Author: Ben Hauck

Today I woke at 5:40am to get ready to do a run. It was a throwback to 2007 when I was getting up at that time out of necessity to run because of a day job and an evening improv training program I was running for a company. While three weeks in that lifestyle led to injury out of presumably overtraining on little rest, it was still a time of amazing accomplishment, and this morning recalled that.

66 degrees with approximately 60% humidity made it feel warm but rather “just right” for running, and breaking a sweat, and challenging myself. In fact, I wasn’t sure if I’d feel comfortable running Great Hill, but sure enough, I went that way. Part of the reason was that a speedy girl passed me around mile 2 and was a few steps in front of me; I thought I would eventually catch her but she was good, then she veered off on the 102nd Street Transverse. I’m amusingly sexist when I run.

Mounting the hill wasn’t so bad, but again, another girl passed me on the hill, but I passed her by the top. Down the hill, a couple passed me but then I passed them. There were a number of these passings in this run as you can tell, which is generally unusual for me to experience because I’ll go days without being passed in the park. To that stat, Central Park had a lot of runners this morning in the 6 o’clock hour.

I felt fairly strong. I wanted to work on steadying my breathing a bit, as that seems to be the best bet for sustaining my runs. It seemed to help. No twinges though I did feel a little tight in the morning, and I was wondering if I would end up with some kind of surprise injury from today’s run. Thankfully, no.

I had ArginMax and quercetin just before my run again, but this time I had a spoonful of non-fat yogurt plus a Strawberry-Banana PowerGel. (While it has fructose in it, I was happy to find out it didn’t have high fructose corn syrup, which is something I’ve been generally avoiding in the last month or so.) Last night I had coconut water with my late dinner; it boasts of potassium and general hydration, and while expensive, I wonder how that may aid me. No caffeine or diet pills for another day, which is making me feel a bit more, I guess, normal. That is, my run didn’t have with it any strange kidney or chest pains accompanying it.

As you can see, Garmin got the map off a little bit. I ran on the road, not parallel with the road. I noticed at one time going up a hill, it also Auto Paused, which was peculiar to me because I was moving, not nearly walking or stopping. I wonder if I set it in a way to trigger Auto Pause then.

Overall, this run felt as if I was back in action. It felt like a decent run. While I’m still on the slower side in running 7:25s, I did do a lap in Central Park fairly comfortably, including Great Hill. That is, Great Hill didn’t cut into my capable pace, which I guess is pretty cool.

Afterwards, I hit the gym for abs, back, and arms. Just a little bit before I start the rest of my day.

So it was about the same temperature as yesterday in Central Park (today was 72), but it was considerably more humid. In fact, yesterday’s 30% humidity was trumped by today’s 60%. Nonetheless, I trampled out 5.41 miles without stopping today, but with some similar impulses of stopping my run to walk.

Those impulses, though, were infrequent. You see, that’s part of training: managing those impulses to stop so that you don’t and instead you carry on. The more often you successfully manage yourself in the face of the stopping impulse, the more you condition yourself to effortlessly succeed in the face of it, such that your body stops trying to put it in your way because your body learns it won’t win by doing it.

It didn’t hurt that there was a comparably speedy girl over the last mile or so of my run, whom I caught, who didn’t seem to like that I’d caught her, who sped up when I was neck and neck with her, whom I eventually overtook when I was in my last “lap.” I wasn’t competing with her, instead following her to see how she’d behave with the pressure of my presence. She did well–not that I was training her or anything. 🙂

Other than a fleeting twinge in my left ankle capsule near the beginning of my run (my problem that doesn’t seem to leave), I had no physiological issues with this run. However, my breathing isn’t in control yet and my heart isn’t conditioned. I also wonder if my iron constitution (i.e., my stomach) isn’t conditioned either. Just before heading out for this morning’s run, I downed ArginMax and quercetin, which gave me no problems except as I came toward the finish, debating the tolerability of an ending sprint in lieu of a gut that was a little odd. Sure enough, not immediately after but soon after I almost yakked but was contained. Was it today because of no food with the supplements in my system, coupled with the heat? Stay tuned to figure out.

My run, though, was slower than I had expected. I ended up with 7:48s over 5.41, and while the Bike Tour bikes crowded the feeder road into the park, they only knocked me off my past on the East Side until the 72nd St. Transverse. I cite the humidity as probably the most significant factor in my slower speed; for comparison, I’ve done 7:27s so far in lower temperatures.

After my run, I hit the gym for abs, back, arms, and legs. I realize how nice it felt to get up, make my bed, and pretty much go for a run. Making my bed is nearly automatic for me. I want running to be that, too, because then I don’t debate whether to go and then talk myself out of it. It feels good to have put that behind me and it’s not yet afternoon.

One last thing: Good luck to Elizabeth Corkum who is running the Blue Cross Broad Street Run 10-miler in Philadelphia this morning. I was helping her to train in recent months. Go, Liz, go!

The thermometer in Central Park said 73 degrees, but about an hour later my Weatherbug says it’s 85 degrees, so, since the CNN thermometer has been known to stick, I have to wonder if today’s very humbling run was partially the result of a much larger spike in temperature than I realized.

The run started out a bit on the slow side because I decided I wanted to keep this run “slow and steady,” to see if I’d be up for Great Hill and something above a 10K. Just after mile 2, I was re-routed to the bridle path because of an event, and I was spit out onto the 102nd St. Transverse so I just stuck with that.

Around mile 3, things took a tumble for me. I suddenly felt I couldn’t really maintain my pace, so I actually took the unlike-me step to walk some. I walked for maybe about 90 feet or so, then took back to running. But my running didn’t last long as I felt consumed again, so I took back to walking again. I did this the rest of the run–walking some, running some–a kind of running I don’t think I’ve done in my years in NYC.

Why did this happen? Some of it was because of the heat, but not the heat alone, but the combination of the heat and my current body. Today my body was not performing. My heart seemed the most inimical. I couldn’t get to a comfortable pace and felt belabored. Around mile 3 is when I was even feeling tension in my chest and upper back–maybe you’d call them chest pains, but nothing very scary. I attributed this condition to a poor cardiovascular system I currently have and need to train. It just couldn’t take on the load.

I ran out of Redline Ultra Hardcore earlier in the week and I switched over to regular Redline that I had remaining. I felt chills this week on many occasions, possibly from these pills but perhaps from my digestive ails this week. Whatever the case, I had 3 ArginMax before the run but no Redline so I got to wondering if my switch to salad-based lunches on set has diminished my regular protein intake throughout the week, or if I wasn’t enough carbo-loaded. Suffice it to say, I want to have a pasta dinner with chicken tonight to see what effects, if any, they have on tomorrow’s run.

And this week was a nightmare week for running. One day I got a rush call to work, which didn’t let out until 12:30am. That same morning I had a 6:30am van. I ended up with 2 hours of sleep that night, and had to play ketchup. I worked 4 days this week and while I could have managed runs in some of those slots, I was priding my rest a bit more.

On the horizon for next week, I understand I’m being considered for regular work on a television project. If I get that gig, it could be a blessing for my training, though it could also be a curse. I want to think more blessing than curse. Let’s see how this week unfolds!

P.S. I went to the gym after my run and did arms, abs, and back.