Saturday 28 July 2007

Confused but feelin fine

On friday I ran the same loop as monday and wednesday except at a target HR of 150. While the pace early on was steady I felt it dropping off towards the end of the run. I put it down to tiredness - can't believe that I get up early EVERY morning. The distance recorded was 8.53 miles (should have been 8.7 miles) in 1:04:56 =>average pave of 07:37 (actually closer to 07:28) with an average HR of 145. I am a bit confused as to how I can achieve a training pace of 07:30 with a 145 HR average when my average Marathon HR is 165 with a best pace of 07:51 (7 weeks ago). and I'm not talking about a starting HR of 145 building up to 175 over 26.2 miles - my HR for mile 1,2 & 3 was 167, 173 & 174 respectively - in miles 8,9 & 10 the HR dipped to 154, 159 & 159 only to rise to 171 for the last 2 miles. Today called for a long run (longer than last weeks 17 miles). Last night I went to the company BBQ but sensibly I took a lift with someone who was leaving early and was home by 10:30. I still managed 3 pints of Guiness and 2 plates of assorted meat - hardly the recommended diet before a long run. So this morning when I was heading out at 0730 hrs I told myself to take it easy on the effort with a view to doing the distance. I also took, for the first time since the marathon, a made up sports drink carried in my running belt. As soon as I started out I noticed that my back was getting wet from a small leak in the top of the drink container and decided to drink enough so that the leak would stop. However when I went for a drink at the end of mile 2 I noticed that I had only about 100 ml left in the 550 ml bottle with upwards of 15 planned miles to go. I decided to run on and only take a drink at Mile 10 so as to conserve my resources with a view to heading back home to take on more fluids and perhaps do a short loop. As the run went on I became more comfortable - I ran into Cork along the north quays of the River Lee crossed onto the southside of the City out to Turners Cross and followed the Marathon route for about 6 miles before heading for home. The 08:25 pace for the first few miles dropped to 08:15 by Mile 6 and 08:00 by mile 12. Spotting a marathon runner (telltale gel/drink belt) at mile 12 probably spurred me on to run faster than target pace - however I was always comfortable. Got down to 07:45 pace for mile 14 and more or less maintained a sub 08:00 pace until I got home. The drink at mile 10 was very welcome and I left a mouthful for Mile 14. I bumped into my Wife, Abina, a mile from home (she was getting the newspaper) and handed her my faulty drinks bottle with a request for a sports drink. She offered me a lift, which I reluctantly declined (had to do the distance). I finished the 18.8 miles with some stretching and the most welcome sports drink I tasted in years. All-in all I was very pleased with the run given my poor preparation and the mishap with my drink. Final time of 02:32:56 gave an average pace of 08:08 for the run with an avg HR of 131. My HR didn't go above 130 until mile 10 and averaged 143 for the last mile.

1 comment:

  1. Just found your blog site and enjoy reading it. Am impressed with your times and also how soon you are running high mileage so soon after your last marathon. I use the HRM to keep me from running too fast. All the other speed workouts seem to go about right. I post with another running friend, Amy. We’re just ordinary runners discuss everything about running, just fun stuff. We’ll look forward to reading more of your site and following your progress. Keep up the good running and posting! Tom

    http://blog.runnerslounge.com

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