Today was so steamy I succeeded in pruning my fingertips with sweat.
That's right, people. By the end of the nine mile (and some change) run, I was literally bathing in my own sweat to such a degree that the whorls and arches of my fingerprints were standing in bas-relief.
Since James and I had invited Glenna and David to join us for today's run, we were not alone in our utter sweatitude.
David actually won the award, being able to tip liquid from his shoe and wring it from his shorts.
Got to love North Carolina summers.
On the whole, it was another successful long distance run, began not long after seven in the morning. It was also good conditioning for the fast approaching Bix 7 this coming Saturday. If history repeats itself it will either be sweltering, raining, or both.
After seeing how much liquid I can produce of my own, I'm really hoping for just a typical Midwestern furnace of a summer morning.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Miles 294-298 and 299-302: Banging 'em out on the treadmill
Because there is only so much that one can write about running on the treadmill in the air-conditioned gym, I'm going to use this little space of internet to celebrate crossing the Mile 300 threshold. Go me!
Also, for your viewing pleasure, a short clip from a great film, Spirit of the Marathon.
Also, for your viewing pleasure, a short clip from a great film, Spirit of the Marathon.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Miles 288.5-293: Beating the Heat
The following chart is taken from Mindy Solkin's "Runnning in the Heat; Respect Your Body, Respect the Heat"
HEAT INDEX CHART
As yesterday at 5:55 found my home experiencing 97°F at 35% humidity, my post-work 5-mile run would have put me squarely in the 105°-110°F apparent temperature (orange) range, which Ms. Solkin describes as the range at which "heat cramps or heat exhaustion [is] likely."
Thankfully, I can't recollect suffering from either. However, I've mentioned before that I tend to hit a wall if I run in the heat, and this little blurb finally helped me understand why:
Overheating is the result of inadequate cooling; when the body cannot keep up with the demands of evaporation of water from your skin. When the body heats up internally, it starts to sweat and sends more blood to the skin where it is cooled by coming into contact with the relatively cooler skin. However, while running, your body's demand for oxygen to the muscles means less blood will flow to the skin and this is when overheating occurs. And thus begins the tug-of-war within your body, especially if you want to keep up a certain pace. Either the blood (and oxygen) goes to your muscles to keep up with the pace demands and you start to overheat because less blood is going to the skin for cooling - OR - the blood goes to the skin for cooling, but less blood goes to your working muscles meaning you'll be forced slow down.
Obviously, I fall into the latter category. I sweat profusely, turn a violent shade of red, and then as I begin to feel light-headed, my legs simply won't move faster than a shuffle. Which, I suppose is better than dealing with fainting spells or rapid-onset muscle spasms of the excruciating kind.
Though, it does make me feel like a bit of a wimp compared to my husband. I've struggled for a long time to try and explain exactly how I feel and how running slower isn't really a choice for me in certain temperatures.
Thankfully, John Hanc's article "The Heat is On" in the latest Runner's World came to my rescue. I am simply an inferior specimen (i.e. one who's core temperature increases more quickly than my running machine of a husband) who needs to spend some time figuring out exactly what I need to do to hydrate and cool during long runs outside.
Or, as did yesterday, I can - and should - opt to go to the air-conditioned gym.
Once again, I emerged victorious.
Miles 288.5-293: Erin 3, Treadmill 0.
HEAT INDEX CHART
As yesterday at 5:55 found my home experiencing 97°F at 35% humidity, my post-work 5-mile run would have put me squarely in the 105°-110°F apparent temperature (orange) range, which Ms. Solkin describes as the range at which "heat cramps or heat exhaustion [is] likely."
Thankfully, I can't recollect suffering from either. However, I've mentioned before that I tend to hit a wall if I run in the heat, and this little blurb finally helped me understand why:
Overheating is the result of inadequate cooling; when the body cannot keep up with the demands of evaporation of water from your skin. When the body heats up internally, it starts to sweat and sends more blood to the skin where it is cooled by coming into contact with the relatively cooler skin. However, while running, your body's demand for oxygen to the muscles means less blood will flow to the skin and this is when overheating occurs. And thus begins the tug-of-war within your body, especially if you want to keep up a certain pace. Either the blood (and oxygen) goes to your muscles to keep up with the pace demands and you start to overheat because less blood is going to the skin for cooling - OR - the blood goes to the skin for cooling, but less blood goes to your working muscles meaning you'll be forced slow down.
