Running To The Crawl: Not Happening

 So I did not register for the Crawling Crab because I suspected that the currant lunacy around COVID (yes it's lunacy and I've written extensively about it elsewhere), would have resulted in a cancelled race and I didn't want to have reservations to cancel and the like. Sure enough the Crawl is cancelled. Actually it's now a "Hermit" race which I suppose means virtual run. 

No thanks. Not the same. A part of racing is seeing the competition. It's seeing the person ahead of you and saying to yourself: I think I can catch them. It's suffering and seeing that mile marker or clock. It's that big ass finish line banner that makes you dig deep and cut 30 seconds off your last mile.

 So for me the 2020 race season is officially cancelled. Thanks China. 

On the plus side, this allows me to continue to heart rate train for another 6 months. I have already seen benefits and look forward to a MAF test when the weather cools into the 60s. I see no point in MAF testing in hot weather knowing the impact that heat has on your body AND the fact that my last MAF test was in cool(er) weather. The results cannot be comparable.

Run To The Crawl: No Mo' Wet Feet

So per the last post I have a pair of Adidas Boston 8 sneakers. Also it is quite "warm" now. Went for a long run in the 8's and towards the end, say 4 miles, it felt like I had been running in water. When I got home and took off the 8's they were soaked. As if I had dropped them in water.

No bueno.

So given that it wasn't going to be getting any cooler anytime soon and running in wet sneakers was not happening, I had to solve this problem. My saucony's are dead with over 300 miles on them. My Vomero's were dead. They no longer have the "bounce" and as shown in the video the soles are wearing out. The Pegs are for racing and I don't intend to wear them until near race day (last long run before taper) and then on race day. So those were out of the question. Soooooo... I got some Adidas SL20s

As soon as I stepped outside, I felt a breeze on my toes! Yay! They aren't as springy as the Pegs but far softer than the Bostons and far more breathable. Running in 90+ degrees with high humidity has resulted in dampness but not the "been walking in puddles feel that I had in the Bostons. Also, like the Bostons I haven't had to put the inserts into the left shoe. The shoe is pretty stiff. What's better is that they make the Vomeros feel like the anchors they are. I think I'll wait until the weather changes before replacing the Vomeros for winter running (cold feet are not fun).

In other news, even in this hot weather I'm reaching into the 7s for my MAF pace. This bodes well for when the temps drop. If its in the 60s on race morning I should do very well. Virginia is known for being warmer than the northeast so you never know.

Run To The Crawl: What My Sneakers Are Telling Me

Running To The Crawl: Two Fer

Yesterday I saw that the local HS track was open so I planned to do a MAF test today. However; by the time I was ready to run today it was in the 70s and no way I was going to have a good MAF test at such temperatures. So instead I did a two fer:

16 mile bike ride at no more than MAF heart rate followed immediately by a 3 mile run at MAF rate. I haven't done such a thing in years. Tomorrow morning we find out whether I broke my body with an early morning "can't walk" or if I'm fit enough to take that. The latter would bode well for October. Very well.

The NYT Is Trash

Really.

This should have never been OK'd for publication.

Running To The Crawl: Too Hot!

So in a previous post I mentioned that I was going to drop my MAF runs to a lower heart rate. Ha. Jokes on me. Yesterday's 5 miler witnessed me desperately trying to keep at my MAF heart rate while my pace jumped into the....nines.

This was with low 70s. Today I went for a 10 miler and was totally unable to keep MAF rate and so I made it into a threshold run. This means my MAF "runs" this summer are going to feature a whole lot of walking which hasn't happened since January.

So the new plan is, Wake up early (still on lockdown so I don't have to worry about getting ready for a commute) and "run" when it is coolest for most of the week and for faster paced runs I won't worry about time of day. Hopefully this pays off dividends when the temps drop again.

Running To The Crawl: Tick Tock, Tick Tock

VA governor Northam is doing his best to keep me from running an official half marathon this year. Apparently he wants to keep the state shut for a year or so. We'll see how long that, and his governorship, lasts if he does that. Anyway

So One of the things for this summer was to up my cadence by running with a metronome. Today was the first 5 miler with it. Started out at 86 BPM and got it up to 89 by the second mile. Average speed dropped by 13 seconds. This is with a 10 step per minute increase. Once I got into it I realized I can probably do a faster cadence but this was a good start. The no music thing is going to be a problem on long runs.

So clear proof, if you need it, that increased cadence will speed up your pace at the same effort (I was doing a MAF run as well). If this keeps up I may be looking at dropping another 20 or so seconds off my half....whenever I get to run one.