It never fails! Every year, I run through the winter, Spring hits, the temperature starts to rise, and then there's that one run, usually in June, when I finish I say WTF!! You'd think I'd be prepared for it! It comes EVERY year! Maybe it's my bad memory or just maybe denial, but none the less, it happens. That run happened last Tuesday! I had a little extra time in the morning, so I decided to go for what was then my long run of an hour an fifteen. Just like every other morning, I left from the Homewood store up the hill toward Vulcan to hit the 4 Village route, with the intentions of adding on to make it close to 10 miles. I hit mile two and realized that day was going to be different. I was soaked! I hit Jack's Shell, drank a couple of cups of water, poured a couple on my head, and hit the hill back over Montevallo. By the time mile 5 hit, I was just like, "Make it through it man!". I did it! 1 hour and 15 minutes of soaked singlet, sloshing shoes and SOUP!
When I got back to the store, I turned on my computer to check the weather. The temperature at 10:30 was almost 80 and the humidity was 85! Then, I took a look at Facebook to see an article reposted on the Resolute Running page from Runners World entitled "Tips for running in humidity". Man, that was timely! The article mentioned humidity basically counteracts your bodies number one defense against the heat, sweat. To paraphrase, when your body temp rises, you begin to sweat and that sweat is SUPPOSED to evaporate to cool your skin, thus lowering your body temp. Well, when the moisture in the air is virtually equal to the moisture on your body, there is no evaporation, and you just keep sweating, dehydrating yourself further! The article gives some tips like running indoors on a treadmill or checking the weather forecast for the time of lowest humidity. Since I'm not a treadmill guy and I can't run at 11:51, the time of lowest humidity on June 10, I have to come up with a PLAN to get through, and I'd imagine most of you are the same. So, here's what I do!
First things first! Properly hydrate! I know I have blogged about this before, but it is absolutely necessary for successful training in the summer! Proper hydration does not mean drink a ton of water the day before a long run or race! PROPER hydration, much like training, has to be consistent. You've heard that "8 x 8 ounces of fluid a day" right? Well, if you run daily, it should probably be more like 12 x 8 ounces of fluid a day! Pay particular attention to that all important word fluid! It doesn't just mean water! While I'll fill my 20 oz. water bottle at least 3 times a day at work, I'll often mix it with the very convenient and dis-solvable Nuun tablet to ensure I have the proper amounts of electrolytes in my body to retain that water, and well add a little flavor!
Recovery is next! Of course, the before mentioned things will help you get through the SOUP, but after you've dropped a few pounds in water weight alone, it is VERY important to replenish immediately! You see, after you've lost all that water in sweat, you've also depleted your body of electrolytes, nutrients and broken your muscles down. A recent study suggested chocolate milk, high in calcium and protein, is good recovery drink choice. I've tried it, and it ain't bad, but my recovery drink of choice is GU Recovery Brew. I mix a bottle of it's high carb, high protein, amino acid and antioxidant blend the night before a long run or workout and have it ready for right after the run. For you heavy shweaters, this is a MUST!
To talk about the gear a bit, if you ain't in tech fabrics for apparel, sock or caps, please stop by The Trak Shak and invest! Cotton fibers are thick and hold a lot of moisture, not only increasing your body temperature, but adding weight to carry. Our summer lines of Nike, Asics, Saucony and Mizuno apparel are made of lightweight polyester, nylon blends, and are vented well. Socks from Feetures, Balega, Swiftwick and Asics are made of the same non-cotton materials, wicking moisture from your feet, decreasing that sloshing thing I mentioned before. And for those of you hating on knee high compression socks from CEP in the summer, thing about this! The more moisture caught by that sock, the less moisture in your shoe and around your feet. Oh, and the least bit of breeze that hits that knee high, cools your legs a bit. At least that's what I think!
Lastly, swallow your pride! I know many are a slave to the watch, checking your pace every other stride. Sometimes you just have to accept you're going to run a bit slower in the SOUP. If you hit the road and feel that stuffy air, set your watch screen on the time of day and run how you feel! When you take that uncontrollable glance at the watch, all you'll see is the actual time of your suffering! ;))
Well, this is how I plan to make it through marathon training in the summer! I hope you take something from it and apply it to your everyday running! Got any tips? Please stop by and see me at the shop!I need all the advice I can get!!
Happy Running!
Monday, June 16, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
The Word is OUT!
Due to a hostile takeover of my Facebook page, I feel like there are a few things I should clear up!
First things first! I wish Hootie and The Blow Fish never existed...
