Positive Running

Ran 8-miles with Wesley and Kevin.  It was a beautify morning with temperatures and dew point in the low-60's.

My Garmin said we averaged 7:42 per mile.  We ran the 7th mile in 7:36.  Considering I ran approximately 18-miles of hilly forest service roads on Saturday, I felt good about how fast we ran today.

Wesley and Kevin could have run much faster, but they consistently hold up for me.  They each have great attitudes and their helping to improve my running speed and endurance.

I only run every other day, with occasional exceptions.  I use different cardio machines on days when I don't run, and I record the calories I burned.  Today, I burned 362 calories in 30 minutes on the stationary bike and 400 calories in 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. 

A running buddy has asked for an explanation of dew point.  Dew point is an important factor when planning runs, especially on hot summer Arkansas mornings.  Dew point is the temperature at which water vapor (gaseous state of water) condenses into water liquid on a solid surface.  The same dew point can be viewed in the opposite direction -- evaporation of water from a liquid state to a gas state, which occurs at the same temperature as the dew point.  The higher the dew point, the hotter our sweat has to get before it will evaporate, that is, transform from liquid to gas.  Evaporation of sweat is one way our bodies keep cool when we run.  Hence, if the dew point is high and the temperature is high, our sweat has to be hotter before it will evaporate and cool us down.  So we risk the potential of overheating due to our bodies trying to cool down internally when the dew point is high, unless we drink cool fluids and/or slow down when we run. 

If anyone has a better explanation of how dew point affects runners, I would be interested in your comments. Thanks.

Easy run at 5:40 a.m. for 8-miles with Sam and Wesley, north of the Arkansas River.  The temperature was in the 60's with a fairly low dew point.  It was our first time running with Sam and he did great.  Tonight I am stretching and doing yoga poses.

Day off from running.  Took the spin class with Travis at the gym.  My first spin class in years.  It was fun.

Feeling good this week from having a sprained foot three weeks ago.  Plan to run some trails in New Mexico this weekend.

Travelled to New Mexico.  Sort of slept an hour on the plane to my lay over at Denver.  Hiked up to Spence Hot Springs, an undeveloped hot springs west of the Valles Caldera near Los Alamos, NM

My buddy Dave and I hiked two miles along the loop at the ancient Tsankawi Cliff  Dwellings.  Hiked 1.5 miles around the ancient Frijoles Canyon cliff dwellings and the Long House at Bandelier National Monument.  Then ran 5.8 mile each way to and from San Antonio Hot Springs with my Soloman Crossmax trail running shoes and my 45 ounce Camelbak hydration pack.  The water at the San Antonio Hot Springs was 102 degrees F.  We met some really nice people and stayed there for about 4-hours.  It was great!