If you’ve continued your usual run schedule the past couple weeks then you know that the heat and humidity have been brutal just about everywhere in the the good ol’ US of A. To try and beat the heat I’ve woken at 3:20am the past three weeks for all of my mid-week runs to try and get my miles at the coolest time of day. Still, at 4am when I start my run the heat and humidity has been just slightly better and it seems that all I’m doing is removing the sun from the equation. While this is a huge help my experience this morning was that of 84 degrees and 85% humidity which is brutal and performance stopping to say the least.
To battle the heat, hydration and recovery are key points to remember. Perhaps a good place to start is to figure out your sweat rate and to figure out how much water you should drink per day so you know the numbers. I am big on knowing your numbers and as I’ve said before, numbers don’t lie. The numbers cut through the emotion, the mental, the physical and the crap! Being armed with your numbers is a great first step toward maximizing your potential.
First up is you daily water intake. Check out the Human Water Requirement Calculator to see how much H2O you should take in per day. My number surprised me. Just be honest with yourself when using the calculator so you’re as accurate as possible. Also, I don’t count sugary drinks or even diet soda toward my intake number. That’s a personal choice and a good way to make myself decide/opt for water instead of a soda or juice. Knowing how much you should drink daily will ensure that you are hydrated throughout the day and ready for your next training session!
Next up is your sweat rate. This will tell you how much you should drink during exercise to stay hydrated. According to Active.com, “An average person sweats between 0.8 to 1.4 liters (roughly 27.4 to 47.3 oz.) per hour during exercise.” The best way to calculate your sweat rate is to weigh yourself sans clothing right before you workout then go workout for an hour without taking in any fluids and ideally without using the restroom during this time. After an hour of exercise weigh yourself again without clothes. The change in weight is the amount of fluids you lost due to exercise. If you are down two pounds then you lost 32oz
Be specific for the type of exercise you do when calculating sweat rate. If you a want a sweat rate for running then you should run for an hour. You SHOULD NOT lift weights for an hour and then expect that sweat rate to be the same for when you go for a run. You’ll sweat more on a run than you will lifting weights in the air conditioned gym.
Speaking of AC, please pay attention to your environment when calculating sweat rate! If you decide to calculate your sweat rate on the treadmill in your air conditioned gym with the two TM fans blowing on you then know that you will sweat more outside on a hot day. Basically, just pay attention to the temperature, humidity and dew point in relationship to human comfort.
Finally, if you are becoming more active and losing weight like me then be sure to recalculate your sweat rate on a regular basis as your body will become more efficient at regulating heat and your performance will increase too so you’ll want to make sure you are drinking enough, but also not over-hydrating…not a big issue in the recent 100+ temps, but still something to consider so you aren’t trying to run with a lot of extra fluid sloshing around in your stomach. Stay hydrated and stay safe on those hot runs!
Happy Training!
Brian
Note to Readers: This is not my original work, but a blog post or a tweet with just a link wouldn’t do it justice. So read on or even better click the link of the title below to take you to the original blog post of I Keep Running. The author is Scott McMurtrey, an ultra marathoner.
We will go on a run today because we are runners.
We will run tomorrow, too. And we will run the next day. This is who we are.
We will wake early every morning to feel the new sun on our legs. To feel fresh snow under our feet. To feel the wind against our backs. To hear birds and newspaper trucks and our favorite playlists. We will watch early-morning clouds move across mountains and we will taste salt on our lips.
We will run when we are at our smiling happiest. We will run when we are at our saddest sad. We will run when we are tired or sick or married or alone. We will run when we have kids and when loved ones pass away. We will run with souls full of heartache and compassion and trust and overflowing love.
We will run to share our love.
We will run to test our own limits, to prove to ourselves that we can do it.
We will run for our health. We will run if only to listen to our own hearts beating for miles. We will run to feel every muscle. We will run to sing as loud as we can in the middle of the woods.
We will run on dirt and sand and mud and concrete and asphalt and gravel and rock and grass and cinder and rubber.
We will run to see how far the trail will go. We will run to see what speeds the sidewalk can handle. We will run between buildings and canyons, and we will believe we are free.
We will run to feel the earth moving under our feet.
We will run to celebrate the life that is flowing through our bodies.
This past Saturday I met five other runners whom I had never met before to form team Six Degrees and run the 63+ mile Hendrick’s County Park-2-Park Relay in Indiana. All of us knew someone in common so the team name made sense. Sixteen teams of six runners as well as six ultra marathoners took off at various times Saturday morning to complete the course. For the relay teams the course was ~63+ miles and the ultra runners took on a 50+ mile course solo.
