Another long run today. We've been out of town for the last week so I'd only managed one short run on Friday after we got back. I wasn't sure if that would make me rested or rusty. The last two weekends I've managed 20 km fairly easily, relatively speaking, so in my mind I was thinking 25 km might be doable. But I'd play it by ear, these days I don't take my runs for granted.
I figured I'd try to keep my heart rate under 130 for the first half, which translated to an average pace of 10.5 km/hr. And no racing! I started to come up behind two other runners and despite wanting to speed up to pass them I held back. That worked out because they slowed down to walk for a while so I could pass easily. But then there was another big group ahead which I was slowly catching up to. Thankfully they took a different route so I was on my own again.
The first half went easily. A few minor aches and pains but all transient. After my coffee stop, as usual, it took me a few kilometers to get back into the flow. I began to have doubts when my right knee started to act up but, like last week, it soon settled down again.
After the 18 km loop I switched my watch from speed to distance. From here it was just a matter of completing the 25 km, pace was secondary. I knew my heart rate would probably start to increase and my aim was to not let it get much over 140. Amazingly it was holding steady at about 125. But after a short uphill where I could feel my heart pounding it still didn't go up, which made no sense. I looked closer and realized I was displaying my average heart rate for the whole run. I switched to my current heart rate and I found it was up to 145. Oops. I eased off a bit and got it down around 140.
Earlier I had even entertained the fantasy of 30 km but that last 5 km was harder than I thought it would be. At first I had to force myself to slow down to keep my heart rate at my target of 140, but soon enough I had to force myself to keep it up there. It started to creep up over the last two kilometers. I gave up trying to keep it under control and it went over 150 for the last kilometer, peaking at 155. That was still well under my peak of 165 last week. And I'd done fairly well keeping my average down to 128 compared to 134 last week.
In the end it was my left knee that was starting to get painful (instead of my usual right one). It seemed like 25 km was about what my body was prepared for. That wasn't too surprising because I haven't really done that much mileage this summer. I might have been able to force myself to go 30 km but it would have been painful and risked doing some damage.
I ended up with an average pace of 10.4 km and a time of 2 hr 25 min. At first I was only planning 10 km/hr and 2:30, but after the first half I thought I might make 10.5 and 2:20. Close enough. 25 km is the furthest I've run in probably 30 years so I can't complain. My knees are a little sore but with any luck that won't last long.
I figured I'd try to keep my heart rate under 130 for the first half, which translated to an average pace of 10.5 km/hr. And no racing! I started to come up behind two other runners and despite wanting to speed up to pass them I held back. That worked out because they slowed down to walk for a while so I could pass easily. But then there was another big group ahead which I was slowly catching up to. Thankfully they took a different route so I was on my own again.
The first half went easily. A few minor aches and pains but all transient. After my coffee stop, as usual, it took me a few kilometers to get back into the flow. I began to have doubts when my right knee started to act up but, like last week, it soon settled down again.
After the 18 km loop I switched my watch from speed to distance. From here it was just a matter of completing the 25 km, pace was secondary. I knew my heart rate would probably start to increase and my aim was to not let it get much over 140. Amazingly it was holding steady at about 125. But after a short uphill where I could feel my heart pounding it still didn't go up, which made no sense. I looked closer and realized I was displaying my average heart rate for the whole run. I switched to my current heart rate and I found it was up to 145. Oops. I eased off a bit and got it down around 140.
Earlier I had even entertained the fantasy of 30 km but that last 5 km was harder than I thought it would be. At first I had to force myself to slow down to keep my heart rate at my target of 140, but soon enough I had to force myself to keep it up there. It started to creep up over the last two kilometers. I gave up trying to keep it under control and it went over 150 for the last kilometer, peaking at 155. That was still well under my peak of 165 last week. And I'd done fairly well keeping my average down to 128 compared to 134 last week.
In the end it was my left knee that was starting to get painful (instead of my usual right one). It seemed like 25 km was about what my body was prepared for. That wasn't too surprising because I haven't really done that much mileage this summer. I might have been able to force myself to go 30 km but it would have been painful and risked doing some damage.
I ended up with an average pace of 10.4 km and a time of 2 hr 25 min. At first I was only planning 10 km/hr and 2:30, but after the first half I thought I might make 10.5 and 2:20. Close enough. 25 km is the furthest I've run in probably 30 years so I can't complain. My knees are a little sore but with any luck that won't last long.
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