The 3rd time's a charm!

No worries, Jim - we do what we do in the heat and we keep going. You are well on your way to an excellent Chicago run.

Calling an audible on a workout due to the heat is something I've done quite a few times. You handled it pretty well despite the conditions. That is a good sign for when the weather cooperates later on in the year. Keep up the good work.

While I appreciate all the kudos, I just bailed on the workout because my legs felt like isht. I was on a treadmill, which would account for the perfectly even splits all the way through. But yes, calling an audible when I wasn't feeling it was still a good idea, especially with a career high 68 miles on the schedule this week.

Good call Jim.

Another easy 6 in the books tonight with 8 x 10 seconds hill sprints. My legs actually started to feel much better around 4.5 miles, so the run served it's purpose. I'm debating getting up early to get my run out of the way tomorrow morning so I can actually get some non-mill mileage in this week. Hopefully I can roll myself out of bed at 5 am tomorrow.

Well even if it wasn't straight through Tempo it was still a good workout Jim. So it turned out to be more of a interval Tempo run which is fine. I'm sure Dave will agree on that.

The bottom line is that your legs weren't recovered for whatever reasons and you had to make a choice on what to do with the workout. Trust me I have made the same choices on a workouts in the past and will have to in the future. I know you already know this but it was only one workout and you still get the benefits out of what you did. So good job on what still think was a successful and good workout. Maybe I'm wrong but I would think Dave would also agree.

Wise move on adjusting the run. It's always smart to listen to the body.

Schuey wrote:Well even if it wasn't straight through Tempo it was still a good workout Jim. So it turned out to be more of a interval Tempo run which is fine. I'm sure Dave will agree on that.

The bottom line is that your legs weren't recovered for whatever reasons and you had to make a choice on what to do with the workout. Trust me I have made the same choices on a workouts in the past and will have to in the future. I know you already know this but it was only one workout and you still get the benefits out of what you did. So good job on what still think was a successful and good workout. Maybe I'm wrong but I would think Dave would also agree.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I got the total miles in and did 5 @ tempo, so while I didn't get the full benefit of 5 straight, it was still a solid workout.

Alex Kubacki wrote:Wise move on adjusting the run. It's always smart to listen to the body.

No doubt about it. I had to do the same thing this morning on my run.

Speaking of my run this morning, I'll just say this again in case anybody missed it. I hate running in the morning and I hate running in the heat. So, why not combine both of them this morning?

I got up a little after 5:00 and was on the road by 5:30. The plan was 8 miles @ GA, somewhere around 7:40 pace. The first 4 miles were no problem, but I started feeling it a little after I turned around. By the time I hit 5 miles, it was pretty clear this wasn't going to be a full 8 @ GA. I stopped for water a little before 6 miles, finished that one up at GA and then cruised in the last 2 miles at around 8:35 average. The first 6 miles were at 7:36 and overall the run was at 7:51, so still not bad even with the slower miles to finish up. I lost a little over 2.5 pounds on the run this morning in just 8 miles. Ridiculous. When I got back from the run and checked the weather it was 76 degrees with 94% humidity and a dew point of 74. Just so awful.

I am glad I got the run out of the way this morning and now have about 36 hours to recover for my 12 miler tomorrow. Not sure if I'll go to the Y and do it on the mill or attempt to wait until late night and try to do it outside. I'm betting I end up on the mill. Should be fun times either way.

Nice job on the run in this weather, Jim.

At least you got your run in!! It's never an easy thing to do with the weather we are all receiving now. Way to take the initiative and do something you hate to do!!

Thanks Jim and Nick. I really felt the effects of the run all day Wednesday and into Thursday. My legs were still a little rubbery when I started my run last night. I started out slow and slowly built up the speed from 8:40 to 8:20 to 8:13 to 8:06 to 8:00 to 7:53 and averaged 8:08 for the entire run. I was supposed to go 12 miles but once I got going, I felt so much better that I decided to stretch it to 14. That actually sets me up to hit 70 miles this week for the first time if I get the rest of my planned miles in this week. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the rest of them are going to be on a mill due to the continued heat wave. It's been in the upper 70s with 90%+ humidity and dew points in the mid to upper 70s at 6:00 am most of the week. Just unbearable, and after how terrible I felt all day Wednesday and yesterday, I'm not going out in it unless I have to.

mul21 wrote:Thanks Jim and Nick. I really felt the effects of the run all day Wednesday and into Thursday. My legs were still a little rubbery when I started my run last night. I started out slow and slowly built up the speed from 8:40 to 8:20 to 8:13 to 8:06 to 8:00 to 7:53 and averaged 8:08 for the entire run. I was supposed to go 12 miles but once I got going, I felt so much better that I decided to stretch it to 14. That actually sets me up to hit 70 miles this week for the first time if I get the rest of my planned miles in this week. Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the rest of them are going to be on a mill due to the continued heat wave. It's been in the upper 70s with 90%+ humidity and dew points in the mid to upper 70s at 6:00 am most of the week. Just unbearable, and after how terrible I felt all day Wednesday and yesterday, I'm not going out in it unless I have to.

