This was supposed to be an 8-mile tempo run with a target AHR of around 175 bpm, not to exceed 178. I had planned to drive 6 miles up Emigration, but Brooke stayed at her mom's last night with the kids, so I didn't have anyone to take me back to the car. Instead, I drove to Sugarhouse, did roughly 2-mile warmup, stopped, stretched, then started tempo. There was a pretty stiff wind out of the northeast, so the south side and northeast hill were more challenging than usual. After starting the workout, I exceeded 178 every time I hit a hill. By the time I hit 4 miles, I had exceeded it at least 8 times and my pace was suffering. As a result, I called it for the tempo section and finished the mileage out with an easy 4 or so.
HR data and splits for the 4 miles of tempo were as follows:
Mile 1: AHR 170 (5:54)
Mile 2: AHR 177 (6:29)
Mile 3: AHR 176 (6:27)
Mile 4: AHR 175 (6:57)
Although AHR for the first mile was only 170, that was due largely to the fact that I had stopped and stretched after the warmup, so it took a bit for me to hit my target. By the second hill on that mile, though, HR had hit 180. It hit at least 181 in the second mile. Even though I slowed dramatically on every hill (down to 8-minute pace or so), HR still jumped over 178 within a few seconds every time, then wouldn't come down until around 10-15 seconds after cresting the hill. With the hills only about 1/2 mile apart, I was barely able recover from one and get back into a rhythm before I'd hit the next one.
After calling the tempo run, the remaining 4 miles didn't feel great. Sugarhouse may not be the best place for me to do tempo work while I'm trying to increase my pace. | 