I have been saying for some time that I believe my resting heart rate in the high 30s or low 40s, so this morning when I woke up I decided to measure it. Luckily my heart rate monitor and chest strap were right next to the bed, so I didn't have to get out of bed in order to get them.
After attaching the chest strap I put the watch in training mode and waited a few seconds for the heart rate to be displayed. At first it was showing 42, most likely caused by the slight exertion of reaching over to get the watch and chest strap, but after a few seconds it started going down.
For quite a while it hovered around 39, and then a couple of times it went down to 38. A resting heart beat of 38 beats per minute is pretty damn low, but it is not the only time in my life this has ever happened. I recall once before having a VO2 max and resting heart rate similar to now. I was much younger back then though, so it is great to see that so far I have defied the effects of ageing through my training. Don't tell that to the hair on my head though, which decided to start taking flight a few years ago now.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
30 minutes of light exercise in the sauna
Hello again. I just came back from the sauna at the hotel down the road. They only turn the sauna on when someone wants to use it, so I had to wait a while for it to get up to temperature. When I first got into the sauna it was only a balmy 60C, but at least that way I was able to adjust to it gradually as the mercury started to rise. It was a Finnish sauna so there was the possibility of increasing the humidity by pouring water onto the hot rocks. I figured that since the temperature at the start of my session was not that high, I would ramp up the humidity to make it feel a lot hotter.
I started to do some light exercise whilst it was still heating up. To start with I did some stretches and then I started jogging on the spot. Since I was the only one in there I didn't look like a crazy fool. By the time the 15 minute timer had to be turned over and started again, the temperature was 70C. That was more like it. Then I noticed that there was a gap under the door where a draught was coming in, so I stuck a towel under the door to make it even hotter. Now I was starting to feel it. My breathing started to increase and I was feeling a little dizzy. I chugged down a decent amount of water and stayed with it. For a few minutes I had to just sit down and recollect myself. It was now 80C and incredibly humid owing to my generous splashing of water on the rocks. I saw that there were about 8 minutes left so I just sat down with my head bowed and splashed water over my head.
In the final few minutes I got to my feet once again and started jogging on the spot. I had done it. I had survived my first 30 minute session in the sauna without escaping to get a breather. For tomorrow I have asked the staff to have the sauna ready for me at 5pm, and for it to be at a starting temperature of 80C. That will be a little bit tougher to endure but Insa'Allah I will manage it and even manage to throw in a bit of jogging on the spot for good measure too.
I started to do some light exercise whilst it was still heating up. To start with I did some stretches and then I started jogging on the spot. Since I was the only one in there I didn't look like a crazy fool. By the time the 15 minute timer had to be turned over and started again, the temperature was 70C. That was more like it. Then I noticed that there was a gap under the door where a draught was coming in, so I stuck a towel under the door to make it even hotter. Now I was starting to feel it. My breathing started to increase and I was feeling a little dizzy. I chugged down a decent amount of water and stayed with it. For a few minutes I had to just sit down and recollect myself. It was now 80C and incredibly humid owing to my generous splashing of water on the rocks. I saw that there were about 8 minutes left so I just sat down with my head bowed and splashed water over my head.
In the final few minutes I got to my feet once again and started jogging on the spot. I had done it. I had survived my first 30 minute session in the sauna without escaping to get a breather. For tomorrow I have asked the staff to have the sauna ready for me at 5pm, and for it to be at a starting temperature of 80C. That will be a little bit tougher to endure but Insa'Allah I will manage it and even manage to throw in a bit of jogging on the spot for good measure too.
100 minutes in the baking sun
Good afternoon. I just came back from my heat acclimatisation run. I set off at noon so that I would get the highest temperatures possible. Unfortunately it is still only 27C at the moment, but later in the week it should climb over 30C. The good thing is that there are hardly any clouds in the sky, so at least the sun cannot hide from me.
I was concerned that the temperature was a little low for my training so I put on an extra Tshirt underneath my Railriders top. That must have added a few degrees or more, and I came back with a drenched Tshirt much to my liking.
The first hour I headed off into the dunes. The pace was comfortable but I also wanted to try to achieve a higher average speed than I did the previous days in the dunes. In the end I managed 6.78km in an hour so 6.78km/h. I am definitely starting to get more used to running in the sand and also at picking a better route through the dunes.
At the end of the hour I was back at the hotel and I quickly went to my room to change my shoes. I didn't want to risk tearing my gaiters on the sharp stones of the hemada before I even start the MDS, so I used my spare running shoes. Once they were on I headed straight back out to do some running on the rocky hemada that surrounds Merzouga and the dunes. I found running on the hemada much easier than on the dunes, although you still need to pay careful attention where you are stepping so that you don't twist an ankle. Some of the rocks were fist sized and it was impossible to avoid rolling your ankles slightly, but my ankes seemed not to object. In my training back home in Zurich I managed quite a few off road runs on dirt, gravel and snow, and that probably strengthened my ankles somewhat.
I ran for 40 minutes on the hemada and covered 6.49km, so in total I ran for 100 minutes and covered a total distance on sand and hemada of 13.27km. The good news is that I have now been back at the hotel for over half an hour and there still seems to be no hint of a post exercise headache like the last 2 days. Is my body finally starting to get used to the heat or was it because I added electrolytes to my water and consumed a power gel during my run? Who knows, but if I can follow this same routine and avoid the headaches I most definitely will.
Now I can relax for a few hours and then later I will head to the neighbouring hotel for a sauna, to bump up my heat acclimatisation. It is not as though I have much else to do out here. Enjoy your day folks.
I was concerned that the temperature was a little low for my training so I put on an extra Tshirt underneath my Railriders top. That must have added a few degrees or more, and I came back with a drenched Tshirt much to my liking.
The first hour I headed off into the dunes. The pace was comfortable but I also wanted to try to achieve a higher average speed than I did the previous days in the dunes. In the end I managed 6.78km in an hour so 6.78km/h. I am definitely starting to get more used to running in the sand and also at picking a better route through the dunes.
At the end of the hour I was back at the hotel and I quickly went to my room to change my shoes. I didn't want to risk tearing my gaiters on the sharp stones of the hemada before I even start the MDS, so I used my spare running shoes. Once they were on I headed straight back out to do some running on the rocky hemada that surrounds Merzouga and the dunes. I found running on the hemada much easier than on the dunes, although you still need to pay careful attention where you are stepping so that you don't twist an ankle. Some of the rocks were fist sized and it was impossible to avoid rolling your ankles slightly, but my ankes seemed not to object. In my training back home in Zurich I managed quite a few off road runs on dirt, gravel and snow, and that probably strengthened my ankles somewhat.
I ran for 40 minutes on the hemada and covered 6.49km, so in total I ran for 100 minutes and covered a total distance on sand and hemada of 13.27km. The good news is that I have now been back at the hotel for over half an hour and there still seems to be no hint of a post exercise headache like the last 2 days. Is my body finally starting to get used to the heat or was it because I added electrolytes to my water and consumed a power gel during my run? Who knows, but if I can follow this same routine and avoid the headaches I most definitely will.
Now I can relax for a few hours and then later I will head to the neighbouring hotel for a sauna, to bump up my heat acclimatisation. It is not as though I have much else to do out here. Enjoy your day folks.
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