Friday Survey #1 - A Hi, A Nod, or A Wave?

Wow, thanks for the feedback on the results of my summer running survey! It was indeed fun to hear such varying viewpoints on how/when we run in extreme hotness! I apologize to those of you who missed out. I had no idea so many of you wanted in on that. Not to worry though because I have a new survey question to ask all of you. Before I do, let me announce that since so many of us expressed interest in participating in these, I'm going to make it a regular feature every Friday on my blog! Every week, I'll have a new survey question for you all to think about, mull over (perhaps on a long run) and comment on throughout the weekend. Then, by the middle of next week, I'll tabulate the results, generate a scientific analysis and post my conclusions based on my findings. I think that would be cool, interesting, informative, and fun...for you and for me!

So here's my survey question for the week. It is actually based on something I experienced today while out on a morning run. Allow me to paint the picture for you.

It's Friday morning, 5AM. I enter the park just as the first rays of dawn hits the earth. There's a cool breeze in the air which is refreshing, a stark contrast to the dry and still heat we have had for the past week. I'm running at my recovery speed, enjoying the scenery and the fresh air. I feel generally happy because it's Friday and I've got cool plans coming up this weekend. In the near distance, I see a guy my size and height running towards me all serious and business-like. I give a slight wave with my right hand. He blows by me without acknowledgment. Okay, maybe he couldn't see me through this reflective sunglasses. I move on. A half mile later, I see an older woman running and approaching from that same side. I waited until she was within earshot of me. "Hi. Good morning!" I said succinctly. It startles her. She falls over a step onto the grass before apologetically mumbling "Oh Hi!" and running away. Oh, that was maybe too strong. The third runners comes through about a quarter of a mile later. It's a teenager this time. A lanky high school runner. Probably on the track team. I decide a nod was probably appropriate here, so I flick my head when he's within my visual field. He runs by, staring straight ahead, oblivious to my existence. By now I'm agitated, irritated, and hating life because I just can't seem to get this right. Never mind the next several runners I passed did say Hi back or wave or in general acknowledged my existence in some way. But by then the damage had already been done. I basically had an anxiety complex trying to decide how best to greet the next approaching runner everytime I saw one. I was traumatized for the rest of my run and through the entire day.

So, I ask you, my fellow runner friends, for my survey question of the week - What is the most socially acceptable way to acknowledge a fellow runner approaching from the opposite side? What is the social etiquette? Is it a quick wave, a nod or a verbal greeting of some sort? Do you do a combo of things hoping to ensure that you'll catch their attention? Do you vary your tactics based on age, race, sex, location, religion, political affiliation, or how you happen to be feeling that day? I really would like to now. [For the purposes of the survey, please declare a preference and then state your reasoning. Thanks.] I'm surely going to think about this on my seventeen mile long run tomorrow.

I thank you in advance for leaving a comment and participating in this survey. Have a fun, safe, and hopefully cool weekend!

Survey Results and My Early Morning Running Experiment

The results are in! Thanks to all who participated in my extreme summer weather running survey. Before I announce the findings of my impromptu survey, let me just say that I tried to make this exercise as scientific as possible, by giving a full point to the option that was exclusively preferred by a voter and a half point to the options that weren't exclusively preferred. I think that's only fair. So without any further ado, here's what you all recommend to do when faced with the prospect of having to run during the current heat wave:

Run Early Morning - 10 votes

Run Late/Night - 1 vote

Treadmill It - 5 votes

Interesting, huh? My unrandomized uncontrolled scientific study shows that the overwhelming majority of you would rather wake up at some god-forsaken hour (like 4 or 5am), before even when all the nocturnal animals have turned in yet, to go run than suffer the ignominy of running in place on the treadmill despite the comforts of air-conditioning and cable television. But even that option seemed way better than running outdoors late at night, which I imagined is impractical and inconvenient for most runners. Also, no one picked the option of not running, which, although not explicitly stated as an option, is probably what the rest of the non-running world would have unanimously picked. As a whole, I find the results of this study rather fascinating because it highlights how much we are willing to put up with and how dedicated we are to the sport of running...and how much we hate running on the treadmill!

So as recommended, I got up on successive days (yesterday and today) at 5AM for my first early morning runs of 2010. Now let me confess right here that I've never been much of a morning person. Yes, I am usually up early for work on most days, and generally have no problem waking up early for the occasional weekend race but getting up in the dead of night (which I consider anytime before sunrise) for training runs is not really my cup of tea. For one thing, I find that I have to rearrange my entire eating and sleeping schedule to accommodate pre-daylight running. Not only so, but I find that I'm not up and rearing to go run in the early morning like I am when I run after work in the late afternoon. Maybe it's a matter of personal preference. Maybe it's a matter of establishing a habit. I figured I could try for a week or so and see what evolves.

