Today was the second of my runs at a 6.5:1 ratio. This takes me to the edge of the escalator which will take me past 10 minutes very soon.
The first of these runs was on Saturday evening and it was pretty damn warm for those of us used to a comfortable 16 to 18 centagrade evening (thats about 60 -64 F in old money). Saturday was around 24C and today 25C with around 65% humidity in the evening, with daytime temperatures "rocketing" to close to 32C (just under 90F) in early afternoon.
The media are making hay on the back of our local heatwave and we have all sorts of warnings given in weather bullitins about fluids and shade as, last time this happened, we had around 2000 deaths in the UK attributed to our inability to cope with the heat, mainly amongst the elderly.
And, as we are having similar weather to Germany, you can guess one of the contributing factors being trotted out for our World Cup exit. If you can see past all the knives in the back of the England ex-manager.
The Saturday run was just at what I felt to be a comfortable rate, not really taking any notice of pace. This pace turned out to be 20 seconds faster than normal and my legs have been complaining a little since, to the point I was considering not running this evening. However, I thought I'd give it a go as my circuit has several points which allow me to shorten the distance if something goes wrong - I'd just slow the pace back and see. This evenings average pace was around 5 seconds per mile slower than normal and aside from stitch (again) achieved without pain.
I'm still trying to figure out how to program up the next run into Mr Garmin, as the numbers are probably going to get very uneven, which Mr G doesn't like. It will probably be an 8:1 split next, giving me 3 x recorded 8 minute segments plus 1 x 3 minutes, unless I just program in 4 x 8 + 1 and stop the clock when I get home. That might do it.
Mr Stumble
5 comments:
Hi Andy,
What does one serve with boiled head?
Running in the heat is a real drag; literally and figuratively. I like the fact that you are starting to run for the fun of it and ignoring pace. Once you get yourself unstrapped from your Garmin and just use it to log mileage, you'll be a lot happier.
Keep up the great job and hide the knives in case you wife is looking for something tasty to serve for dinner.
Phil
I remember when I started running (is that really only three years ago?), and 30 minutes of running was my absolute ceiling. For a long time I never even attempted to run past that.
When I finally found the guts to push on for longer, I was surprised how easy it was. The only secret is to ignore your pace. Just keep a steady rhtyhm.
Thomas - thanks for the comment! I really do hope to be able to run past 30 minutes when I eventually get there. I expect that I'll level off there for a short while before adding those 10%s per week on.
My experience so far has been that getting the basics sorted out to exceed 5 minutes takes a fair amount of time, but once there, you are able to push things on a bit and I feel able to push the run times forward more frequently and by larger chunks.
At each stage, I've thought "how am I going to manage an extra minute in two days time", but when it came to it, each addition is achievable.
Sorry to read of your disagreement with Mexican food!
Andy
Phil,
I understand Boiled head is served with Cauliflower Ear and Parsons Nose.
Until I started running in increased temperatures, I hadn't truly appreciated the value of the cold shower!
Andy
I always look like I boiled my head!
You know, I think a lot of the incrreasing length/time is mental. I always think I can't go another step than my end time/mileage for the day, yet I keep increasing the distance or time run. Well, not right now because I'm just doing maintenance to give my foot a chance to heal. The point being, if you increase distance/time incrementally, you will be able to do what you set out to do!
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