i owe it to my heart...

In Jan, I had read some info about heart rate training, and was intrigued.  Beginning of feb, I got my lactate threshold test done and discovered "my" zones.  While I had been seeing a bit of progress, I still had many questions.  I sought out some help from another virtual runner who has been an outstanding help.  After much discussion, I decided that I need to slow my already slower pace.

My zone 2 is 153-163 bpm.  I've noticed that while my final average was been in the low 160's in recent runs, I was usually flirting with the upper limit -- sometimes a few beats below 163, sometimes above. Not sure I'd get the best benefit by hovering here, so begins better focus. Polar software gives a Running Index number to runs, which measures efficiency in a run.  I was usually getting about a 38.

Hills and wind affect my heart rate, so I decided to try for a flatter route.  Drove out to my son's old school, parked the car and knocked out a 10.4k run.  AHR was 159, with 90% of my run spent in zone 2. Pretty big improvement from previous runs.  I was happy that the school was open too so that I could do some stretching indoors. 

 This run also paid for my post-run coffee as I found a toonie embedded in the sandy residue on the side of the road from all the melted snow! :D  Yep, a toonie, condoms, garbage, lots of stuff that had been covered for the last few months.

Today was our long run, with the group doing 10:1's.  Interestingly, the first 10 minutes were spent in zone 1, which rarely ever happens for me. I sped up a bit to get into zone 2, and looped back to lessen the gap as the last group member was running solo today, since her running buddy wasn't there today.  The planned route was 25.3k, but I did a total of 27.2k with the additional looping, AHR was 156, MHR 171, and Polar Index increased to 41!

I'll be interested to see how what this new focus will affect my pace, long run recovery, body fat %, cardio and base building. I'm excited about this again!

This may have been my last long run before the 30k Around the Bay on March 29th.  We're still doing longish runs over the next 2 sundays before the race (GAH! Only 2 more long runs before the race?!!), but we're choosing shorter, slightly hillier routes to prepare for the known hills in the race.

Please head over to Marci's or Christy's site to sign up for Reese's run, a virtual 4 mile race to raise money for Joints in Motion, raising money for the Arthritis Society, a great cause, that will hopefully help a beautiful girl and countless others.

Have a great week everyone!