Today was my only tough run of the week, as I prepare for the New Jersey Half Marathon on Sunday. The assignment was 10 miles at general aerobic pace + 4 miles at MPace (7:00).
Oh, my God. What a horrible run! Today was the perfect storm of bad runs: I woke up still fatigued from Sunday, with an upset stomach and bad allergies. Did I mention my right quads have been giving me grief too? I spent a couple of hours waiting for my stomach to calm down, only making it out the door at 8AM. By that time, it was already 75F.
I dutifully ran my 10 miles at the lowest HR I could that would still count as “general aerobic,” or 72% of max. The pace? 9:17. Lordy. That’s a recovery run pace on most days.
I got to the track to find full sun and a steady 8mph wind. By this time, it was 82F. Which means it felt like about 100F while running. I’d told myself not to look at paces, but instead focus on effort. I ran 1 mile and peeked at the time at the end: 7:13. Okay, not bad. But it was unsustainable. On the next lap, my HR was up to 89%, my pace down to 7:43.
I lay down in the shade for five minutes, debating whether or not to abandon the run. I’ve not yet abandoned any workout this season, so I didn’t want to start now. I ran another mile (7:52 at 88% HR) and lucked upon an abandoned, unopened bottle of water in the grass, amongst the dozen or so half consumed bottles. (Can’t be too careful with swine flu and cooties going around.) After a good guzzle I set out for the final mile: 7:49 at 93% HR).
I knew an MPace workout was not to be from the moment I woke up this morning. But it is always a shock to see just how much the heat can affect me. I was running tempo effort at the end at nearly a minute off MPace. It is what it is. But that degradation in performance, coupled with the extreme discomfort of running in high heat, has me dreading summer training already.
At least I get to relax for the next four days.
Filed under: training |
Races Like a Girl 
You and Flo are having terrible temps! We are having rain, snow and cold temps here in Colorado. Maybe if we pray to the weather gods we can get something in between for all of us!!!!!
Julie, sorry to hear it was a sucky one, but to do speed at 82 degrees on a shadeless track was very brave of you, even without the queasy tummy and sore quad. Try to file this under “not meant to be” and be happy that tomorrow will be much cooler.
Also, because of all the extra circumstances today, don’t let this freak you out for summer running. Just get out earlier for speedwork or switch days when possible. Looking at my logs, my hottest speed sessions last year were 77 and 75 degrees (both at 7am), the rest managed to be in the 60s.
Oh, cool that you got a bottle of un-cootied water. 🙂
Flo. Don’t be silly. All of your speed sessions are hot.
hee hee
Better not to run whitt that heat, it is to hot for running and your body and muscles can not normal react!.
The recovery wil be slow.
Jullie, you have train many weeks in cold wether in newyork and this heat is to much for your marathon scheme!.
Better to run whit this heat at the treadmill or take e rest for a week, thats the best training for a marathon!!.
Rinus.
Indeed impressive in today’s heat. And the track in hell? It has no markings and you don’t even know how long it is.
Joe, that’s too funny.
Not sure what you can do about that, except get out the door earlier. On really hot days at the track, those water atomisers with iced water in them are good – spray on your face every couple of laps… but then you need a table.
Really, on hot days you just have to slow down 🙂