run between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. It's not the heat...

Joe
www.fitnessgeekga.wordpress.com

Runner Leana said...

Wow, those are some early runs! The heat and humidity can really knock you out regardless. It sounds like you've been able to pin point some issues though, so good luck!

Felice Devine said...

Great Newhart quote and SO APPROPRIATE for when that negative self chatter starts to creep in...you gotta kick it out!

Lily on the Road said...

Thank you for your lovely comments on "open mike" today!!! I am just so glad you are still 'loving running', and thank you, I really loved Newhart!!

Too funny and too true!

take great care!!!

Lauren @ mostly i run said...

It sounds like you're more than ready for that half marathon. And dump lots of water on your head/neck/wrists to keep cool on those sticky hot days.

Good luck!