Our team consisted of Jen, Liz, Donnie, Jessica, John and me (Brian). I was designated “Runner 1” for the team and ran the furthest distance (only by a few tenths of miles though). We each took three legs of the course with me running legs one, seven and thirteen. I got lost for about 10-15 minutes on leg #2 due to a lack of signage coming out of a wooded area, but otherwise I had no trouble on my three legs of the journey. The final leg had me and another team’s runner racing to the transition area at a dead sprint with both teams cheering us on til the next runner on our teams took off. It was a great way to end my part of the relay!
The weather while sunny and clear was also very hot! The first few legs were relatively cool, but as soon as the sun was above the tree tops the heat climbed quickly and reached the daily high of 90 degrees. The sun beat on us all day, but we found a little comfort in the AC of our support vehicle (Thanks Donnie!). Overall, it was a great day even with the extreme heat. If I don’t do the relay again next year then I may do the ultra as my second 50-mile race. For now though I’m back to focusing on training for my first 50-miler!
Happy Training!
Brian
Ok actually it was a doe, a deer, a female deer…you know the rest…and there were four of them. The herd of deer was just one of the sights I came across while on my 13+ miler two Saturday’s ago. The weather was perfect and I was out the door before 8am to enjoy a nearly two and a half hour run with much of it being on trails in Eagle Creek State Park. At Eagle Creek you have the choice to run out in the woods or on the paved roads that go through the park. I opted primarily for the trails and loved it. I initially took the long way to get to the park circling the Colts Football Complex. There are soccer fields behind the main complex and running around those made for a great warm up. After I exited the trails I ran up 56th street for some time and then turned around to come back home circling the sports complex again for good measure. All in all I did over 5.5 miles outside the state park so having run around 7 miles on trails is a great accomplishment. Trails are a tad more surprising and a better workout than flat pavement!
Overall a great week of running. Now that we’ve moved I am right next door to the state park and can’t wait for things to quiet down so I can head out the door on Saturday mornings to head down the street for a run instead of hopping in my car.
When I first looked at the training plan for the ultra marathon I’m going to run in November I knew it was different compared to training for a 5K, half or full marathon. Some would surmise that the plan would be exactly like a marathon training program only the long runs would be longer.
The two biggest differences in this training program are the lack of speed work and the focus on specificity in trail running. While the book does say you can put in interval training or other types of speed work it also says don’t worry if you don’t or would rather not. Total volume of miles is the key along with “time on feet”. I like the specificity training. I’ve done some trail running the last couple weeks and have not only enjoyed the scenery, but also have loved the softness of the ground compared to running on pavement or concrete.
Seeing how this program is a little different it is only fitting that my first workout for the ultra training program was a weights workout at noon on Monday. I hit full body alternating between upper and lower and taking it easy on the legs since I have three runs on consecutive days and two days with double runs.
Tuesday morning I ran a 10K at the gym and I ran just under 4 miles at lunch. The 10K felt great and I kept the speed down to around a 10min/mile pace. I could definitely feel the walking lunges from Monday’s workout. On occasion I forget how much walking lunges help me run. If you are a runner and want to run faster or with better form then just add walking lunges to your workout once or twice a week. The 4 miler was an easy jaunt down the Monon Trail and back. On the way back I ran in the soft gravel on the side of the trail to mimic a trail as much as possible.
Wednesday morning (today) I did an easy 4 miler at the gym with a little incline. The schedule called for 3 miles, but I wanted to make up a little mileage where ever I can since I’ll not be going long on Saturday morning as I normally would.
Even though it’s my first week of ultra training I am hitting the local festivities for Carb Day this coming Friday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway which means I won’t feel like running 10+ miles on Saturday morning. This is also why I’m putting in a few extra miles on Tuesday and Thursday at lunch! I’ve said it countless times before. Plan those celebrations into your training so you don’t feel like your training is making you miss out on life.
I’m almost 100% on my training diet again making healthier choices and opting for smaller more frequent portions. I’ve been adamant about the whey protein post workout so far and I’ve upped my water intake considerably. I’ve also went to cutting out artificial sweetener in my morning coffee so I’m less apt to crave the sweeter foods. Every little “trick” helps. Things are paying off as I’m down to 176lbs. My goal is to weigh 160lbs by November as carrying an extra 16-20 pounds for 50 miles will make the task a bit more difficult. 🙂
Happy Training!
Brian
Ok, so there I was sitting at my desk and an email hits my inbox from a friend of mine who is a fellow “runner of the world”. The subject line of the email…”new wdw marathon course!” Really? I mean REALLY?!?!!? First, it’s the 20th anniversary of the Disney marathon and now runDisney tempts us with a new course as well??? Oh, come on!
