You Can’t Beat the Heat by Avoiding It

All summer long I’ve been reading the social-media complaints of so many runners this summer about the heat and humidity! But now, the sun is rising later and setting earlier. August is over. September is coming. That means autumn is coming too – in about 23 days! If you haven’t figured it out by now, you have a very short time left to reap the benefits of “heat acclimatization.”

The common phrase is “beat the heat”. But when most people say that, they mean ‘stay inside in the air conditioning.” I like to beat the heat by meeting it head on. During the week, I run around noontime – all year long. But aside from that typical late-April heat wave, the heat doesn’t bother me. Don’t get me wrong, it does wreak havoc on my performance; that’s just plain physics. But by taking advantage of heat acclimatization (i.e., running at noon every day as spring turns into summer) I don’t mind being out in the heat of an August afternoon. I’m also looking forward to the aftereffects, as the days cool off and I still have the superpowers I built up during the summer.

Super powers? Do I have your attention now? OK, science time! Heat acclimatization is the adaptation of your body in response to heat stress in a natural environment. These adaptations include reductions in heart rate, body temperature response, skin temperature response, and perceived exertion. These adaptations also include increases in sweat rate, sweat onset, cardiovascular function, and overall ability to perform in the heat.

You become a better sweater: You start to sweat sooner, and you sweat out more. Also, the sodium content of your sweat decreases, which helps prevent dehydration. The result of better sweating? Better cooling!

Your cardiovascular function improves: Your body develops an increase in plasma volume, improved blood flow, a decreased heart rate, and an increased blood volume per heartbeat. What’s the point of all this? When you exercise in the heat, there are two conflicting duties for your blood: 1) oxygenate the muscles; 2) dissipate heat from the skin. Obviously, when you are exercising in the heat, your need for both increases. With an increased blood volume, your heart has more blood to pump around your body so it can do both of these better at the same time.

The good news: if you exercise for about an hour a day in the heat, it takes an average of two weeks to acclimatize.

The bad news: heat acclimatization goes away just as fast (or faster) than it arrives after the stimulus of training in the heat is gone.

More good news: Imagine for a moment your body all hopped up on heat acclimatization, and suddenly it’s no longer that hot. If you time it right, you will still have all those cardiovascular benefits when its time for those key fall races! Training for a spring or summer race during the winter? Trick your body into early heat acclimatization by over-dressing so that you’re very warm even though the weather is still cool.

Finally – be smart! Don’t start by going out in the noon heat to get acclimatized! You’ve got to work up to it. Start off during the cooler parts of the day and gradually work up to full heat. And stay properly hydrated and electrolyted. Weigh yourself nekkid before and after your exercise; for each ounce of weight lost, drink an ounce of water. And dress for the weather in wicking, technical fabrics.

You’ve got three weeks until autumn arrives. Let’s see if you can head into fall with a full supply of heat acclimatization!

Here are some scientific references if you are so inclined:

https://www.sportsci.org/encyc/heataccl/heataccl.html

Streaking!

What I learned during a running Streak of 38 days (so far, as of today, 07/13/2018):

First, a few statistics:

·         202 total miles

·         Average of 5.4 miles per day

·         3 runs of double-digit mileage (six days between each)

·         Longest 14 miles, shortest run 1.03 miles

The official definition of a running streak, as adopted by the Streak Runners International, Inc., and United States Running Streak Association, Inc., is to run at least one mile (1.61 kilometers) within each calendar day. Running may occur on either the roads, a track, over hill and dale, or on a treadmill.

The United States Running Streak Association recommends that potential streakers should have been running on a regular basis for at least six months.

Random facts I learned along the way:

·         The First Mile Is A Liar.

·         Sometimes you feel better after running a mile than you did before running a mile.

·         Sometimes you feel better after running a morning mile than you do upon awakening.

·         You need to learn to run slow enough that it’s “resting” for you.

·         How to get dressed, warmed up, and out the door more quickly.

