Afternoon Run - 6km (running to Heart Rate)

dannewton just finished a 6.33km run, that lasted for 50 minutes.
This run helped dannewton burn 487.0 calories.

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Description from Strava:

For my last run on Saturday I ran a little bit harder than I should have, especially considering both my lack of fitness and also the recovering calf injury. And while I completed the session with out any real ill effects, in hindsight I definately pushed to much too soon

I guess I just got excitable and carried away...

Todays run needed to be an easy recovery run, to get back running again but at a much easier (i.e. slower) pace.

That was achieved today by changing my watch display from the 'time elapsed' screen to the 'heart rate screen. As I ran I set myself an arbitrary target of 140 bpm. No real reason for that particular number other than I usually run at 160 bpm, and wanted to see how a conscious effort to slow done would fare.

I kept checking the screen every 30 seconds or so, and every time I saw my HR creep to 145 bpm, I'd force myself to go slower.

If you look at the graphs above, you can see that By and large I was able to keep close to the 140 target, and so I was pleased with how the attempt went.

I am slightly confused that the graphs look different though. The top one is my Garmin Watch analysis, and the bottom one is my Strava interpretation. Both of them are based on the same set of heart rate date, as my watch records it and sends it to Strava, but both programs have interpreted it slightly differently

Obviously it depends at which Heart Rate levels they have allocated to each zone, but I had assumed they would have treated it the same. For what its worth, I feel that the calculations from strava seem closest to how I felt during the run. I was definitely running very slowly

One of the benefits of watching the heart rate while running was that I couldn't see how fast I was going. The thing is, I have long suspected that I run too fast in my 'slow easy runs'. That isn't something to be proud of btw, the slow easy run should be slow and easy. You should be able to have a relatively comfortable conversation while running slowly, and when I did what I considered a slow run at 6min per km, I can't do that

Slowing it right down to 6:40 to 7:00 min per km, and I was actually able to hold a conversation.

I was on my own tonight, so I might have looked a bit stupid talking to myself, but at least I knew I was finally at a more suitable pace!

Another good thing to report though, I managed to run pretty much all of it this time, with barely any issue from my calf trying to flare up again. As you can see above, I slowed down to walk a little at the halfway point, and then a 2nd time to walk up a small hill near the end, but other than that it all felt good.

I just need to remember to take it slow... and that includes when I try again with the parkrun next weekend!

What else....oh yes!

I bought a new hat!

Did you not buy a new hat fairly recently Dan?

Well yes I did, but I wanted another one... besides, I desereved a treat for how well my training was going!

This is from Ben Parkes, who is a random running youtube person I've recently started watching link if you like that sort of thing

I like that the main part of the hat is this lightweight mesh, which means I get the benefit of the peaked brim to shield my eyes from the sun (and stop raindrops from going on glasses) but the breathable mesh means I don't overheat quite so much.

It also looks pretty cool, I mean, if I'm gonna get all sweaty and hot and bothered while running, I might as well look good at the same time!

Anyway. Just gotta finish writing this up, and then I can go grab a quick shower before getting my stuff ready tomorrow. I'm in the office (boo, hiss) and that means I need to iron my shirts for this week, or try to as I'm not very good at ironing.

Next run will be on Wednesday or Thursday, so I guess I'll see you then!

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If you would like to check out this activity on strava you can see it here:
https://www.strava.com/activities/9601078456

About the Athlete: Living in the UK, I am an intermittent Runner, but always striving for more consistency. When I'm not training I can be found photographing insects or listening to really loud angry music (which is the best type of music obviously!)

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