New Years Run

[emily_in_nc]

Oh! I don't think that a ten minute mile is slow at all!

Thanks! But my first mile was 10:44, so that took my average up quite a bit.

[Bones8]

I did much better in my NY Eve 5k than I anticipated, finishing 4 minutes faster than the goal I set for myself and earning me 2nd place for females in my age group. It was really motivating! It was also my first race ever and I think I've been bitten by the bug...I'm looking for more races to sign up for and working on building up to 10k, although 5k feels like a really "fun" distance.

[OakLeaf]

Haha, you've got the bug too. Congratulations on your age group award!!

Emily - none of us here are going to the Olympics (unless someone's sandbagging )! It's all about putting in the work - be proud of yourself, you are not slow!

Kat - nice work! It finally cooled off here yesterday, hope it did for you too. Non-running related illustration of the temperature and humidity - Sunday I did a mat yoga class but they have aerial in the studio too, so before class I was just hanging upside down in a kite. They keep the studio warm (not hot), but Sunday they had all the windows open because it was so hot and humid outside. When the teacher got ready to start class I turned myself back rightways up ... and all the sweat started dripping the other direction on my body ... just from hanging there in the ambient temperature. Yecccch!

Yesterday was beautiful for my tempo run though. Now that the holidays are finally over I can nail down a consistent schedule because I really want to start joining my bike club's slow Thursday ride.

[emily_in_nc]

Thanks for the encouragement, Oakleaf! Where are you that it has been so hot and humid?

I did another 5K at the track today and beat my previous time by almost a minute. This time my three miles were 10:22, 10:01, and 9:47, in that order. It is really hot & humid here most mornings, and the sun was out full-strength, so I think I could do a bit better in a cooler locale. Because of the heat, I am not sure how much I'll be able to increase my distance, but I am going to keep up a schedule of a couple of 5K runs per week (I do yoga or a bike ride the other mornings) as long as I can tolerate the climate. Perhaps it will get easier the more I acclimate?

[katluvr]

Ran 4 miles Tuesday AM before heading to Anna Maria Island where my parents are staying for a week. It was cool enough, in the 60's. Had a nice run.
This AM had a windy and cool run along the paved beach path. Just 3 miles. But a lovely place to run.
Back to work tomorrow. Expecting "frigid temps" (by FL standards) in the AM. By this weekend it will be warm FL again, just in time for my 18 mile run.

K

[Bones8]

Thanks for the encouragement, Oakleaf! Where are you that it has been so hot and humid?

I did another 5K at the track today and beat my previous time by almost a minute. This time my three miles were 10:22, 10:01, and 9:47, in that order. It is really hot & humid here most mornings, and the sun was out full-strength, so I think I could do a bit better in a cooler locale. Because of the heat, I am not sure how much I'll be able to increase my distance, but I am going to keep up a schedule of a couple of 5K runs per week (I do yoga or a bike ride the other mornings) as long as I can tolerate the climate. Perhaps it will get easier the more I acclimate?

If you want to increase your distance you'll likely need to slow down. I train in zone 3 on my heart rate monitor as I'm building up to 10k, which means i am only training at an 11 min mile or slower. It took me a while to get used to, because most of its are used to the mindset that if we aren't pushing ourselves to moderate pain we aren't going to see progress. Next month i plan on starting a mix of endurance runs, speed intervals, and tempo runs. For now, it's slow and steady

[emily_in_nc]

If you want to increase your distance you'll likely need to slow down. I train in zone 3 on my heart rate monitor as I'm building up to 10k, which means i am only training at an 11 min mile or slower. It took me a while to get used to, because most of its are used to the mindset that if we aren't pushing ourselves to moderate pain we aren't going to see progress. Next month i plan on starting a mix of endurance runs, speed intervals, and tempo runs. For now, it's slow and steady

I'm sure you're right that I'd need to slow down to build endurance for distance. But with the heat and humidity here (Playa del Carmen, Mexico), I don't want to be out on the track any longer than I am since I am not very good at getting up any earlier than I do already (around 6:30 am). So my current plan is just to stick with the 5K distance for fitness and bone strength since I have no aspirations to do long runs. I'm primarily a cyclist, but since the cycling is limited here, it's nice to have the options to run and do yoga for variety!

