Hump day coffee!

Wednesday, July 16, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! Hard to believe that July is half way over! While most of us love the summer, not so much the humidity that comes with it. Thanks to the battle of our glycogen (muscle fuel), between self-preservation and our muscles, we now feel fatigued quicker and even a bit out of shape. Feeling out of shape is probably the most frustrating part because we know that we are running and working out as much as usual, yet we feel slow and sore. The only real way to combat this feeling besides fueling and hydration is to run smartly and not stop. Not like Forrest Gump running, but more along the lines of staying with your running and allowing your body adjust over time. As I said this must be done smartly because most of us are not super human and there are times when we have to scale back our distance or speed and accept that it is best just getting in an easy run. This can be difficult for various reasons, but trying to push ourselves to overcome glycogen starved muscles can lead to injury real fast. A few years ago I was in Texas for nearly a month and the temperatures were high along with the humidity. On one particular run I suddenly had a sharp pain on my groin. Ouch! This was the first time I had ever had that particular pain arise during a run. What had happened were a combination of less than ideal hydration and the heat zapping my limited glycogen. Consequently my groin muscle didn’t like being pushed so just like that I was limping back to my room. Thankfully I wasn’t seriously injured, but I learned much about our limited fuel resources and what can happen when not managed properly. Training in the summer for a fall race can be very challenging because of the heat, but if managed properly, it can be done and even proves to be valuable. This morning I went over to Planet Fitness to get some cardio and strength training in, but no sooner that I got there and the fire alarm went off. Not many people reacted besides the management, but even if it was a false alarm, the fire department would still be on the way and protocol would call for emptying out the building until all was deemed safe. So much for my strength training today! Tonight I am hoping to get a track workout in before our 10K Intermediate training group, but the weather will need to cooperate which is certainly in doubt. I honestly know that I will suck on the track right now, but there’s a lot of value in getting in some intervals no matter how much I suck! I know I am being overly harsh on myself, but I also know I need to be more consistent with certain workouts. The track is definitely one of them. Being a running coach does not guarantee that I will be in the kind of shape I try to get my runners in, but in fact being a running coach makes it harder to focus on my running. Not that I am okay with that, but our runners come first and that means we have to schedule around our clients and groups. This weekend is the Pease 7K race out on the Tradeport, so if you are looking for a race Sunday, go on out to the Tradeport in Newington / Portsmouth and run this unique distance. Otherwise the next Seacoast series races will the York Days 5K, in York Maine. I am signed up for that and hoping that I don’t have a schedule conflict. It is also not too late to join the Runners Alley Intermediate 10K training group led by myself and my wife Kathleen. Tonight we are meeting at the Portsmouth high school track, but you can jump over to the Portsmouth Runners Alley, sign up and then meet us at 5:45 at the track. Great way to improve your 10K time and have fun! Thanks for joining me for coffee! Have a great day. Mike