Comments on: A Failed Workout

By: Greenlee

Greenlee — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:34:56 +0000

I haven’t been on MRT so I haven’t seen the discussion about hot-weather workouts. I tend to agree with you that you aren’t getting as much of a benefit in the heat. Doing a long run 1:00/mile slower than normal long run pace, which might be 1:00/mile slower than marathon pace seems really far off from the actual goal. I hope the hamstring heals 100% and I like that you are being realistic about your goal for the PDR. Who knows, you may just surprise yourself, though.

By: Ewen

Ewen — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 09:26:15 +0000

I hope the hammy is good for the weekend’s running. Some hammy strengthening exercises (once the pain is gone) should help prevent a recurrence.

You’ll get the same cardiovascular benefit training at slightly slower paces in hot weather. The effort is the same but the pace slower. For neuromuscular benefit though, it’s good to run at the required pace, so I like Joe’s idea of shortening the effort portions of an interval session (he suggests 400s). You could have a drink bottle and one of those water sprayers to cool yourself down a bit during a short walking rest (30-60 secs) between 400s. That way you can get a lot of running at the required pace for a little less HR stress. Another option is to do sets of 400s with a longer break between sets. So, your 8 x 800 might become 2 sets of 8 x 400. Avoid the temptation to go faster in the 400s because they’re shorter than 800s

By: Flo

Flo — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:54:48 +0000

I agree with your assessment on heat vs wind/hills. Hey, good luck with the pacing gig on Sunday, I know they’ll love you!

By: Jim E

Jim E — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:50:26 +0000

Looked like it was going OK until the hammy intervened. Bad Hammy!
My take on the effort/pace thing: If it’s wind or hills, effort counts. If it’s heat, you’re screwed, because your heart’s so busy sending blood to the skin for cooling.

By: Flo

Flo — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:37:49 +0000

Yep, treadmill is definitely a way to beat it. If it’s like this next year, I’ll consider joining a gym.

By: Mark U.

Mark U. — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:16:28 +0000

Thanks for the MRT link, a forum which I need to more closely monitor since there’s some good posts and input there. Reflecting on the ‘is effort equivalent to pace’ thread prompted me to throw in my $0.02, and as you’d sparked my initial thinking through your blog post I thought I’d copy:

Generally speaking a runner should ideally train in the environment as close as possible to their goal race – naturally including temperature & humidity. In training for Chicago from Houston through the summer I use the dreadmill for my speed work, and runs at goal marathon pace. However, to maintain my sanity I run outdoors extremely early in the morning two to four times per week, naturally including the long-run, and face dew points consistently near 74F.

Under such conditions Houston summer runners are obviously forced to slow-down versus ideal running conditions, owing primarily to the diversion of blood away from the active muscles. While runners may maintain an equivalent effort versus their intended faster target pace, I believe runners who exclusively run in such conditions are adversely altering their stride dynamics and neuromuscular patterning for their goal race, and therefore need to utilize the dreadmill for speed work – at minimum. Consequently, runners who consistently run under equivalent Houston conditions through the summer should incorporate the dreadmill to enhance their training.

By: Flo

Flo — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 15:58:55 +0000

Karyn, yep, fun that you know exactly where I’m talking about now! In fact, I do my intervals right where I saw you on that second day. :-)

Joe, “each run is like an unhappy family.” Love this. Though if that were true, I’d stop running to get away from them. And yeah, you had already called it on downgrading PDR after the heatstroke thing, though I wanted to pooh-pooh it, you had it right.