Category Archives: heat

Couple of 10k runs

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Being that I have been way too lax in the running dept. I am extremely glad I got two six milers in during the last two days. I hadn’t run in over a week and it felt like I was getting into bad patterns exercise wise. Hopefully I will be able to get in as many as possible this summer, but I am gonna be busy with the music. We played at the coast this weekend and I almost brought my shoes, but I wimped out. I still have yet to run on the beach, bucket list.

Yesterday’s first run of the two was hard, but doable. I felt like I was going really slow, but that’s ok. I felt like the last half required a good amount of pushing myself to keep going, but I felt pretty strong dealing with energy drain for the most part. Around the middle of the run I noticed a weakness in my right leg, very slight but noticeable. It only seemed to really happen for a minute or two though I sort fo felt a lingering hangover sort of speak for 15 minutes or so, then I don’t remember it being an issue. But the feeling did have sort of a similar feeling to the spells I had. Also I had some limpness during that whole flare up. And on today’s run it wasn’t there at all.

Today’s run was really hard. My legs were a bit sore from yesterday and doing leg lifts (even though I wasn’t running, I have been doing some leg lifts…) it was something and I was feeling it in my core at the start (sort of faded away as I warmed up after a couple of miles). The last half was brutal and it was really muggy. Running through the canyon just saps it out of me. Sort of like a sweat house. Hmm, maybe I have stumbled onto the next running fad…hot running. I had to stop and walk coming up the hill out of reed. Then I continued on a bit further and walked at the next little hill. I started up again for the last mile home and made it to the house and even did a little add on to reach six miles with my dog watching and wagging her tail.

With all the long breaks I have been taking recently I have been really concerned that I was stopping the running. I have gone through streaks in my life of not running and I don’t want to stop doing it. My grande ms experiment cannot come to an end! So it won’t. I just have to get back nto making it a regular thing. And I will.

Getting back into running

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Recently I have been bad about running, even worse than I have been bad about writing (or not writing as the case may be!) This week I decided that  I would get back into it. I had just bought some new clothes and I was realizing how tight they were.I decided I wanted to wear what I had bought for more than a few days. It really felt like I was ballooning up. I have found my typical pattern is I lose weight and gain a certain level of fitness. On the way to this point I am working hard, doing my running and stretching and what I call the 7:00 fast (no eating after 7).  I seem to do really well doing this. I think the big thing is not eating at night for me. I think those calories really seem to stick to me. But the running is also a huge part of weight management for me so I was determined to not let this peak in fitness end and to try to continue it for as long as possible.

Armed with a commitment to run and the 7 o’clock fast I started out the week with a nothing spectacular junk run. My main goal was to just get out there and do it. I strapped on the water bottle and headed out the door. It was hot but I knew that would be the case and I had my water so I wasn’t too worried. It went fine. I managed my water intake by having sips every so often. Works well for dealing with the heat. I followed that with a recovery run and then an LSD run. The LSD (long slow distance) run was hard, but at only eight miles it wasn’t ridiculous and I went very slowly.

Today marked the fourth day in a row running. This has always been my hypothetical mark for when I feel like I have gotten back into running. Though I have only had a couple of low-mileage weeks and not a long  break this seems to have done the trick. Running feels like a habit again. It doesn’t seem to matter how far you run, just that you do it for the four days in a row. I think I may make it five tomorrow! I hope I do cause I don’t see myself running this weekend, maybe some short easy ones. I have two shows to do this week with my swing band and I need to be focused for them. I find that if I run too hard (and just about any sort of hot run counts as “hard”) that I have trouble concentrating on teh notes I need to play and I get lost in the songs. Normally I don’t have this issue. So no or little running this weekend.

Today’s run was really hot like all of my runs this week. I finish up with the sweat pouring out of me. Just bucket loads. Takes me quite a while till I get to the point where I feel hydrated enough to return to normalcy. Today it took a large glass of Gatorade and a Nuun water but I feel much better. I went on a new route today, well more of a variation of an old route. I went down to the canyon and did the whole run twice end to end. It gets really humid down there in the wetland areas, but really it was only the north side of the canyon that was a scorcher and both sides have shade.