Obviously, I fall into the latter category. I sweat profusely, turn a violent shade of red, and then as I begin to feel light-headed, my legs simply won't move faster than a shuffle. Which, I suppose is better than dealing with fainting spells or rapid-onset muscle spasms of the excruciating kind.
Though, it does make me feel like a bit of a wimp compared to my husband. I've struggled for a long time to try and explain exactly how I feel and how running slower isn't really a choice for me in certain temperatures.
Thankfully, John Hanc's article "The Heat is On" in the latest Runner's World came to my rescue. I am simply an inferior specimen (i.e. one who's core temperature increases more quickly than my running machine of a husband) who needs to spend some time figuring out exactly what I need to do to hydrate and cool during long runs outside.
Or, as did yesterday, I can - and should - opt to go to the air-conditioned gym.
Once again, I emerged victorious.
Miles 288.5-293: Erin 3, Treadmill 0.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Miles 280.5-288.5: Blessings and Curses
After a very lazy Saturday (think pajama-day-TV/book/movie marathon complete with Korean take-out for dinner), I woke early to a 63° Sunday morning!
(!!!!!!)
After feeding the cats just past six, I walked out onto the porch and startlingly basked in the beautiful chill of a spring morning.
Having woken early on Saturday morning to work half a day, James was less than amused by my noisy coffee-making and general prancing about; once he realized how awesome our long distance run was going to be, he perked up considerably.
The 8-mile run turned out to be every bit as lovely as I hoped. We kept right smack at a 9:45 pace for the duration and held conversation for the entirity. Yesterday's run re-energized me in the way that the first cool weather run in the fall does. To not struggle for breath against the heat and humidity and to not sweat in torrents was the sweetest gift Mother Nature could have given me yesterday.
Especially because of what happened Saturday.
You will note that I do not have any fun pictures or graphs to share with you today. It is with sadness and frustration that I report that I will be returning my Nike+ Sportwatch and retract my initial review and endorsement on purchasing.
As I have written in my return note to Nike, I maintain that the watch is fantastic - easy to wear and easy to use. However, the other half of the package (and a big reason so many people have paid $200 for this watch) is being able to store, access, and analyze the data on your computer post-run.
And there, something has gone completely wonky.
On Thursday, I noticed that my watch uploaded the data from the run, but wouldn't let me access the GPS route information. I just chalked it up to the Nike+ website always being a little buggy and didn't think anything of it. On Saturday, I noticed that the Nike Connect application wasn't registering the device, so I unplugged from and replugged it into the USB port.
Windows does not recognize your device. Please uninstall and reinstall.
Funnily enough, I had had a similar problem with a USB port with my coworker's computer. However, that error was seated in a USB issue - nothing worked on any port. But my issue was seated with the watch; James's Garmin remote antenna, however, for example, worked just fine.
(Yeah, that was especially annoying.)
I tried all of the usual steps - uninstalling/reinstalling the program and drivers, checking for any Windows updates that could have interfered, restarting the computer. No luck. Then I search on the Nike+ forum site.
Where I found 16 pages on the same issue, dating back to the launch in April.
Everyone - from people running Windows XP to Mac Air - had little trouble for the first few weeks to first few months, only to have the watch suddenly stop communicating with their computer. Particularly frustrating? The watch still will charge in the USB port, but it won't transfer the data. This runner summed it up well:
I also find it troubling that there wasn't even a whiff of these issues in the internet air when I was first researching the watch. The internet buzzed with positive reviews - nowhere does anyone report on this issue. Additionally, as the above runner says, there is zero information in their FAQs about how to deal with this challenge. I smell cover-up.
James's position on the issue? "Should've got a Garmin."
(!!!!!!)
After feeding the cats just past six, I walked out onto the porch and startlingly basked in the beautiful chill of a spring morning.
Having woken early on Saturday morning to work half a day, James was less than amused by my noisy coffee-making and general prancing about; once he realized how awesome our long distance run was going to be, he perked up considerably.
The 8-mile run turned out to be every bit as lovely as I hoped. We kept right smack at a 9:45 pace for the duration and held conversation for the entirity. Yesterday's run re-energized me in the way that the first cool weather run in the fall does. To not struggle for breath against the heat and humidity and to not sweat in torrents was the sweetest gift Mother Nature could have given me yesterday.
Especially because of what happened Saturday.
You will note that I do not have any fun pictures or graphs to share with you today. It is with sadness and frustration that I report that I will be returning my Nike+ Sportwatch and retract my initial review and endorsement on purchasing.
As I have written in my return note to Nike, I maintain that the watch is fantastic - easy to wear and easy to use. However, the other half of the package (and a big reason so many people have paid $200 for this watch) is being able to store, access, and analyze the data on your computer post-run.
