kentcowgill.org/blog

Another day, another run. I think I might almost start to be enjoying this. But ask me again after a few weeks - after all, isn't it three weeks to make a new habit?

Turns out the heart rate I've been clocking at the fastest is right at the suggested max heart rate for my age, according to several max heart rate formula. Or around 95% according to yet others. Most of the web sites where these formula and the meanings of the heart rate "zones" suggest that it's 'elite athletes' who train at 90-95% of their max heart rate.

"Elite athlete" I am not, but I know I've hit that heart rate spinning on my bike. Granted I never keep it that high for very long (sure, I know how to coast and cool down on my bike) - but it's a heart rate I'm familiar with. So I don't think I'm going to worry about it too much.

And my speed is all over the place. I thought that based on my last run/walk, I'd hit about 2.7 miles, given about .3 miles per run/walk set over 9 sets. Well I did my 9 sets, but after I got home and mapped out my actual route (since I forgot a turn or two) I find out I only ran/walked about 2.44 miles. And that was in about 31.5 minutes. So that's about .27 miles per set on average, which is less than what I was hoping for.

At least the new route kept me guessing:

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If I can keep up those paces, though - I'll be doing about 2.7 miles next time I go out. And then that'll pretty much wrap up week 2 of the plan. Which means I'll move to week 3, which will be 90 seconds jogging, 90 seconds walking (no sweat so far), but then 3 minutes jogging (youch!) following by 3 minutes of walking (whew!). And then repeat that. Which means (if I keep my paces) that I'll only cover about 1.5 miles in about 18 minutes. If I repeat it a total of three times, it'll be 2.3 miles. Four repeats, 3.1 miles. However, my guess is that especially on the longer runs, I'll likely slow it down - so the real distances will be less. So I'm not sure what I'll do. But I've got a few days to figure it out.

BTW, I never got around to getting out the stationary trainer for my bike. There are other days, though...

So I'm not really sure what happened. After all my careful calculations, I ended up running and walking about 2.44 miles, at least according to Google Maps. According to my other Timex Ironman (the one that has a speed and distance GPS, but nothing to help me map my routes) I went a little over 2.5 miles - though I think it locked onto the satellites a half block before I started running.

I also tried to sneak a peak at both my heart rate as well as my speed every now and again, and all I have to say is that I'm not convinced the GPS is terribly accurate. At least at any given point in time. At least I don't think the speed of my walk varied from 3 mph to 4.5 mph. Nor do I think my jogging speed varied from 5 mph to 7.7 mph. All of these speeds made an appearance on my watch at various times throughout, and I'm convinced I just glanced at my watch before it was able to accurately average out the speed while between satellite updates. Or something.

But I think the heart rate part was pretty accurate.

Speaking of which, I'm going to have to find out if it's safe for my heart rate to be going as high as it was on the 90 seconds jog intervals!

The route I took wasn't quite what I had planned, but it was close. I had to make some last minute adjustments because I was pretty sure a road didn't exist where Google Maps said one did - a condition I should have spotted before I tied my shoes.

But I didn't go down the street because I was so convinced it was a dead end. What with the "Dead End" sign posted that I normally drive by every time I go north.

Regardless, it was a nice circuitous route with mostly right turns.

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My first two runs had mostly left turns, going around the park, so I decided my next two should go the other way.

I think for the next several runs, I'll plot a course with an equal number of turns.

Too bad there's no tool online anywhere that would plot these routes for me automatically.