The heat is on

Running this last week I was reminded of the song 'The heat is on' recorded by Glenn Frey. The song was written by Harold Faltermeyer and Keith Forsey for the 1984 soundtrack of the very popular film 'Beverly Hills Cop' starring Eddie Murphy.

On Monday I set out on an easy recovery run after my first ultra of the year (see previous post: 'Hares & Hounds Race Report') and the long drive home. I worked an early shift and tried to avoid the heat by heading out at 5:40pm. Unfortunately the temperature was 36 degrees and the wind was blowing thick clouds of smoke from a nearby bush fire. I had to amend my course to avoid inhaling too much smoke and due to the heat of the evening I was sweating profusely.

I handled Monday's run reasonably well but Tuesday was considerably tougher. The smoke haze was even worse so I drove to the South Side of town and ran some undulations around The Range / Hospital area before running out to the Airport. The temperature was still 38 degrees with above average humidity and I could still smell / taste the smoke. I had a hand-held water-bottle that I refilled regularly but I was struggling. My right calf was very tight and I had to stop a couple of times to get my breath back and recover from the oppressive conditions. My original plan was to run 25km but I decided that 20km would have to be enough, I was hungry, tired and hot.

Training and racing in locations with high heat and / or humidity can have a significant and detrimental effect on performance and in some cases our health. I'm no doctor or sports scientist, so I will refrain from inferring that my insights are in any way factual but the amount of effort required to maintain a pace in hot conditions compared with a similar pace in cooler conditions is exponentially more difficult. I have read that it takes at least 10% more effort to maintain the same pace in warmer conditions and our bodies spend more energy trying to regulate our core temperatures thereby affecting our performance.

To illustrate this point there are extreme ultra races like the Badwater 135, in Death Valley U.S.A., where the temperature can be as high as 50 degrees with runners putting themselves at serious risk of severe heat stroke and organ failure. To prepare themselves for this race many competitors will train in multiple layers of clothing, run on a treadmill in a sauna and train their bodies to consume large amounts of water and fluid to help with hydration. During Badwater runners will wear white long sleeved tops and trackpants, run on the painted white lines (to prevent their shoes from melting) and take regular ice baths in an effort to maintain a healthy core body temperature.

This brings me to the point that when the outside temperature is higher than our core body temperature (37 degrees Celsius) any form of exercise will limit our ability, affect our performance and place ourselves at risk of heat related illness and severe dehydration. I will continue to run when it's hot but I will make sure that I will take a sensible approach and carefully monitor my effort, the effect the conditions have on my body and my nutrition and hydration intake. Who knows, as I continue along my ultra journey and acclimatise to running in the heat, I may even run the Badwater 135 myself one day.

As the week progressed I felt better every day. I managed to have a much more relaxed recovery run on Wednesday in 35 degrees and on Thursday I finally got in my 25km run by running to the Rocky Road Runner's group, running with them and then running home again. On Thursday the temperature started at 33 degrees and thanks to some dark clouds and a cooling wind it had dropped to a comfortable 27 degrees by the time I got home.

I ran early on Saturday morning leaving at 3:30am and ran with Marty for 17km before meeting our group. I managed to knock out 46.25km for the day but my energy levels fluctuated quite a bit meaning that I still have quite a bit of work to get back to full fitness. Nevertheless I really enjoyed the run and company and am pleased that I ran my second ultra of the year after only 14 days of 2012. In fact, due to the Hares and Hounds being on a Sunday and my long run this week being on a Saturday, I have managed to run 170km in the last 7 days including taking a rest day on Friday.

My recovery run on Sunday was great fun. The weather had taken a drastic about-turn and I was running in the rain in 24 degrees. Much better.

Summary:

Mon - 12.50km - 1hr 06mins 13secs - Solo flat to undulating
Tue - 20.10km - 1hr 46mins 19secs - Solo undulating
Wed - 12.55km - 1hr 05mins 04secs - Solo flat to undulating
Thu - 25.26km - 2hrs 09mins 46secs - Mainly flat with group
Fri - Rest day
Sat - 46.25km - 4hrs 08mins 15secs - Long run with group on road
Sun - 14.05km - 1hr 13mins 11secs - Solo flat to undulating

Weekly total: 130.72km - 11hrs 28mins 50secs
Monthly total: 265.30km - 25hrs 41mins 50secs
2012 YTD: 265.30km - 25hrs 41mins 50secs

Only 15 days into 2012 I have made a very good start to my 5200km/per year - 100km/per week challenge and my fitness is slowly starting to come back. Most of all I am really enjoying my running after my 7 weeks off full training. I've also entered my next ultra race, the Caboolture Dusk to Dawn 12hr track race in February. This will be my first timed track ultra and I'm sure that it will push my physical and mental limits. The race is run from 6pm until 6am and is run on a 500 metre gravel track. I am hoping to develop my ADP (all day pace), work on my mental strength and
fine-tune my fluid and nutrition strategy.

This week I will try and add in some hill work, add some more distance to each of my runs, have fun and..........

Keep running.