And there, something has gone completely wonky.
On Thursday, I noticed that my watch uploaded the data from the run, but wouldn't let me access the GPS route information. I just chalked it up to the Nike+ website always being a little buggy and didn't think anything of it. On Saturday, I noticed that the Nike Connect application wasn't registering the device, so I unplugged from and replugged it into the USB port.
Windows does not recognize your device. Please uninstall and reinstall.
Funnily enough, I had had a similar problem with a USB port with my coworker's computer. However, that error was seated in a USB issue - nothing worked on any port. But my issue was seated with the watch; James's Garmin remote antenna, however, for example, worked just fine.
(Yeah, that was especially annoying.)
I tried all of the usual steps - uninstalling/reinstalling the program and drivers, checking for any Windows updates that could have interfered, restarting the computer. No luck. Then I search on the Nike+ forum site.
Where I found 16 pages on the same issue, dating back to the launch in April.
Everyone - from people running Windows XP to Mac Air - had little trouble for the first few weeks to first few months, only to have the watch suddenly stop communicating with their computer. Particularly frustrating? The watch still will charge in the USB port, but it won't transfer the data. This runner summed it up well:
I also find it troubling that there wasn't even a whiff of these issues in the internet air when I was first researching the watch. The internet buzzed with positive reviews - nowhere does anyone report on this issue. Additionally, as the above runner says, there is zero information in their FAQs about how to deal with this challenge. I smell cover-up.
James's position on the issue? "Should've got a Garmin."
Thursday, July 14, 2011
276.5-280.5: Falling Short on Speed-work
Today's schedule called for 2 x 1 mile repeats at a 8:25/mile pace with a warm up and a cool-down mile.
But before I go into how that went down, I'm sending a shout out to my dad on his birthday.
Mike Macauley, you are everything a daughter could hope for in a father and then some. We've had so many adventures together and I'm looking forward to so many more. You've taught me that while planning has its place, so much of this life is how you live it each day and taking each moment in whatever form it may come.
While you are healthy in the general sense, you've had more than your fair share of hospitalizations for illnesses, injuries, and complications that run the gamut. Even still, you've held on to your belief that the world is for seeing and home is being with people you love.
Wishing a very happy birthday to you from many miles away.
---
My father and I have never ran together but, as a swimmer, he knows the meditative pull it has with me. I imagine that his mind wanders similarly during his many laps.
Speed-work has a meditative quality to it as well, but it takes a very different form. Intent focus on breath and form is necessary to achieve your set goals. And when your breath is all over the place because you didn't hydrate properly and your form is weak because you are sore, it's easy to not hit your marks.
See that lovely plateau roughly between miles 1-2? Should have had another one:
On the plus side, this was my first attempt at mile-repeats not on a treadmill and that I even managed to maintain a relatively steady, faster pace (not nearly fast enough) for one mile makes me happy. But it's frustrating knowing that if I were on a treadmill, I could have banged out the 2 x 1 at 8:25/mile. It would have been tough, and I would have been dying, but I would have done it.
Then again, when faced with the prospect of flying off the back of the treadmill, I don't really have a choice, do I?
Maybe I'll take myself to a track next go round.
But before I go into how that went down, I'm sending a shout out to my dad on his birthday.
 | |
| Off the coast of Cozumel, Mexico on a dive boat, December 2005 |
While you are healthy in the general sense, you've had more than your fair share of hospitalizations for illnesses, injuries, and complications that run the gamut. Even still, you've held on to your belief that the world is for seeing and home is being with people you love.
Wishing a very happy birthday to you from many miles away.
---
My father and I have never ran together but, as a swimmer, he knows the meditative pull it has with me. I imagine that his mind wanders similarly during his many laps.
Speed-work has a meditative quality to it as well, but it takes a very different form. Intent focus on breath and form is necessary to achieve your set goals. And when your breath is all over the place because you didn't hydrate properly and your form is weak because you are sore, it's easy to not hit your marks.
See that lovely plateau roughly between miles 1-2? Should have had another one:
Then again, when faced with the prospect of flying off the back of the treadmill, I don't really have a choice, do I?
Maybe I'll take myself to a track next go round.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Cross-Training Days: The Story of a Honey Bun
I know I had seen the packaging before, from my grocery days, in the snack isle:
Around these parts, those who find themselves with a hankering for something sweet will, as they say, run to the store, and get themselves a honey bun.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), James - not I - overheard the following conversation between middle-aged men working on the machines next to him.
