4K in a sauna

[Bazza1234]

I have just run an "easy" non-stop 4k this morning - in what felt like a sauna. We often get hot Spring weather here - sometimes as hot as or even hotter than what we get in mid-summer. Big high pressure systems out in the Pacific cause northern winds to come down from the Tropics to the Sub-tropics. Yesterday was one of those days !! I went out early this morning at 5AM to beat the sun. Only I found there was no sun - just a heavy overcast and a kind of fine mist -- it was 25C and 89% humidity at 5AM!!

It was quite heavy going - my first road run for 2 weeks - my feet hurt in my shoes (swollen from the heat, I think) - but I think that my general cardio is improving and I managed to breath through my nose for the whole distance. ( That is a good test of whether I am running "conversationally) . But physically it is "difficult " to run so slowly - I have been experimenting with run/walk easy runs over a certain range of my HRM and today thought I would try to hold within that range when running non-stop. I did manage it -- but there is a strong tendency to go faster/harder and I need the HRM to tell me to slow down.

I will start a new 16 week running programme next week - the coach likes to programme 1k and 1mile tempo runs with a short break inbetween them so I wanted to measure out a 1k distance as part of a 1 mile distance in my local area that I can use for these tempo runs ( have to do something to keep myself motivated on days like this!! )

[Rob_and_his_westie Graduate]

Bazza, by contrast, I will probably be out for a 5k at 6am tomorrow morning in the UK and if I'm very lucky, it will

- be over 5 degrees C.

- will be wet if not icy

- will be light by the time I reach the 2k mark.

Not so much a sauna as a refrigerator! Do you even know what "running tights" are?

All the very best, sounds like you're doing just great!

[Bazza1234 Graduate in reply to Rob_and_his_westie]

Running "what's" ?? --

[Rob_and_his_westie Graduate in reply to Bazza1234]

Don't ask....us guys only mention them in whispers....

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

Conversation/easy/long pace for me is around 8 -8.5 minutes per K --- 6;54 is tempo pace for a 20 minute run, ( this all according to Daniels Formula. ) Bear in mind that these are TRAINING paces - sounds to me like you are running your easy conversational training days at almost 5K race pace??? I WAS doing this -- but finding that I was getting a bit burned out.

[Bazza1234 Graduate]

If your body tells you that all is OK as you are doing it , then that is fine. For me, I could feel that I was doing too much - one reason I have gone off Parkrun just a little is the emphasis there on trying to beat PB every weekend. From now on, I will incorporate a training run into Parkrun each Saturday with no attempt to beat any times. Once per month , I will do the 5K non-stop and see if the training has resulted in an improvement.

Strangely - two weeks ago before I went on hols - I did a 5k easy run using my HRM - ran until my HR hit 130 , walked until it reduced back to 120 and started again - repeat until finished. MY HRM said that I had averaged 127 BPM over the 5K at 8:04 mins per K. Today I did 4K non-stop running and kept my average BPM under 129 - pace was 8:37 min per K. It was much hotter today -- but it is just another confirmation that my pace is faster when I do run/walk than when I do non-stop running.

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Sounds like my early weeks in France Bazza, in fact I'm missing it now I'm back in England, cold, windy overcast England..finding it hard to stop procrastinating and get off my bum...

[Vixchile Graduate]

I don't have humidity thankfully! But it's hot today going to be hotter tomorrow! I want to run in the park tomorrow in prep formy race but I don't want to go too early as I won't feel particulary safe being alone in this particular park. Maybe I will go for a long early morning run instead and try for 12km. It's so hard when it's 20 something in the morning!