I left the house at 7:45 this morning and ran 7.5 miles. The temperature was 72 when I left and 77 when I returned, with the dewpoint hovering right around 70 — pretty typical conditions for mid July here on the humid East Coast. I ran pretty well, with good energy and reasonably good form until I started to tire a little bit around mile 6. My average pace was 11 minutes/mile, which is only 30-45 seconds slower than I typically run in cooler weather — not too bad, especially given the high dewpoint. I ate 3 pieces of egg bake and a peanut bar before heading out, and drank 16 ounces of water during the course of the run. I lost a lot of fluids while I was out. When I got home, my shirt was soaked through and heavy with sweat. As usual, my SweatHawg head band kept it out of my eyes. I’ve become a big fan of these. I re-hydrated with some Gatorade (which I drink very sparingly, and only this time of year) and am trying to drink plenty of water over the course of the day, something I’ve historically been better at doing when I’m at the office vs. at home.
Category: Running
Random notes
Still experimenting with the light roast coffee beans I picked up the other day in Bethany. This was an improvement over yesterday:
- Local Coffee Roasting Co. Breakfast Blend (Guatemala/Colombia)
- 11 grams coffee, ground at 39 clicks on the JX (1.5 turns minus 6 clicks)
- 200 grams water at full boil (1:18.1)
- Two paper filters
- 20 second pour
- Steep 2 minutes
- Take off scale and swirl
- Wait 30 seconds
- Press 30 seconds
Compared to yesterday, this was ground slightly finer (39 vs 42 clicks) and poured right off the boil, instead of 99°C. Arguably not much of a difference there, but I suspect that due to heat loss, this gives an actual steeping temperature close to 99°, which is what the Hoffmann recipe calls for. The cup definitely had more flavor than yesterday’s. Just to make sure I’m extracting these beans as much as I can, I may try drawing the brew time out a little longer, and see if I can get it to the point where I start to taste some bitterness. At that point I’ll back off the brew time a little bit, and see if the cup is as strong as I would like. It’s worth noting that the instructions on the bag of beans specify a 1:17 ratio, which is slightly more coffee than I’m using here.
I got out at around 6:40 this morning and ran 5.3 miles. I felt a little better than I did Sunday. I woke up slightly sore after climbing yesterday evening and swimming yesterday afternoon, and wasn’t initially sure I wanted to go out, but once I get moving, I felt fine. Climbing went well last night. I climbed 4 routes on lead and 4 on top rope, at grades ranging from 5.8 to 5.10+. It was my first time leading in about a month. Lead climbing is one of those things you have to keep doing regularly to stay comfortable and confident on the wall.
Run notes
I kind of knew that today wasn’t going to be the greatest run of my life. It was a good run in the sense that it happened at all, as today was our last day in the beach house, and we had to be out by 10:00am. I knew that if I was going to run, I was going to have to get out really early. I figured that if I woke up early enough, I’d go, and if not, I wouldn’t. The Powers that Be must have wanted me to run, because I was out of bed at 5:30 after 6 hours of sleep. I wolfed down a couple of sausage patties and potato pancakes, drank a little bit of water, suited up, and got out of the house just after 6, before any other adults in the house were moving. I went 5.4 miles at a rather plodding pace. My energy did not feel the greatest this morning, and I’m wondering if I was starting to get a little bit dehydrated after 7 extremely humid days here. It could also have been lack of sleep, or a combination of the two. I am glad that I got out, though, because it keeps me on schedule for the week. My next run likely will be Tuesday morning, and it will also have to be an early, short one, as I have to leave for an appointment at around 8.