If we are ever in a cooler climate, I might work on building running distance, but for now, I just want to get 'er done and get back to our rental for a cool shower!

[Bones8]

Ha! I can totally understand that! I only took up running to cross train for cycling but now that I'm looking at duathlons I've had to get more into it. I find running in the hot humidity awful! In any case, 5k is a good distance.

[OakLeaf]

Emily, you might just try running in the warmer part of the day once or twice, just to see. My experience is that I'm much more likely to experience heat stress if I run in the early morning when the humidity is so much higher, even though the temperature is lower. Once the humidity is even above 85% - and typically in early morning it's closer to 95% - but anyway, beyond 85% sweat really doesn't evaporate at all, meaning my body can't cool itself whatsoever. The main source of core heat is the body's own heat generation, not the ambient temperature. Once the humidity drops to 75% or 80% by midday, even though the thermometer might show a much higher figure, I can run the same distance and pace with a lot less chance of dizziness and nausea by the end.

[rocknrollgirl]

I got cleared to start slowly returning to running post foot surgery. Today is six weeks out. I tried a bit of walk run on Tuesday, but it still hurts pretty bad to impact. So I am taking that as my body saying it is not healed enough. If I have to gimp along to do it, I am not ready. My PT told me that it is usually 8 weeks post surgery before they consider the initial healing to have taken place. Which makes sense to me.

So i will stick to running, yoga and lifting for now and try again in a week or so.

[Helene2013]

Better be safe than sorry. I remember when I had my breast reduction (which is far less serious than a foot) I was told it was about 6 weeks before running. On the 4th week, I was allowed to do "some" light running on the trainer. And wear 2 sports bra - one over the other to protect the boobs as the inside was not healed yet even if it looked good on the outside. And even then it was not that great. So I can truly read you on the present pain.

When I had my knee surgery, it took a lot of time before I resumed to most activities. Do you have access to a pool (like school) you can try swimming in the meantime?

[rocknrollgirl]

Better be safe than sorry. I remember when I had my breast reduction (which is far less serious than a foot) I was told it was about 6 weeks before running. On the 4th week, I was allowed to do "some" light running on the trainer. And wear 2 sports bra - one over the other to protect the boobs as the inside was not healed yet even if it looked good on the outside. And even then it was not that great. So I can truly read you on the present pain.

When I had my knee surgery, it took a lot of time before I resumed to most activities. Do you have access to a pool (like school) you can try swimming in the meantime?

We do have access to a pool, although it is high school swim season so tough to get in. My hubs and I both do tri's so it was just a matter of waiting to get cleared to go in. The doc needed to wait until the incision was completely healed on the outside. We may try and get in this weekend, which will be unpleasant at best because I have been out for a bit. OY.

As long as I can mt bike, I will not get too squirrelly. Tough to watch my husband our mt bike friends pack up and head off when I was stuck inside.

[OakLeaf]

If the pool isn't so crowded and you can have a lane to yourself, you might try deep water running too. It's neuromuscularly the same as running on land - in fact it always helps my "real" running form when I do it, because it reinforces the feeling that my lower body is dangling from T12-L1. The only trouble is you're moving so slowly you really can't share a lane with even the slowest swimmers. I need some pool time myself ...

[rocknrollgirl]

Excellent idea Oak. They have a large family area set up on the weekends. I could grab a corner.

[emily_in_nc]

Emily, you might just try running in the warmer part of the day once or twice, just to see. My experience is that I'm much more likely to experience heat stress if I run in the early morning when the humidity is so much higher, even though the temperature is lower. Once the humidity is even above 85% - and typically in early morning it's closer to 95% - but anyway, beyond 85% sweat really doesn't evaporate at all, meaning my body can't cool itself whatsoever. The main source of core heat is the body's own heat generation, not the ambient temperature. Once the humidity drops to 75% or 80% by midday, even though the thermometer might show a much higher figure, I can run the same distance and pace with a lot less chance of dizziness and nausea by the end.

Excellent point, Oak. I will have to double-check the hours the track is open to the public; I think it's 6 am until noon and then again in the early evening (which doesn't work for me, though it would be cooler -- that's when DH and I are having dinner together and walking our dog after). I usually get there around 7:30 am for my run, but if I were to try going at say, 11, the sun would be higher and humidity less. Enough less to help, I don't know, but it's certainly worth a try.

Thanks!