Bret

I wouldn't consider that a blown workout Bret - consider you hit your target pace, on the second and last rep no less. That's great.

Personally, when training in the summer, I'd rather hit the target pace than target heart rate if I had to choose. And unfortunately, you will probably not get both. :)

Heart rate training in the heat is tricky. I need to see what is available out there for research, particularly concerning HR versus perceived effort. I can actually run 167-172 BPM for what I call marathon pace but this would be quite high for most people. But yet there are hot days when even 160-165 feels very hard.

I stopped using my HR monitor for easy runs when it is nasty out. I can't run slow enough on a recovery run to stay under 135. Well, I can but it sometimes would take running slower than 10:30 pace, which I am just not willing to do because it is not great for form.

All this to say, I think your HR monitor can hold you back even though it is a great training tool. I would guess there is a wider margin of perceived effort versus HR reading in the heat but I don't have evidence to support that.

I am curious about how you felt about the effort versus what was reflected.

Travel, long day at work, hot…all things considered, a pretty good effort.

Don't forget we're ancient, decrepit old men Bret. By all rights, a respectable man of your station of life should be on the golf course and then relaxing at the "19th hole" after such a day.

Thanks for the comments guys.

I think I was more disappointed that this effort was much more difficult than I think it should have been. The second rep felt more like a VO2 max effort than a high aerobic/tempo effort which is what I was looking for.

I know we should not gauge our perceived race performance on how we feel or perform in a single workout. But the thought kept coming back to my mind that if my race was today, I would have no hope of running anywhere close to those paces for 26 miles.

Rob - yes - fully aware of being ancient and decrepit (thanks for that! :)) - and ask myself why I continue to train - but as long as the good training days outnumber the lousy ones - I will use the golf course for running.