OR Miley Cyrus!
My belly is fine!
I'm pretty sure I looked just "OK" that day, much like every other day.
Lastly, something running related! NO! 10 miles at 5:25's hasn't happened in a REAL long time, and probably will not happen again! YES, the word is out, I am running the 7 Bridges Marathon in October!
Just a little back story here. This will be my 3rd attempt at a marathon. I say "attempt" because I have not officially finished a marathon. I have run the distance though, and I'll save that for the last story in this post. A lot of my customers and fellow runners are surprised I have not finished a marathon. Let me be the first to say, DON'T BE SURPRISED, for a couple of reasons. First, I was a middle distance runner in college. Coming from a very low mileage program in high school, the two mile was a "long run". When I got my first training plan mailed to me from my college cross country coach, and I saw a 10 mile long run on it, I thought, "What have I done?"!! AND then when he told me "we race 8K and 10K for cross", I thought I was going to die!
Second. My post collegiate running career has had, to put it nicely, it's UPS and DOWNS, inspiring the "On again, off again runner" description of this blog. There was the period of time I fondly refer to as the "Big Jeff Era". You know that time when you graduate from college, are working part time at the BEST RUNNING STORE IN THE LAND, buy a car, get an apartment, and realize you have no money? You don't? Well, that's what happened! So, I decided to get a job as a bartender, which meant 6 PM to 3 AM on top of the 30 hours a week at the store. Oh, AND no running and 40 to 50 pounds (unofficially)!!
The first marathon attempt was just before the "Big Jeff Era" (sorry the year escapes me) while I was still pretty fit from college and training with Scott. Scott got invited to run the Houston Half Marathon. He said he could get me a comp entry, so I said what the hell, I'll try the marathon. I bumped up a couple of long runs to 20 miles, felt great two weeks before and got a sinus infection the week of the race. Honestly, all I needed was an excuse! I ended up running the half. I look back now and know at 23 years old, I probably should have just run the full, but the distance really intimidated me.
The second marathon attempt was for the infamous Chicago Marathon 2007. My beautiful wife, Lena, trained and completed the New York Marathon in '06. I helped her during her training, and I and a friend of ours followed her throughout the entire race, hopping from subway train to subway train all the way to Central Park. It was inspiring! I decided to enter Chicago, and the training, throughout the summer went great! Once we arrived at the expo, warnings of the heat were all over the place. Instead of trusting the fact that I trained in Alabama heat and humidity through the summer, I panicked, OVER hydrated, and dropped out at 16 miles with severe cramps!
So, here I am in 2014! I haven't posted about my training in quite some time because quite frankly it's been rather boring. Who wants to read about 5 to 8 miles, 5 days a week for the better part of 2 years? However, while it's been rather bland, I have been consistent, building a pretty decent base, and I have been healthy. Why 2014? Well, I turn 40 in October! I figure, a new age group, what the hell!!
To tell you what the post is really all about! After 19 years in a running specialty store, interacting with and lending advice to the awesome Birmingham running community, I feel like I've learned a few things! The very first thing, GET A PLAN! There are a lot of plans out there. The trick is to find the one that is realistic for you to accomplish and seek out advice from your local fellow runners and specialists to make it happen! So, quite of few of the next posts, leading up to October, will be about training in the heat, footwear, gadgets I use, my training plan, and experiences along the way! I hope you will follow me on this journey!
Oh, THE STORY! I almost forgot! I mentioned earlier, I have run the marathon distance! This was before the GPS watch, so I can't be 100% certain, but it HAD to be close! UAB sent me to UNC Charlotte for a Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meeting. I was Vice Prez of the UAB SAAC, the Prez was supposed to go, but she wasn't able. We had meetings all day on Saturday. I had a long run scheduled for that Sunday morning, as I was in the middle of my cross country season. There was a fellow cross country runner from UNC Charlotte, a competitor of mine, attending the meetings. He told me they had a long run scheduled that Sunday morning and where to meet. Long story short, I got PUNKED! I was there, on time, ALONE! I ventured out on a trail, hit a cross road, took a left, a right, a left, a right, and so forth and so on! It was early Sunday, nothing was open, and I figured if I kept running I'd end up back at the hotel! Well, 3 and half hours later, I did!! Again, I can't say I ran 26 miles for sure, but it sure felt like it! Especially when I showed up late to the morning meetings and saw that guy with a wry smile on his face!
Post by Jeff Martinez.
First things first! I wish Hootie and The Blow Fish never existed...
