Sorry, not a very interesting report this time.
It was a Friday evening race. I didn't run at all in the three days before, just because I wanted to stay rested and not over-tired for the race, but it just wasn't a great day.
Maybe it was the traffic that made the normally 40 minute trip take 1:20... maybe it was the heat... maybe it was the hills... maybe it was coming off a workday tired...
So got there eventually, parked, jogged my warmup to the race number pickup, hit the potty, and got in line. Race was delayed 10 min because they wanted to give people stuck in traffic a chance to get there. I was tired at the start.
Off we go, hilly course. Knew there were a good number of women ahead of me. 2 water stops, splashed water on self. Wearing A4s, company singlet, UA calf sleeves, Feetures, visor, shades.
13:40 at the 2-mi. That's a 6:50 ave. Last mile was on the trail. Just keep it up and hang til the end. Didn't turn on the kick til the very end b/c I was not feeling it that day. The next girl (age 13) was just a few feet in front of me at the finish, but I didn't push hard enough/ early enough. Just not my day.
21:26 gun time (chip time would be maybe 4 s faster), 6:64 ave. Felt bad for a while. It's stupid, I know. You can't expect to PR at every race, especially as it gets hotter, and it is hard to be upset about that time, and I'm grateful just to be healthy enough to run, period.
Ehh... I think I may need a little motivation, something with a set time period to train for, like a marathon. With the temps, I won't be PRing for a while, probably. We'll see.
// On a related note, here's a SUPER interesting article:
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=22415&cm_mmc=Newsletter-_-RunningTimes-_-Content-Women-_-Menstruation
I've often wondered about this topic and have had my own hypotheses about how the cycle affects running performance, and it's interesting to see how my views line up with research. Maybe I'll share my experiences another day... haha... not sure I want to blog about them. But let's just say that I agree with the findings.
But I will summarize highlights of the article:
Reasons for poorer performance during the luteal phase (days 14-28):
- Increased estrogen => glycogen sparing (not sure why one causes the other)
- Bloating is really just a change in distribution and not an indication of increased water retention, so there's less plasma volume available to help you sweat and stay cool, so by the central governor theory, your brain will make you go at a slower pace so that you don't overheat and encounter catastrophic failure. Not only do you get poorer cooling, but thicker blood = slower blood flow = slower delivery of O2, removal of waste and CO2.
- Extra weight during the late luteal phase, which drops significantly on day 2 of the cycle, so due to the big benefit of dead weight loss (1% faster per lb loss), day 2 is the best.
No effect:
- Iron levels don't really change much, despite blood loss
1 comment:
sorry to hear it wasn't a great race for you. mile two was tough!! it trashed my legs enough to not have much gas left for the last mile. a 21 is still solid. i think races at night are harder for some reason... even if you take it easy all day.
would run with you anytime!
(traffic was a mess!)
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