Finally catching up on blog entries. Before I wrote up yesterdays HR training zones entry, I had gone out and ran a mid-distance run at an easy pace. After last weeks 11 miles at threshold, and recognizing I had not only taken a step back cardio-wise, but also physically (I had minor soreness for a day or two afterwards - previously an 11 mile run would have induced no such thing) - I figured it'd be a good idea to take a step back and get at least a couple weeks of easy runs in to build back up. While my original plan had been to do shorter, more intense runs - the weather and crappy roads that led to me to that plan have not come up yet, so other options become available.
If I was going to go easy, I wanted to add a little more distance than last week. I wanted to keep it under 15 miles, though. I ended up adding a segment to one of my 10 mile loops, hoping it'd add a few miles - and it did add distance, but not quite as much as I hoped. Still, at 11.75, it turned out to be enough.
I started out at a nice pace and intensity - generally below 155 and somewhere between 8:45-9:00 min/miles. However, after about 4-5 miles, I noticed that the HR was creeping up a bit, so I had to slow down a tad. In retrospect, perhaps doing the back/bicep workout beforehand, plus only have a light breakfast, affected things more than I thought. True, I haven't been running much in the past month - but the pace and corresponding HR were a little more out of whack than I'd suspect. By the end of the run, I was having a hard time keeping the HR down, so I knew that I was pretty much done.
When I returned home and saw my average HR of 154, I was pleasantly surprised - I was concerned it'd be over 155. Then, the secondary concern was whether 154 was low enough to be considered 'easy'. After writing up yesterdays post and seeing the ranges for easy based on my performance, I saw that 138-157 fills that range of 65-79 %HR, so I just barely squeaked in. However, I don't like cutting it that close.
Later on that day, I started noticing a return of some right upper lateral calf soreness. I felt it in the same spot after last weeks run (which was one indication that I needed to build up again), but it went away after a day or so. Additionally, the top of my right foot started aching again. I popped a few advil later that afternoon (after the ice bath), and this morning both are improved, though not totally gone. I was hoping that with being off work this week, I'd be able to run a couple times - but those plans will have to be put on hold for the time being. A yoga class or two should clear things up pretty quickly, and I hope to be able to get in a 5 miler or so during the middle of the week, and a 9-10 miler on the weekend.
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