Reminiscing

There is a little section of road not too far from my house that is secluded from the rest of the neighborhood. There are two streets that form a loop and this loop just so happens to be about a mile long. This is where I first started running because at the time I was only running a mile or two at a time, and as said before it is secluded, so I had less chance of embarrassing myself in front of someone that I know.

I have not run back there in some time, but the other day I decided to finish up my easy run back there. It was a crisp morning, as it was when I first started "running for real" and it reminded me of the beginning. The memories flashed through my head of those early runs and it was as if I could compare those runs to the ones I am doing today. It was nostalgic.

After that run, I decided to flip through my running journal. A little over a year ago I could barely run a mile or two without stopping, and was only doing about six miles a week. Now I am not running less than 3 miles in any run, and have long runs that are greater than my weekly mileage back then.

I also noticed my heart rate. When I decided to get in shape I checked my resting heart rate every once in a while and it was between 70 and 75. My resting heart rate is now 55. I do not train within heart rate zones, but I do keep track of heart rate and use it to gauge improvement.

I first started using a heart rate monitor in January. Back then, if I wanted to keep my HR around 150-160 I would have to keep my pace around 13:00 a mile. My run a couple of days ago had an average pace of 11:00 minutes per mile and my average heart rate was 151.

These are only minor improvements, that have taken close to a year, but it is progress none the less. Am I keeping up with a lot of the runners out there? No. I am middle of the pack... make that back of the middle of the pack runner.

I am keeping with it and improving at the rate my body is allowing me to. I try not to compare myself to other runners, only myself, and the best way to do that is look back on what all the hard work is doing.

So if you are just beginning, or do not think that you are seeing any progress, then flip through your running or workout journal and you may be surprised at what you find. If you do not have a journal, then you better start. It can be motivating, inspiring, and most of all fun to look back and reminisce about how far you have come.

A Long Run To Start Vacation

It was very cold outside this morning, so when the alarm went off at 6:30 I turned it off and went back to sleep. I hate it when I do that.

When I finally did wake I was quickly ready to run. It felt like I had too many layers on, but come to find out they were just enough. I don't mind running in the cold, but I hate all of the clothes I have to put on to do it.

I did five miles today and it was hard to stay within the proper heart rate zone. I would force myself to take a short walk break to get my heart rate back down and then continue with the run. It is frustrating because I am comfortable at the pace I am going and I can not run slow enough to keep my heart rate down. I am determined to measure my actual heart rate this week to see if the multitude of formulas I used were wrong. I think they are.

After the run I felt incredible. My legs felt the good soreness that comes with a long slow distance and my body felt rejuvenated. I probably could have gone a few more miles. A great way to start my vacation.

Speaking of which...

I leave tomorrow morning for Walt Disney World. It would have been nice to be there last week to watch the marathon, but this week is a good one to go.

It is a family vacation with me, my wife, my two sons, my parents and my brother. We are all excited to go. I am excited not only about the trip, but to run in some nice weather.

I am not taking a computer, and I am not sure if I will have access to one down there so I may not have any updates for the week. If not then I will see you all next week!

In the meantime... Run Like Pre.

This Will Take Some Getting Used To

Today was my first run that I tried to stay within a target heart rate zone. It was an easy two miles so I wanted to stay within the aerobic zone, which for me is 134-153 beats per minute.

I set my Forerunner 305 to alert me if I went outside of the zone. I reached the proper range pretty quick, but soon found it hard to stay under 153 bpm. My heart rate would get too high and I would have to walk in order to get it back down.

I was frustrated at how slow I had to go in order to keep my heartbeat within that range. My average pace was 13:46 per mile. The last time I ran that slow it was rainy and icy. Before that it has been a long time. I knew that I could be running the whole thing, but I wanted to stay within range and get a good feel for what the range was like.

I am going to be running according to heart rate and allow that to dictate my pace rather than just running at a target pace. It is going to take some patience to run that slow, but I have read the benefits will be worth it. As my heart and lungs get stronger, I will be able to run at a faster pace while in that same heart rate zone.

After the run I felt like I could keep on running for hours. When I slowed to a walk in order to get my heart rate down I was not even out of breath. This run felt really good. I just hope that I can continue in the proper heart rate range while training over the next few months... and hopefully it will make me faster by the time the Broad Street Run comes around.

Head Cold and Progression Run

I have developed a head cold over the weekend. I am glad that I have it now so I can knock it out before I go on vacation next week.

Head colds never hinder my running. In fact, running helps me clear up the sinuses and gets my head together for the day. So I decided to do an easy 3 miles as planned.

I did the first two miles very easy and something went off in my head that I should try to push the pace for the last mile. So I picked it up to sub 10:00 pace and tried to keep it for the entire last mile. I hovered around 9:00-9:30 for a while, but could only hold it for slightly more than half a mile. Point six to be exact. I wanted to stop at half, but decided to get to the corner just ahead.

The effort was a lot for me. I stopped to walk a few minutes before finishing off the rest of the three miles at a normal pace. It kind of scares me that in order to accomplish my goal of a sub 4 hour marathon in November I will need to hold a better pace than that for 26.2 miles. It makes me realize I am going to have to work hard to get it... and I will.

One key to this training is the heart rate monitor. I have had the forerunner 305 since the beginning of December, but never used the HR monitor. I wore it today to experiment with it, and it will be a big help in my training.

I am going to use the Runners World method for finding my true max heart rate, since I think the formula of 220 - age is a little off. That puts my max at 190, and I will use that for now, but I hope to find my true max by the end of the week.

I am doing a lot of research on heart rate training. It is yet another thing that is getting me motivated to run. With the heart rate training it will be easier for me to get in better shape and run better!