Catching up

...and catching my breath.

Two weeks since I posted, two weeks of workouts. (I keep a log, religiously, even if the entry just says '11km run' - everything else is in my head.)

Jan 9 - swam 1.6km in all, crippling sinus headache
Jan 10 - Hills at the Botanic Gardens, 8 x (3:08 - 3:24)
Jan 12 - 16km on road and trails in the NB Minimuses (minimes? minimi? minimodes? ack - somebody tell me what the plural is)
Jan 13 - a hilarious 10km track relay with Kate and Linna - we each ran one lap and passed on to the next person. We were very, very far from first.

Last week I was on the afternoon shift - I work from about 2pm to 11pm or 12am, then come home, collapse, wake up at 8 or 9, by which time it's too hot to run... which throws a huge wrench in my training. So I barely ran:

Jan 17 - 5km canal run - EXHAUSTED.
Jan 18 - Ooh, this was #doprah day. Friday's 'workout' consisted of me lazily pedalling on the bike trainer (but not too hard, or I wouldn't be able to hear Lance mumbling) while watching Oprah lightly grill Lance. (That day's lunch in honour of the event: lightly grilled shrimp, pan-blackened, with a dash of sambal belachan.)
Jan 20 - ran 10.7km with the hubs
Jan 21 - long run for the week, 14km - not really training for anything long at the moment - and did a Zumba class in the evening. (To this creaky ex-dancer Zumba is a riot. It's like dancing, except you don't need skills. I am still not 100% sure how I feel about it.)
This evening at the track: 4 x (1km at 10k race pace/ 400m hard): 5:24/ 1:47, 5:21/ 1:43, 5:58/ 1:52, 5:23/ 1:47 <-- I think of this as the 'teaches you to finishing kick' workout. // finally catching up with my speedy friend Janice - I feel like she's hauling me around the track.

It's nearly Chinese New Year. Time to undo all my nutrition! ::gleefully::

Also, a little boy I adore is almost 1. (This is our nephew - his mom and dad live in Baltimore and he turns 1 TOMORROW EEEEEEE.) 

Turning up the heat

The other day I read something that made me laugh out loud.
It was this sentence: "Roberts is the medical director of the Twin Cities Marathon who published a report in 2010 that recommended a Do Not Start temperature of 68 degrees [20 degrees C] for races held in northern latitudes." - from this Runner's World story.

I mean, yes, I fully understand that it's all relative. That if it snows in Chicago, municipal authorities are completely prepared, but dust Texas lightly with snowflakes and all traffic comes to a halt. If it snowed here race directors would call the race off and the entire country would shut down. (Unless climate change goes really nutso and we have a new ice age somewhere, it's HIGHLY unlikely to snow here.)

That made me laugh, because seriously, 20 degrees C is just about the COLDEST it ever gets here.

The other day I did 5x800 repeats at 4:09-4:22 - the temperature was about 26C (79F) and humid, and the day was heating up.

But a year ago, while visiting Japan, I did 6 x1km repeats at 4:30-4:57 apiece.  It was February, and the temperature was probably about 6 deg C (42F). Sure, I was chilly for a bit, but that's what a warm-up is actually for. BLISS. 

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Here is a story - the very first marathon I did took me just over six hours. I sweat a lot when I run, and I lose a lot of salt when I sweat. I am a puddle. My eyes sting. I cramp. I run hot - I've been on winter hikes, in New Hampshire, where after half an hour I am down to a t-shirt. A worrisomely damp t-shirt.

This marathon started at 5am, and it was mayyybe 24C/ 75F. In December. (The temperature doesn't really vary much year-round.)

 As the day wore on, it got hotter. I lost more salt. I cramped up. It got even hotter - like 29C/ 84F...in the shade. In the direct sun it was easily 31, 32C - 88 or 90F. I was carrying a single bottle as always, which then caused my wrist to cramp. (I didn't even know my wrists could cramp.) I hadn't yet figured out how to swallow a gel. The salt capsules I'd carefully prepared were a mushy mess in their little ziploc in my pocket,  from the heat and humidity. I cramped. I was miserable. I got sunburnt and ended up with a hot pink nose to match my hot pink shirt. I walked. A lot. (This is the story of my life.)

This, ladies and gentlemen, has been my motivation to train for every marathon since then: want to get out of the sun? Run faster! 

Of course I've also cramped on both marathons since then. There is an electrolyte/ hydration sweet spot that I haven't found yet...

Sometimes, I wonder what I could do if the weather was cooler. Me and Singapore weather, we're a bit of a mismatch. Just be warned - now you know what to expect if you attempt a marathon in Singapore!

But Singapore is a nation of runners. So how do we survive running in the heat?
Hydrate a bit more.
Start early. Or run late.
Wear a visor, not a cap (that just traps too much heat).
Tote something cold. I like to freeze my water bottles the night before.
Wicking clothing is nearly useless - at track workouts, my friends have had to wring out their shirts. (We're all disgusting, it's cool.)
And if you run on shaded trails, you can run at pretty much any time of day, because it will feel the same no matter what.
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I have been seriously hungry all week. Five meals a day hungry. Starting to wonder if I have an actual tapeworm.

Workouts:
Thursday hills x 8
Saturday morning easy long(ish) run: 5km on roads, then 11km on trails with my friend Adrienne -at conversational pace, we had a good catch-up because I haven't seen her in person in months! - strides at the end.

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