Heat and Training

The heat in Georgia has been very oppressive the last week or so, and makes running outdoors rough, even biking outside is rough.  When you get up and get ready to go for a run at 6am and it is 70+ degrees and over 80% humidity, that is not fun at all.  Also considering it is just the start of June makes it a bit worse, and concerning honestly, if it's this hot already how will it be in July/August.  We haven't had much rain in the last several weeks either, so an added concern.  Still I have gone out on some runs and done some biking, as early as I can, even before the sun comes up if I can.

This week was a bit off for running really for me, didn't even bike into work much, did a lot of stationary biking though.  I made it a total of 156 miles combined.  Most of my runs were shorter in distance, nothing over 6.3 miles.  I went for my long run on Saturday morning, and felt good at first, but my legs became heavy and I could feel some tension in my muscles as well.  I only managed 3.18 miles on this run, and didn't attempt a long one today.  Though I was able to go to the gym on Saturday and do some cardio on the bike, I did a Level 17 hill program for 1:10 and got in a killer workout there, made up for the not so good run.  I was lucky enough to get out the door this morning before 6 am and do a nice long bike ride on Satellite Blvd, 31 miles total in just over 2:10, now to be able to run that distance in that time :p

This week I plan to start doing sumo squats again, I took them out of my workout for the last 6 weeks, just trying to mix things up really well in my lifting and not get into to much of a comfort zone, so I can really shock my body some.  I want to get my hips, and core region a lot stronger as well, and know this will help my running form a lot.  I may end up opting to run on the treadmill as well, as it is a bit cooler indoors and going outdoors to run, even early in the morning, is just rough right now.  Though I will still be hitting the pavement some as well, just not every day.

I need to start boosting my carb intake as well, already eating plenty of potatoes and rice right now, but going to increase it gradually, to keep weight on and help boost my GI.  Still a long way to go before Nov 6th, but I want to get my carb intake up to 800-1000 g a day if I can by then, as I say do it gradually so my body can adjust to this intake.

I have been really focusing on my form lately too, using ChiRunning, and seeing an article in Runners World about Ryan Hall and other elite runners forms, and staying focused on my arms and overall posture, not to mention landing on my foot better, more midfoot strike or closer to the ball of the foot, staying away from heel striking.

Hopefully this week goes better and I can keep some mileage up, and really work on my cardio conditioning, maybe kick up my cardio training a bit and add time to get it better.