Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Dog days of summer are here!

The past week was my 1st recovery week, and it couldn't have come at a better time.


The 3H's have hit NJ.. Hazy, Hot & Humid !


Here is the week in review:


Sunday... 6 miles in the 3H's 8:57 avg.


Monday... off


Tuesday, I had 4 on the schedule, but I misread it, and ran 6, out and back to Mercer County Park... did it in an 8:22 avg. Nice tempo run.


Wednesday ... off


Thursday, I ran part of the 2nd half of the Philly Marathon course. Not long, just a 4 miler, in a downpour. It started raining as soon as I got to running. I think running in the ran makes me run faster... 7:39 avg.


Friday... off


Saturday, was trail running with the group. I only had to run 4, but we ended up running 6.4 miles. I think the trails, with the hills will help come Nov.


That leads us up to a new week of training.


Sunday, I was downashore, so I ran a loop from Wildwood to Cape May. It was 70deg with high humidity when I left the house at 6:15am! It was a long hard 14 miles!


I started out conservative, and ran miles 2-10 in a nice training pace range of 9:03 - 9:44.

I had stopped in a WaWa, on my way out of Cape May, to refill my handheld with ice. I got some free samples with my latest order from Hammer Nutrition. I use their Recoverite, after my hard runs, and I really feel it helps.
The free sample I used was called Sustained Energy. It says it's designed for workouts over 2 hours. I thought I would give it a try,since I had my run figured to be over 2 hours. It had a chalky taste, and the real negative of this product was it foamed up, so it made it hard to drink while I was running.

Mile 11, I could feel the heat taking it toll, and I slowed to a 9:57, and knew I was in trouble.

I had the drawbridge to cross in mile 12, and I started to mix in run/walks, something I haven't done pretty much ever. 10:57 for mile 12, and it was downhill quickly.

I continued the walk/running, and stopped at a rescue squad, to refill by handheld again! I was DYING!

Mile 13.... 11:26 ... one mile of hell left !!

I struggled to keep the legs moving.. walking a block, running a block. Calves where cramping a bit , and I completed 14 in 11:12 ! DONE !! 14 miles 2:18:08

From now on, I am out the door by 5:30am, on these long runs.

The next 2 long Sunday runs are 16 & 18 milers. No way would I have made it to 16 this past Sunday! One good thing, looks like once we get thru this week, the humidity and temps will dip a bit to a more manageable level!

I have added a 1/4- 1/2 mile cool down to the end of my runs. I figure it can't hurt, right?

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank goodness for this storm tonight, hopefully it breaks up this humidity! These past two days have been killer..way to stick with the plan though and gut out all 14!

joyRuN said...

Good job on the running - awesome you worked your way through that 14!

My running's still on vacation.

Denise said...

3H is right!! It's been a rough week of doing anything outside let alone running!

Darrell said...

That was a spectacular slowing over time. But you got the distance covered and learned a lesson. You never know what the conditions will hold or the effect they'll have on you. Good luck luck with the 16 & 18.

sRod said...

Nice work, especially with the 3Hs. (I like that.)