Run Notes
I ran at the shore for a second time this week. I had hoped to do a 10-miler today, but it was extremely humid, and I was only carrying 16 ounces of water. In spite of that, I ran just over 8 miles at 11 minutes/mile on average. I started out faster than on Monday, and really slowed down towards the end as the temperature was rising, but at no point did I feel like I was struggling. My form felt great throughout, with no discomfort or muscle tightness anywhere. It was the best I’ve felt on a run in a while. If I had had more water and/or some kind of electrolyte drink or energy gel, I could have easily gone farther. I feel like I’ve acclimated to running in the humidity, but if I want to go farther than 6 to 8 miles, I’m probably going to need to invest in a hydration vest. With that said, I do like the Amphipod 16-ounce soft water bottle I’ve been running with lately. When I first started out, I was using a hip belt with a holder for a regular bike-style water bottle, and I used to hate how the water would slosh around in the hard plastic bottle. The soft bottle contracts as I drink the water, so there’s no air in there, and hence, no sloshing. I wasn’t sure I was going to like having to carry the bottle in my hand, but it really doesn’t get in the way at all. It’s a great bottle for shorter runs in warm/humid conditions.
Run Notes
I’m at the shore this week, and hope to get 2 or 3 runs in while I’m here. Today, I ran 8.75 miles, which is farther than I had run in almost a month. It’s typically slightly more humid, but slightly cooler, at the shore than at home this time of year, and today was par for the course. I got out at 7:00am, when the temperature was still near the nighttime low of 70°F, with a dewpoint of 69 — higher than it presently is back home, but lower than it was when I last ran at home. It was the best weather I’ve had for a run in about two weeks, and my energy and form felt pretty good throughout. Everything is flat here, without much variation in terrain, so you can get into a groove and just kind of zone out, although there are a couple of spots along my route where I have to look out for traffic. I am kind of hoping to get a 10-miler in this week, but only if circumstances permit, so we’ll see if it ends up happening.
Today’s Run Notes
It’s pretty miserable out there today. Not overly hot, but very humid. I didn’t get out for my run until 9:00, and by then, it was 80°F with a dewpoint of 72°, with bright sunshine (in contrast to recent days, which have been mostly cloudy to overcast in the mornings). My first note to myself is that I really, really have to get out of the house earlier on days when it is this humid. Before 7:00am would be ideal. My chosen route had less shade than usual, because the sun had already reached a lot of areas which typically have shade earlier in the morning. I only made it 4 miles before I had to stop to avoid overheating. My splits tell the story: mile 1 was 10:47/mile, mile 2 was 11:24/mile, mile 3 was 12:22/mile, and mile 4 was 13:49/mile. I walked another 1.3 miles to get home, so my total distance on the morning was 5.3 miles. In spite of the poor weather, it felt like an OK run form-wise. I’m getting better at maintaining a high cadence in varying conditions, even though, similar to Wednesday, my average cadence (177 steps per minute) was slightly slower than ideal.
Noteworthy today was that I ran with my new Xero HFS shoes instead of my usual Vibram V-Runs. I ordered a size 11.5 because the web site says they run small, but I probably would have been fine with size 11, as this pair feels a tiny bit large. Ironically, my Xero Terraflex trail shoes were too small at size 11, but perfect at 11.5. Go figure. Today’s run went just fine. The shoes didn’t feel like they were getting in the way, although they definitely felt “larger” than my Vibrams. I suspect that the HFS will make better winter running shoes than the Vibrams, as I’ll be able to wear warmer wool socks with them. Looking forward to testing that theory out in several months.
No huge issues with my right ankle/foot today. It bothers me more while walking than running, I guess because of the different biomechanics involved. I did some foam rolling, light stretching, and warm-ups before going out. My right calf seems less tight today than yesterday. I’m going to keep trying to improve my ankle mobility. In particular, I’ve been doing more heel walking to try to work my tibialis anterior muscles, which oppose the calf muscles. We’ll see how this goes over time.
