Bret

AM - 3.25 miles with Finn in the neighborhood before church.  Tried to keep my HR under 130 for the run - in doing so, I ended up running around a 10 min pace.   Either the virus and / or the injury depleted my fitness more than expected, or the strength in the area of the hip is not yet normal - either way the higher than normal HR is starting to concern me.  Will try to do some runs at an even slower pace for several days to 'reset' the HR. 

PM - 4 miles on the treadmill - pace was like 11 mins per mile but avg HR was 126 which was the goal.   Did 2000 meters on the indoor rowing machine afterwards and my HR was like 10-15 bpm faster than what I normally see at that effort.  So, I think it is more likely not so much lack of strength in the hip as it is loss of fitness.  

AM - 4.25 miles with Dan and Finn on the Milton trail - at 10 min pace - which kept the HR in check under 135 until the last couple of miles where I was telling a story about the Olympic trials marathon and got excited and was running faster - and the HR climbed.   I got home and ran another 2 miles on the treadmill at 11 min pace keeping the HR under 130.   Hoping this HR training will work over the next several days to a week or two.  

AM - 5 miles with Dan and Finn through the neighborhood to the Groves subdivision across Birmingham Hwy.   Cold today - run was slow-paced again to try to keep my HR under wraps.   Couple of the uphills I walked a bit to keep the HR from reaching 160.  I felt fine - and the hip is really not causing any issue; but I am frustrated with the high HR at such slow paces as 9:45 to 10:15 per mile.   From what I have read, post viral infections (even non-covid) it is not uncommon to have HR jump 25-30 beats on normal training efforts for a while until the body is fully recovered.   Still have a cough - so I will just have to be patient and keep my pace slow enough to allow for a recovery - hope it is sooner than later.

PM - 2 miles on the treadmill - was able to run at 9:20 pace with the HR average of 132, but much of the second mile was nearer to 141.  So, some improvement even over the course of the day.   

AM - 4 miles with Finn in the neighborhood as Dan was out of town on business.   Ran slightly better today with my pace gradually returning to normal - with the HR not quite as high - but still higher than normal.  

AM a little over 4 miles with Dan and Finn at Milton HS and then another mile or so on the treadmill.  Much improved pace today (it is mostly a flat route) but the HR was still on the high side especially near the end of the run - so my treadmill run was more of a cool down effort with HR in the low 120s.   Traveling to VA Bch to visit family this afternoon and over the weekend.  

AM - 6.25 miles in Va Bch from my brother in law's house out to a large lake in a nearby neighborhood - did a couple of loops around it.   Pace is alarmingly slow and concerning.   It is as if my legs do not have the strength to drive a normal training pace and so the extra effort it seems to be taking is resulting in a higher than normal HR.   I intentionally kept the effort in the high 130's HR range but the last couple of miles it crept up to the high 140's as the legs fatigued.   I know I cannot force things - but I also don't look forward to running a marathon at 10:30 pace...hopefully I will strengthen and my HR will settle down in the next 3 weeks. 

AM - 8.25 miles in Va Bch - intentionally slower to keep the HR below 130 - picked it up after 4 miles a little bit - but overall a very slow pace.