Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition (Read 448 times)

DW - I definitely notice the HR going up. I don't wear a monitor, but I've stopped and measured when I feel like this and it's 150+, sometimes up to 160, which clearly is out of range for an easy long run.

 

For fit endurance athletes, you expect a bit of natural heart rate drift over the course of a run.  If you can keep it to 2% (typically measured as the increase in heart rate at a fixed pace over an hour), that's very good.  5% is reasonable.  Any big spikes above that would tend to suggest high fatigue (e.g. after a big workout your HR will generally remain elevated), or dehydration.

I fortunately haven't had too many issues with dehydration, but I recall one run (the day after Xmas and I was probably very hung over) where my HR just spiked after about 15 or 16k by like 15bpm (probably like 10%).

As Keen points out, it's not just about water, the electrolytes are arguably more important as you can replace water more easily.  If I'm doing a long run or workout in summer, I'll always pre-load myself with an electrolyte supplement.  It seems to work OK, I haven't noticed any major differences in HR drift in my LRs in summer vs. winter and although in summer I may look more like I've been for a swim than a 2 hour LR, it's still just normal end of long run fatigue rather than dehydration.

Keen - I took in 22 ounces of LMNT during one of my long runs this weekend, but still ended up losing almost 6 pounds during the run. (7 pounds once you take that out). I think I need less mixture though: I feel like the incredibly high salt content was making me even more thirsty.

 

This, this this!! Tried LMNT because their sample pack was free and it is super salty. When I double the water to mix ratio it comes out about right for me. I'll also add that their "normal" citrusey flavors are great but chocolate salt is an abomination that should be destroyed from Orbit.

Trying to get caught up but my kids are headed to a swim meet after a big vacation so I don't expect them to do well. Oh well.

The most notable thing this week is that I found that cutting out the split squats got rid of the soreness even if my workout included heavy deadlifts and heavy squats.

M: easy 45 min

T:  Mile TT (5:45) ... meh. It's ok and I ran solidly but felt like a workout not a race. Need to go a little harder. + weights + 500yd swim

W; 30 min ez

Th: 1:47 "long" run. Nice and easy

F: 45 min easy + 20 mi bike ride@ family speed

S: 50 min ez + strides. 18 mi bike w/ dad

Sun: 14 mile progression run. Got really hard after mile 10. The right back tightened up a bit. On the plus side I had two types of gels (SiS and a Gu) that were more watery than typical gu and they settled in the stomach really well.

Keen - you are an interesting man. Those packets have half your daily salt in one packet! I can't believe you don't think that's salty enough. It's not like I drink it and then wow this is awful, but I finish it and think "I'm still thirsty, I need water to wash that out." The flavoring is incredibly delicious though, they did a great job with that. So I just need to water it down more for my runs and take in more actual water. That should solve the problem.

Now I just need to find a way to carry it all. I guess I can always just refill my water jugs on the route, but part of this entire process was I really wanted to avoid stopping all the time at water fountains on long runs.

Flavio - that's interesting that's bad for you, that's actually what I look like during the hot but not scorching runs. During the true scorchers (150+ TDP), there's so much water loss I don't get the salt ring. It will be interesting as your marathon training ramps up if you see the sort of weight loss I do once you get to 20 miles. It's definitely just a heat issue for me though: I can easily do 22 mile long runs in October with not a single ounce of water drank. I just seem to sweat a lot during these hot summer runs and it impacts me severely.

My brewery run this weekend actually looking decent for summer. Temps in the low to mid 70s, dew point around 60. Obviously not great racing weather but for mid-summer racing, that's top 20% weather. It's a 5 mile race (or just a hair over 8K), so I think a time of 28:XX would be good in decent summer weather and where I'm at with training / recent 5K times.

Jmac - you do lose an awful amount of water during your runs. You might have some sort of imbalance.

You know I've lived in a very warm area for all my life, I sweat a lot, I'm like 50lbs heavier than you and yet my max has been around 2.5kg on a 30km run in a very hot day.

It got so bad I stopped sweating and there was a thin layer of salt on my skin.

 

Zeb - Do you hold that same opinion about caramel chocolate? Cause then we'll have to fight 🤺

JMac I totally agree, I suspect it has to do with his low-carb diet. I'm not a fan for anything shorter than 2 hours but hydration packs really are the way to go if you want to carry a lot of water. I'm with you in that I hydrate heavily (with electrolytes) in the hot & humid months but once September rolls around I'll rarely drink anything while running.

Flavio Are we talking Caramel Chocolate Salt LMNT packet that you mix with water or something like a Caramelo which is delicious? Chocolate was made to be mixed with milk, not water.

JMac  Report back on the electrolyte content / rehydration powers of those brewskies. Inquiring minds want to know.

Keen That's a lot of tune up races, sounds like fun! Turkey trots are incredibly hit or miss but the one in my town usually has 30-50 people faster than me which makes it a great race to run fast at since it's also flat and well-measured.

I bombed yesterday's workout. The legs just weren't there after Sunday's cutdown so coach is restructuring the rest of this week to bring mileage back into the 40s though he has said he wants me in the 50s regularly by late July if we can do so safely..

JMac - I can't really say I agree with the general recommendations around sodium intake since the studies that lead to them weren't interventional and were confounded by healthy/unhealthy user biases.
While I certainly don't agree with everything they say, the American Counsel on Sports Medicine recommends 7-10 grams of sodium (more than double that if we're talking salt, which is only ~40% sodium) per day for someone who exercises at high intensity or at all in hot and/or humid conditions.
It's actually really, really difficult for a person to overdo sodium intake as any excess just gets excreted via sweat or the kidneys. Low sodium can have some very nasty effects, though.

As for the races, there's a "maybe" 5k in early September, but more likely I'll be doing a 10k mid-September, the HM in Texas I've been trying to win for years, then an actual tune-up 10k in mid-November and a sharpening 5k (or 8k if available) turkey trot as a last real workout. 5k & 10k PRs should be a given, but there's a chance I might be able to PR the half, even though it's not what I'd consider a PR-course.

Zebano - It's certainly way more races than I've ever done before a target, but I do think it'll be good for me to sharpen/keep sharp that edge. I know DWave is a fan of racing frequently.
I ran one of the two local turkey trots a couple years ago with my wife, but it's the other I hope goes forward this year as it's a faster course and will have better competition.
Also, Caramelos are delicious.

ETA: I just took the shoes I wore for my workout this morning in off the porch (letting them dry out, as you do) and when I put them in the closet noticed that the soles were glowing quite brightly. I had no idea these shoes had glowing soles at all, or that any did for that matter. Assuming one "charges" them properly before a run that actually seems like a super-nifty safety feature for road running in the dark.

Flavio - You just came up with something else I can measure, thanks! If I can remember I'll figure out that ratio myself this morning. Measured to the very top of your hip bone?

JMac - I meant to post this before, but could it be that you getting thirstier when you drink that electrolyte mix is your body saying that you need those extra electrolytes?

Keen - so I measured to the hip bone, but just above the pant's pocket. I guess if I measured it by the side it would be different.

What's your current gadget count?

Is it still 3 (gps watch, armband hrm and power meter)?