My Tuesday morning tempo run (11 total miles with 6 at 6:37 min/mi) went well despite it being 87F with 50% humidity at 5AM). I struggled during the latter half of the tempo miles more due to the heat than to the effort, but otherwise surprised myself that I was able to get this one done on a day that hit triple digits on the thermometer. This morning, I took it easy and ran a recovery run of 6 miles at a slow 7:31 min/mi pace. The temperature was essentially the same except that the humidity was about 20% less than yesterday, which made conditions much more favorable for running. I ended the workout with some easy 6 x 100m strides which my legs liked after all the slow stuff. The only complaint I have about both of these runs was that it took me more than one-and-half miles of warmup before my body got moving and my pace felt comfortable. My legs felt like they were entirely asleep for the whole first half of the run! What's up with that? Eventually, everyone got with the program and we were running well again, but geez, this early morning running is no joke!

I'll wait to see how the legs respond tomorrow (rest day) and the next day before making a further assessment of my early morning running experiment. Anybody out there have any pointers on this transitioning process? Any pitfalls to avoid? Stories to share? Or maybe I'm just a wimp...(No, don't answer that last question and no, this is not another survey!)

Hope everyone in blogland is staying cool during these hot summer days and running well despite the heat by whatever method you employ. I'll check in with you all this weekend after my scheduled long run of 17+ miles. Yikes! I pray it'll be cooler by then.

Hot (and Humid) Weather Running

After getting a little carried away with speed the past week, with a 5 mile race on Sunday, a fast 6x800 workout on Tuesday and an impromptu 5:30 mile in front of some high schoolers on Wednesday, I was in desperate need of some slow double digit mileage runs over the weekend to get my aerobic base back to where it needed to be. As appealing as races, tempo runs, and track work seem to be to my body right now, I am training for a marathon here, not a 5K sprint, so the speed must take a back seat to endurance and stamina.

So I did as the great minds of Pfitzinger and Daniels have suggested, and got in a fifteen mile run around three city parks on Saturday, followed by an Independence Day eleven (7+4=11, get it?) mile run in and through a former US Army installation in Whitestone Queens on Sunday morning. Although I ran slow (both at about a minute slower than marathon pace), and had great scenery to accompany each of my runs, I didn’t feel great on either of them. I was honestly questioning my sanity and whether I was cut out to be a distance runner after each run. Maybe I should just stick to the track and the short road races. Maybe it’s a sign.

Or maybe it’s the sweating heat and the suffocating humidity that’s been cooking the Northeast like it’s a flank steak over a summer barbecue. I was stupid to start my run at high noon on Saturday (had no choice really because I was at work all morning) but was smart to get up at 7:30am for my Sunday run. It made no difference however. The average temperature was still the same at 87F! I couldn’t believe it. All through my miles, all I could see were people sunbathing on a beach, skinny dipping by a pool or barbecuing by the ocean and making fun of me as I try to fight a drawn out losing battle against the sun. What an idiot, they must be thinking as they see me passing by soaking wet with dripping sweat and a look of sheer agony on my face. The worst part was, with the horrid conditions I was running under, I really couldn’t blame them for making fun of me.

That got me thinking: Is it time to think about the treadmill again? Yes, I know it sounds blasphemous, and I abhor the thought of running for miles and miles staring at inanimate objects or figures moving across a TV screen during the summer, but when not running is not an option and to save my pedestrian friends the embarrassment of watching me suffer in this oppressive heat, is that not enough justification enough to take the run indoors. Besides, if you can run better and train faster on a treadmill, isn’t that more beneficial than running hot and slow outdoors, especially if you’re training for a long distance race in cooler and milder conditions? Acclimating to weather is one thing, but constantly being forced to run slow because of unfavorable weather conditions is quite another. Maybe for speed development, it would be more advantageous to train indoor than out simply because you wouldn’t be able to attain the same training intensity in inclement weather. I don’t know. But I’m definitely having second thoughts about the treadmill. Maybe it’s time for the hamster wheel and I to get reacquainted. Maybe the previous vilification was unjustified. I may have to apologize.

But first I’d like to survey the crowd on how best to deal with running and training in extreme heat. Run in early morning (when it tends to be insanely humid)? Run in late afternoon/early evening (when it tends to still be hot)? Or succumb to the comforts of air conditioning and run indoors? What do you think? What do you do? I'm open to suggestions.