Tag Archive: heat

Running log: 2010/06/20

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Sun. June 20, 2010

Perhaps I’ve been getting cocky, you know? During my weekday runs, I’ve had the courage to push myself to go faster. They tend to be shorter and are supposed to be done at a relatively faster rate. From the beginning of this clinic, I’ve been surprising myself. I’ve been breaking personal records and churning out better and better times. I really need to be careful though. As much as I’m doing better on these short runs, they aren’t really an indication of whether my long runs will fare any better.

This morning I had a 16K run. I made sure to stick with the people toward the back of the group. Despite that, this group was still running a little bit fast. I tried to keep up, but several experienced people raised flags that we were running a bit too fast for our goals. We kept the pace though knowing that we’d eventually slow down. The weather this morning was hot and mildly humid. The sun was really beating on us pretty heavily. It’s probably no surprise, but my pace slowed down. I felt fine doing so though because these runs are meant to be slow, right? Still, there I was, right at the back once again. It’s been a while since I’ve experienced that. I suppose that it’s expected just by the fact that I’m in a whole other level of running now. So, yes, I need to stay humble and not let myself get too caught up. My key to running isn’t speed, but endurance. Can’t forget that.

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Big meter reading

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Mon. February 8, 2010

I’m sitting here in my living room shivering under a blanket with a sweater on. According to my thermostat the temperature in here has dropped to about 16°C. Despite feeling chilly, I’m really in no mood to switch the heat on at the moment. This is due to a couple of events earlier this morning. Ever since I’ve moved here I’ve been trying to get my account with the chosen gas provider set up. I’ve called many times, but they keep saying they’re working on getting my account into the system. So, in these past seven months I’ve been going about my business without worrying about gas usage.

Today, I decided to do yet another follow up call with the gas company. I decided though to look for my current gas meter reading just to help them along and prevent myself from getting an inflated bill. I got word that the meter was in my mechanical closet, so I went outside and started poking around. Unfortunately I didn’t see anything. I ended up calling the builder to see if they knew where I should look. The guy that answered told me that the meter was in the basement. Hah. He said he’d meet me downstairs to show me. So, I went downstairs and we started hunting together. We spotted it fairly quickly. It took me a moment to zero in on the reading, but when I saw it I was in shock. My gas reading happened to be 10-20 times larger than the surrounding meters. Damn! I immediately joked about wearing sweaters indoors from now on. As soon as I got back to my suite I switched the heat off, and it’s been off since.

Prior to this, the heating has been on 24/7. The thermostat was programmed properly, so it was low when I was out, and a bit warmer when I was in. Even so, I’m amazed that the numbers went up that high in a period of 7 months–especially in comparison to everyone else. So, that’s why I’m putting up with the chill, which really isn’t so bad now that I’ve sort of gotten used to it. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to just switch the damn thing off. So silly of me, right? Well, going forward, I plan on being more careful. It seems like it’s just another part of homeownership that I needed to learn first hand.

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Running log: 2009/09/22

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Tue. September 22, 2009

It’s an interesting week for running. I’m supposed to be tapering, but we still have a couple of tough runs for this week. Today we had a 10K run scheduled to be at race pace. So, I went along with confidence. It was dark and hazy, and it wasn’t long before the heat was really starting to get to me. Very quickly, my face was drenched with sweat. I was panting hard, and my vision was starting to go blurry. I know the route, so really, blurry vision isn’t the worst thing to happen. Unfortunately, some work was being done on the roads along the way. One stretch of the sidewalk had hoses going across every 30 metres or so. It’s silly. It’s such a hazard. I had to keep my wits about me just to prevent myself from tripping. Unfortunately, one member of our group actually did trip on one of the hoses and got rather banged up.