.....
Guy 1: What you been drinkin'?
Guy 2: Some brew. Some brew and some vodka.
Guy 1: Yeah, I been drinking some brew, too.
Guy 2: Yeah, I got a new job, so no more smokin' but I been drinkin' some brew. <rubs abdomen, pats side> I've been trying to watch what I'm doing though, trying to watch what I'm eating, you know?
Guy 1: I know.
Guy 2: Yeah, it's hard though, man. I be at work in the morning, eating a honey bun, and man, I keep eating a honey bun, and next thing I know I've lost track of how many I've eaten.
Guy 1: Ain't that the truth.
.....
Say what?!
I applaud the man for making it to the gym. Last I checked one honey bun had enough sugar and carbs to jack you up proper; I have to imagine the consumption of several would be enough to send a middle-aged man of some girth spiraling into sugar-induced food coma.
I've not yet tasted one, but something tells me if I ever aspire to run a marathon, I should plan to have someone meet me at mile 18 with one.
Cross-training: good for the body, great for the stories.
Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), James - not I - overheard the following conversation between middle-aged men working on the machines next to him.
.....
Guy 1: What you been drinkin'?
Guy 2: Some brew. Some brew and some vodka.
Guy 1: Yeah, I been drinking some brew, too.
Guy 2: Yeah, I got a new job, so no more smokin' but I been drinkin' some brew. <rubs abdomen, pats side> I've been trying to watch what I'm doing though, trying to watch what I'm eating, you know?
Guy 1: I know.
Guy 2: Yeah, it's hard though, man. I be at work in the morning, eating a honey bun, and man, I keep eating a honey bun, and next thing I know I've lost track of how many I've eaten.
Guy 1: Ain't that the truth.
.....
Say what?!
I applaud the man for making it to the gym. Last I checked one honey bun had enough sugar and carbs to jack you up proper; I have to imagine the consumption of several would be enough to send a middle-aged man of some girth spiraling into sugar-induced food coma.
I've not yet tasted one, but something tells me if I ever aspire to run a marathon, I should plan to have someone meet me at mile 18 with one.
Cross-training: good for the body, great for the stories.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Miles 271.5-276.5: Ode to a Treadmill
Today was super hot. Like plastic-meltingly hot.
Definitely not run 5 easy miles weather. Not at 5:30 after work, not at 7:30 after dinner, not even right now, at 9:30, where it is currently 92°. No joke.
But I'm telling you, people, I'm keeping the faith this go round, so back to the gym I went.
The worst things about the treadmill are: 1) it's at the gym, which is equally full of wonderful, polite active people getting their endorphin fixes and gymbos (those over-inflated gym rats whose mamas never taught them it's not polite to stare) and 2) it's boring.
Thankfully, treadmill running has ceased to be painful, which was my initial challenge. And luckily, I've been fairly successful with abating the boredom with awesome mixes on my iPod. But sadly, there is nothing I can do about the gymbos.
So I ran my five miles, keeping it slow around 9:30-10:00/mile pace and somehow profusely sweating still, despite being in air conditioning.
Today's mix featured the eclectic likes of 90s post-grunge (Oleander), multi-instrumentalism (Wikipedia's word for Andrew Bird), bluegrass (The Infamous Stringdusters), and classic electric guitar (Jimmy Hendrix).
What gets your feet moving?
Miles 271.5-276.5: Erin 2, Treadmill 0.
Definitely not run 5 easy miles weather. Not at 5:30 after work, not at 7:30 after dinner, not even right now, at 9:30, where it is currently 92°. No joke.
But I'm telling you, people, I'm keeping the faith this go round, so back to the gym I went.
The worst things about the treadmill are: 1) it's at the gym, which is equally full of wonderful, polite active people getting their endorphin fixes and gymbos (those over-inflated gym rats whose mamas never taught them it's not polite to stare) and 2) it's boring.
Thankfully, treadmill running has ceased to be painful, which was my initial challenge. And luckily, I've been fairly successful with abating the boredom with awesome mixes on my iPod. But sadly, there is nothing I can do about the gymbos.
So I ran my five miles, keeping it slow around 9:30-10:00/mile pace and somehow profusely sweating still, despite being in air conditioning.
Today's mix featured the eclectic likes of 90s post-grunge (Oleander), multi-instrumentalism (Wikipedia's word for Andrew Bird), bluegrass (The Infamous Stringdusters), and classic electric guitar (Jimmy Hendrix).
What gets your feet moving?
Miles 271.5-276.5: Erin 2, Treadmill 0.
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