Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Time on Legs - Dog Days of Summer

It has been a bit since I have last blogged. That seems the norm during these busy summer days. I am ready for this heat to give way to the fall. My runs have been taking place in 90 to 100 degree weather and it is taking its toll. I am finding that my motivation to run wanders all over the place as I contemplate the heat. It does build character however!

My training however is going pretty good. I will be more than ready for my September 16th half marathon and the World Wide Half.

Friday, July 6, 2007

Time on Legs - Heart Rate

First a report on my 5K race on the 4th of July. This was a local race that benefited our local running club. They had a record turn out of about 900 runners. The course was set up around our local City Park and is a very flat course. I ran this as a training run and vowed that I would not worry too much about time. When the gun went off, I forgot my vow. I shot out of the starting line at a blazing pace and realized that I would have to slow up considerably. I finished the race with a PR of 25.53. What a great way to start the day.

This is the end of my first week running with my new Garmin 305. I found that in order to keep my HR in the desired range I had to run a lot slower than I wanted. Today I went for my long run of 10 miles and kept my HR at or below 150. This slowed my pace by about 45 seconds per mile. I was a little frustrated. What helped me was that I felt really good following the run. It is clear to me that I have been over training and an injury was just around the corner. I like how watching my HR keeps me in check. I think I will leave it off on the days I go for a specific tempo or speed workout pace run.