"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Friday, June 18, 2010

Hows that training going, Steve?

Glad you asked! I was just going to blog about it.

There was some concern over my plan to flog myself into shape quickly ("bootcamping" I guess I called it). The idea is that, if you can manage three or four weeks of unusually hard work, your body takes that as a new "normal." The downside is that you have to REALLY know your body and how it responds to training, or you just end up injured. The part of me that decided to rebel turned out to be my mouth (clever body! I wasn't expecting that) - and for those who wondered about how seriously to take that whining about it, as a general rule, the more I complain about something, the less serious it is (unless I've been complaining about the same thing for several months). When I had the flu last fall, that was serious and I barely mentioned it.

By suddenly doing all my training more than a minute per mile faster than I had been, I'm not getting in the mileage I'd like, but that'll build over the next few weeks. Workouts had been going well until the day before yesterday, when I hadn't been eating or sleeping (I still managed 5 miles in 38 minutes). The biggest problem had been finding dry shoes; it's rained every day for weeks; I ended up putting on a pair of shoes that squished as I laced them.

Yesterday was the first real "fail." It was 87 degrees, dew point 70, 30 mph wind and tornadoes on the way (didn't get a drop of rain in my yard). The plan was to do 5 half-miles in under 3 minutes each with shortish recoveries and then tack on miles until I'd been out for 90 minutes. During the third repeat, I was gasping for air. Being close to home, I took a break, got some water - then, doing anything to keep from going back outside apparently, weighed myself, and found I'd lost 3 pounds in three days. Not eating solid food and having to avoid coffee, tea, alcohol, fruit juice and milk (what other liquids exist?) had taken a toll. I got back outside, forced myself to start running at whatever pace I could; within two miles I was slower than 10 minutes per mile (shut up, RBR, that's slow for me) and weaving. My thighs ached. I had "hit the wall" and was bonking as well. I walked home.

Feeling better today, thanks.

8 comments:

sea legs girl said...

Why is it that 87 with 30 mph winds and tornadoes on the way sounds so wonderful? Yes, I can almost smell it. There is nothing like that here. I ran in a long-sleeved shirt today and, no, I don't live on the other side of the equator (just in case any of the other readers were confused). It's just never warm here.

Glad you got over that hangnail.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

(I still managed 5 miles in 38 minutes)

Last week I ran a 5 mile race in 48 minutes. You'd've beaten me by only about a mile and a half.

Hang your head in shame, SteveQ!

And, yeah ... Shut up, RBR!1!

JUST SHUT TEH F*CK UP, ALREADY!1!

Georgia Snail said...

Steve~ What are your thoughts on the theory that every 5 degrees over 65 adds 30 seconds to your per mile pace...I was running comfortable 9 - 9:30's a month ago when it was in the 70's, now it is real work to hold that same pace....I get that it is harder with the heat, but 30 seconds per 5 degrees?

SteveQ said...

GeorgiaSnail: Heat's different for each person; some don't have any problem with it and some just fall apart. Never heard that formula before, but it sounds like something that someone came up with on the spur of the moment and wasn't meant too literally.

RBR said...

hmpf

I love that your almost dead pace is my speed work pace. Whatevs. I still like you.

I have a crazy idea, 1. don't run when all available oxygen is trapped as water vapor (Little known physiology fact: mammalian lungs cannot extract oxygen that is dissolved in water. I know! You learn something new every damn day!) and 2. let's not wait until your start to lose muscle control before bailing on a goddamn run.

I know, I know. I am a nag and a wet blanket, but damn, dude!

RBR said...

On a non-naggy note, I really like that song. Maybe I should click on more of those :)

PiccolaPineCone said...

which fall marathon are you doing? did i miss that somewhere or is it TBA? gingo on and tell us already! (trying to start a new trend of using the word verification word in a sentence).

SteveQ said...

@RBR: Human lungs can absorb oxygen from supersaturated fluids; it's used to help preemies whose lungs haven't developed.