High-Octane

Maybe you need to start leaving the HR behind for a few runs. I think sometimes what you know can hold you back. :-) LOL.

People are always asking me "why do you run" and I say "I don't know...I JUST RUN". You're probably right I should just do what I do and not fret over the numbers so much.)

Nice run, your pace is looking great. I love knowing my pace, but knowing my HR would probably be a bad thing for me.

Slow Joe,

I'm probably a little obsessed with the HR thing. I just keep crunching these numbers because of the BQ thing.

Hey Preston,

There is not much that you can do that is going to make some magic improvement by the Oklahoma Marathon. Increasing your running economy and aerobic capacity takes years and consistent training - which is what you are doing, I know. But at this point I think you should stop obsessing over your HR. I can see how it could be of benefit to measure it every 3-4 weeks to check for improvement, but there are so many daily variables and fluctuations that you are probably causing yourself more stress than necessary. Also, think about running a marathon with your HR as well. What do you do if it stops working, or gets interference from something, or stops sending correct info because of too much perspiration, etc? Then you start to panic and your marathon is over. I am not telling you not to do it, just have some sort of back up plan. And then there is the race itself. There are so many variables that go into a marathon - it is a whole new monster. Any one thing that goes wrong can turn into a bad day. In the end a marathon is more of a mental race then a physical one. You are just going to have to go out and run it for the experience. If you BQ, great, if not, learn and move on. You should still have time to run another race before Boston registration in September. So try to relax and not stress out so much.

wow, i'm just curoius what does it mean to you to QB with your first marathon? what will you believe about yourself if you do? what will happen if you don't? and in the end does QB go along with why you run? and if this is just too much thinking.....better just hold onto distracting youself with that heartrate monitor :)

I don't run with a heart rate monitor, but I do run by how I feel.

A girl I used to run with before my first marathon told me that whatever pace you consider "comfortably hard" in training runs... take 30 secs off that, and that's what you will feel is "comfortably hard" during a race.

Since she said that I have noticed that she is right... although I'd say it may vary between 15-30 secs depending on the race. If your logging some quality long runs and you can hold 7:30 pace for 6.6 miles, I think you may be surprised that you can run even faster than 7:30 pace during the whole half.

Hey Tesspip,

Ha..Ha...It's just a goal...I Just Run because I can... "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." If I don't qualify it's no big deal in the scheme of things..."For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I know my plans aren't to be an Olympic runner, I really just Run and Blog for fun ...and I find all of the numbers, PR's, HR, etc. (related to running) interesting how they relate. I'm really not that worried about it, I just like to talke about it. If I don't BQ then I'll just cheer you real runners on...!