A Passion for Running

I forgot my heart rate monitor chest strap/transmitter at home which meant for today’s hard run, I had to guesstimate effort.

I’ve never been good at guestimating – especially when it involves pace or effort.

Distance: 7.08 miles
Time: 58 minutes (i actually ran over 60 minutes but screwed up recording it)
Pace: 8:12 min/mile
Avg. Heart Rate: Unknown but guesstimated(?!) at 167.

Based on comparisons with other recent hard run efforts, my guesstimate was actually pretty good.

Go figure.

First, here’s today’s run…

Time: 1:01
Distance: 3.7 7.38 miles (pardon the dyslexia)
Pace: 8:15 min/mile
Avg HR: 166 (it seems to be getting easier to work higher within my target range)

This was a really good feeling run and I’m especially happy because it was preceded by yesterday’s 90 minutes and Monday’s 2.5 hour long run. Today felt smooth and niggly free.

Work…

Recently, I was asked to take over a project. The transition within our team was a bit awkward and I made some quick moves that didn’t go very smoothly but today, we did something that hadn’t been done within the team before and the result was that everyone came out feeling really great about the work we did. Tomorrow is day two of the experiment and I’m excited to know we’ll get more done in these two days than we could have in a month working in the mode we had been. Nice.

Home…

I love my wife. I love my kids. They make me laugh and feel like someone.

Keep treating me well Life, cuz I’m lovin’ it.

Yesterday=my 1st 2.5 hour run on the new training program
Today=90 minutes slow

Felt awesome. No nigglies. Just good endorphine filled running.

Time: 1:30
Distance: 9.33 miles
Pace: 9:39 min/mile
Avg. Heart Rate: 153

I was sick all weekend with a nose and throat cold and today was my long run. And not just any long run – it was the week I jump from two to two and a half hours.

I didn’t feel terrible so I had a plan:

1-start
2-if not good after 30 minutes, hop on a bus
3-if feeling just “ok”, head straight home and try to get 90 minutes in
4-if feeling pretty good, head over to Hawrelak Park for a loop (the entire trip adds 30 minutes to my 90 minute route)
5-if feeling better than good, do a second loop at Hawrelak Park (adds another 16 or so minutes to the two hours)
6-head home AND if feeling good when I got there, tack on the last 15 minutes

The six-point plan was executed in full and, except for the last 15 minutes, felt very good. That last 15 got a little bit tough but certainly nothing worse than stuff I’ve experienced in the past.

But what IS it with head colds? I felt great during the run. No runny nose, no rough throat, no congestion whatsoever. But, two hours later my head goes back to its pre-run state. I don’t get that.

But I sure am happy about the run.