Coffee and Chat

Wednesday, May 27, 2015 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Grab a mug of coffee and sit down for a few minutes with me. Looks like summer weather has beaten the actual official start of summer. Last night the Runners Alley 10K training group had to deal with their first super hot run. My truck temperature is fairly accurate and it read 90 degrees but my guess is that by the time we started running it was like 88 degrees. I thought the breeze might provide some relief but even that was minimal once we started running. Myself I am not usually bothered by the weather temperatures climbing because I welcome the summer weather in general. I certainly try to do the right things like extra hydration, sun screen and most importantly accept altering my pace expectations. However most of the newer runners are effected by the drastic change from cold to chilly and then extremely hot that seem to be common here in New Hampshire. It is not uncommon that in a given week we can have a swing of 30 degrees and then our bodies tend to struggle with the physiological changes that accompany those swings. Most definitely an 85 degree plus day where our glycogen starves our muscles in-order to cool our skin. Accepting the dynamics instead of fighting them is key in dealing with running successfully as the temps rise. I have written about it many times and gone into the science of the physiological effects of running in warmer weather but won’t do that today, but the bottom line is; hydrate, slow it down and don’t give in. If you do all of that your body will eventually adjust and you can survive summer running. When everyone got back from their run last night they were quite funny, instead of all standing in the alley way we were all sitting along the stone wall. Understandably they were all zapped by the warm temperatures that had just hit them like a brick! Quite funny to witness as well as here the groans of how the heat kicked their butts. I was actually happy that the conditions were what they were as it most definitely benefits their training. I like having varied climate conditions so that I have the opportunity to teach groups all aspects of dealing with such circumstances. You can bet on Thursday I will spend some time capitalizing on how they felt on Tuesday and hopefully that will benefit them. Yesterday for most of the day I was wondering how I could possibly run with the way my knee was hurting so I pumped a considerable amount of Motrin, hoping to ease my pain. When we took off for our run I was greatly relieved to feel much better and had hopes that I could enjoy most of the run with the group. The training plan called for a 40 minute run so it would be a 20 minute out and back run and thankfully I was able to run 16 minutes with the group before I decided to turn around and head back. While my knee was feeling okay, I was definitely feeling some stress on the hip of the same side as the MCL tear which tells me that I was running with some gait (form) change. I will most definitely have to work at getting stronger on that side as I don’t want to create another problem that will derive from the MCL issue. Truth be told I didn’t do any pre-run stretching or band work so that wasn’t so smart. All and all I ran 2.75 miles and was extremely pleased with that and even more pleased that I feel fairly good this morning. Last night my son in-law joined us for pizza after the run and I talked with him about the MCL some as he is a physical therapist and he gave me a prospective that helped me quite a bit. He said an MCL tear is pretty much like a “sprained ankle” when it comes to recovering. That prospective definitely gives me greater hope for the process of recovering and I really needed that at this point. Truthfully I have been getting quite pessimistic about the process and wondered if I would be able to get my miles back to where I want them. Hearing that keeps me faithful to the process of recovery and may even help the recovery. Time to wind this up but not before I wish my “little girl” Jennifer a very happy 26th birthday! Jennifer is such an amazing person and anyone that knows her would attest to that! Her thoughtfulness, compassion and desire to help the world are just a few of the attributes that make her so special. She is also an avid runner that has been a part of NFLR since day one and I doubt it would even be a reality if not for her help. “Happy Birthday” Jennifer! I hope the rest of your week is awesome! God Bless and thanks for joining me! Mike NFLR note: There is no Pilates this week but it will return June 4th as we move the Thursday class to Henry Law park. Should be a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get a great workout!