9 Weeks To Go - Humidity Strikes!

Monday 24th August, 2009

The past week has been a write-off in terms of running, I've only managed to get out twice, because the weather in Brussels has been crazily hot and very, very humid.

Each day temperatures breached 30 degrees Celsius and last Thursday the record for the hottest day of the year in Belgium was broken, with the peak temperature hitting 38.2 degrees Celsius. More Here.

It didn't even cool down at night.

The problem wasn't so much the temperature but the humidity - the amount of water vapour in the air.

I've never lived anywhere with high humidity before and it's quite different to living somewhere where it gets just hot.

High humidity makes you feel hotter because it prevents the body’s sweat from evaporating.

Sweating is the body's method of keeping cool, especially during exercise. When that's not working, blood flow is diverted to the skin, limiting your ability to cool down.

I found these stats on the internet, about the effect of heat and humidity on heart rates:

For Heat:
Temperatures between 60-75°F (16-24 degrees Celcius) will increase your heart rate by 2-4 beats per minute
Temperatures between 75-90°F (24-32 degrees Celcius) will increase your heart rate up to 10 beats per minute

For Humidity:
Humidity levels between 50-90% will increase your heart rate up to 10 beats per minute

So a combination of high temperature and high humidity levels can increase your heart rate by 20 beats per minute and that's before you've even started running!

The main methods of managing this are to keep hydrated and then either reduce your pace or use the run/walk/run method of training.

I opted for the first, keeping going for as long as I could before stopping and walking for a bit and then starting up again. The concept is the same as reducing the pace because the walking part of the training allows your heart to recover.

I managed a total of 5.7 miles in three intervals before I was too hot to carry on.

The forecast for this week is slightly cooler, and I'm off to the Champagne region of France at the weekend so hopefully I'll be able to pick up the training again!

Edinburgh Marathon Take Two - Ninja Turtles

Monday 1 June, 2009

And so to my second running of the Edinburgh marathon.










And *news flash* I have decided that I like the city and the course and the atmosphere so much that I will run it ever year. But only as part of a relay team!

One year ago, having dinner to celebrate my completion of the marathon, my university friends and I dreamt up a plan to run the Edinburgh Marathon Relay dressed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Fast-forward 12 months and we were faced with the prospect of running the race as part of a very green and very silly-looking quartet...














The 'Hairy Haggis' Team Relay - its official name - splits the marathon's 26.2 miles between four runners and is designed to make race running more fun and more accessible.

Leg One is 8.1 miles, from the course start to Musselburgh, Leg Two is 5.4 miles, to Port Seton Links, Leg Three is 8.0 miles, up to Gosford House and back and the final leg is 4.7 miles and runs from Port Seton Links to the finish at Musselburgh Race Course.

Having entered, we devoted our entire weekend to to costume making and running. We carbo-loaded by eating pizza - in true Ninja Turtle style - and fashioned costumes from Peacock's Size 20 T-shirts... On the morning of the race we donned lime green footless tights and a lot of green body paint.

I was up for the first leg. At the start I was reminded of my longer run a year ago and what a massive achievement it was. I don't think that really sunk in at the time.

The start of the race is beautiful and goes down past the Parliament building, out toward the Edinburgh coast and along through the beach resort of Portobello.

The heat was really draining, even for just eight miles, temperatures were as high as 22 degrees Celsius with hardly any breeze. Ten people were taken to hospital and 160 were treated for heat-related illness on the scene, according to local newspaper The Scotsman.


I finished my eight miles in 1 hr 14 mins. The others notched up great times too, giving us a total time of 04 hours, 09 mins and 14 seconds. Only slightly faster than my solo effort a year earlier.

1st Leg (Me, Leonardo): 1h 14m 28s (01:14:28)

2nd Leg (Caz, Donatello): 55m 55s (02:10:23)

3rd Leg (Anna, Raphael): 1h 19m 11s (03:29:34)

4th Leg (Miller, Michelangelo): 39m 40s (04:09:14)


Well done team! See you next year.



We raised over £700 for Medecins Sans Frontieres

To donate!! Click here:
www.justgiving.com/ninjasgo