Well, there were a couple of uphill parts. I struggled a bit to keep the energy going because the humidity was really sapping my strength. By the 5K mark, the heat affected me to the point where I was struggling to keep my lunch down. I guess it didn’t help that I ate a really volatile lunch. Never trust the dirty bird! I was belching fried chicken every couple of minutes. My heart rate was soaring and I was feeling like shit. By the last kilometre or two I was just struggling to get going.

Sure, I made it back, but in my mind it was kind of a failure. I missed my race pace by about 40 seconds per kilometre. I think around this time last year I would have let something like that get me down for a long period, but really I’ve done this so many times that I know that these things can happen. I suppose I should have known better than to eat something greasy, but for something like weather what else can I do? I do hope that Sunday gives me more favourable conditions. If not, well, at the very least I know that I’ll finish. Bah.

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Running log: 2009/08/16

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Mon. August 17, 2009

I want to take some time tonight to write about yesterday’s run. I usually try to prep myself the night before my long runs just to make things go smoother. Usually the main component of this preparation is just a good amount of hydration. Since I’ve started loading up on water the night before I’ve stopped getting those nasty post-run headaches that I’ve written about so many times. Go figure, right? Well, this past Saturday I did the same thing. I drank a couple of glasses of water before sleeping. That all would have been good, right? Thing is, I also did something that I should have known not to do. See, as you know on Saturday I had friends over to help with appliances. Afterwards, we all went out to Kelsey’s to share some appetizers. And…perhaps you can see where this is going. First of all, I ended up eating a little bit too much. Before a long run it’s not a good idea to go out with a full stomach. Secondly, I partook of some “loaded nachos.’ Oh, they were good, no doubt. The nachos had a lot of cheese, ground beef, sweet red peppers and jalapeños. And therein lies the problem. No, the night before a long run it’s a horribly bad idea to eat anything really spicy. So all of that sets the scene that played out on Sunday morning.

Now, even though I had the washing machine now working, I didn’t have any washing detergent. As such, I was unable to wash my running tank prior to the run. That was unfortunate because I knew that the run would be really hot. According to the weather reports the temperature would be about 30°C, and that was without humidity factored in. I ended up having to go out in a full tee. I wasn’t happy about it.

I ran with the usual group that morning. Usually there are three of us that keep together, but we were missing one probably due to the heat (how smart of her, really). So, the two of us just decided to take it easy. About 20 minutes into the run I started feeling a little bit uneasy. The uneasiness started giving way to gastrointestinal distress. I thought that it might just be gas, but then I realized my stupidity from the night before, so I thought that I might have to make a pit stop somewhere. I was considering a nearby Tim Hortons, but my running buddy suggested that I wait for the Anglican church about 10 minutes away. Fine. I was kind of conscious about the fact that I’d be making a stop at a church though. She ensured me that it was quite all right. I suppose it would be. Would a church turn away someone in distress? I don’t know.

So, when we got there I was feeling a bit tentative. As I stepped in, there were a bunch of proper looking old ladies. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I smiled at them and signed myself as I went upstairs. I found the stall which really reminded me of something from an elementary school. At that point though, I was in no mood to be picky. You know, the interesting thing for me about that whole situation was the strange juxtaposition of what I was doing and where I was. In the distance I could hear hymns being played on a pipe organ. Oh, Lord! What a contrast. There I am having a nice sit-down moment while listening to organ music playing the background. Actually, it wasn’t so nice because the jalapeños made it an unpleasant experience.

Well, I washed my hands and attempted to get out of there without making a scene. Right down the stairs there were the church ladies again. Once again, I was at a loss for what to say, so I just told smiled and said “have a blessed day!” And then I was out of there. You know, I suppose I really could have just said nothing and left. For my part, I just wanted to make sure that their experiences with runners are good ones just so that they will not do something like shut off the washroom to the public.

