Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wednesday 18 miles


N) 14 miles with 3100+ ft of climbing at average pace of 8:36. Thermometer read -18 with wind chill. I walked out the door for this wanting to challenge myself and raise the bar on what I think cold is. After about 5:00 I settled in and felt quite good, the cold was never a bother.



With the morning run: 18 total and 3900ft of climbing at an average temperature of -20 something.

15 comments:

Justin Mock said...

That's 38 on the "more miles than degrees" scale then!

Matt said...

Talk about getting the work done.
A run like that helps define you, pain and the year ahead? Yes.

How did you recover?

Lucho said...

Matt- No recovery needed. I felt great the whole run. My thoughts were never far from Leadville...

Justin- I didn't think of it that way!

Anonymous said...

Tim,

Are you moving away from a focus on HR? Perhaps you've gotten the base building / low-HR stuff done and are moving on to more specific pace or effort workouts?

Just curious.

BTW, I keep publishing as Anonymous because I don't have a Google Account.

Eric

Lucho said...

Eric... see, you're not anonymous.
After my 50 mile I feel different in my thinking. More confident maybe in my ability to run by feel. I will certainly not leave HR training completely, I think it's one of the most valuable tools for improving performance. And for Leadville it will be a key factor. Right now though I'm feeling that running has taken a more spiritual path for me. It's important in my life and I find things out about myself I've never known were there. Today I felt so completely comfortable in my skin doing what I was doing and loving every minute.

kerrie said...

yeah, it's all a matter of perspective...i managed to get in a pretty long run today just by reminding myself of how f'ing cold it would be if i were still living in saskatchewan. and that had i still been living there, i probably would have thought today was a great warm day for running! i never really noticed the cold once i was out and moving - sometimes the trick is just getting out the door without thinking about it too much.
also, i do run with small ski goggles quite a bit when it is this cold to stop my eyelashes from freezing/sticking together cause sunglasses tend to fog up...

Anonymous said...

I was just reading one of the Lydiard books. He wrote something about exercising in extreme temperatures. Humidity plays a large role in extreme temperatures. He said he could exercise normally in extreme cold while in Finland (-20 to -40 C) because humidity was rather low. If I remember correctly he said something about your lungs could get frozen if humidity is high.
It's the opposite when exercising in extreme heat. He couldn't exercise at all in Tuscon where it was around 40 degrees Celsius with low humidity but he could run normally in Venezuela where it was also around 40 C but humidity was high. That explains why I can be totally dehydrated (3kg weight loss) after 45 minute run in my birth town (high heat, low humidity).

Eric Bart said...

Sweet.

Eric

Lucho said...

Kerrie- Ya, I saw you out on your run. You crossed 93 right in front of my car. They really need a trail underpass there.

Visitca- For sure the humidity plays a huge role. I've never read that Lydiard info, thanks.

Eric- Sweeeet.

Trigirlpink said...

14 miles.... 3100 feet of climbing... and -18? You must consume a gazillon calories a day!

I guess I need to HTFU and quit whining when it's a balmy 18 degrees for a measly 7 mile run around the FLAT Charles River here in Boston.

Joe said...

Any chance you can take a pic or explain the gear your running in to fend off those cold conditions?

thx!

Joe.

Lucho said...

Joe- I posted a pic from yesterday. I dressed this way...
Windproof underwear from Hind (I was sponsored by Hind for 2 years). These things are gold!
Hind thermal running tights.
Hind wind pants.
Thin running socks under Smartwool socks.
Long sleeve poly shirt.
Hind windproof cycling jacket.
Thermal running jacket over that.
Balaclava under a Hind thermal hat with ear flaps.
Poly gloves under vintage Helly Hansen ski mittens. These things are from the 70's and made very well. Mitten shells are superior to gloves IMO.
Adidas Supernova shoes with 8 metal screws in the sole.

The only thing I wished I had were ski goggles. With the balaclava my sunglasses fog up. Running at ~9000ft with your face covered is brutal by the way. Up the steep climbs it felt like I was smothering but it was too cold to breath hard with out it. I got light headed on a few climbs from hypoxia (I think) and rebreathing my own Co2. Hypoxia does makes the colors bright and things more interesting though.

Lucho said...

Trigirl- I don't call it tough when there are no other choices. I would almost bet that 18 degrees and your humidity is worse than -18 and our desert dryness! Humidity is brutal.
My metabolism is so efficient now that my diet really is quite modest. This is one of my strengths as a long distance guy. It's trainable too. Studies have shown that under eating prolongs life too.

J.P. Patrick said...

I get the slower miles now at 4 and 10!!

Lucho said...

JP- Ya, those are long and mostly between 15-25% but the hardest 2 hills really come at mile 12 (it's a short triple switchback but ridiculously steep, if you take the tangent it's over 30%) and the final 600 meters before my house (my street name is Hilltop:)). I have to finish up that thing every time I run. No matter the fatigue it's brutal. And depending on the route I run that last 600 meters could turn in to several miles. I love it. Come and run with me sometime?