Freethinker ~ Freerunner

Long run today.  AP 8:05.  My goal splits were not anywhere close to where I wanted them to be.  I am feeling a bit defeated.  I may have to reevaluate my marathon pace goal, although I hope I can work out the kinks this week. 

I thought I would be capable of more after running the hills in Branson at an 8:00 AP over this same distance.  The main difference besides the hills between that run and this one was the heat and humidity.  Last Sunday in Branson the temperature was 72 degrees and the humidity was also 72%.  Today the temperature was 82 degrees and the humidity was 54%. 

I know I sweat a lot, and I believe more so than the average person. I think that the heat just causes me to run out of gas due to such a loss fluids on the run. I drank about 12 to 16 ounces of water before, 16 ounces of Gatorade during the run, and I don't know how many ounces immediately after.  I will guess based on how many of my cups I remember drinking when I finished.  I had 32 ounces of water, 11 ounces of rice milk, and 24 ounces of Gatorade when I finished.  So 67 ounces of liquids plus the 16 ounces I replaced during the run makes 83 ounces total.  I then weighed myself after I finished drinking, and I was still about 3 to 4 pounds lighter than my usual weight.  This is all very unscientific as I did not accurately record the number of ounces, and I also did not weigh in immediately before the run.  I was startled none the less.  I need to run an experiment whereby I weigh in immediately before and do not drink during the workout to determine how many ounces of fluids I lose.  

Splits: 8:09 AP for the first 8 miles.  8:01 AP for the last 8 miles.  I completely ran out of gas about mile 12.  After analyzing the splits from the back to back weeks I have discovered that I could have probably gone a little bit slower for the first 8 this week in order to finish stronger in the end.  It did not seem like much of a difference out there today, but looking at the splits I think it would have helped.    

                               7-29-12     7-22-12

                               16 Miles   15.79 Miles

I'm hoping that when we get past the heat and get into the nice cooler temps I will be able to pick up the pace in my training figuratively and literally.

MLR (Revised schedule see below) AP 8:04.  Temperature 85.  Humidity 35%.  The low humidity felt nice.  The weatherman said this was the hottest morning on record for Tulsa.  Yikes!   

Today would have been a rest day, but I have altered my schedule for the next two weeks so I can watch the Olympic marathon.  Live coverage airs this and next Sunday morning from 5 to 8 AM.  Of-course that falls perfectly within the normal period of my Sunday long runs.  If we were not in the midst of the hottest part of the year, I would simply run a little later in the day.  So I decided to move everything up one day in order to make my long runs fall on Saturdays for the next two weeks.  

That said, I was not sure how this morning was going to go since I am accustomed to resting after a day of long, hard running.  Yesterday's long run in particular felt like it took a lot out of me.  I felt like I did alright this morning considering.   

Recovery run with barefoot Kevin this morning.  He rode 11 miles barefoot to my house and ran 5 miles barefoot with me.  

8:33 AP.  85 degrees.  I felt good.  

Lactate threshold run.  AP 7:43. Elevation gain 245 feet. 

I checked the temperature this morning on my Weather Channel app and swear I saw 88 degrees.  Some time after I got back I saw 83.  I've never seen a drop between 5:30 and 8:00, so I'm not sure if my reading this morning was accurate or not.  Either way it was damn hot out there.  

3 warmup: 8:08 AP

4 at lactate threshold: 7:08 AP

2 cool down:  8:14 AP

Splits:

8:38

7:59

7:48

7:14

7:16

7:00

7:03

8:29

8:14

MLR.  84 degrees.  54% humidity.  AP 7:49.  Felt strong.   

New flash: I saw lightning to the south east somewhere near mile 7.  I then felt light sprinkles followed by a little bit of what I would actually call rain for about one mile this morning!  It was amazing.  I've never been so happy to be rained on during a run.    

I must admit I woke up feeling a bit of soreness in my calves from my lactate threshold run two days ago, but that feeling disappeared as soon as I started prepping to leave the house.  I was reading an article in Runners World last night about forming habits like running daily.  One of the tricks was to do the same thing before everyone run.  This thing, whatever it is, will act as a switch to tell the mind that "it's time to exercise now."  I realized while reading this article that I am super ritualistic about my morning routine between 5:00 and 5:25 before I step out the door.  I have been making use of this mental technique to prime my body and mind for my runs and did not realize it.   

First six miles AP: 8:04

Back six miles AP: 7:37

Recovery run.  8:45 AP.  86 degrees.  I was feeling the aftershocks from the MLR yesterday when I first got going this morning, but by the end I felt pretty strong.