·         Even if you don’t take your smart phone with you, the run still counts (I wore my Garmin watch)

My first (and only other) running streak was during 2013. It started when I read in Runner’s World magazine about joining their “RW Summer Streak” from Memorial Day to July 4.  I gave it a go. When I got to July 4, I didn’t want to stop. I took it for 180-something days all the way through October 19, the day I ran my first marathon. I did not run the day after that.

Give it a try and comment back with your streak stats.

Happy streaking!

https://runeveryday.com/

https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20833483/rw-running-streak-faqs/

Train for the Landscape Upon Which You’ll Be Running

This story has an odd start, but bear with me, you’ll see the point later on.

I grew up in Florida. Central Florida, as in “the flat part”. The only thing that resembled hills were the causeways over the bays. My sister moved to Tennessee when I was still a teenager. In contrast to Florida, Tennessee has lots of hills. When I was in my 20’s, I didn’t run as much but I was a weight-lifting fiend. On a particular visit to my sister in Tennessee, we went on a hike in the mountains. Oddly, it seemed that my sister’s family, who didn’t do weightlifting, was having an easier time on the long uphill hike back to the car than was I, the Weightlifter. “Why?” “I work out!” “I can squat more than my own bodyweight!” It turns out that my occasional weightlifting in the flatlands of Florida was no match for living everyday life in the ups and downs of Tennessee. My sister’s family simply had more endurance in their legs because they lived their everyday lives walking up and down hills, while my daily walking never changed altitude.

So what’s the point of that story? As runners trying to perform well, we need to remember to train on terrain that resembles that upon which we will be racing. So, if you live in the flats of Delaware like I do, and you are training for a race in hilly Wilmington, DE or Austin, TX, you need to go find some hills and use them to train on!

Here are some examples.

This is an elevation map of a typical run around my home:

This is an elevation map of the Delaware Running Festival Half Marathon:

Note the difference. They aren’t mountains, but there are some significant climbs when the terrain you’re used to is the first picture.

So, how did I change my training? This is an elevation map of a long run in training for the DRFHM:

Obviously, the elevation changes in training were not as drastic as those in the race. But what you should notice is that there is a significant amount of elevation change compared to the typical training run around my home. What did I do? I used a highway overpass and a switchback down to a canal towpath to add elevation changes to my typical training route. They were small changes in elevation, but the elevation was constantly changing during the middle part of my training run. Changing my training made the difference between fearing hills during the race and dominating them.

Here’s one other thing, the elevation map of the Austin, TX marathon which I ran in February 2018:

Wow! That makes the DRFHM hills look insignificant. How did I train for that? I changed all three of my weekly training runs – intervals, tempo, long – and made them hilly. Flat intervals at a specific pace became hill intervals as fast as I could manage. I also remember one day of short intervals with a set of squats at the end of each interval! Flat tempo runs became tempo runs to the top of a nearby hill (Yes! An actual hill!) and back. For long runs I found every overpass and local hill I could find and added them to my route. Did it make a difference? I believe it did. In the hilly Austin Marathon I came within 35 seconds of my PR, which was set the year before at a very flat Coastal Delaware course. During training for Coastal Delaware, I did not seek out elevation changes. They were not necessary; here’s the elevation map for that race:

Set your mind to training on terrain that’s as similar as you can to what you’re going to be racing on. Use your imagination. Work with what you’ve got. Conquer your next race.

Compete Against Yourself, but DO Compete

I’ve read many Facebook posts where runners berate themselves because they think they run too slow, or not far enough, or some other self-imagined liability. If you’re one of these people – or even if you’re not – this post is for you. I hope you will find these words motivating regardless of the level at which you run.

Let me start by saying that if you’re regularly getting off your rear end and doing something physical, you are way ahead of the general US population. According to StateOfObesity.org:

·         Eighty percent of American adults do not meet the government's national physical activity recommendations for aerobic activity and muscle strengthening.

·         Around 45 percent of adults are not sufficiently active to achieve health benefits.

·         Around $117 billion in healthcare costs are associated with inadequate physical activity.

So, even if you’re “only” walking “only” a mile in 30 minutes, good for you!

