Saturday, June 29, 2013

Day 50: Things are heating up!

Collapsing into my mat after last week's run
I think I should start adding a temperature stat to these posts.  It's 93 degrees outside right now, "feels like" 97, with a high of 103.  Sheesh!  This morning during the run it was about 80, with 80 percent humidity.  For those of you who come from more arid climates than Houston (read: anywhere else), running through 80 percent humidity is a little less intense than running through a steam room.  And since you're not usually running through steam rooms, let's call them equal.

Aside from the heat, the run this morning was fantastic.  8 miles, two runners at my speed to chat with, and a pretty steady 9:45 pace with a negative split.  All in all, not so bad.

A few updates on the training front:

- I'm a morning person now!  That's right, all my workouts now happen before 7 a.m., and I'm not looking back.  It took me about a week to adjust and actually push myself during the workouts -- so easy to be sluggish at 5:30 a.m.! -- but once my body got used to it, I haven't had any trouble.  It also helps that the thought of waiting another hour  to exercise -- or worse, until the end of the day -- means unbearable temperatures.  It either happens in the morning or not at all.

- I have yet to meet my workout goal for a week.  :/  The schedule should be:
  • Sunday - rest
  • Monday - run easy 30-45 minutes
  • Tuesday - hill train with Houston FIT (45 minutes) + arm strength
  • Wednesday - hot yoga
  • Thursday - tempo run with Houston FIT (45 minutes) + leg strength
  • Friday - rest
  • Saturday - long run + core strength
...but too often I've cut a workout, and that's usually been yoga.  This week, however, I went to yoga twice, and felt amazing after.  My body had been craving it -- the strengthening, the stretching -- so I'm just going to have to suck it up and, well, not cut my workouts out.

- I finally caved in and got a water belt.  I avoided it for the entirety of last year's marathon season*, but Houston FIT requires them, and they do add a huge amount of flexibility to a run.  What they don't do, though, is sit nice and snug against my hips.  As a girl, my hips are wider than my waist, which means the belt pops up into my skinnier part, and then bounces around during the run.  Annoying at best.

A few weeks ago, I decided to combat this by strapping the belt really tightly around my waist, which resulted in a horrendous side stitch.  While I want to throw in the towel on the belt, I'm now resigned to wearing it somewhere between my waist and hips, and yes, having to readjust it pretty often during the run.  I'm trying to like it, okay?!  We're just not there yet.

- I'm getting worried about gaining training weight.  If you're wondering why anyone would actually gain weight while training, this article explains what I went through last year.  I honestly didn't even notice it until after the marathon, because I didn't think it was possible to be burning an extra 4,000 calories a week and be adding on pounds... but somehow I managed it!

The main culprit, according to the article and also in my experience, is the feeling that I deserve a reward meal after a long run.  That should be totally fine and great -- I certainly need to refuel -- but too often it's an extra meal.  What I'd like to do is simply adjust the timing of my meals so I have the energy I need for a run, rather than increase my overall calorie intake.

Day 50, by the numbers:

90.07 - miles run to date
8.02 - longest run to date
1:21:45 - time it took
10:12 - average min / mile pace (with water stops -- I wish they didn't count!)

And as usual... the post-run farmer's market treat:

My favorite: a frothy double espresso
From the Chef Roy tent at the Urban Harvest Eastside farmer's market: Tomatoes, beets, sprouts and other greens, gruyere cheese and an egg (to make it breakfast-y) on Slow Dough

*How did I avoid running with a water belt in Houston's deadly heat, you ask?  Only by going to great lengths.  If I wasn't running with Team In Training (they would usually provide water every two miles), then I would drive the route I was running beforehand and stash water bottles every two miles in people's yards.  If you live in River Oaks, I may have hit your house...

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