Sorry….my fit is over now.
See the video of the new course!
And here’s the 2013 map!
A couple of cool additions to the marathon course AND a 20th anniversary medal!
Happy Training!
Brian
This past week was a good one for recovery after a brutally humid Indianapolis Mini Marathon on Cinco de Mayo. After the mini marathon my left foot was hurting a little on the bottom so I’ve taken it easy and am letting it recover well so I can start training for my first ultra marathon a week from now. This past week I had three runs that were fantastic for different reasons. The first run was neither long nor taxing. The next run wasn’t that long either, but introduced me to a new type of running. The final run was by far one of the most enjoyable runs of my recreational running career to date!
This run was over lunch and was a whopping 1.32 miles in length on a comfortably warm day. I don’t point out this run because it is significant, but to get back to the roots of my blog which is about being fit. I see other bloggers and Facebookers say how they didn’t get to do their 10-miler today…blah blah. Okay, why not an 8-miler, 5-miler, or a 1.32 miler? Get it in where you can! I had a similar run on Saturday when i was waiting on my running partner to arrive. I had an extra 10-15 minutes so instead of sitting in my car and waiting I ran 5 minutes in one direction and then turned around to come back to the car. A couple minutes later my friend arrived and we did Run #2! The point is I didn’t waste that 15 minutes sitting in the car. I took that small amount of time to add an extra mile to my day.
For run #2 my friend and I went fully off road for the first time. Up until now I’ve been a user of the “Rails to Trails” areas of Indiana. These areas used to be literally where a train track once was and now they have been redone to have pavement or other type of foot path for runners, walkers, bikers, etc. Connected to a favorite Rails to Trails area are several shorter dirt trails that run along or near Eagle Creek in Zionsville. We started on these and did a couple of dirt trail miles. I even started breaking in my trail shoes on this run which I’d been waiting to do for a few weeks until after the mini marathon. We finished up on back on the main trail and I stopped before reaching 7-miles total as my left foot started to feel a little sore and I didn’t want to push it. 6.5 miles was plenty for me for the day!
Run #3 happened a few hours after Run #2. I had the great honor of running the Rookie Run with my 4-year old niece. Two exhilarating blocks of competition! It was so much fun to run with my niece in this awesome event. The organizers of the run do a great job on this event. The bibs for the kids have a tear away number on it which the parent (or other family member) get so when the child finishes you can’t have the kid unless you have a matching number. Even though I went the entire distance with her I was asked by no less than five different security people to show them my number to make sure I had the right kid. Security was awesome! Also, the rest of the event was top notch too. There was entertainment the entire afternoon. I can’t say enough about the event!
All in all it was a great week. I have one more recovery week before my official ultra marathon training schedule begins and I’m looking forward to it!
Happy Training!
Brian
There are certain things in life you will never be able to out run. Some would cite death and taxes as the inevitable, but to add to this short list I would also say you cannot outrun time, police radio and the heat during any length marathon as many discovered on Cinco de Mayo this past Saturday for the Indianapolis 500 Festival Mini Marathon.
According to the local paper the men’s top finisher this year had the slowest time in two decades due to the heat at 01:05:08. The women’s top finisher came in about 10 minutes later at 01:15:22 and then was removed from the finish area by stretcher due to heat exhaustion. My own experience also saw the effects of the heat. I was feeling fine 5-6 miles into the run and then realized my pace had slowed drastically around mile seven on the Indy 500 Motor Speedway 2.5 Mile Track. Overall, I am happy with my time of 02:19:52 which was still good enough to get seeded for next year’s race. The heat slowed me down by 14 minutes as compared to my 2011 PR.
This year I started in Corral D. To give you some perspective the Indianapolis Mini Marathon is the largest half marathon in the United States selling out the last 11 years. The 35,000 runners come from all 50 states and quite a few other countries to run the flat and fast Indy course. I started the run at a good pace hoping the heat wouldn’t bother me as much as I actually like running in the heat, but while the heat wasn’t so bad for me ranging from the upper 60s to upper 70s the humidity was over 90% with a dew point of 68 making it difficult to dissipate heat from your body. Otherwise the day was very nice and I even felt comfortable on the run once I slowed my pace to a speed that was more manageable for the day’s weather.
