In order to control some of the test variables (gym overcrowding and temperature), I arrived at the gym a little earlier in the morning than last week - 9 AM vs 12 PM. I was hoping that the gym might be a little less crowded earlier in the day. Unfortunately, the gym was still pretty busy at 9 and the majority of the treadmills were occupied.
Despite the crowd, I was able to find a treadmill in the middle of the pack that was far away from an overhead heating vent. I had neighbors to my left and right, but the heat was tolerable and I felt pretty good for the first quarter of a mile. I think I ran around 5.0 mph (12 minute mile), which is decent for my warm up @ MAF - 20 (125 bpm). Unfortunately, that first quarter mile was the highlight of my run - everything seemed to go downhill from there.
After my first quarter mile, I started to feel beads of sweat developing on my forehead. The sweat then spread to my arms, my legs, and my entire upper body. By the time I was 3/4 of a mile into my "warm up," I was full on sweating everywhere. The fact that the gym was so crowded and that I was getting so warm so early on in my do-over test, really started to make me irritated. This irritability only served to raise my stress levels and thus raise my heart rate. Seeing my heart rate rise and having to slow down raised my stress level further and the vicious cycle began.
I completed my warm up mile in 13:00 and immediately bumped up my speed to 5.5 for the first test mile. In order to combat the heat, I had dressed in a tank top and shorts and brought a cooling towel with me. After each half mile, I wiped down the top of my arms, forehead, and neck with said cooling towel. This seemed to help my heart rate settle down for about a quarter of a mile before it would start to elevate again.
On and on this cycle of warmth, wipe down, irritation, and slowing continued. By the time I got to my cool down mile, I had to walk to keep my heart rate down to the appropriate level. As soon as I completed the cool down, I hopped off my treadmill and headed to another area to stretch. Much to my surprise, when I looked at myself in the mirror, my face was very red and sweaty. So the perceived warmth I felt was not all in my head - I was actually getting overheated.
As I performed my cool down routine, I kept turning my performance over and over in my head. What was going on? Why was I getting so warm during these tests? Is there something wrong with me? Am I sick? Or is my level of aerobic fitness still that low? Am I training incorrectly? Or am I just being impatient and unrealistic in my expectations for how much I should be progressing between weeks (vs months or years)?
When I got home, I calculated my splits and here's what I came up with for my 3A MAF test:
| Test | Date | Mile 1 | Mile 2 | Mile 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12/20/15 | 11:50 | 12:40 | 13:13 |
| 2 | 01/03/16 | 10:28 | 11:15 | 11:42 |
| 3 | 01/31/16 | 11:39 | 12:03 | 12:16 |
| 3A | 02/06/16 | 11:22 | 12:12 | 12:54 |
So interestingly enough, despite feeling like I was running super slow, I actually ran the first mile faster than I did last week. However, the subsequent miles were much slower than last week and definitely reflect my worsening physical and mental state during the test.
I'm still going to continue on with this method of training. I'm going to give it a full training cycle before I give up on it. In the meantime, I need to come up with some additional strategies for combatting heat. In addition to bringing my cooling towel for my next test, perhaps I'll also dunk my head in water and braid my hair. That seemed to help keep me cool last summer during my outside runs - perhaps it will help me in an overcrowded, stuffy gym as well.
I also probably just need to chill out a bit. :) I know that I run better when I zone out a bit and just relax. So I'm going to make it a point for my next test to start off in a better mental place and focus on relaxing rather than on the time on the treadmill.
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