Canned Heat

One more night of heat and humidity at least, and as it turns out not a good night to try a marathon-pace training run. When I started out the temperature was still in the low 90's. I ran a 1-mile warmup and then picked up the pace. My plan called for 8-minute miles, but I knew I shouldn't try that with the current climate. I aimed for 9-minute miles or a little slower, and I kept that going for 2.7 miles. At which point I walked for a tenth of a mile. Then I continued at the faster pace for another mile. That's when I finally realized this wasn't the best weather conditions for speed work. Enthusiasm sometimes trumps common sense.

One thing I keep telling myself is that the level of effort I put into my outings in weather like this will pay off in the end. I certainly didn't get to the pace I wanted for the distance I wanted, but overall I got in my 6 miles. And 2.7 miles of faster running in 90-degree heat has to be somewhat equivalent to 4 miles in cooler weather. It seems like I've felt less beat up after doing a similar run in a different season. Maybe it's just rationalization. It sure doesn't seem like laziness, though, because I've felt enough of that recently. The temperature is supposed to head south by a little bit in the next few days, so maybe I'll get to test my theory soon.

Monday Night Run

It's been crazy trying to fit in a run these past few weeks. And I haven't done any strength training in 2 1/2 weeks. Bleh. Tonight The Boy had a baseball game and I took him, leaving the girls at home. We finally got home at 8, so I quickly changed into running attire and hit the streets. This is the first time in a while where I've felt like I was running loose and relaxed. I went a full 6 miles in the dark on a humid night with the temperature still in the mid-80's. I went back to BSG for the soundtrack, starting with the first season. Nothing like returning to your roots to get you motivated.

Running in Thin Air

I spent the last four days in Denver, intending to run at least twice while there. It didn't quite work out that way, and the only thing I can blame is my own laziness. On Monday I went for a run at home before heading to the airport. I got in my 6 miles and felt pretty good about taking care of that so I could run the next day.

I stayed up too late on Monday night and therefore was in shape to get up early Tuesday before my meetings started. Tuesday after the conference I headed to Coors Field with a group of guys to take in the Rockies and Braves, so no time to run that evening. I didn't stay up especially late that night, but laziness persisted when the alarm went off the next morning. I finally was motivated enough for a run to take the lunch break for a 5-mile run. The hotel was in Broomfield, a suburb of Denver, and it was absolutely gorgeous. The sky was clear and even though the temp was a little warm, I finally felt good in getting out. I realized about a mile into the run I was laboring more than expected. Of course I'd gone out too fast, not blazingly so, but just enough to make it tougher in the thin mountain air. I enjoyed the run over the rolling hills and showered and made it back for the start of the afternoon sessions just in time. The less said the better about Wednesday night and my chances of getting up early this morning.

Instead I ran during The Boy's baseball practice, once again at Penguin Park. This was my first go-around this training plan with Yasso 800's, and it went reasonably well. With the temperature in the mid-80's I knew I wouldn't be hitting my goal (7 minutes/mile), but running fast would be good enough. Looking back over my times on the Garmin, I did get progressively faster on the intervals, from 8:10 average pace on the first one to 7:46 on the fourth and last. That's encouraging.

I really need to get my diet under control. I've had too much eating whatever I want, and that's just not good. I had more cookies this past week than I've probably had the rest of the year combined. Bad Randy!

So Much Humidity You Could See It

This was a jacked-up week, and next week promises to be more of the same. But more on that in a minute. I didn't run on Thursday since I was at The Boy's baseball practice until after 8 o'clock. I was playing infield while the kids batted and got in plenty of sweating and exercise, so I figured I was good. Plus I just felt worn out and thought I could use an off-day. Friday we took the family to Worlds of Fun, and I knew I wouldn't be running the day after walking around in mid-90 temperatures all day.

Which brings us to Sunday morning. I awoke at 5 a.m. and headed out the door by 5:20. My intent was to run as much as possible before the sun came up. However, I knew I was in trouble by the end of the first mile when I was already shaking sweat off my head. I ran toward the pool and then turned around to head back up Tullis to the park. About halfway up the hill I must have passed through a thermal layer or something meteorologically related because I went from humid cool air to humid extremely warm air. That produced an audible grunt from this runner. I planned on a 12-mile run and went 10 miles. I think the lesson I'm learning is that I need to hydrate earlier on my long runs. I waited until 8 miles in before grabbing my sports drink from the house and that was probably a tactical error. I also tried some new energy bursts since Target no longer carries sports gels. They were okay but a little more work than a gel. Because you know, chewing requires such effort. I have a half-pack left so I'll give them another shot before deciding if that's what I want to continue using.