After the race I continued drinking Gatorade and water, ate a banana, a cookie, and two fruit snacks offered at the finish. I knew I needed to keep nutrients and fluids flowing to my system to combat the effects of the heat. Once I got back to my car I had my traditional EAS Chocolate Myoplex Shake. My family had a BBQ that afternoon and I indulged a little for a race well run and to kick off the summer right! I kept drinking fluids the entire afternoon to work on rehydrating my body. Many people stop because they already have had a bottle of water after the race. Please don’t make this mistake. The best indicator that you are rehydrated is when you finally urinate a light yellow to clear color after the race. For me that didn’t happen until over 11 hours after the end of the race. This tells me that I was very dehydrated after the race. It took over 11 hours to even feel the urge to go! Once I got home I wore my Zoot Compression Socks to help the blood flow back to my heart and to assist in vacating any lactic acid build up in my lower legs. Planned recovery efforts can make a big difference between enjoying the days after a race and suffering for several days. I’ll take Sunday off and then do a light workout on Monday most likely hitting a short 2-3 mile run and a light full body weights workout.
My next run is the Hendrick’s County Park 2 Park Relay where I will join five other teammates to run 60-miles to raise money for the local Hendrick’s County Park system.
This coming week starts a ramp up to my ultra marathon training which will officially begin in two weeks. I’m excited to start training for this new challenge!
Happy Training!
Brian
Happy Belated Earth Day! Odd way to start a running blog post I know, but the Saturday of the Carmel Marathon was Earth Day after all. I realized this when I saw my finishers medal on Saturday, but I digress.
To say this was a standard marathon run would be far from reality. First, I decided to do this marathon at about 7:00pm the Thursday before the race. Second, not only was this race impromptu I hadn’t really been training for it. I had done several longer runs with a good friend of mine who had the sense to actually train for this 26.2 mile adventure, but otherwise I had been focused on trying for a PR on May 5th at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. As fate would have it I tweaked my knee a couple weeks ago doing some core work which made speed a problem for me. It turned out to be more of a bother than a true injury.
…don’t worry, I had my knee checked by an NP and my chiropractor independently. Both came to the same conclusion independently that I had just tweaked it a little and that there was no ligament or meniscus damage. They both told me to take it easy for a week by cutting my mileage volume and to return to full activity as I saw fit. As I returned to full activity I realized that speed was an issue, but distance wasn’t so I decided “what the hey!” and registered for the marathon. I had done all the long runs with my friend so I felt the distance was in reach. One caveat is that my PR goal for the Mini Marathon is on hold for now.
So back to the marathon recap!
I ran the Carmel half marathon last year for the inaugural event when it was scheduled in June. That race was super hot and my performance suffered as I came in 20-30 minutes behind what I expected from my 02:05:00+ performance at the Indy Mini Marathon in May.
This year was chillier with temperatures in the low to mid 40s for most of the race and a 14mph wind that chilled you when running into it. The weather was predicted to break and get a little sunnier with temperatures in the low 50s. This never happened so the entire race was in the 40s and overcast.
I started out with my friend and quickly had to slow as my left shin was super tight. I told my friend to go it alone and I dropped back. Somewhere around mile 5 a lady approached and remarked that I was not Lou Mongello. Lou is the founder of the WDW Radio Running Team and the online podcast phenomena by the same name (sans running). I was wearing my WDW Radio Running Team shirt for the race. It’s pretty cool when someone so far from Disney recognizes the shirt and the efforts of the team toward the Dream Team Project and the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Eventually I saw and started running with the 5-hour pace group. The group was small and the pacer, Marie, was very talkative! She had 100s of stories it seemed and had herself run a couple hundred marathons. She didn’t count ultra marathons in that number though because she liked to know the straight count on those as well. She’s training to run the Comrades Ultra Marathon and Badwater. Besides being a marathon maniac, she was also a little insane…I liked her immediately! 🙂
I stayed with this group until mile 15, but then dropped back with another runner. We made a valiant effort to keep the 5-hour pacer in sight, but it wasn’t to be. Still, I knew there was a 5:30:00 pacer somewhere behind us so I didn’t worry. My new running partner and I took on a run/walk regimen for the remainder of the race and kept on motivating each other. Thanks Lisa!
It wasn’t long and the miles ahead became less than the miles behind us. Soon after we were running through the Carmel Art & Design district headed for the finish line. On the final stretch I kicked it into gear for a sprint to the finish.
I finished up by doing a few high (or medium rather) fives as I went into the finisher’s chute. All my friends had waited for me to finish. Luckily I didn’t make them wait too long….well, except Dave. He finished in a little over 4 hours! He’s a machine!
All in all it was a good day. I PR’d by 09:41, met a lot of cool people, and added another marathon to the list. There’s only one other marathon road race in the local Indy area that I haven’t run, the Indianapolis Marathon, but I’ll have to wait until next year to run that one as I already am running a trail marathon on that same day this year near West Lafayette, IN.
Happy Training!
Brian
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