am) 8 miles in 54:14 (6:47 pace) at 8500ft altitude on a course that had 10% grades. HR averaged 152. I walked out the door this morning not thinking it might be cold. A 1/2 mile in to the run I was freezing so I decided to push and try to warm-up. If yesterday was my worst run in months... today may have been one of the better. I started to feel incredibly good. I ignored my HR though and just cruised how I felt.
I made my super bad ass cookie bread last night and ate almost the whole pan. They're very healthy and crazy high in carbohydrate. The only fat is from walnuts and egg yolk.
pm) Another great run for me. Tonight was a little hillier than the morning run but I still ran strong. 6 miles in 42:30 (7:05 pace) with a MAX HR of 151/ 144 average. I felt effortless and smooth. 6 months ago I wondered if it would even be possible to do these runs at 8000+ft on the hills we have.
Word.
6 comments:
How about you send me the recipe for that cookie bread? :-)
Heading out for my scheduled run in about 30 mins. It's still 95f right now, and by 7pm it should cool off to about 93f...nice and cool for the 7 miles of hills on the schedule tonight.
I can't wait for cooler weather, it's plain ass hard training in this heat for a big guy like me (6'3" and 188lbs). I am always confused about HOW to train in this heat, as far as HR zones for my different days (easy, tempos, lsd runs).
Nice run for you though, keep up the good work, I get lots of inspiration from your site!
Keith-
Here it is off the top of my head, which is how I make the cookies. They are different every time.
2 cups whole wheat flower.
3 cups oatmeal or rough cut oats.
2-3 whole eggs.
A splash of vanilla.
1 cup raisins.
2-3 handfuls of crushed walnuts.
1 cup of brown sugar. (ya- it's a lot)
Enough apple sauce to mix in to a tight dough.
Spread on to a lightly oiled cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for ~15:00 or until firm.
You can also add dates or almonds. These are super packed with carbohydrates, which is the point. Good for pre and post workout snack.
HR zones should stay close to the same regardless of heat, but if you are doing a long session then dehydration is going raise HR despite effort. I tell athletes to let it drift and simply hold the same pace/ effort. Of course preventing dehydration is #1. Impossible really if it's damn hot. For Tempo runs I would run them by HR and try to do them early when it's 'cooler' out. Or- if you know your LT pace per mile then go by pace. Over time you should develop a sense of PE that will help also. Then you want to use all 3 as feedback. So if HR is riding high then go by pace and feel. Watching HR diligently over a long period of time will allow you to see trends and how you react to different strategies.
95f.... damn. I don't miss that. I wore a jacket all day up here. Sorry :)
Word. Kick ass run! Thanks for the cookie bread recipe. I was going to ask also... I will wait for keith_s to cook it - I am his brother :)
Looking forward to watching your break 2:20!
Just curious... do you think you will ever do Ironman races again?
kevin
Kevin- Not sure about Ironman but I can certainly see Powerman Zofingen in my future. I always wanted to do it but never got around to it. Two of my idols, Benny Van Steelant and Olivier Bernhard were legends at Zofingen.
Thanks for the good word.
T
Very stoked for you ... any thoughts to a post on how you will approach the next nine weeks?
Re: HR in the heat.
Yes, heat will elevate it of course. Training this summer with a HR monitor however - I have observed two things:
1.) you begin to adapt. I am not sure if this is an adaptation to the heat or just the adaptation of getting fitter - but the end result is the same. You will see (eventually) lower HRs for the same pace (or conversely the same, a faster pace for the same HR).
2.) I noticed that I am actually pretty fine with "normal" HRs for the first 20-30 minutes. In other words, the HR and the pace does not seem to be effected by the heat for that first stretch. After that however, I will see a "deflection" in the pace (slowing). The natural assumption here is that the core temperature has flipped past some point where more cooling is necessary - and hence more blood to the muscles is necessary and hence a higher HR (or conversely a slower pace!). I also saw this window slowly grow over the summer as well but I did not track it tightly. Some of those days where it seemed to be longer before it tripped might have been a few degrees cooler.
Other recommendations with heat: go early as Lucho said. But go flat too if possible. Adding another stress to the system of hills will bring you to a crawl at fixed HRs. And if not early - find shade. It makes a significant difference.
This "it takes so long to trip the HR" thought had me thinking that there might be some benefit to splitting runs up if they have to be done in heat. Rather than do an hour in the heat, maybe do two separate half hour runs where the pace is a bit quicker for the same HR. Need to think about that though.
One of the things Lucho and I were also kicking around to combat the heat was to use a treadmill.
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