Month: May 2010

I was done in today after running nearly 1.5 miles.

I wasn’t expecting this. But very suddenly, my legs told me they couldn’t support this run today and I should stop. I wasn’t in a mood to disagree with them. I stopped, then walked all the way back to the subway along 5th Ave.

I’m not exactly sure why I couldn’t go for 8+ miles today, which is what I set out to do. Here are a few theories:

– Running 20 miles in 2 days is too much for my legs right now. I did 14 miles Saturday and 6+ miles Sunday. I thought I’d be fine today. My lower legs weren’t. My lower right leg, medial side, hurt the most. I didn’t notice it when walking–only when doing my bouncing as I prep for my run. I tore off fine, but suddenly, near where I stopped, I could tell my legs weren’t liking this one bit. I feared I was approaching some kind of injury zone that if I didn’t pay attention to, I would definitely regret it.

– It was about 84 degrees and very bright. I didn’t make it around to the CNN Tower to see what the temperature was, but it was 81 degrees when I left and 85 when I got back, so I suspect somewhere around 84 degrees. It was only about 40% humidity so it didn’t feel excessive, but the sun was pretty powerful, so the heat was unrelenting when I wasn’t in the shade.

– My heart rate monitor diminishes my performance. I’m still tweaking the band that is supposed to go around my ribcage to get it to the most comfortable circumference. However, it still seems to restrict my breathing a bit. A bit here can mean a ton overall, so I’m wondering if its negative effects are felt more in hot situations. It didn’t feel too restrictive, but I’m unsure if it might have been hindering me.

– I worked out my legs too much at the gym yesterday, not giving them enough recovery time. I suppose that’s also a possibility. I just might not be in the shape needed to do as much as I did.

– I had a bag of microwave popcorn before bed. I wanted to experiment with the effect of salt on my body for runs. In particular, I wanted to see if I’d feel more hydrated. I’m unsure after this brief trial, though I wonder if its use influenced my inability to endure in today’s heat.

I did have ArginMax and quercetin today on an empty stomach–no PowerGel. I doubt the lack of food had an effect, but maybe that’s possible.

Whatever the case, my lower legs did not feel rested. I’m going to take the day off today and see if I can get in a late run tomorrow, since I think I’ll be available to. Stay tuned!

My fear is that I’m developing some kind of tibial stress fracture, though pain seems generally to be mirrored on both of my legs. I also want to get new running shoes since I think I’ve nearly maxed out the mileage on my Mizuno Wave Rider 13s, especially since they’ve started to break down a bit. I think I’m moving to some Wave Precision 10s I’ve had for some time but haven’t used yet.

Note: I’m titling my runs but the approximate temperature as a means for analyzing my pace. The only time I don’t plan on doing this is on race days, when I’ll name the runs after my races.

Ha ha! I snuck up on Elizabeth Corkum today during her run, tapped her on the shoulder as I passed her, and said, “You’re it!”

While I got a boost of adrenaline when I did that, telling me maybe that I could do 8+ miles, I ended up just doing a full loop of the park. It was hot at 80 degrees but with only about 30% humidity, though the sun was pretty bright and without a cloud in the sky, the 80 degrees was a true 80 degrees.

Although this was a day after my first 14-mile run, my body felt great apart from my legs feeling only a little bit tired. I was thinking in pen metaphors: “My legs don’t have ink to write 8 miles …” Fun metaphor, though I know you’re probably just blinking.

As for the stats, I set out with the goal of doing my 8+ miles in under an hour, which was what I forecasted I’d do by week’s end. I might have ended close to that, though my pace of 7:43s suggests probably not. My first mile was on the fast side as I was pushing myself, though the heat made pushing myself pretty tough today. However, no one passed me to my recollection. I seemed to be holding up decently in this weather, though I was craving some water.

I had thought I might end up faster today because I have a history of setting PRs the days after my long runs. I think the heat was the main factor that didn’t happen today since my legs generally felt cooperative.

My maximum heart rate for this run was 191 bpm, which for some reason is listed as 103% of my MHR despite my having set it for 195 bpm. Hopefully that’s just a hiccup. I didn’t have too much “creep” in my HR during this run, says the graph. My average HR was 173 bpm.

I waited for Elizabeth to finish as she was ending her double loop. She finished really strong and I got in to give her a five as she was crossing her finish line.

Oh, and I had my standard pre-run: ArginMax, quercetin, and PowerGel. After my run, I hit the gym for quads, thighs, abs, arms, and pecs.

Today being Saturday, I set out to do a long run. I thought maybe I could pull off 14 miles, and 14 miles I did pull off! However, it was quite warm out. It was between 71 and 73 degrees and it felt rather humid, possibly around 60%. This meant I didn’t want to push myself too much, especially if I wanted to pull off 14 miles for the first time this year.

Notables from this run, there were a few. I had the medial pain in my lower leg that felt like a shin splint, which was less obvious in the second loop I did of Central Park. The only other pain I felt was a twinge in my, was it my left knee just below the kneecap? I don’t recall which side. It happened only when I moved into my super-sprint at the end. This last-minute sprint spiked my heart rate up to 195 bpm, which means yet again my maximum heart rate is significantly above the equation. In fact, it’s even above what I thought was my maximum from prior use of my monitor! Given my age, it’s surprising to me I’m in the mid-190s with my maximum heart rate. (I do wonder, though, what the accuracy is of the Garmin heart rate monitor.)

The run was again pretty slow in the first half but speedier in the second half, which for this week again may be related to listening to talk rather than music on my mp3 player (NPR’s On the Media) in my first loop of the park. I wasn’t passed too often but was passed, but I also was able to pass a couple people who seemed to challenge me. Of those two guys, one I challenged twice and beat, but at the very end he beat me as he turned on a different route. I wasn’t really into anything seriously competitive, but I did push myself a bit mentally to see if I could do something in the pass genre of running.

It started out cloudy but ended partly sunny. I didn’t have any water over the 14 miles, which was something I was definitely craving toward the end. My reasoning not to stop to get water was to see if I could get through without it, and to give myself a standard in order to understand my performance over 14 miles when I don’t drink water. If I had it, I have a feeling I would have been faster. I wasn’t feeling very good today not drinking water–I got really slow.

My pace was not very impressive (8:07s), nor was my bpm (170 bpm). I did notice, though, “heart rate creep” as I was later in my run and without water. I’m curious if my heart rate would drop a bit if I stopped for some water.

Before the run I had Nitric Oxide Overdrive (an arginine supplement that I got about which I’m wondering if it really does anything), quercetin, and two PowerGels. Last night I had pasta, a disappointing Oglio & Aglio with Chicken from Euro Delights, but hey, it happens. 🙂 I also had Key Lime Pie Ben & Jerry’s, but let’s not go into that. I burned 1,700 calories for today’s run, which helps make a dent.

No gym afterwards, but coconut water, chocolate milk, eggs and a wheat bagel. I’m a bit zonked from today’s run but had enough energy to bust out an energetic audition.