On the last part of my run I started listening to Steven Wright's recent comedy album. Several lines made me smile and even laugh out loud. My favorite one so far: One of my friends has a trophy wife but it wasn't first place.

This week I'm at a conference in Denver, and I plan on running a couple of times there. I think I'll run Monday morning before heading to the airport, and then if things work out I'll run Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I'm looking forward to seeing some mountains!

Changing it Up

Tonight the plan called for hill repeats. The weather called for something else. The temperature was in the mid-70's and overcast, while the forecast for Thursday looks like a return to the upper-90's. And Thursday's plan was for a tempo run at marathon pace. I gauged the possibilities and knew that I wouldn't be able to run fast in the higher temps, while I can probably run hill repeats later in the evening. Once again the boy had baseball practice, and I took the opportunity to run at Penguin Park. It was tough, and I think there's something about running short laps like that (about a mile and a quarter) that makes it more difficult.

I ended up at 5.5 miles out of a planned 6. I started with a mile warm-up in the new shoes, then cranked it up to try and run at an 8-minute/mile pace. That lasted about 2.2 miles, and I felt like I was running tight. I walked about two-tenths of a mile and then ran at pace for another mile. After another tenth of a mile walk I finished slower. Lots of people on the trail today, including a guy who asked me how far around the trail was. He said he was walking and hoped to work up to running, and I told him if I can do it anyone can. The other memorable moment was a guy sitting on the bank of the pond fishing with some butt cleavage looking for attention. Fortunately I caught it from the corner of my eye and avoided a full-on eyeful. Look away! Look away!

Monday Running

Oops, looks like I missed logging my run from Saturday. I ran over half of the 12 miles before the sun came up, and the last part of it was a struggle. I don't know why, really. The temperature wasn't too bad and it wasn't extremely humid like it's been lately. Maybe it was just that last week was a stressful one at work and all the mental fatigue caught up with me. That makes more sense than anything, and heading into the new week I don't think I'm fully recovered. And this week's going to be just as busy, if not more.

The knees were a little tender today, and this is something I expected with the new shoes. I wore the new ones twice last week, and not on the long run. Today I wore the old ones again, and will probably wear them one more time on this week's long run. Tonight the weather was great, especially after the last few weeks. I ran 6 miles easy, as I'm prone to do on Mondays. Next week I'm traveling on Monday, so don't know if I'll get to run or not. I want to keep the weekly mile totals up if I can, though, so I'm going to try and run as much as I can while I'm in Colorado. It's only two months until the Des Moines Marathon - no time for slacking off.

Running at Penguin Park

I ran three loops today around Penguin Park, a local landmark in the Kansas City northland. The total damage in the 110-degree heat index was 4.5 miles, and it felt like 15 miles of running in the mid-50's. This is a path I used to run when I first moved to KC back in 2003. I rented an apartment at a complex right next to the park when I was tired of living in a hotel, and I remember walking across the parking lot and running around the park one to one-and-a-half times. Those were the days when I struggled to run three miles. I also recall trying to run in the cold and ice and wind of that winter. I wasn't real fond of that apartment, and it's funny that today is a Thursday. On most Thursdays the girl upstairs would have people over and I would be kept awake to the sound of chairs scraping above the ceiling and people talking and laughing past 3 a.m. No, I don't miss that apartment at all. On the upside, it looks like they painted the buildings so they look a little better.

I've determined that it doesn't matter how much shade there is, because running when it's this hot and humid just sucks the life out of you. I was going to run 6 miles, and most of the path was under the cover of trees. But three times around was plenty. At first I thought it might go a little better than my outing at Happy Rock Park a couple of weeks ago, but hot is hot. I hate winter so much that I'm not going to complain, though.

Dang Cramps

Another night time run today, and I planned to go 6 miles and ended up at 5.2. I spent one and a half hours sweating at The Boy's first baseball practice and then didn't hydrate between that and the run. That appears to have been a miscalculation on my part. I ran hills today and was feeling good, but right as I got back to our neighborhood I felt the twinges. After I crossed the street and felt another round of twinges I decided to pack it in. Pretty stupid on my part overall, but another lesson learned, I suppose.

Tonight's accompaniment was The Derek Trucks Band. It seemed perfect for a hot, balmy night for some reason.

