Hansons Week 9
Oh week 9 was brutal! Not so much the training itself, but training in the heat. Chicago is no stranger to hot temps but this week brought sequential days with the heat index over 100. I have heard that running in the heat is similar to altitude training, and I can fully appreciate this after my attempts this week. These are the times when I do wish for a treadmill or access to a gym, but I also know that I would never enjoy the runs as much as if I was doing them outdoors.
As much as I had planned to stick to my training schedule, I simply had to make adjustments for the heat. Here was my training plan for the week:
Monday: 5 miles easy
Tuesday: Speedwork - 5 X 1k, 400m recovery
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday:8 miles tempo Strength training
Friday: 6 miles easy
Saturday: 5 miles easy
Sunday:15 miles long 5 miles long (on the trail)
Clearly the two most important runs of the week were major fails. On Thursday the heat advisory had started and the tempos were over 100 with the humidity. I knew that even if I did attempt to run, I would never hit my tempo pace and stuck indoors to work on strength training. I did manage to run on Friday and Saturday in the heat with a very slow pace, however my long run was near impossible in this weather.
Long Run:
This week's long run was a lesson in humility. I knew 15 miles would be difficult regardless of the weather, so I tried to prepare myself as much as I could. I headed out early before the temps climbed but it was already reaching 80 degrees as I pulled into the preserve, and the humidity was very high. I packed a cooler full of ice, water to drink, water to dump on my head, a cold towel, and I brought a clean shirt I could change into. I downloaded 3 new interesting podcasts to entertain me and take my mind off the heat. I planned to do 3 loops of 5 miles so that I could come back to the car in between segments and cool off. I chose the 5 mile loop as it is fairly shaded, and I told myself that I would do 5, see how I felt, do the next 5, and so on. I tried to put as little pressure on myself as I could, and I started off on the path. The air was heavy and oppressive, but I started off slow and the first mile was not too bad. I remained positive but somewhere between mile 2 and 3, the heat got to me. I started struggling for breath and began to panic because I felt like I was suffocating. I slowed to a walk as I approached mile 4 and my Garmin told me I was basically averaging 13 min miles at that point. I abandoned my plan to cool off at my "aid station" and do the next loop. I knew that forcing myself to put anything more into this would do more harm than good. I always preach that it is important to listen to your body, and I knew I had to call it quits. Despite all my planning and the thought I put into making this a successful run, I would not be able to finish what I set out to do.
There are always hard runs. I have been through this before. During winter training, I had to cut a 10 mile run into 6 miles as I fought my way home during a snow storm. Despite my heart telling me to keep running, my brain knew it was stupid and I was putting myself in danger. I reminded myself of this today, and even though I know this was a crucial week in training, there will be plenty of other weeks for the tempos and 15/16 milers. I feel very humble and do not enjoy walking away from something I started without accomplishing what I set out to do. It never feels good to be a "failure", but if every run was amazing then we would never learn anything about ourselves.
Fatigue Level:
I recovered fairly well from my long run last week and felt pretty good during my speedwork and easy runs despite the heat. I clearly had accumulated fatigue by the long run and I wish I could have seen how I performed during those 15 miles had I not been running in the heat. My overall fatigue is high after so much heat training but thankfully the temps will be dropping and this will help my energy level.
Gear:
I had been waiting for Altra to release their updated shoe models for weeks, and finally I was able to purchase the new Altra Paradigm, which is their high cushion model. I fell in love with Altra's this past spring and I believe that I have better running form because my feet are able to splay naturally instead of being crammed into a rounded toe shoe. I used to love Hoka's because of the cushion and used the Stinson as my shoe of choice last year during marathon training. However, as my feet swelled during runs, I found myself with blisters and big toe pains from all the sliding around in the shoe. I gave Altras a shot this past spring and fell in love with 3 of their models - the Paradigm, the Torin (which I use for speedwork), and the Lone Peaks (for trails). As the Paradigms needed a major upgrade, I bought these as soon as they were released and have run in them twice so far. I really like the updates to the model from the previous one, and it feels good to be in a new shoe again. I can always tell when I need new shoes and it was clearly time for an upgrade. Given that I rotate shoes so frequently I can get a lot more wear out of them, but I will be interested in seeing how the updates compare to the other two styles I wear once I am ready to upgrade those. I highly recommend checking out Altra if you experience a lot of foot and ankle pain or blisters in your current model. They were definitely game changing for me.
Nutrition:
I enjoyed making a few new meals this week to maximize my carb intake, and I really focused on hydration before and after runs. Typically I drink only water, but I use Nuun tablets when I am running longer distances or have a run in hot temps. I knew I had to replace a lot of what I was sweating out during these hot runs, so I made sure to use Nuun a lot these past few days and I think this has helped me recover in between runs and not feel sick to my stomach which is typically a sign that I have not hydrated enough.
Mental & Emotional Strength:
Mentally I feel defeated by this weather, but I have been here before during winter training. There are great weeks and there are hard weeks. While I wish that I had been mentally stronger to endure the heat, it was just not possible physically. If anything, this week forced me to slow down and accept what came my way and move on from it. I can appreciate the fact that I set myself up for success and even though my version of success was not what I expected, I put forth my best effort.