However, I do think that we should never be satisfied with our own level of fitness and should always strive to improve it. As we get older Mother Nature will be working against us to take our fitness away, so it is only by constantly striving to improve that we can even keep up.

To be honest, based on race results, I guess I am faster than most recreational runners. That being said, I will never be lining up at the front of a race, and I don’t expect to ever be the overall winner Heck, I can’t even win my age group unless a bunch of other people don’t show up! However, I am only temporarily satisfied with my race results, and I regularly strive to try harder, to go longer & faster. Right now, I can’t see myself ever running more than marathon distance, but only 5 years ago I couldn’t see myself doing a marathon either!

No matter your current pace or your longest distance, I encourage you to keep records of your training and races and plan for a better showing “next time”. Don’t just keep going out there, plodding along doing the same old thing every time. Broaden your horizons. Learn about different training methods & running workouts. Learn about cross-training. Try some weight training (no, ladies, you will NOT get bulky.)  Improve your nutrition. There is an endless supply of opinions out here on the internet. Explore as many as you can, find one that makes you say “Hmmm, I could do that,” and try it out. It may or may not work for you. If it does, keep doing it; if it doesn’t move on.

Finally, spring is around the corner. Get off that treadmill and get outside! Fresh air and changing scenery makes running more enjoyable!

The Tenth Anniversary of My Not Being Dead

It’s been a while since my last post, and I think now is a good time to bore you with the story of my broken leg. Not a stress fracture. A bona fide, honest-to-goodness, go-to-the-ER-in-an-ambulance broken leg. Not just one break of the tibia (shin bone), but two! Also broke the fibula. Here’s a picture my friend the Xray Technician took of me:

Of course, this was after my other friend the Orthopaedic Surgeon reamed out the inside of my shin bone, hammered a titanium rod into it, and put a few screws through it. Nice, isn’t it? Go ahead, open that image and zoom in. 

So, why write about this now? This coming St. Patrick’s Day – March 17, 2018 – happens to be what I refer to as The Tenth Anniversary of My Not Being Dead. I’ll try to make a long story as short as possible. But you know me by now.

I was driving my two younger children to high school that morning: March 17, 2008. My oldest son usually drove them all, but he was sick that day. Or playing hookey. Not sure, he was a high school senior. Anyway, it turns out that on St. Patrick’s Day, the sun rises directly in front of the road I was on at exactly the time I was on it. I’m not talking “sun glare” or reflections off the road. I mean that driving down that road at that time involved looking directly into the 10000°F surface of the sun! Needless to say, it was hard to see. I slowed down, came to a stop because the dark shadowy blob (another car) on the road in front of me had stopped. Unfortunately, the car behind me did not feel like reciprocating at that time. My pickup truck was rear-ended (bending the frame, it turns out. I think he was going more than the posted 35 MPH!).

We exchanged information as the steady stream of school traffic crawled past us. I remember watching a minivan run over shards of plastic and getting a flat tire. I was pulled off to the side of the road as far as I could. Well aware of the oncoming traffic, I went into my car to return the little notebook in which I had written the careless driver’s info. I remember keeping my belly against my truck’s rear door as I closed my front door.

The next thing I remember is… sitting on the hood of a Honda Accord! The young high school girl (She was Irish! It was St. Patrick’s Day! Oh, the irony!) who had been driving that Honda moments before got out of the car screaming in panic. As I was to find out months later during the legal discovery process, I shattered that little Honda’s windshield with my Buns of Steel! No wonder she was screaming! In fact, I totaled that car with nothing but my rear end!

My first thought was bewilderment. “What? Where am I? How did I get on the hood of a Honda?” Next came realization and amazement. “Cool! I just got hit by a car and I’m still alive!” The following thoughts were about getting down. (Notice that none of those first few thoughts involved “Ouch, That hurts!” in any way. I felt no pain) I noticed the Honda was at a slight angle to my truck. If I could work my way backward, I could get down between the cars. So I worked my way backwards, “walking” with my hands on the windows of the two cars. When I finally reached the space where I could see my truck’s running board, I stepped down with my right leg and… It bent in the wrong place.