Well, the run went on, and soon the heat and humidity just mounted. It was hideous out there. Really, it reminded me of that extremely hot and humid 21K run I had last September. I was sweating profusely; my shirt was soaked. My running friend and I had to slow down and take more frequent walking breaks. I mean, we weren’t in a race. The key idea was that it was a “training run” so we knew there was no point in killing ourselves. At the eleventh kilometre, the heat was really taking its toll on me. I had to actually walk for a long period due to a feeling of light-headedness. I knew that if I tried to push myself at that point I might just keel over. That’s how hot it was. My running friend also had to take a lot of washroom breaks along the way. We were considering cutting the route off and heading back early, but we decided to complete the distance. It didn’t matter that we walked a good chunk of the distance. The important thing was getting the time on our feet.

We did make it back after a good while. Being in the air-conditioned store was a great feeling, for sure. Similar to the brutal run from last September, I knew that some people cut off early while others felt really sick and had a hard time. Weather is one of those things in running that you can’t blame yourself for. If you’re having a hard time, guaranteed most others will be feeling the same way. This run did a lot to remind me of that.

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Running log: 2009/07/26

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Sun. July 26, 2009

It’s almost the end of the day and I’m still dealing with the remnants of a post-run headache that’s been dogging me since about 2 p.m. Yeah, I’ve written about those headaches a couple of times and yet I haven’t done much to try to figure out how combat them. They still persist. Earlier today I felt like I had a metallic spike driven through my head going from temple to temple. How pleasant! I actually posted a question to my Twitter followers regarding ideas on how to stave off these headaches besides Tylenol and sleep. It was suggested that on the night before I have to work harder on achieving a better level of hydration. Well duh. God knows why I’m not doing that, you know? Next Saturday I’ll load up on water and eLoad. We’ll see how I feel on Sunday morning.

There was another issue this morning that kind of compounded all of these issues. I think I’m under-trained for this point in the training for the half-marathon. Today we were scheduled for 12K. That’s all great, I mean I’ve done that distance so many times before. And it’s not like it’s 16K or 18K which require a good amount of effort. No…what’s 12? That’s how I felt going in. It’s too bad that I didn’t take into account the fact that I haven’t been doing the required long runs lately. I don’t think it’s that I’ve been lazy. It’s just that I’ve been so focused on my LTR class that any more running after that just didn’t seem like something I had time for. Generally, as a rule of thumb, one should not increase weekly mileage by more than 10% a week in order to prevent injury. Last week, on Sunday I ran 5.5K with the class. As you can see, the jump was not 10% at all. The result? Well, I didn’t get injured, but I certainly had a rough time during the run.

The route for this morning was particularly hilly. There’s this one road along the way that had several uphill approaches. We took several of them. The heat was particularly strong due to the humidity. My shirt was completely soaked. I was feeling fine until about midway. That’s when I was really starting to feel the effects of the heat. Every time I stopped for a light I actually felt a little off-balance. I swear, if I wasn’t conscious about my condition I would have probably tipped over. That’s how bad it was. In the last three kilometres, I just ran out of gas. I was kind of embarrassed. This should not have been an issue! I kept on trying to force it, but every few hundred metres I reverted back to walking for a bit. In the last kilometre I thought “screw it” and just walked it in. Someone asked me how I’d rate my run, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best. I told her that it was between a 2 and 3–maybe 2.2. Brutal!

So, all right, I have to acknowledge the fact that yes, we are now in the summer running season. On these long runs I have to wear a tank because a t-shirt is just too hot. I should search for my headbands again. I have to acknowledge that these runs will be tougher than they were during the winter and spring seasons. I need to catch up on my training. Next week’s run will be 14K, which shouldn’t be so bad. Most of all, I need to be better prepared. I need to bring more water than I need, and gels even if I think I might not need them. I’m determined not to have two crappy Sunday runs in a row.

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Running log: 2009/06/14

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Sun. June 14, 2009

Well, it’s early in the evening. Maybe I can still get around to doing a load of laundry or two.

