Road to Nowhere

I walked on cold, wet asphalt this morning when I went to get soymilk from my car. I don't envy you running on it. Brrrr and ouch.

Mike MacLellan wrote:I walked on cold, wet asphalt this morning when I went to get soymilk from my car. I don't envy you running on it. Brrrr and ouch.

That's sort of what Alec was saying, too!

Funny thing is, it got easier for him after his feet got over the shock of being on wet, 44-degree pavement. It also helped when he switched to the concrete sidewalk.

And... I had to set up a YouTube channel to do it, but here you go!



I was pretty impressed that I was running smoothly enough to not have the image bouncing all over the place.

And so I decided to try it on myself. Check out the toe splay!



Ignore Alec's hollering. He was getting excited.

Pardon my geekishness, but I couldn't help but have fun with math today.

So.. if a pint of blood has about 2.6 trillion red blood cells in it, and your body has about 20-30 trillion red blood cells, you're losing about 10% of your oxygen-uptake capacity when you donate blood. (I know, this isn't exact).

Soo... If there's a perfect correlation between the number of red blood cells and performance, then it'd show up in speed, right?

Hm. So take a 12-minute mile and slow it down by about 10%. That'd be 13:12/mm.

(I compared my actual second mile speed/HR on runs before and after and found nearly a 10% difference in pace; from 10:50 @ 139 before donating, and 11:47 @ 138 after.)

Considering how my HR kept gyrating when I was trying to run faster the other day, that might be about right.

The other way to look at it, would be to change the effort level. So an effort that'd reach 138 otherwise would boost you up to 151.8.

And what level did my HR want to pop up to when I was running the other day? About 150.

Interesting...

That is really interesting - to think of it another way, it makes me wonder what blood doping actually does for performance!

John Kilpatrick wrote:That is really interesting - to think of it another way, it makes me wonder what blood doping actually does for performance!

Let's put it this way. If adding a pint of blood boosted your performance by 10%, that 12/mm would be 10:48/mm. That's not insignificant.

Mark B wrote:

John Kilpatrick wrote:That is really interesting - to think of it another way, it makes me wonder what blood doping actually does for performance!

Let's put it this way. If adding a pint of blood boosted your performance by 10%, that 12/mm would be 10:48/mm. That's not insignificant.

At the risk of being a stickler, you'd be adding red blood cells, not the whole blood. I don't know how many red blood cells need to be added, nor how much could be added to the bloodstream before it's too much.

As far as being barefoot, I just can't imagine me doing that knowing all the little pebbles my feet would encounter.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

John Kilpatrick wrote:That is really interesting - to think of it another way, it makes me wonder what blood doping actually does for performance!

Let's put it this way. If adding a pint of blood boosted your performance by 10%, that 12/mm would be 10:48/mm. That's not insignificant.

At the risk of being a stickler, you'd be adding red blood cells, not the whole blood. I don't know how many red blood cells need to be added, nor how much could be added to the bloodstream before it's too much.

As far as being barefoot, I just can't imagine me doing that knowing all the little pebbles my feet would encounter.

Y'see, that's why I could never cheat like that (not that it'd really help, anyway): Just too complicated!

The pebbles, in theory, are supposed to help. They keep you from doing too much, too soon. If you had a perfectly smooth surface on which to run (or, say, wore VFFs), the chance of hurting yourself by rushing the adaptation process would be much greater.

We interrupt this discussion of oxygen-carrying capacity and the consequences of blood donation and/or barefoot training supplementation for a look at the weather.

It's snowing. On March 19. In the lowlands of Southwest Washington. (Only a tiny bit stuck, so it's not like a blizzard. But still.)

While the rest of the country looks like one of those "broasted" chickens you see in the supermarket.

W.T.F.

Carry on.

Gosh...that's 3 or 4 times just in the past couple of weeks that you've had snow, huh?
The weather is just plain weird everywhere these days. I talked to my Mom yesterday...she live in Wisconsin. She was headed outside to take a walk because is with 70's and sunny (that's unusual for March in WI). I want to add here that my Mom is 82, and she was going for a walk (probably 1-2 miles) just because it was nice outside.

KathyK wrote:Gosh...that's 3 or 4 times just in the past couple of weeks that you've had snow, huh?
The weather is just plain weird everywhere these days. I talked to my Mom yesterday...she live in Wisconsin. She was headed outside to take a walk because is with 70's and sunny (that's unusual for March in WI). I want to add here that my Mom is 82, and she was going for a walk (probably 1-2 miles) just because it was nice outside.

That's about right, Kathy. There is some major strangeness going on with La Niña and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation that generally means cooler conditions in this part of the country - and possibly, warmer conditions elsewhere. I think the most correct term for climate change is not the oversimplified "global warming" term... but rather, "global weirding."

That aside, props to your mom! That bodes well for you, and speaks well of the benefits of going on out spontaneous walks.

