23 July 2010

Running with the Dew Point, Humidity and Temp over 75° Rocks!

Well, if you like to sweat like a pig, that is! For just a 2-mile run I looked like I ran through a car wash along the way. 

Whatever, I was sweating like a horse then! Regardless of pigs and sweat, tonight's run felt damn good, as if I was running my target pace (for a short run w/out a backpack). But with the dew point at 75.5° the humidity at 89° and the temp at 77.1° I'm quite content with the pace I ran! I may not be the fastest, but come hell or high water, I'll get there!


Gotta run,
Chris

Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:863 ft
Location:--Elev. Gain:-3 ft
Date:07/23/10Up/Downhill: [+124/-127]
Time:8:42 PMDifficulty:1.6 / 5.0
Performance
Distance: 2.01 miles
Time:0:15:36
Speed:7.7 mph
Pace:7' 46 /mi
Calories:286
MapElevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
17' 08-0' 388.4+0.70 ft
28' 23+0' 377.2-0.60 ft
end********** ft
Versus average of 7' 46 min/mile
** Insufficient data to calculate this split

18 July 2010

First Run in Months Without a Backpack

Since sometime in May I've been running running with a backpack that when full of water weighs in at 30 lb's. I would've thought this would get my "run as fast as I can" pace back down to 6mm's, but much to my surprise, I'm not any faster than I usually run without a 'case of beer' strapped to my back! Tonight's run was in fact slower for what I intended to be a fast short run!

Last year I was running mid to high 6mm's whenever I wanted to, so my goal for this year was to maintain a 6mm. And now tonight, I just couldn't get there, let alone maintain it. However, it could be that tonight's run was in 89° heat with a dew point of 71° or maybe from adding an extra gallon of water to my backpack for yesterdays run wore me down. Oh well, if I cant run fast anymore at least I can carry plenty of water and stuff to keep me entertained on my long slow runs!


Gotta run,
Chris


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:864 ft
Location:--Elev. Gain:-3 ft
Date:07/18/10Up/Downhill: [+141/-144]
Time:6:50 PMDifficulty:1.7 / 5.0
Performance
Distance: 2.46 miles
Time:0:19:01
Speed:7.8 mph
Pace:7' 44 /mi
Calories:344
Map
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
17' 21-0' 238.2+0.4+10 ft
28' 08+0' 247.4-0.4-36 ft
end7' 36-0' 087.9+0.1+23 ft
Versus average of 7' 44 min/mile

05 July 2010

Running With a 30lb Backpack, Bar None is By Far the Best Workout


So after a few months of what looked like no running on my part? I'm here to say, I have been running and I've been running with a damn backpack. I just lost interest in blogging about each and every run, hell I did that for almost a year straight and although it is a motivator to keep running, as I don't want to let down the five people that follow this blog (Hi Grama). Well, much to my surprise I have received at least a dozen emails from people I don't know over the last month wondering why I stopped running? I'm thinking I may start posting my runs again if anything like this, but maybe weekly. It did keep me hitting my goals, as I knew my grama and what I thought was just a handful of others were watching!


Above are my running stats since my last blog post, although my speed isn't as fast as it should be? And my millage is down, I kid you not, I'm running with a 30lb backpack! I look like I should be out in the woods hiking and taking photos with random bears. By the way, in the picture bellow I'm standing on a deer, because that bear is f'ing tall! But this picture should give you an idea of what I'm talking about with my backpack. It's from today so that's what I looked like running down long country roads. And yeah, I ran 8 miles today with the dew point, humidity and temperature all in the 70's. Sure 70° may not sound hot, but with a dew point in the 70's and the temp in the 70's sweat doesn't evaporate which is how we keep cool, so the heart rate kicks up trying to circulate more blood to the skin in an attempt to cool the body. This is worse than 130° with low humidity and a low dew point, trust me, it really is!


Be warned running with a backpack far away from any military post can gather un-wanted attention. As I clip down the road at my comfortable 8-9mm (with a backpack) I literately have people slowing down to ask if I'm okay. I always say, "what?" "I have headphones in" and "I can't hear you." Some of the older duffers just keep pestering, as they think I'm in some kind of trouble (running with a backpack). I had to tell one older couple that I was doing this on purpose and if I was not okay, I'd be walking not running!


Gotta run,
Chris

Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:894 ft
Location:--Elev. Gain:-52 ft
Date:07/05/10Up/Downhill: [+482/-534]
Time:4:07 PMDifficulty:3.1 / 5.0
Performance
Distance: 8.03 miles
Time:1:19:07
Speed:6.1 mph
Pace:9' 51 /mi
Calories:1119
Map
Elevation (ft)
Pace (min/mile)
Splits
MilePace (min/mile)Speed (mph)Elevation
Gain
actual+/- avgactual+/- avg
18' 38-1' 136.9+0.80 ft
29' 31-0' 206.3+0.2+19 ft
314' 11+4' 204.2-1.9-76 ft
49' 58+0' 076.0-0.1+33 ft
58' 58-0' 536.7+0.6-36 ft
69' 23-0' 286.4+0.3+39 ft
78' 58-0' 536.7+0.6-20 ft
89' 12-0' 396.5+0.4-13 ft
end8' 20-1' 317.2+1.10 ft
Versus average of 9' 51 min/mile