The Run

Sunday, August 14, 2016 · Mike Davis

Good morning! For no particular reason I was up at 5:00 this morning. So I will be having a little more coffee before church today! Yesterday I set out for a 70 minute run, and if successful it would be my longest run in over 5 months. The temperature was near 80 degrees which was not bad but, the humidity level was at 93 percent and I knew that would take its toll. I was up early so I hydrated well and had both coffee and Greek yogurt so, I was prepared. For the first time I got a little smarter (at my wife’s assistants), and decided to carry a small bottle of Gatorade with me. My plan was to start out running a 4 minute/1 minute walk formula and adjust as things played out. My running ego does not necessarily like run/walking but between the challenging running climate and my recovery from a couple injuries, I have no choice but to be conservative. Better to train intelligently and give myself a greater chance at success than to push through and struggle with the many potential consequences. With “Reach the Beach” near a month out and then the “White Mountain Milers” half marathon in October, I certainly need to be smart with my training. “RTB” will be more about team fun and while the half marathon is going to be for fun, the distance requires me to be running stronger than I currently am. The Run So lots of build up for a 70 minute run/walk. That is kind of different for me as in the past a 70 minute run was considered nothing more than an easy midweek run. Anyhow, I set out and it did not take long to feel the thickness of the humidity! Kathy and I choose North Carolina as our retirement location for many reasons but, we also knew that summers would be a challenge to our running life. This summer has been extremely relentless heat wise everywhere (to include New Hampshire), so we have certainly experienced a hot southern summer. The first mile of my run included 2 cycles of my run/walk but my combined pace was pretty good so, I was pleased. I probably could have run for longer intervals at that point but I told myself to stay with the plan. Things continued to feel pretty good and I even ran a 5 minute interval at the midpoint. I turned back at the 40 minute mark and between the heat/humidity and a couple rolling hills, I was starting to labor. I knew I needed to adjust my run/walk or I would be solely walking real quickly so, I changed to a 3/2. Thankfully I hit the flatter part of the course and was able to push through to the 70 minute goal. I probably could have done another interval and gotten beyond the 70 minutes but I stayed with the plan. The only problem was that when I hit the 70 minute mark, I was nearly 1.5 miles from home! Oh well, I settled in for a nice cool down walk. Not that mileage distance is an important factor but, even with the walk intervals I was able to run 6.8 miles in the 70 minutes. That was very encouraging in my goal to get closer to the 9 mile distance I will be running for “RTB.” Though if you add the 1.4 mile walk I had to do in order to get home, I covered over 9 mile total! My run was a success and I am super encouraged that I will be as ready as I need to come “RTB.” I also am learning a lot about the challenges of running in North Carolina and will better be able to manage it in the future. I am interested in seeing if the conditioning I am developing in this climate will prove to benefit my running in New Hampshire. This week I will be in New Hampshire for a short visit working on “Apple Harvest 5K” business and NFLR stuff. I am also planning on running Saunders so that will be a great test of where I am at. Also looking forward to seeing a lot of friends there as well! Time to get along and get ready for worship service. Have a great Sunday! God Bless! Mike