I am going to run (well hopefully) my first 5k next month, part of the course runs through the canyon. I am really curious to see how the race goes as the paths are really narrow. But they seem to think it will be ok. This is the first year they have done it, so maybe they will make changes for next year, or maybe not. However I do I will set a PR as it will be my first 5K. I am a bit worried about doing it as I have a show with my new band the night before, then a show with the swing band right after and then a birthday party right after that. Something is gonna have to give though I think I can actually fit it all together. We’ll see,

 

Hot weather running

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Our hot weather has been late in coming and I was a little worried about it. So far so good and I don’t seem to be overly fatigued if at all, The regular warm runs are starting to feel more good than bad. I’m not saying go out and run with the heat, just saying it is possible especially if you ease into it. I have been trying to get up early and run with limited success. But today I made a little late but I was there. My speed seemed to be pretty fast and I came in at just over a minute for the six and a quarter miles.

I have also found myself really enjoying jumping over things. I found a bush right off the sidewalk in reed that will be perfect for an approach up a driveway onto the sidewalk and over the bush to a lawn on the other side. It is a long jump, but I think I can do it! Mini parkour!

Today it was still cool when I left and I didn’t bring water. Big mistake and I quickly was regretting it. But I was able to hit a few water fountains. Still it was not enough.

Running in the heat

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All this week I have been trying to get out early to beat the heat. Today was no exception. Unfortunately like several other days this week I didn’t get up early enough to beat it. But I did manage to go ahead an join it! So off I went with a bottle full of water and a couple of sharkies in my pocket.

It was one of those runs where I had no plans and no idea of how far I would go. Despite the heat I quickly decided to do a long one and headed out on one of my longer routes. I made a conscious effort to drink small sips of water at pretty regular intervals. This was the key to a successful run for me. I wasn’t really regulating my speed and heart rate, but I noticed four miles into it that I was keeping my HR pretty low, so I decided to keep at it and not push too much. The strategy worked out really well. I had water constantly throughout the run and even had extra energy to power up and out of the reed campus to make it to my neighborhood. It wasn’t until I stopped at the library to pick up one book that I had on hold and found a total of eight waiting for me that I acknowledged the run was over. I had to run about a tenth of a mile with my armload to reach nine miles and that was all I could muster. But I was satisfied. I’ll wait for double digit miles until I am ready for it (and don’t have the books!)

These hot runs this summer have had me a little concerned. We have had such a long cool spring that I have gotten spoiled. So when the temps finally increased I worried how I would react to them. So far so good. I have been bringing my water with me and taking little sips throughout the run. This really seems to help keep me hydrated. I also have been careful to get enough fluids in after the run too. Add in a good amount of shade on my main routes and I am surviving!

One thing about today’s run that was a bit of a bummer: when I got home I saw a message from my acupuncturist asking where I was. I had totally forgotten the appt. But she was gracious enough to fit me in and we had a really good session. She is concentrating on my foot issues of numbness and pain as well as helping me get rid of a plantar wart. For the plantar wart she is using a technique called maxa that consists of little tiny cones of incense that are burned on the accu points. She is doing them all around the wart as well aas in the center. The heat is supposed to bring the wart to the surface. So far it seems to be working really well and it actually looks better than ever and much better than salicylic acid treatments make it look (like a weird burned out crater.) She also works points on the leg and ankle. I haven’t seen a lot of improvement there, but this is also due to me not doing my foot stretches with a foam roller. I have had the worse blister on my little toe (actually the blister IS my little toe!) and it has been too painful to do much other than go barefoot. I have been running still, but with padding. My running shoes don’t appear to irritate it at all, but my converse sure did! The good news is that my toe is getting close to being back to normal! Phew. I am really curious to see what the accu is able to do for my foot pain and spacticity issues, more to come.

Back to back

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My run today was also warm, but I did manage to get out a bit earlier before the real heat hits, I did the same exact run as yesterday, except today I ran the whole way out of the canyon (yesterday I pooped halfway up) AND I was 3 seconds faster. It amazes me how I can do such similar runs over a 6 mile length. Hopefully the 3 seconds and the hill indicate that I am in slightly better shape today! I doubt it, at least measurably anyway. Looking at the numbers from the two runs I see I climbed 28 more feet today (which would be my hill). Its not that much of a hill obviously, but coming out of the sweat-box that is the canyon environment, it is a beast.

Other numbers of interest, by avg HR yesterday was 160, today 154. My max HR has also 6 beats less. So while it was later in the day yesterday I think it was actually hotter today. Feels good to sweat!