Earlier today, after my run I was kind of dictating to myself that for once I would stay awake on a Sunday afternoon just so I could be a little bit useful. Eh, well after church and lunch I just ended up deciding to take a short “nap” that lengthened out to 4 hours. Oops.

It’s kind of a habit of mine. Whenever I go out for my Sunday long runs, inevitably the afternoon after is kind of a bust. I’ll end up sleeping away useful daylight hours. I’m sure my body uses that sleep as a really big recovery period, but I still feel like I should be doing something better, know what I mean?

So, the obvious suggestion would be: don’t take naps in the afternoon! Duh. The thing is, I’m usually in a state where napping is probably the best thing for me. How is that true? Well, I find that about an hour or two after my run I develop a throbbing headache. It’s the kind where my head feels like it’s in a clamp that’s being tightened. No, it doesn’t sound pleasant at all, does it? I wonder what that’s about. If I look back, it really looks like it happens much more frequently in the summer months. Looking back on this post in February seems to back that observation.

(Heh, also in that post, it looks like I took that long nap anyway.)

So, given all of that evidence I wonder if I’m running out of…something. I feel fine directly after my runs, but the act of not running doesn’t mean that my body completely just stops processing things in “run mode” and goes into a normal state. No, the effects tend to linger long after. Today, when I got home I took a shower. When I got out and got dressed I found that I was still sweating. Given that, I might be running out of carb stores, or water, or even salts. I sweat a lot, and that reduces the level of salts in my body. I wonder if the headache is due to me bottoming out somehow. Gosh, after two years of running you’d think I’d have a better handle on this. Apparently not.

The store has some salt/electrolyte tablets. I think I want to purchase a tube and see if it helps to chew on some during my run. I can add sports drink powder to my water as well, but I find that doing so in summer is kind of gross. In the heat, the drink just gets warm and has a thicker sugary mouth-feel. Toward the end of the run I feel like I’d much rather have clean, although warm, water.

I have a side story re: water and the water bottle. I noticed today that the water I put in my bottle was tasting a little off. I just couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong. However, I really didn’t have any choice, I just had to keep drinking it. Toward the end of the run I started noticing that my translucent plastic bottle was kind of dirty. I figured that it somehow got dirty from something. I didn’t have time though to stop and examine. When I got back to the store I wiped the bottom of the bottle to get the dirt off, except that it wasn’t coming off. I opened the top and looked in. That’s when I realized that the black was actually a little bit of water mould at the bottom of the bottle. Lesson learned: wash your bottles well! UGH.

Anyway, I’ll have to spend some time figuring out what the best approach is. Hot weather running is a different beast than cold weather running. Each has different things to worry about. There are these sweet spot windows of fantastic running weather during spring and autumn. Unfortunately, I think the spring window is now over.

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Fan blasting

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Tue. May 12, 2009

I know it’s early on in the year. Heck, we’re not even into summer yet; however, I’m actually feeling quite happy about the heat so far. I mean, usually by this time of year I’m already cursing the heat and sweating profusely like dry skin was going out of style. So what’s different? Well I still sweat a great deal. I don’t think that’s going to change unless I decide to take medication. Actually, my dermatologist recommended something a while back. I’ve just never gotten around to buying the meds and testing to see if I’ll really remain bone dry. Frankly, given that I’m going to be running in high heat during the summer, I don’t really want to hijack my natural cooling system, right?

Anyway, all that aside, the big reason that I’ve been relatively cool is the fact that I’ve been running a really strong fan under my desk at work. My colleague has this desk fan that’s bit sitting around for years but has gotten no use at all. During one of my evening shifts I decided to borrow it and put it under my desk blasting at my legs. Holy crap, it’s great! It’d be completely distracting if it was blowing at my face or even my upper body, but down low it’s pleasant.

