Running Links

 Some running links:
https://strengthrunning.com/2017/03/hill-workouts/

Longer Run

 12.0 today. Went into this run tired, still, probably from Thursday. It is the first run of the season without oppressive heat: 65F roughly 65% humidity. The breeze almost felt cool. Legs held up well; last mile was the fastest.

Funny thing about this point in my training. No matter how tired I am or not, I can just flick a switch and my body starts running. On a bad day, the first 7 or 8 miles are easy, then I start to tire. If I'm fresh, I'll never feel the run.

My running profile for the year has been pretty ragged. Had a bit of tiredness in my arches earlier in the summer and backed off quite a bit. In reality, I hadn't stopped doing the miles; I just walked them. But I don't log the walks. At one point, I was walking almost 9 miles a day.

In any event, I'm probably looking at a down week next week.

Recovery II

 Denise and I ran 3.0 today. I took it really slowly. Tried to eat more carbs today. Still a bit low from that Thursday run in the heat plus gardening day. 

It was mid-70 under a gentle rain. People cheat themselves when they don't go out in this. The rain is actually peaceful and refreshing. You have to remember your roots: we are all hunter-gatherers. Humans do not melt in the rain, it cools us.

Recovery

 Thought I'd run today and cut back tomorrow. Did 4 miles, beating the heat today. It was 82F, with a heat index of 86F. Near the end of the run, the direct sun did start having an affect on me.

I was surprised to find my energy levels still low from yesterday. The heat took more from me than I realized. Legs were fine, it was just whole body energy levels. 

Going to focus on really healthy eating today to hopefully bounce back tomorrow.

Heat

I got to a late start this morning which was unfortunate. It was 74F and 99% humidity when I started. My run went easy, legs were fine. As the sun rose, it took an increasing toll on my energy levels. But run completion, the heat index was 95F. This is actually much hotter that anything of which I have been capable of since returning to running in 2004. Additionally, my pace did not collapse. I was really gratified.

However, I had some butterfly plants that just had to be put in the ground, so I did that next. By the time I was done with this, the sun and heat had pretty much sapped so much of my strength that a full body barbell push routine in the afternoon was not possible. 

At least the butterflies and bees will be happy. 😊

Doubles

Ran 3 with Denise, then 4 more this morning. Easy running, ~12:30 mpm. Planning for ~33 miles this week, so trying for easy miles. We started at 6 AM, at first daylight, thirty minutes before sunrise. It was another bats to birds run. It was also a delightful 68 F, with a light breeze. While moisture was still at 99% the air was the most refreshing in weeks.

I did a full body barbell pull routine in the PM. Really focusing on holding a pause at the full contraction point for each rep of each set of each exercise. This helps eliminate cheating and slows the movement. It also cuts my ability to do reps. But my goal here is to stress the muscle, not do more reps or sets.

Double Run

 Ran 3 with Denise, then four more on my own. 71 F with 99% humidity.

Deliberately kept the pace slow wanting to save my legs for a longer run tomorrow. Roughly 12:30 for first 3 solo miles, then 12:00 for the last mile.

This morning was a classic bats to birds transition. In the first mile, I enjoyed seeing bats dart in and out of the woods chasing their final meal of the night. As the cloudy morning gained light, they gave ground to birds, so much more subdued than in the spring. 

My goal for next Sunday is 12.

A drink, anyone? More?

 A 5 oz. glass of wine contains about 0.6 oz of ethanol. (1)   This quantity of wine thus has 14 gr. of ethanol.(3) This is 0.21 gr/kg for a 150 lb person.

Alcohol consumption affects hormone production significantly. This effect tends to be strongest with cortisol, which shows a spike after ethanol has been ingested. Ingesting enough wine to raise serum ethanol to over 1.25 gr/kg in a 150 lb person (six glasses of wine) the spike becomes five fold. (2)  

The effects of ethanol on testosterone is more nuanced. At low levels, red wine may have positive effects on both oxidative stress and testosterone production, but this is strictly limited to low does.

(1) https://www.nclnet.org/alcohol_how_it_all_adds_up

(2) https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-11-26

(3) https://www.nutritionheart.com/alcohol-drinks-grams-of-alcohol/