Nice work on the 12, I mean 14, miler. It think that going out slowly really helped your legs get back into it. As I told Kenny, you are a better man than me to take on the dread mill. Especially for longer runs. I'll take the heat before the mill!!

I was looking at your Wednesday run. I thought it was just me but in this weather, anything more than easy runs or short intervals are nearly impossible in this weather. So I am not surprised you couldn't finish the full GA run in the heat, it's just asking too much of the body. It's smart to use the TM now, it's more important to get the speed in on some workouts too.

Nick Morris wrote:


Nice work on the 12, I mean 14, miler. It think that going out slowly really helped your legs get back into it. As I told Kenny, you are a better man than me to take on the dread mill. Especially for longer runs. I'll take the heat before the mill!!

After how awful I felt after the Wednesday run, no way I'm going to b eat myself up outside, especially going long like that. I think I had as rough a time as I did Monday because of my easy Sunday run even though I was done by 9:20. I just don't handle the heat well at all.

JohnP wrote:I was looking at your Wednesday run. I thought it was just me but in this weather, anything more than easy runs or short intervals are nearly impossible in this weather. So I am not surprised you couldn't finish the full GA run in the heat, it's just asking too much of the body. It's smart to use the TM now, it's more important to get the speed in on some workouts too.

I'm with you there John. I don't think I'm going to venture outside at all the rest of the week. Just sucks the life out of me and time on my feet is most important to me right now. If my legs are toast, I'm not getting in miles, let alone any quality.

Jim so really nice runs for you considering the conditions. I think when it comes to running anything faster than LSD in this weather I prefer indoors but on LSD in the 70-80's with humidity I prefer stick it to outside. Everybody's body works differently and you have to choose whats best for you. Good luck hitting 70 this week that is a nice number to look at unless it is your age. LOL

Nice job getting in the miles anyway you can. Good luck hitting that 70 mile mark, is that a new high for you?

Joel H wrote:Nice job getting in the miles anyway you can. Good luck hitting that 70 mile mark, is that a new high for you?

Yep! Previous high is 64 I think. I'm slightly concerned about the 18 on Sunday though. It's going to have to be a mill run that I'm really not excited about. Only 4 more than I did last night though I guess!

Very cool about the 70...I hate the treadmill too but like you said it is better than not being able to run at all because your legs are so trashed.

Jim, 18 on the mill is mostly mental. I hope you have good, cool airflow on the mill.

Jim I did 20 or 21 once on the TM is doable of course. I suggest playing with the elevation a bit if you can. Our TM's at gym go delince as well so I go from -3% to + 3 throughout the LSD TM run. It helps kill time.

Kenny B. wrote:Jim I did 20 or 21 once on the TM is doable of course. I suggest playing with the elevation a bit if you can. Our TM's at gym go delince as well so I go from -3% to + 3 throughout the LSD TM run. It helps kill time.

You can also adjust the pace a little to keep it a little less mind numbing. I have done 20 miles more than once on the treadmill and used to not be able to go further than 2.5-3 miles.

Jim Lentz wrote:

Kenny B. wrote:Jim I did 20 or 21 once on the TM is doable of course. I suggest playing with the elevation a bit if you can. Our TM's at gym go decline as well so I go from -3% to + 3 throughout the LSD TM run. It helps kill time.

You can also adjust the pace a little to keep it a little less mind numbing. I have done 20 miles more than once on the treadmill and used to not be able to go further than 2.5-3 miles.

Yeah, I'm definitely going to have to play with things a bit to keep from going insane. Last night I bumped up the pace about every 3 miles and that kept me entertained for 14 miles. Now I just have to tack another 4 onto that and I'll be all set! And hopefully the heat breaks and I won't have to do this again.

You will get through it have a good story to tell about running 18 on a TM. Not many people can say that nor want to.

You're definitely right about that Kenny!

Recovery from the 14 on Thursday went well and I got in a nice easy 4 yesterday. I did another 6 this morning and will be doing another really easy 4 in about an hour or so. That will put me at 52 for the week and leaves me with the dreaded 18 mile treadmill run tomorrow!

I can't believe we're talking about treadmill running in July, but in the case of having an 18-miler on your schedule, I don't see any other option. Good luck getting through it. Can you watch a movie or something as you run?