Black and Gold

It was time for a new set of shoes, so yesterday I took advantage of the tax-free weekend here in Missouri and bought a new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus. Fortunately they were on sale since the cutoff for clothing items to remain tax free is $100. Beat it by five cents. I've been wearing size 9 1/2 for several years, but I was beginning to think my toes were getting a little crowded. The store I went to didn't have any of that size on the sale table, but the did have a couple pairs in a size 10. I tried them on and they felt pretty good. I went out on the sidewalk and ran back and forth a couple of times, breaking a nice sweat in the 100+ degree afternoon. The shoes seemed a tad bit loose and I laced them up tighter. They felt good with no slippage in the toe box. Guess I'm a big boy now since I graduated to double-digits in shoe size.

I compared them to the previous pair when I returned home and they're really not that much different. I can tell the front of the shoe is slightly wider, but I'm not sure if that's because the previous pair is broken in and conformed to my foot or if there really is a difference. I wore them on tonight's 6-mile easy run and they felt good. I can tell I might have a little knee soreness, which seems to happen to me with new shoes. For reference, see a couple of years ago when I changed shoes a few weeks before a race and finally realized the extra millimeter or so of rubber on the soles of my new shoes altered my stride enough to irritate my knee. I'll break these in slowly and wait a couple of weeks before wearing them on a long run. Yep, that's the voice of experience talking right there.

Pre-Dawn Run

The wife got up early, very early, to head out for another triathlon this morning. I took the opportunity, if you want to call it that, to get most of my run in before the sun rose. It was nice to run in relative coolness. Overall I went 10 miles and felt pretty good, for the most part. It's been a while since I ran this far, and I definitely felt some stiffness and soreness, mostly in my left hip. Even though I then drove to Wichita and back today, seven hours in the car didn't affect me, which is a mild surprise. I also totalled 28 miles for the week, or double what I ran the previous week. I know that goes against all the common wisdom. We'll see how I feel tomorrow and if that much mileage was a bad thing or not.

6 in the Sun

The temperature was down about ten degrees today, so I went ahead and ran after work rather than waiting until the sun went down. Amazing how the upper 80's actually felt cooler. When I returned home and checked, the heat index was 'only' 88 degrees. I kept the whole 6 miles slow and easy, closer to 11 minutes/mile than anything faster. It paid off since I was able to make it the whole way. The only time I walked was when I switched from a podcast to Dwight Yoakam on the iPod.

A strange thing happened on the way back into the neighborhood. As I ran by the pool, which sits at the 5.75 mile mark on my usual 6-mile course, I could smell the water. I thought maybe it was just the chlorine. After my run and I was walking up the hill on my cooldown, one of the neighbors had a sprinkler going and I smelled the water again. I'm guessing my body was craving a drink something fierce. I don't recall that ever happening before. Sometimes the human body is a strange thing.

Yes, It's Still Summer

91 degrees at the end of the run today, and the end came at 9:10 p.m. Strangely enough it was probably a little hotter today but felt better because there was more of a breeze. Today's plan called for 6 miles of hills, and that's exactly what I did. I must be getting pretty good at my routes since I headed toward Pleasant Valley Baptist Church but turned before the top of the hill, then ran down Flintlock toward Target and turned before I got there, and managed to hit 6 miles exactly at my usual stopping point. I was pretty impressed with myself, even if a little bit of dumb luck was involved.

Tomorrow is an off day for running, and I would enjoy the break from the heat except for the fact that I need to mow the lawn. The wife is heading north to a triathlon on Saturday and I have to take the nephews south to get back to their parents, so I'm planning on a very early run that day. That leaves Thursday, which I suppose will be an evening run again. But the high is supposed to be only 90 degrees that day. Guess I'll take it when I can get it.

More Heat

A couple of runs to catch up - first one was on Friday. It was my early day, and I knew with the wife's triathlon on Saturday and having to drive all day Sunday to pick up the boy I wouldn't have time to run on the weekend. SO I went to Happy Rock Park in Gladstone to run in the shade. The plan called for 10 miles. The first four went okay, but the next couple just totally sapped me. I finished at 6 miles and called it good. I was totally worn out.

Today I ran 6 miles again, but this time i didn't even start until 8 p.m. A couple of nephews ran the first half with me, and then I dropped them off at the house and continued. I was pretty done in again by the end, because even though the sun wasn't shining the temperature was in the mid-90's and humidity was high. This week is going to be a challenge, but I have to do it. Hopefully when the sun is down so I can avoid some heat stroke.