It makes me think of kangaroos. They manage to stay relatively cool by licking their forearms. The blood that pumps through the arms is cooled as the saliva evaporates and as that circulates the kangaroo is cooled. In my case, cooler legs means a cooler body temperature overall, and that means a happier Jason. Yes, indeed. I’ve talked it over with my colleague and he told me I can continue to borrow the fan since he’s not using it. Score! The whir of the fan has just become white noise–it’s just there but really amounts to nothing. It’s not distracting. Even if it was, I’d put up with it in exchange for comfort.

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How to convert temperatures in your head

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Wed. January 7, 2009

OK, so this post is a bit of a remnant from some brain activity that I was working through while my relatives from the States were visiting here. The weather stations here obviously do their forecasts in degrees Celsius. When the relatives see the forecasts, inevitably, one of them will ask me “how much is that in Fahrenheit?” All I could do in response is give off some rough number based on some ranges that I have in my mind. For example, I know that 32°F is freezing. I know also know that 80°F is a nice warm day. The rest was kind of a blur. Oh, how “fuzzy logic” of me. Anyway, it took me a while to figure out how to calculate conversions on the fly.

On the Internet I kept on encountering 5/9 or 9/5 as the ratio involved with conversion. I’ve tried keeping track of the fraction mentally but in the end with so many numbers would calculations were often off because of some transposed number, or something. What clicked for me was the realization that instead of nine-fifths, 1.8 was so much of an easier number to handle. Indeed. After that, all I needed was to keep a running total in my head and perform some easy addition/subtraction. All I needed were some key numbers to do some nice conversions:

  • Multiples of 1.8 up to 9: 1.8, 3.6, 5.4, 7.2, 9.
  • Multiples of 18: 18, 36, 54, (maybe 72).
  • Freezing point in Fahrenheit: 32.

OK, so what do you do? Well, let’s take Celsius to Fahrenheit first.

  1. From the absolute value (disregard positive or negative–calculate using positive), for every 10 degrees Celsius count 18.
  2. Take the left over unconverted degrees Celsius, and if it’s over 5, count 9 more degrees for those 5.
  3. For the remainder of unconverted degrees, count 1.8°F per degree and add that to the total. Rounding will simplify things.
  4. If the temperature is below freezing, subtract the total from 32. If it’s above freezing, add it to 32.

There. Looks kind of ugly, yeah? Well, let’s do an example. Let’s convert 23°C.

So, 20°C is 36°F. And 3°C is 5.4°F, but let’s say 5. The total is 36 + 5 = 41°F. Since it’s above freezing, 32 + 41 = 73. So: 23°C is about 73°F. Nice!

Let’s try -16°C.

10°C is 18°F. 5°C is 9°F. 1°C is 1.8°F, but let’s say 2. The total is 18 + 9 + 2 = 29°F. Since it’s below freezing, 32 – 29 = 3. So: -16°C is about 3°F.

Not so bad once you get the hang of it. How do you go the other way though?

  1. Subtract 32 from the total Fahrenheit.
  2. Disregarding whether the result is negative or positive, for every 18°F, count 10. Key numbers: 18, 36, 54, (maybe even 72).
  3. If the remainder is above 9°F, count 5 for those 9.
  4. Count out the remainder using multiples of 1.8.
  5. If the starting number was below 32, the temperature is negative. If it was above, the temperature is positive.

So. Let’s try converting…96°F.

96 – 32 is 64°F. We can convert 54 from that to get 30°C. There’s 10°F left over and we can count 9 of that 10 as 5°C. The one degree left over is close enough to 1.8, so we can kind of count it as 1°C. So, the total is 30 + 5 + 1 = 36°C

What about converting 17°F?

17 – 32 is -15 degrees. We know that 9°F is 5°C. There are 6 degrees of 15 left unaccounted for. 6 is just a bit more than 5.4°F which is 3°C. So, the total is 5 + 3 = 8°C. We know the temperature is below freezing, so we say that 17°F is about -8°C.

I swear, these conversions aren’t that bad. I find it interesting to give the mind some exercise by switch units. Impress friends and family with your mad skills!

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