“What?” I tried again. “Yup, it’s definitely bending in the wrong place.” A bystander asked if she could help me. “I think I broke my leg!” She grabbed me around my middle and helped me down and I laid on the ground behind my truck. The cold, 28°F ground. Right behind my truck’s exhaust. It was still running because my 14-year-old youngest son was still in the car. That’s right, he got to watch his old man get hit by a car! But that’s OK, a few minutes later, he got to ride in the front seat of an ambulance. So that kinda makes up for it.

I remember calling my wife and telling her, “Hi, hon. Remember how I told you earlier that I was in a wreck but no one was hurt? Well, things have changed. Oops, sorry, have to go, the paramedics are here.” I remember how loud a siren is when you’re lying on the ground in front of the car to which that siren belongs.  I remember that the first thing they did was take off my jacket. “Hey! It’s freezing down here! Aren’t you supposed to cover me with a blanket instead of stripping off my clothes?” I remember shivering.  I remember the ride in the ambulance; the paramedic standing over me, almost being thrown from his feet, yelling at the driver, “Hey, he’s not dying, take it easy!” That was good to hear.

Doctor’s orders: I had to keep weight off my right foot for 8 weeks. I used crutches. I got pretty good at using crutches. However, during those eight weeks I forgot how to walk as God intended. Maybe it’s more that I lost faith and trust in the ability of my right leg to bear my weight. I remember when the doctor gave me the green light to start putting weight on my right leg again. I remember standing up and thinking about taking a step. Nope. Not gonna happen. That leg has forgotten how to walk. Luckily, that’s what physical therapy is for.

Meanwhile, in my hospital room the day after the accident, I vowed to run a race in exactly one year. When I checked the calendar, the only race in that vicinity was the Caesar Rodney Half Marathon. The oldest half marathon in the U.S. of A. Ok. I had never run more than ten miles at one time before. And to accomplish that I had to slow down to a 10-minute-per-mile pace. Well, I said it, so now I have to do it.

I progressed through therapy with gusto. When the therapist said to do three sets of ten reps, I did thirty in a row. The next thing you know, I was walking on a treadmill in my family room. I eventually made it outside. And I ran my first half marathon on March 15, 2009. I walked some of it (wicked hills for Delaware), and I finished it in 2:16:46 (results here. You do know that athlinks.com knows about every race you’ve ever run, right?) I think I may have cried. It was a long, painful journey, but in the end I was successful. That year instilled in me things. One, the mantra “There will be a day when I can no longer do this; that day is not today!” And second, the thought that I was going to enjoy using both my legs from that moment on. Actually, there was a third thing. I remember the way my body felt at the end of a half marathon, and I remember thinking that there was no way I could, at that moment, run another half marathon. (Four years later I got over that feeling and completed my first full marathon.)

So, with The Tenth Anniversary of My Not Being Dead approaching, and the 2018 Austin Marathon safely under my belt without injury, I now must sign up for the 55^th running of America’s oldest Half Marathon, the Caesar Rodney, or “CRHM” as known by her friends. Note that this is a race I vowed I’d never run again, because it is an evilly hilly course for Delaware, and they make you run up a gosh-awful incline at the very end.

But I’m in a different place now. Usually happy in the flats, while training for Austin I sought out elevation changes wherever I could find them. I ran that hilly Austin course and didn’t really notice the hills until the second decade of miles had passed. So I really want to conquer those hills in Rockford Park this year. I want to show them who’s boss. Specifically because I learned a few days after Austin that my marathon PR was not the 3:55 I had in my head, but 3:57:14, also known as “only 33 seconds faster than I ran Austin!” Crap! I could have had a PR! My bad. If I had realized at the time, I know I would have found another 36 seconds deep within me down in the heart of Texas. Of course, there is a theory that people lose the ability to do math during a marathon (read"Fourth Law" here.)

Well, now I have something to prove, don’t I?