Post by Jeff Martinez.
OR Miley Cyrus!
Post by Jeff Martinez.
My belly is fine!
Post by Jeff Martinez.
I'm pretty sure I looked just "OK" that day, much like every other day.
Post by Jeff Martinez.
Lastly, something running related! NO! 10 miles at 5:25's hasn't happened in a REAL long time, and probably will not happen again! YES, the word is out, I am running the 7 Bridges Marathon in October!
Just a little back story here. This will be my 3rd attempt at a marathon. I say "attempt" because I have not officially finished a marathon. I have run the distance though, and I'll save that for the last story in this post. A lot of my customers and fellow runners are surprised I have not finished a marathon. Let me be the first to say, DON'T BE SURPRISED, for a couple of reasons. First, I was a middle distance runner in college. Coming from a very low mileage program in high school, the two mile was a "long run". When I got my first training plan mailed to me from my college cross country coach, and I saw a 10 mile long run on it, I thought, "What have I done?"!! AND then when he told me "we race 8K and 10K for cross", I thought I was going to die!
Second. My post collegiate running career has had, to put it nicely, it's UPS and DOWNS, inspiring the "On again, off again runner" description of this blog. There was the period of time I fondly refer to as the "Big Jeff Era". You know that time when you graduate from college, are working part time at the BEST RUNNING STORE IN THE LAND, buy a car, get an apartment, and realize you have no money? You don't? Well, that's what happened! So, I decided to get a job as a bartender, which meant 6 PM to 3 AM on top of the 30 hours a week at the store. Oh, AND no running and 40 to 50 pounds (unofficially)!!
The first marathon attempt was just before the "Big Jeff Era" (sorry the year escapes me) while I was still pretty fit from college and training with Scott. Scott got invited to run the Houston Half Marathon. He said he could get me a comp entry, so I said what the hell, I'll try the marathon. I bumped up a couple of long runs to 20 miles, felt great two weeks before and got a sinus infection the week of the race. Honestly, all I needed was an excuse! I ended up running the half. I look back now and know at 23 years old, I probably should have just run the full, but the distance really intimidated me.
The second marathon attempt was for the infamous Chicago Marathon 2007. My beautiful wife, Lena, trained and completed the New York Marathon in '06. I helped her during her training, and I and a friend of ours followed her throughout the entire race, hopping from subway train to subway train all the way to Central Park. It was inspiring! I decided to enter Chicago, and the training, throughout the summer went great! Once we arrived at the expo, warnings of the heat were all over the place. Instead of trusting the fact that I trained in Alabama heat and humidity through the summer, I panicked, OVER hydrated, and dropped out at 16 miles with severe cramps!
So, here I am in 2014! I haven't posted about my training in quite some time because quite frankly it's been rather boring. Who wants to read about 5 to 8 miles, 5 days a week for the better part of 2 years? However, while it's been rather bland, I have been consistent, building a pretty decent base, and I have been healthy. Why 2014? Well, I turn 40 in October! I figure, a new age group, what the hell!!
To tell you what the post is really all about! After 19 years in a running specialty store, interacting with and lending advice to the awesome Birmingham running community, I feel like I've learned a few things! The very first thing, GET A PLAN! There are a lot of plans out there. The trick is to find the one that is realistic for you to accomplish and seek out advice from your local fellow runners and specialists to make it happen! So, quite of few of the next posts, leading up to October, will be about training in the heat, footwear, gadgets I use, my training plan, and experiences along the way! I hope you will follow me on this journey!
Oh, THE STORY! I almost forgot! I mentioned earlier, I have run the marathon distance! This was before the GPS watch, so I can't be 100% certain, but it HAD to be close! UAB sent me to UNC Charlotte for a Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) meeting. I was Vice Prez of the UAB SAAC, the Prez was supposed to go, but she wasn't able. We had meetings all day on Saturday. I had a long run scheduled for that Sunday morning, as I was in the middle of my cross country season. There was a fellow cross country runner from UNC Charlotte, a competitor of mine, attending the meetings. He told me they had a long run scheduled that Sunday morning and where to meet. Long story short, I got PUNKED! I was there, on time, ALONE! I ventured out on a trail, hit a cross road, took a left, a right, a left, a right, and so forth and so on! It was early Sunday, nothing was open, and I figured if I kept running I'd end up back at the hotel! Well, 3 and half hours later, I did!! Again, I can't say I ran 26 miles for sure, but it sure felt like it! Especially when I showed up late to the morning meetings and saw that guy with a wry smile on his face!
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