training – Finding Fiona

Tips for hot weather running

August 2, 2020August 8, 2020by fionamairicampbellLeave a Comment

Watching footage from the Badwater-135 is a good lesson in hot weather running. Billed the “The World’s Toughest Foot Race” * it covers 135 miles (or 217 km) non-stop from Death Valley (the lowest elevation in North America at 85 metre below sea level) to Mt. Whitney, CA, at an elevation of 2,530 m, Oh, and it takes place mid-summer in sweltering desert heat. In 2018, temperatures climbed as high as 127F (53C), with the asphalt road getting even hotter (reportedly reaching 200F degrees), causing the road to melt shoes and burn runners’ feet.

The medical risks of competing in such conditions is real: heat illness and heat stroke can be serious, and can cause renal shutdown, brain damage and even death. Symptoms of impending heat illness include nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, faintness, irritability, lassitude, weakness, and rapid heart rate, and a decrease in sweating and goose bumps, especially over the chest, may be a sign of impending heat stroke. Heat stroke may progress from minimal symptoms to complete collapse in a very short period of time. Conditioning for this kind of abuse, err, racing is critical.

Dr Ben Jones, three time finisher writes about heat training and conditioning for the Badwater and includes the simple advice: “Try to spend as much time above 100 degrees F as possible.” Uh huh. Not in Canada, sir.

He also suggests starting slowing and working your way up to longer exposures, as well as turn off the AC, wear dark clothes while outside, exercise in a sauna, and even turn on the heat while travelling in a car – anything to get your skin, stomach, bladder and heart used to functioning under brutal conditions.

While I have some big ultra goals, training for a running Badwater-135 is not one of them.

That said, after running a half-marathon last September in scorching temperatures above 30C, I appreciate the importance of hot weather training.

Recovering after the Run for the Grapes half in 2019: a scorcher!

During the first heat wave of the year I took to Instagram for some hot weather training tips, and these are my favs:

Wet your hair and/or top and/or buff/hat in cold water before heading out. When it’s really hot wear a buff around your neck and pack ice in it
Embrace the 5 am run? It’s much cooler then
Freeze your bladder or water bottle – cool sips help!
Find neighbourhood lawn sprinklers/streams/water fountains for some midrun cooldown
Slow your roll – don’t expect the same paces as more temperate runs
Take breaks. Enjoy the process.
Don’t spend too much in AC at low temps – it’s a huge shock to go from cool house to hot run. (“Luckily” I don’t have AC!)
Check your mindset, especially during a race. If you think it’s going to suck, it will. If you think you’re a badass for running when it’s hotter than the sun, you’ll do (and feel) better.
Put ice in your sports bra! (Love this)
Keep on top of hydration. If you wait to drink when you’re thirsty, it’s too late. Electrolytes and/or salt help too.
Keep at it. Your body will get used to it.

It can be challenging to get to used to hot weather running early in the summer, but over time the body does acclimate. And if you keep at it, you’ll feel extra fast when fall race season starts! #SummerPainsForFallGains

What hot weather running tips work for you? Share in the comments below!

And check out this article from Runner’s World on the link between Hydration, fitness levels and heat illness: “As any runner who’s struggled through the heat knows, the temperature can be tough on performance. But a recent study in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health highlights it’s not just the sweltering humidity or heat index that’s the real issue. Hydration and fitness levels can be key factors for reducing heat-related illness risk, too.” Full article here.

* The Marathon des Sables, a six-day 251 km ultra across the Sahara claims the same fame, as does a dozen other gruelling races. They’re all tough. Enough said.

Running tips

Benefits to running alone

July 19, 2020August 8, 2020by fionamairicampbellLeave a Comment

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020, people were ordered to “shelter-in-place” and “physically distance” themselves from everyone not in their immediate family circle.

Social media lit up with runners bemoaning the loss of their running groups and training partners.

Me? Nothing changed.

I run alone.

As I’ve built more running community through social media and racing, I’ve learned first-hand the benefits of running in groups: long runs feel easier when I’m distracted by running with friends, and well, they’re just a lot of fun. But I live in a small village and there are no people to run with. So if I want to train a lot, I run alone.

Some runners, especially women, say they’re scared to run alone. But I find the benefits outweigh any of the risks. Here are just a few:

RUNNING ON MY OWN TIME

I work full-time and juggle two teenage kids on my own. That means I’m often stealing hours to get my runs in. This kind of unpredictability makes scheduling time with others challenging, and so I’ve learned to embrace the spontaneity. If I wake up early and want to catch the sunset before work, great! Off I go. If it’s 9:30 pm and I still have 12km to run, then I strap on my Noxgear and get my miles in. Or if I find a pocket of time on a Saturday morning, I can also decide last minute to jump in the car and drive an hour to the trailhead.

