High-Octane

This was supposed to be easy...but it was actually hard. I was trying to keep my heart rate below 135 for the entire 15 mile run. I kept finding myself speeding up...then I would have to slow back down to bring my heart rate back to 135. I actually had to walk up a couple of hills for a short way because my heart rate went to 142. I like to run faster....! I'm going to run all my longer runs (10 miles) this week with the low heart rate and see what that does or how it feels. I was actually a little more sore than I thought I would be after this run...figure that? I have never run a long slow pace like this, I was supprised I had to go so slow to keep my heart rate at 135.

1/23/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate
1	10:15:00	134
2	10:20:00	134
3	9:37:00	135
4	9:25:00	133
5	10:09:00	135
6	9:29:00	135
7	9:29:00	135
8	9:57:00	136
9	8:51:00	136
10	10:19:00	136
11	9:31:00	136
12	9:03:00	136
13	9:45:00	137
14	9:45:00	137
15	8:55:00	137
Total	144:50:00	135
Pace	9:39:20

1 Thessalonians 1:3
"We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."

Okay...Here's the scoop.... I ran a single timed mile back in Sep. of last year at 6:00. I have wanted to go and run a timed mile again to see if I have improved so I did. I was hoping for a 5:45 but I din't make it. Only a slight improvement as you can see below but I did go on to run a total of 5 timed miles and if you compare those times to my previous 5 timed miles back in Nov. of last year I have great improvemnt...about 30 sec. improvement per mile (besides my first one). I really think I can do better, I think I may need to warm-up more. I'll try again in a few months.

Job 6:20
"They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed."

5 Timed Miles on Track
1/27/2011
Mile	Time
1/2		Warm-Up
1	5:57:00	Track
2	6:40:00
3	6:34:00
4	6:31:00
5	6:33:00
1/2		Cool-Down
Total	32:15:00
Pace	6:27:00

I'm trying something different this week. I decided to run my long days at a slower pace than usual keeping my heart rate low. This is opposite what I've been doing. So, yesterday was a hard day! Today, 10 miles on the treadmill maintaining my heart rate at 135.  This was a nice change and I felt really good when I finished. Not sure if it's a good step for training but it was good for me mentally. Tomorrow I plan to run the same as today. It will be interesting to see if my speed and heart rate stay the same.

1/25/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate
1	7:45:00	120
2	7:50:00	134
3	8:00:00	134
4	8:01:00	135
5	8:01:00	135
6	8:02:00	135
7	8:02:00	135
8	8:03:00	134
9	8:03:00	135
10	8:04:00	135
Total	79:51:00	133
Pace	7:59:06

Genesis 33:14
"So let my lord go on ahead of his servant, while I move along slowly at the pace of the flocks and herds before me and the pace of the children, until I come to my lord in Seir.”

Went to the gym again...same routine as yesterday. 10 Miles keeping my heart rate at or below 135. I started out a little faster today because it didn't seem my heart wanted to start pumping. Interesting my times were somewhat faster than yesterday for the same routine. I'd like to say this is progress in my training but I know it doesn't happen this quickly. Maybe yesterday was a little slower/harder because on Monday I did a hard tempo workout and my muscles were still tired from that. You can see my heart rate is always lower on the first mile since I really don't do any warm-up...just jump on the treadmill, go slow for the first quarter, then pick it up fast until my heart rate gets to 135 and then back it off to maintain that pace.

I always work a few weights (upper body)... about 30 min., when I go to the gym but I forget to note it sometimes. Also do about .15 to .2 cool-down jog but don't record it as part of my run.

1 Timothy 4:15
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress.

1/26/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate
1	7:25:00	127
2	7:31:00	133
3	7:37:00	135
4	7:45:00	135
5	7:50:00	135
6	7:55:00	135
7	7:58:00	135
8	8:01:00	136
9	8:03:00	136
10	8:05:00	136
Total	78:10:00	134
Pace	7:49:00

OUCH.....! One warm-up mile then eight"gut-it" half miles plus one cool down mile...dissappointing! I thought I could run faster than this... Really no improvement from my similar workout back in November (and I ran 10 half's that time)...this makes me angry...!

8 Timed 800's on Track
1/27/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate
1			Warm-Up
1st	2:54:00	148	Track
2nd	2:54:00	154
3rd	2:59:00	151
4th	2:58:00	154
5th	3:00:00	154
6th	3:04:00	151
7th	3:04:00	150
8th	3:00:00	155
1			Cool-Down
Total	23:53:00	152
Pace	2:59:07

Genesis 4:5
"but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast."

I should be gratful for what I can do...

Went to the gym today to do my baseline workout. 5 miles at 8:00 pace which keeps my heart rate below 135. It actually stayed lower than normal but still went up on the last mile or so more than I would like it to. I started looking back at my records and realized that if I allow myself to slow down slightly and then speed up throughout my run I can actually run faster overall and keep the same heart rate. I think I am going to do a few long road runs and monitor/keep my heart rate constant and see how that goes. Here's my treadmill run for today.

1/28/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate
1	8:00:00	118
2	8:00:00	131
3	8:00:00	134
4	8:00:00	137
5	8:00:00	140
Total	40:00:00	132
Pace	8:00:00

Matthew 5:41
"If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles."

Ran my loop today...

Not much to day...seemed easy at first then hard at the end...

Working from a remote computer today and it's difficult to enter information so I'm going to wait until Monday for all the details. Tomorrow is 15, hope it's not raining.