Warning: I apologize for the chart and the use of computer terms in a running blog. I would totally appreciate it if you bear with me, but if you decide not to, there's always Nyan Cat!
I need a reset button for my brain. For the past month or so my pace has steadily been dropping. I ran two sub 9:00 races, and overall my "easy" runs seem to be a little faster then they used to be. But, conversely, the temperatures and most of all the humidity, have been rising. Lately these two things have not been playing well together. (See Exhibit A)
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| Exhibit A - Fancy Scientific Data |
There has been a breaking point in most of my runs lately where I am out of breath, hot, soaked in sweat, exhausted, and sometimes thirsty. In that moment my brain goes "NOPE! NOT ANYMORE! APPLY THE BRAKES!" And then I stop to walk, feeling defeated. And once that happens I can never seem to find the reset button and salvage the remainder of the run. It's like all the bad stuff is still sitting in my RAM, and I need to clear it, but I just can't find the damn reset button. Or I guess for the sake of my analogy, I can't find the on button to turn my brain back on! At any rate, I need help!
I think your progress is great! You need to just be careful not to burn yourself out with the humidity. If you can just maintain until September, then I think you'll find you'll have an awesome fall racing season and your pace will drop even further.
ReplyDeleteStopping to walk when it is humid does not mean defeat. When it is humid I have a hard time running 4 miles without stopping (multiple times) - I think it happens to many of us.
If you do speed work, you need to take longer recoveries and rests. If you are running a long distance, just slow it down a little. Don't feel bad about taking a break, though. When it's hot, that's just how it goes. And it's better to be cautious than to get heatstroke.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the advice Doug!
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