PLEASE.SEND.SOME.SNOW,ANY.SNOW. THANKS.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:PLEASE.SEND.SOME.SNOW,ANY.SNOW. THANKS.

I wish I could, Michele. But I'm afraid this cool air mass will only cause mega-thunderstorms when it collides with your hot 'n' muggy air mass. Sorry!

Low HR Run: 30 minutes (2.05 miles)
Note: Blood donation + 6 days

Temp: 68, inside. Gear: FR2s, shorts, T. Fuel: Had a Clif bar before the run.

I took my run inside today, not because of the unseasonable snow we had this morning, but because I wanted to test out my theory regarding depleted red blood cells and low HR training. I guessed that taking out about 10% of my red blood cells last week would reduce my oxygen uptake to the point to where I'd end up running 10% slower to maintain the same low heart. For the treadmill, that'd mean ending a 30-minute run at about a 13:12 pace.

The result? After a mile, I had to slow the treadmill from 5 mph (12/mm) to 4.5 mph (13:20/mm) as my heart rate crept past 138 and peaked at 141. My heart rate fell to 134, so I turned it up a little and spent the rest of the run speeding up to 4.7 mph (12:45/mm) and dropping back down to 4.5 mph. When it was time for my five-minute walking cool down, the 'mill was at a 13:20 pace and my heart rate was about 135. The perfect HR, then, was somewhere between 12:45 and 13:20.

Which, interestingly enough, is about what I guessed.

Average HR for entire run: 124

Interesting about the blood thing and HR! Cool to see that your theory worked out like that!

KathyK wrote:Interesting about the blood thing and HR! Cool to see that your theory worked out like that!

It's nice to know the world isn't entirely random, eh? It will be interesting to see how long it takes to get back to where I was before the donation. That ought to be complicated by the fact that my current runs will continue to stimulate mitochondrial production, even though I'll be running slower to keep my heart rate from going too high.

In a warped sort of way, I kinda wonder if forcing me to run slower and make the most of the hemoglobin I have will actually help in the long run. Hm.... (probably not)

I was going to try to sneak in a 30-minute run before work today, but life intervened and I instead ended up at the grocery store to pick up a few items we needed right away.

Which didn't make me exceedingly happy. I know it's important for me to build up gradually, but right now it feels as if I'm at risk of not building - or even running - at all. I should take it as a good sign, I suppose. I still want to run. I just need to remember how to make it happen.

I was trying to find a link to a website that discusses running as a mode of transportation, but didn't get anything worth posting. But yeah, that. Find a grocery store about 2 miles away. Bring a backpack. Enjoy!

Mike MacLellan wrote:I was trying to find a link to a website that discusses running as a mode of transportation, but didn't get anything worth posting. But yeah, that. Find a grocery store about 2 miles away. Bring a backpack. Enjoy!

That'd be a nice option, though I wouldn't have had time to accomplish it in the time I had this morning.

It'd be fun to run to work, if I was truly crazed (and again, had time). It's between 8.7 and 10.4 based on the route. Hitting the streets at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night might not be the wisest thing, however...

We interrupt this blog to ask a question.

What in the holy heck is going on with the weather?

My friends on the other side of the Rockies are sweltering in a massive heat wave, but the Pacific Northwest feels like it's become a suburb of Juneau, Alaska.

Yesterday, Eugene got nearly 10 inches of snow (if this keeps up, Jerry, better pack snowshoes for the Eugene Marathon!), but we only got cold rain in the greater Vancouver-Portland Metro Area.

Last night, when forecasters said the most we could expect was rain with a few snowflakes mixed in, we got this:



It snowed pretty much all night (I know, because the kid in me kept waking me up every hour to check). And this is how it looked outside this morning.



Not exactly a blizzard, to be sure. About 1.5 inches still on the ground. (2 inches total per the National Weather Service). Still, it was enough to delay school a couple of hours - amazing, considering how wet the pavement was when it started snowing last night - but not enough to cancel it altogether. I'm not sure who was more disappointed by the lack of a snow day: Alec, who's in fifth grade, or Alita, who works at a school.

I should note that snow in the Portland-Vancouver metro area is pretty unusual, even in the dead of winter. We're fairly close to the ocean and at a low elevation (our house is at about 200 feet), so usually... when it's cold enough to snow, the weather is coming off the continental air mass and it's too dry; when it's wet enough to snow, the weather is coming off the ocean, and it's too warm.

This time is different, because it's been so cold in Alaska (seriously sub-zero) lately that a lobe of the coldness extended south and brought snow off the ocean.

The quantity would qualify as a normal "Snowpalooza" level event around here... in January. In March? Well... I don't think there's any name for it.

Except un-frikkin' believable.

Not that it's over, either. The forecast for tomorrow includes patchy freezing fog.

