Run to breathe

Controlled pacing, that was today's goal. Summer is officially here this week with hot and humid conditions. Walking out of the hotel this morning as we took the short walk/jog over to the start line for Boomer's cystic fibrosis 10k, I could feel the humid, trash and peanut smelling air (this is what NYC smells like to me!) constricting my lungs. Although (knock on wood) I have avoided any major asthmatic incidents this winter and spring, the fact remains that I am still an asthmatic and my lungs are tempermental in high humidity conditions. Learning to work with my limitations rather than against them, I knew to use the inhaler I keep stored in my spi-belt pictured above, 20 minutes prior to the start. Corraling up, M.E., Kiera (M.E.'s daughter) and myself split off. I spent the remaining  minutes grinning as my 84 resting HR (my resting HR is normally much lower but the inhaler's side effect is an increase in HR) began to spike within minutes of the start as my brain anticipated the work to come: 124, 133 bpm as I walked to the start line with my group. "Control your pace" I told myself. I have a habit in the shorter races of taking off and seeing how long I can hold the pace when I feel good. This time, I made sure my data fields on the garmin had the heart rate displayed in a large enough box and I focused on that. First mile was slow: 8:25 and that was just fine. My HR was hovering around 167, close to my threshold. I felt good. As we ran up and down the hills through the Park, I noticed that if my HR crept up over 170 for any length of time, I did not feel good at all. Knowing I was accumulating too many hydrogen ions in my blood at this point (Glycolosis a.k.a. 'anaerobic' respiration converts glucose to pyruvate. Normally pyruvate converts to acetyl Co-A to enter the Kreb cycle but at high workloads 'aerobic' [with oxygen] respiration can't keep up with the energy demands so pyruvate converts to lactate which spills over into the blood. Lactate is then sent to the heart to be metabolized as fuel or the liver for gluconeogenesis [creation of glucose]. It's only when the hydrogen ions produced by the conversion of pyruvate to lactate build up to the point where they affect the pH of the blood that fatigue is caused, not the accumulation of lactate- common misunderstanding! Do I make sense? I hope I cleared up that biochemical nuance for you! Such a geek I am). As I noticed I was not feeling well over HR's of 170 (many of you may experience this as feeling like puking and/or intense burning sensations in the muscles being used- note for future reference), I dialed my pace back to HR's of 167-168. Much, much better. Now, I know my threshold pretty well so that 3-4 beat increase makes all the difference for me being able to hold my pace or not. Typically in the heat, your brain does not allow you to recruit as many muscle fibers as you would in 50-60 degree conditions as a protective defense against your core temperature rising too high (research has found this point to be core temps over 104). If you are aware of what your threshold HR is, then you can go into a hot and humid race relying on heart rate to gauge your pace. The majority of people will typically be much slower in the heat as your brain rallies to protect you against heat exhaustion/stroke so don't expect to run as fast as you would normally be in cooler conditions. If you are a taller/larger person, you will also store more heat than a smaller person making it more difficult for you to rid yourself of it through sweating. The things you can do to race as best as you can for the day in the heat is use RPE (rating of perceived exertion) to gauge your pace, make sure you go into the race hydrated (but not over hydrated!!!), and to use cooling methods to trick your brain a little bit. This includes swallowing short sips of water, and/or carbohydrate (by now I am sure you have heard of the "swish and swallow" research, if not, you can catch up here). Other effective cooling methods include the neck coolers for longer races, or in hot Ironman/marathon conditions, shoving ice down your suit, under your hat, in your groin area. It works. For more on brain regulation of pace, you can google Noakes' "central govenor theory". HR can be an effective tool for some people but not for all and it depends on the length of the race. If you are properly hydrated, slept well, ate a decent meal, and you have acclimated to the heat, you can use HR like I did today. HR can rise in the heat due to dehydration, sleeping and eating patterns, etc. so for the majority of people that aren't finely tuned into their ranges, RPE- how the exercise feels, is a better indicator for pace. If you are racing for longer periods of time (over a 10k distance or if your 10k takes you more than an hour) heart rate will rise at the similar workload due to cardiac drift. Accumulated fatigue and dehydration taking HR's higher than you would normally have for any given single given workout where you aren't at race pace. Whether you are a triathlete, runner, cyclist, "racing your way fit" has some great advantages. You will almost always push yourself harder in a race than you would in any tempo effort you do at home and it will help you to establish HR ranges, power ranges, and pacing ranges for your goal race of the season. Knowing a PR was not happening in the counter clockwise hills of Central Park for me today, my goal was to run as hard as I could in the conditions of the day and to control my pace from start to finish. I did this today, mission accomplished. 52:43 only a few seconds slower than my 52:30 finish at the 10k a month ago there. Today's course was tougher, a full loop of the park, it was 93% humidity, and warmer- much tougher conditions than the June 11th Mini. Progress towards the Hamptons Half Marathon this September and a flat, fast 10k PR this fall. Regrouping at the finish with M.E. and Kiera (who both ran great) who were talking with Terry Bisogno, famed race announcer of multiple local road races and next week's Montauk Lighthouse Sprint Triathlon, I was amazed by Terry's recall of stats as he quoted off my previous age group wins at next weeks sprint followed by last year's second to a young 35 year old by a few seconds. He was wondering if I was going for the win this year, and I told him since I was turning 40, I would give it my all just like I do every year out there, it all depends on who shows up. Competition for me is with myself. I race as hard as I can for that day, if someone beats me, great, they were faster than me on that day and hats off to them, I always know I give it 100% and I am pleased with any race result. There are no good or bad races, just athletic experiences you can learn from and progress. To waste energy on "I should have gone faster" is such a mistake, if you could have gone faster you would have. Period. Unless you are a quitter when the pain of fatigue sets in, then you have learn to overcome that by practicing race pace in the lead up. Either way, control what you can, let go of what you can't. Learn. Grow. Set goals. Most importantly have a good time, remember, racing for amateurs is supposed to be fun, that's how you got into it in the first place. If you aren't having fun, re-examine your motives, take a break. Sport will always be there for you when you are mentally ready to attack the challenge of it again. This is where I am at now. I toyed with the idea of doing the NYC marathon this year and dismissed it last week. I wanted/needed a break from the long distance racing. I am fully enjoying doing the shorter stuff and not completely blowing myself out in training and racing, what a reprieve! Much needed for me.

Post run, M.E. and I went out for a few extra miles around what she refers to as "the dog pound", a quick, flat run around the reservior for an extra 4 miles. 10 miles of work accomplished today preceeded by dinner and a show (Priscilla- Queen of the Desert, excellent!) and and nice breakfast after the race this morning. Great weekend!