Run Notes
I ran this morning for the first time in 6 days. The hiatus was mostly due to my schedule (crazy holiday week/weekend with lots going on) but I was kind of looking to rest for a few days anyhow, due to a little bit of mild discomfort in my right heel the past 2 or 3 times I’ve been out. It’s not PF (I know too well what that feels like) but I think it’s likely due to a knot in my right calf. Today, I used the foam roller on my calves, and did some ankle mobility exercises before going out. While running, I tried to work on keeping my ankles loose and relaxed, as I’ve also been doing lately while swimming. As a result, my running cadence was down very slightly from usual (probably because I was lifting my feet more), but I had no discomfort. It was one of the better runs I’ve had in the heat and humidity this year. Temperature was 80 with a dewpoint around 70, and I again ran a very deliberate average pace of 11:50/mile. I ran 6.9 miles, and felt pretty good the entire time. For the first time, I tried running with a Sweathawg headband underneath my hat, and while it’s a snug combination, I didn’t get a single drop of sweat in my eyes. When these go on sale again, I’ll probably pick up a couple more of them. I have yet to try the X2 (double thickness) bands that I bought, but based on what I’ve learned so far, I think the standard thickness will work fine for me. The exception might be the mountain bike, but it might be a couple of weeks before I get an opportunity to ride my MTB again.
Brew/Run Notes
I decided to try a different Aeropress recipe with my Starbucks beans today, as my last couple of cups have been on the bitter side.
- Beans: Starbucks House Blend medium roast
- Grind: “Finer end of medium” – 1.5 turns on the JX minus 3 clicks, or 42 total clicks
- 90°C water
- 15 grams coffee / 200 grams water (1:13.3)
- James Hoffmann’s Ultimate Aeropress Recipe
I followed the recipe pretty closely, except I used 15 grams of coffee where the recipe calls for 11 (although that assumes a light roast) and I did pre-wet the filter with cold water. I used two paper filters that are on their 5th or 6th cup. This produced a pretty nice cup with less bitterness than I had been getting lately with a different recipe. Compared to that recipe, this one uses a slightly finer grind with a lower water temperature. I do like Hoffmann’s scientific approach to brewing with the Aeropress, and this is a pretty easy recipe to follow, so I’m sure I’ll be tinkering around with it some more.
Another bad air day here in Maryland thanks to Canadian wildfires. I’m sure this isn’t the first summer where there have been wildfires in Canada, but it’s the first year I remember it having such a large effect on our weather here. Maybe this is just the first year everybody is paying such close attention to it. Who knows? I got out of the house at 6:30am this morning, when the temperature was still in the low 60s, and I ran 7.7 miles at a very relaxed pace of 11:30/mile. It was a pretty good run, with none of the energy issues that have plagued me over the past week or so.
Run
This was another day where I couldn’t get out to run until 11:00am. I had intended to run around 6 miles, but made the same mistake as the other day, where I started out trying to run too fast. My first two miles clocked in at around 9:45, and then I started heating up and slowing down. By 4 miles, I was struggling, and ended up cutting the run short. Total distance was around 5.7 miles. The weather was god-awful humid, and I ended up drenched in sweat, so much so that I actually drank some Gatorade afterward, for the first time since at least last summer.
I would probably be better off doing deep-water running in the pool when I can’t get out early in the summertime, but I find that to be boring. I did do it a couple of times last summer on really hot days, and expect I’ll break down and do it once or twice this year.
Today’s Run
Today felt kind of like a preview for running at the shore in a few weeks. It was around 80°F out with a dewpoint of 71° — definitely the most oppressive weather I’ve run in so far this year. I wasn’t able to get out until 11:00am, and by then, the sun was starting to break through the clouds and heat things up. I ran 8 miles before the humidity finally got to me. It was actually a better run than Thursday’s, even though Thursday’s weather was better. I ran at a very relaxed pace of 11:40/mile, which kept me from overheating. I had good energy for the entire duration of the run, and felt like my form was pretty good as well. I went through 16oz of water, and ate a granola bar at around the 5 mile mark. I stopped with about a mile to go to get home, which I walked. While I was walking, we had a 10 minute cloudburst, which felt great. I actually felt a little chilly when I walked into the air-conditioned house. All told, not a bad run, in spite of the weather.