Low HR Run: 45 minutes (3.3 miles) on the treadmill

(Note: Nine days after blood donation)

Weather: Snowy (!) and cold outside. 68 degrees inside. Gear: FR2s, shorts, shirt (shed after I warmed up). Fuel/fluid: None.

It was pretty slushy outside after a freak March snowfall overnight, so I decided it was best to stay on the treadmill and see how my red blood cell production was coming along. I wanted the option to extend the run if I felt good, but cut it short if I didn't. I ended up extending the run by 15 minutes from my original plan.

I started off with a HR just at 60, which is a good sign, and my HR climbed slowly after my 5 minute walking warm up. I kept the treadmill at a 12/mm pace and was able to keep it there until about 28:30 - a very nice thing - when I couldn't get my HR back at or below 138 by simply adjusting my form or breathing. I knocked it down to a 12:45/mm pace and kept it there until about 38:30, when I slowed it to sub-13. My HR fell back to 101 by the time I'd finished my 5-minute walking cool down.

My HR tracking was pretty smooth throughout the cruise period, with a nice steady decline in my cool down.



All in all, a very satisfying run. I was concentrating on form, trying for a light and relaxed foot strike. I caught myself feeling like I had good form but realizing I was sticking the landing too hard - and I saw it in a higher HR. Interesting. Also interesting was just how much heat my body was wanting to shed. I could feel it rising off my back.

I toyed with the idea of extending it to 60 minutes, but 45 felt like enough for today.

Average HR for the entire run: 128.

Nice run, Mark! The HR data look great throughout. Interesting how long blood donation can impact running.
Is the snow all gone yet?

KathyK wrote:Nice run, Mark! The HR data look great throughout. Interesting how long blood donation can impact running.
Is the snow all gone yet?

Hi Kathy! Yes, the snow's gone now. It hung around a lot longer than I expected yesterday.

It turns out that we haven't had snow this late in the year since 1936. So that definitely puts yesterday in the "highly unusual" category.

We're under a freezing fog advisory at the moment, which has got to hit the whole "unusual" standard for late March, as well.

It's not that spring's about to burst forth anytime soon, though. We might get up to the mid-50s by the weekend. (Yes, that's the high, not the low.)

It's decided, I need to move to Washington state. We broke records with consecutive days over 80F in March!!

Nice run. Funny though, if my average HR was 128 for a run, I'd be walking - slowly.

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:It's decided, I need to move to Washington state. We broke records with consecutive days over 80F in March!!

Nice run. Funny though, if my average HR was 128 for a run, I'd be walking - slowly.

Head West, young woman! I think we broke 80 degrees less than a dozen times last year. Now, that's unusual, but apparently not that unusual.

And I was wrong when I told Kathy the snow was gone. There are still a few small patches here and there. Yipes!

Current conditions: 36 degrees and foggy.

--

The overall average heart rate is a little deceiving, BTW. It includes the entire workout, including the 10 minutes I spend walking to warm up and cool down. When I was actually running, my heart rate started in the mid 130s and climbed up to about 140 before I slowed, bringing the heart rate down to about 137 or so.

While it's not representative of my actual running time, that overall average heart rate is useful for me to compare workouts. If I start to see that number climb, I can see that I'm trying to sneak up the intensity level and decide whether it's something I want to continue.

For example, I can look back over my entire Garmin-enhanced running career and see the overall intensity, even over the entire year.

2007: 149 bpm (pre-Maffetone, lots of injuries)
2008: 146 bpm (still pre-Maffetone, still injured)
2009: 139 bpm (Started Maffetone after three months with average HRs in the mid 140s led to injury. After that, performance improved dramatically, injuries fell.)
2010: 139 bpm (Pushed HR averages to mid 140s early in year - and burned out.)
2011: 139 bpm (Partial year, since I went sans Garmin for a while).
2012: 126 bpm (So far, as I go back to low HR training for real this time. The HR number will rise a bit as the time of runs increases, because the walking time will account for a smaller percentage of the total run.)

I might actually chart this at some point, because the month-to-month changes in some of these years correlates with when I ended up with overuse injury or burnout. Thanks for mentioning the average HR, Michele. It's really got me thinking. And it's convincing me that what I'm doing is the right thing for me.

Barefoot Run: 2.1 miles on dry asphalt

Weather: Partly cloudy, cool. 42 degrees. Gear: Bare feet, pants, T, puller (shed after a mile or so)

Time for a little proprioception/barefoot work! I went out planning to do 3, maybe 4, laps around the block (.35 miles per lap), but I ended up doing six laps (for just over 2 miles). I was a little creaky at first, but my body relaxed into it the more I ran and it got easier to run the farther I went. I could feel my feet and ankles just start to fatigue on the last lap and my form start to degrade, so two miles is definitely the upper limit for me right now.

So far, so good.

(One note: The only wear on my bare feet are the pads behind the pinkie toes on each foot. It must be where I make first contact, because they're a little abraded right now.)