SELF MOTIVATION IS ON POINT

I’ve heard a lot of runners talk about how hard it is to motivate themselves to get out the door without their training partner or group, but running solo means I’m responsible for my own motivation, that that’s built some strong mental grit. I can look back on my training plans and say, “I did that. I ran all those miles because I set a big goal for myself.” And if I don’t get myself out the door, I have only myself to call out. It’s no one else’s responsibility but my own, and that makes for satisfying and sustainable training.

DIALING IN TO MY BODY.. AND MY MIND

When I run on my own, it’s just me and my footfalls. This gives me the space and time to pay attention to how it feels. Where do I feel tightness? How is my breathing? Am I bunching my toes? What can I do I release holding?

I’m also more present to my surroundings and the sheer joy – and privilege – of running.

RUNNING AT MY OWN PACE

“Do you want to run faster? Then you need to slow down.” That’s the opening sentence of Matt Fitzgerald’s book 80/20 Running: Run Stronger and Race Faster by Training Slower, that builds on the idea that the secret to running faster is to run slow most of the time. Intensity, or how hard you’re running relative to how hard you’re capable of running, can be classified into three general zones: low, moderate and high; low is around that point where you have to start breathing harder or can no longer carry on a conversation. Studies have shown that runners of all abilities and experience levels improve most when they do approximately 80% of their training at low intensity and 20% at moderate and high intensity.

The point of this? When I run with a group, I typically adjust my paces to stay in the group. When I run on my own I can keep my own pace. And that makes for more productive training.

You might train with a group, and race with hundreds or thousands more, but running is ultimately a solo endeavour. It comes down to your own set of feet, and putting one in front of the other. Embrace it.

Want more?

* Running coach Amanda Brooks of “Run to the Finish” has a great blog entry on “9 Powerful Benefits of Running Alone”

* Alex Nichols of IRunFar.com has a article on “The Benefits of Training Alone” that has more on the science of 80/20 running

Running tips

Balancing life and training

July 12, 2020July 19, 2021by fionamairicampbellLeave a Comment

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.
Albert Einstein

Last week my partner and I decided to go visit Presqui’le Provincial Park in Brighton, Ont. He hadn’t been there in years, and the last time I was there was in February for a rather uninspiring (read: gruelling) long run. We’d start at the lighthouse on the southern point and I’d run north and meet him at the gatehouse.

I set off on interior the road through the park. It’s well-kept (no gravel or back-country potholes), one-way and with little traffic. About one kilometre in to a 10km run I saw a trailhead and took a detour. Trails trump roads every time.

It was an easy day of training – a low intensity run (and mileage towards my Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee). The wind had been raging, the water rolling when I’d left the lighthouse, and now it was pouring. I loved it. The colours and smells of the woods seemed more vibrant, more alive and all my senses were dialled into the simple joy of being alive. Running does that.

About 7km from the gatehouse the weather passed and I texted my partner to say, “Why don’t we meet at the beach and check it out?”

“Already there,” he said.

I took the turn off the main road, ran through the parking lot and then followed an accessible mat to the beach. Looking left and right there was sand almost as far as I could see. We had the place to ourselves, save for some shorebirds. I made my way down to the edge of the water and came to the place where the waves kissed the shore.

“Why don’t you take your shoes off? The water is amazing,” he said.

“I can’t. I still have 2km left to run.”

It took about 2 minutes of watching the moody clouds dance across the sky, the waves crashing against the shore and the silly birds side-stepping through the churn for me to give my head a shake and realize, this is an amazing moment – be here now. I can make up the 2km later.

Dedication to big running goals is important, critical even, especially when training for long distances. But running is a part of my life: it isn’t my life.

“Although there are certainly many things to learn about training and racing from the professionals, it’s a mistake to attempt to emulate a professional approach at the amateur level, especially within the context of a busy life,” says Matt Dixon, author of Fast-Track Triathlete. “Professional triathletes [I’d argue this refers to runners as well] train many more hours every week than you can, and they can put more time, effort, and resources toward training and recovery because triathlon is essentially their full-time job.”

Big goals require big commitment, but unless you’re an elite level athlete, other priorities, such as work and family, need to be factored into the training plan. There may be consequences to missing a workout, but there are also consequences to always choosing the training. What are the tradeoffs you are willing to live with? If you always skips a workout, maybe you need to adjust your training plan because your goals have changed. But if you’re always saying “no, I have to train” just be conscious of what else you might be missing.

It’s easy to feel the pressure to keep up (and get those virtual high fives) when there are so many ways to share runs and training on Instagram, Garmin, Strava, or Facebook. But comparing your training to anyone else’s is a recipe for injury or burnout – and sometimes you just need to take your shoes off and play in the waves.

Want more?

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu coach Valerie Worthington wrote a great article called “Having it all: How to Cram Training, Working and Life into Every Day“