I think I mentioned the new parkour obstacles in the canyon yesterday. Today I took some really good leaps over them. I still chickened out for the dicey one with the big spur. There is no room for wisdom with parkour! Still, I’ll take the wisdom!

Run in the heat

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Since I didn’t manage to go yesterday I promised myself I would today no matter what. Well the morning wore on and I kept finding myself saying, ok after this. Ok after this. And again, ok after this. Pretty soon it was getting into the afternoon and the heat was rising. Well I say heat was rising but it was only getting to about 70, hot for Portland as of late. Tomorrow to the 80s! I’ll believe it when I feel it.

So by 2 I hadn’t eaten lunch and was kicking myself for not running. Then I realized, well a hot run won’t be the best of conditions, but the what the heck. I am going anyway. I wolfed down a clif bar to hold me over, grabbed my seasonally neglected water bottle and ran out the door. The day was just gorgeous but the sweat quickly began to sting my eyes. Wipe it away and keep going, though I. So I did. I decided on doing 6 miles, not fast nor slow. My HR was pretty high throughout, I definitely need to work that back down. I am sure as my fitness level picks up, the old heart rate will drop compared to my efforts.

The water bottle was just what I needed. Over the winter I had forgotten what it takes to keep the hydration level up. Small sips every quarter mile or so really helped. No heat would stop me today! I actually went fairly routinely. I didn’t make it all the way up the hill out of the canyon, but that is nothing new. New features in the canyon, several trees have fallen this winter. The people who maintain the canyon have a fairly hands off approach to managing it and they leave trees that fall (sometimes they get around to cutting out a portion that has fallen over the path). This makes for great parkour obstacles. One of them scared me and I had to climb over it. The path was especially skinny there and there was a huge spur sticking out. Probably a good choice to not leap it!

Seriously, do I do my track workouts at your day care?

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Today I got a little bit of a late start considering how hot it is. But even at noon it was only reasonably warm out. Well at least when I started anyway. By the time I got to the track I was really starting to warm up. There were a number of people at the track including a mother, her three small children and their bikes. Her phone conversations were more important than watching her kids. After dodging cycling kids several times that interrupted my intervals I decided to leave. But not before I barked out “Seriously, do I do my track workouts at your day care?” and called her rude. ahh yeas, vindication.

So I wish I could say I had left because they forced me off the track, but in was more the heat that ended my run early. I still feel it was a quality workout, I certainly feel tired. When I was ding my Straights and Curves I felt pretty good for the most part. The last half mile or so was really tough, but I always felt like I could make it through them with no problem. I probably could have done the final two laps, but I was feeling the effects of the heat to a pretty high extent and decided it would be better if I just headed home. The cooldown, a 2.5 mile run back to my house was pretty hard and I was looking for shade the entire way. I found a little, but not much.

I really need to get up early!

Hot weather and twisted foot

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It has been two weeks since I ran last. The weather here has been too darn hot. Even in the early mornings it hasn’t been cool enough to get out for a run. I think a lot of it is that it is so hot during the day (107 was out high point) that I just get sapped of all energy, even after a night’s sleep (which also hasn’t been good) I just didn’t feel like getting up and hitting the roads. To top it off and seal the deal, it hasn’t really cooled down at night. Ok, enough heat excuses for now, besides I have another.

I have a pair of flip flops that I wear in the yard and office. They are moderately comfortable, but they have gotten really stretched out. Occasionally I have rolled my foot inside them. Nothing to do with the ankle, but actually rolling the foot. So I was climbing over our goose fence in our garden and was greeted by a flock of lettuce crazed geese. In trying to avoid them and their madness I rolled my foot. My small toe actually rolled under my foot. At first I thought I had broken something, it was really sore. But I didn’t have a black and blueness and putting pressure on the bones didn’t cause any pain. I think it was pretty much soft tissue damage. So heat and outside of my foot pain kept me preoccupied for the last two weeks. A couple of days a go I stubbed my little toe on my other foot so bad that it has turned black and blue. If anything is broken it is that toe. Gads.