As much as I had planned to stick to my training schedule, I simply had to make adjustments for the heat. Here was my training plan for the week:
Monday: 5 miles easy
Tuesday: Speedwork - 5 X 1k, 400m recovery
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday:
Friday: 6 miles easy
Saturday: 5 miles easy
Sunday:
Clearly the two most important runs of the week were major fails. On Thursday the heat advisory had started and the tempos were over 100 with the humidity. I knew that even if I did attempt to run, I would never hit my tempo pace and stuck indoors to work on strength training. I did manage to run on Friday and Saturday in the heat with a very slow pace, however my long run was near impossible in this weather.
Long Run:
This week's long run was a lesson in humility. I knew 15 miles would be difficult regardless of the weather, so I tried to prepare myself as much as I could. I headed out early before the temps climbed but it was already reaching 80 degrees as I pulled into the preserve, and the humidity was very high. I packed a cooler full of ice, water to drink, water to dump on my head, a cold towel, and I brought a clean shirt I could change into. I downloaded 3 new interesting podcasts to entertain me and take my mind off the heat. I planned to do 3 loops of 5 miles so that I could come back to the car in between segments and cool off. I chose the 5 mile loop as it is fairly shaded, and I told myself that I would do 5, see how I felt, do the next 5, and so on. I tried to put as little pressure on myself as I could, and I started off on the path. The air was heavy and oppressive, but I started off slow and the first mile was not too bad. I remained positive but somewhere between mile 2 and 3, the heat got to me. I started struggling for breath and began to panic because I felt like I was suffocating. I slowed to a walk as I approached mile 4 and my Garmin told me I was basically averaging 13 min miles at that point. I abandoned my plan to cool off at my "aid station" and do the next loop. I knew that forcing myself to put anything more into this would do more harm than good. I always preach that it is important to listen to your body, and I knew I had to call it quits. Despite all my planning and the thought I put into making this a successful run, I would not be able to finish what I set out to do.
There are always hard runs. I have been through this before. During winter training, I had to cut a 10 mile run into 6 miles as I fought my way home during a snow storm. Despite my heart telling me to keep running, my brain knew it was stupid and I was putting myself in danger. I reminded myself of this today, and even though I know this was a crucial week in training, there will be plenty of other weeks for the tempos and 15/16 milers. I feel very humble and do not enjoy walking away from something I started without accomplishing what I set out to do. It never feels good to be a "failure", but if every run was amazing then we would never learn anything about ourselves.
 |
| I would gladly take a run in the snow like this right now! |
Fatigue Level:
I recovered fairly well from my long run last week and felt pretty good during my speedwork and easy runs despite the heat. I clearly had accumulated fatigue by the long run and I wish I could have seen how I performed during those 15 miles had I not been running in the heat. My overall fatigue is high after so much heat training but thankfully the temps will be dropping and this will help my energy level.
Gear:
I had been waiting for Altra to release their updated shoe models for weeks, and finally I was able to purchase the new Altra Paradigm, which is their high cushion model. I fell in love with Altra's this past spring and I believe that I have better running form because my feet are able to splay naturally instead of being crammed into a rounded toe shoe. I used to love Hoka's because of the cushion and used the Stinson as my shoe of choice last year during marathon training. However, as my feet swelled during runs, I found myself with blisters and big toe pains from all the sliding around in the shoe. I gave Altras a shot this past spring and fell in love with 3 of their models - the Paradigm, the Torin (which I use for speedwork), and the Lone Peaks (for trails). As the Paradigms needed a major upgrade, I bought these as soon as they were released and have run in them twice so far. I really like the updates to the model from the previous one, and it feels good to be in a new shoe again. I can always tell when I need new shoes and it was clearly time for an upgrade. Given that I rotate shoes so frequently I can get a lot more wear out of them, but I will be interested in seeing how the updates compare to the other two styles I wear once I am ready to upgrade those. I highly recommend checking out Altra if you experience a lot of foot and ankle pain or blisters in your current model. They were definitely game changing for me.
 |
| New Altra Paradigm in my favorite colors! |
Nutrition:
I enjoyed making a few new meals this week to maximize my carb intake, and I really focused on hydration before and after runs. Typically I drink only water, but I use Nuun tablets when I am running longer distances or have a run in hot temps. I knew I had to replace a lot of what I was sweating out during these hot runs, so I made sure to use Nuun a lot these past few days and I think this has helped me recover in between runs and not feel sick to my stomach which is typically a sign that I have not hydrated enough.
 |
| mmm Smoky Lentil Tacos! |
Mental & Emotional Strength:
Mentally I feel defeated by this weather, but I have been here before during winter training. There are great weeks and there are hard weeks. While I wish that I had been mentally stronger to endure the heat, it was just not possible physically. If anything, this week forced me to slow down and accept what came my way and move on from it. I can appreciate the fact that I set myself up for success and even though my version of success was not what I expected, I put forth my best effort.
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