After doing the 10:1 intervals again today, I think it's safe to say that the faster run time I saw Friday was no fluke...today, I beat it by nearly 30 seconds. :)
This research is not terribly scientific, though, since there were several variables that changed today from Friday--temperature, time of day, clothes worn, stomach contents, mood, energy level...and I'm sure there are more. Still, it's striking to me that I not only improved my time, but my HR was lower overall as well. Here are the differences, with Friday's numbers in parentheses:
Time: 44:13 (44:30)
Run time: 27:30 (27:52)
Speed(mph): 4.36 run, 4.07 overall (4.30 run, 4.04 overall)
Avg HR: 149 (161)
In zone: 22:54 (18:51)
Rock. Though I'm pretty sure that the HR and speed numbers had as much to do with the weather and the digestive issues as anything, it's still improvement across the board. And you know how much I love the continual improvement.
Now, where do I go from here? Well, 2-mile 10:1 intervals for the rest of this week, for sure. Then I'm considering either 10:1 for 2.5 miles OR 1-mile:1-minute intervals for 2 miles. I'm leaning toward the latter right now, but I could really swing either way by next week.
Posted by Joy at May 2, 2005 02:34 PMI think you are over analyzing the whole runnning thing. Go out there, forget about the HRM, and just have fun and run.
Try to remember back to when you were a kid without all the daily concerns you are saddled with now and just run for the fun of it. If your heart rate goes up - who cares ! - it aint gonna kill ya. Just see how much fun you can have while doing the run - everything else will take care of itself
yeah, probably. :) Overanalysis comes pretty naturally for me. I either don't think about things at all or obsess about them so much that they consume me. Part of the reason that I don't follow politics or the news all that much.
I'm not sure I know how to run for the fun of it, though...it never was much fun for me when I was a kid, either. Means to an end, mostly--running to get somewhere before my brothers, running to not get caught/make anyone wait for me, running toward something...always for some purpose anyway.
But yeah, the HR stuff isn't going to kill me...I feel better running at a lower intensity, but even at the higher numbers I don't really believe that I'm in any danger. I tend to overexaggerate things here, embellish the story for (dubious) entertainment value.
I guess once I decide why I want to run in the first place, I'll stop overanalyzing the numbers. Or maybe if running actually becomes fun on its own merit. I'm almost to the point where I'm enjoying it, but I'm not quite there yet. I still need the noticeable improvement to keep me motivated...bigger, faster, stronger, etc. If I'm not keeping track of anything, how can I tell whether I'm winning? ;)