So despite the foot issues I hit the roads today. It is so hard to get back into things after a layoff. You get used to being lazy. But it felt pretty good. My cardio fitness took a hit, but it will come back. The run went slow which was fine with me. There were a lot of people out running today. It looks like I wasn’t the only one to be inspired by the recently cooler weather. A little over half way I rolled my ankle (not my foot this time) and it still hurts. I probably should have headed home right there, but it still would have been a long walk. So after a couple of minutes I felt it was ok to continue. The rest of my run went pretty gingerly and I was really careful of any jumps off curbs or uneven trails. Now ice is in order as well as some ibuprofen.

Hot weather and twisted foot

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It has been two weeks since I ran last. The weather here has been too darn hot. Even in the early mornings it hasn’t been cool enough to get out for a run. I think a lot of it is that it is so hot during the day (107 was out high point) that I just get sapped of all energy, even after a night’s sleep (which also hasn’t been good) I just didn’t feel like getting up and hitting the roads. To top it off and seal the deal, it hasn’t really cooled down at night. Ok, enough heat excuses for now, besides I have another.

I have a pair of flip flops that I wear in the yard and office. They are moderately comfortable, but they have gotten really stretched out. Occasionally I have rolled my foot inside them. Nothing to do with the ankle, but actually rolling the foot. So I was climbing over our goose fence in our garden and was greeted by a flock of lettuce crazed geese. In trying to avoid them and their madness I rolled my foot. My small toe actually rolled under my foot. At first I thought I had broken something, it was really sore. But I didn’t have a black and blueness and putting pressure on the bones didn’t cause any pain. I think it was pretty much soft tissue damage. So heat and outside of my foot pain kept me preoccupied for the last two weeks. A couple of days a go I stubbed my little toe on my other foot so bad that it has turned black and blue. If anything is broken it is that toe. Gads.

So despite the foot issues I hit the roads today. It is so hard to get back into things after a layoff. You get used to being lazy. But it felt pretty good. My cardio fitness took a hit, but it will come back. The run went slow which was fine with me. There were a lot of people out running today. It looks like I wasn’t the only one to be inspired by the recently cooler weather. A little over half way I rolled my ankle (not my foot this time) and it still hurts. I probably should have headed home right there, but it still would have been a long walk. So after a couple of minutes I felt it was ok to continue. The rest of my run went pretty gingerly and I was really careful of any jumps off curbs or uneven trails. Now ice is in order as well as some ibuprofen.

Hardest run of the year

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Yowza, what a run. Those who know my running distances are saying, wow Marco did you run 15 miles? 20? even? Nope, I only put in just over 5. Well you must have run it at break-neck speed then? Nope to that as well, I ended up running slightly slower than I usually have been doing at about an 8:45 minute mile. So what’s the deal? It was hot and humid and even though there were a lot of clouds around, they never seemed to give me too much relief from the sun. I really had to push myself to get through this one. I think I may have also been feeling a tad tired and not totally nurished. I had a dr appt for a cholesterol check in the morning, so I couldn’t eat and then I had an excrutiatingly long wait in the office as well. My lunch of leftover pasta after I got back turned out to be no good as it was spoiled (Mom if you a reading, yes it was that pasta we had) so I didn’t it and had something else that wasn’t as carbolicious. I did drink a full bottle of water on the run and actually even considered refilling it at the park but I was close enough to home to get some electrolite replacement drinks when I got there.

I did wear my trail shoes (I am convinced that the model of New Blanaces I got was not the one that Chi Running recommended, but an older version of the 800) and enjoyed running through several unimproved roads and then some trails. I like them a lot, I just wish they weren’t so tight. I can almost wear them with no laces as there is no tongue, almost like a slipper. I wore them on my walk to the dr’s office (I can’t wait to say “When I was a boy I had to walk 2 miles just to see my doctor…don’t know who I will say that to…) and they made good walking shoes. Now if I could just find some shoes that were somewhat attractive, then I would be set.

I finished the book onthe Bunion Derby, the transcontinetal foot race CC Pyle’s Amazing Footrace. Great book and amazing story. Sadly it was full of hucksterism, but I think even the runners sort of expected that. The winners did get paid at the end, but the promised prizes throughout the race never happened. CC Pyle even made the 55 remaining (200 started) runners run a 26 hr. marathon around an oval in Madison Sqr Garden after the race was done in hopes of raising money to pay the atheletes from the Bunion Derby. His big finishing run was expected to attract tens of thousands and bring him teh financial windfall he was looking for, instead only 300 people showed up.