Why I Run

For the past few months, I have written about the heat and how I’ve dealt with it on a number of occasions. In a post in June titled “Learning to run in the heat”, I actually wrote these words:

“A bunch of more experienced runners all say the same thing: when you run in heat and humidity, you need to slow down.”

Although I know I’ve made some progress, I also know I need to get it through my thick skull that it’s OK to run at a slower pace. Today’s long run was scheduled to be 18 miles, and I went into the weekend feeling pretty confident that I’d be able to handle it since last weekend’s 17 went so very well. But this week’s weather has simply not been good, and frankly, I did a terrible job adapting and being smart about it. Since Tuesday, every day this week has had heat indices in the triple digits. Highs in the mid 90s and humidity also extremely high. So what did I do? Nothing different. Dumb. By the end yesterday’s mid length run (8 miles), I was wrecked, but rather than thinking through why that might be, I just chalked it up to “not feeling it.” Then I spent most of the rest of the day standing out in the sun.

This morning I got up early to try to beat the heat for my long run, but I didn’t take into account the humidity. When I started out at 6:00, it was only 75 degrees, but the humidity was at 100%. The fog was so thick, it was hard to see in some places. So what did I do different? Again, nothing. Noticing a pattern? I went out running 8:40 miles. By just a few miles into the run, I was absolutely soaked head to toe with sweat. Even my shoes. I did try to keep up by drinking more water than I usually do, but anyone who has every played any sport knows, you can’t catch up on hydration. Just after seven miles, it really started to get bad. I started to get very shaky and noticed I had stopped sweating. At least I had the brains enough to know that was a bad sign and I shouldn’t just push through it. Nevertheless, a failed long run.

I’ve written about my two boys many times. One of them is 10 years old, the other is 8. Ask either one of them to name the most important muscle and they’ll point to their head. I’ve told them to use their brains first a million times. If only their father would listen to his own advice.

Back in February/March, I took my family on vacation to the Bahamas, and for the first time, had to run where it is warm. Since I just began running in September of last year, I had never run in temperatures above about 60F. I remember wondering why I found it difficult to run medium distances, and frankly, it never dawned on me that I might need a little time to get used to the temperature and humidity.

Fast forward to now and I find myself still getting used to it. A bunch of more experienced runners all say the same thing: when you run in heat and humidity, you need to slow down. I never quite believed it until today when I went running with one of my sons. Whenever one of them goes with me, I slow down and enjoy the time and conversation. So today, it was in the high 80s and the humidity was somewhere around 97%. My run was just over six miles, but for the first time since summer began, and I ran on a very humid day, I didn’t feel like it was a struggle. Lesson learned. Of course, the hard way, but lesson learned nonetheless.

Tomorrow will be my long run and the heat and humidity are supposed to be equal to today. I plan to slow down my pace a full 30 seconds/mile than my typical pace and see how it goes.

It still seems impossible to me that I’m here, but I’ve finally gotten to a distance in my runs where I need both water and calories.  My wife graciously picked up both for me today.

For hydration, I’m going to try the Amphipod RunLite belt.  I have to admit I’m a bit skeptical, but I also know I need the water, so I’ll give it a try.

For some in-run calories I’m trying two brands:  Gu Energy Gels and Clif Shot Energy Gels.

A full report to follow after my long run on Saturday.

I never thought I’d get here, but I am.  I am now running long enough and hard enough to worry about hydration.  I set a goal to make my long run 8 miles this past weekend, and I was able to do it, which felt great.  Until later that evening when I was hit with a pretty bad headache.  And then my puny little brain managed to remember that exactly the same thing happened last weekend when I ran 7+ miles.  The two things in common between the two runs was that I neglected to bring any kind of water or drink along on the run and that I felt incredibly thirsty afterward.  And while I grew up playing the typical sports like baseball, basketball and football, one thing I do remember the coaches yelling at us was, “Once you’re dehydrated, no amount of water will catch you up.”  So it turns out that the guys in the too-tight Bike shorts did know something.

Since I started running again in September, I had yet to have a bad week of running, so perhaps I was overdue.   I’d had a tough day of running now and again, but never an entire week.  But last week felt that way.  Oddly, I set new personal distance records for myself both on an individual run and for the week, but the week still didn’t feel very good.  I actually wonder whether I had a mild case of the virus that was going around because I just never felt strong physically.

The plus side is that I got a lot of practice running when I felt like quitting, but I never did.  That will come in handy at the end of longer runs in my training, and certainly in the half marathon itself.

On to a new week.

I had planned to go out today to put in at least 5 miles so that I’d surpass my previous weekly total of 20 miles.  I started the run with about 15.5 miles on a very tough week of brutal cold and high winds, so I thought I had a new weekly high in the bag.  It’s into the 40s here today so the weather is nowhere near as bad as it’s been.

A couple miles into the run I was feeling fine, but my shoe came untied so I stopped, tied the shoe, then kept going. But I immediately felt dizzy and lightheaded.  So much so that I couldn’t keep my legs under me.  I only got in a little over 2.5 miles and had to stop, so I finished the week just a touch over 18 miles.

Very, very weird feeling. And a very disappointing ending to a week after hard fought battle with the elements.

For those keeping score at home for the week ending December 13:

Mother Nature: 1

Sean: 1

Sean’s head: 1