Monday morning 5k plus 1k in my new shoes

[Flyingred]

Taking the learning from Saturday's 10k, I decided to run today's 5k by heart rate. Having found that my HR of 145 bpm corresponds to a conversational pace I used that as my upper limit and eased off whenever my HR went above that point. My route is flat so that works for me. Unlike Saturday, instead of walking I dropped to a slower jog to get below target and that worked much better with no undershoots and overshoots like Saturday.

It was dry but overcast with a light breeze and mild enough for t-shirt and shorts. My first 1k came up in just over 6 minutes and I thought 'hmm this could be interesting' but I was determined to run to my HR target and accept whatever time it took, on the basis that as I get stronger and fitter the time will come down naturally.

I was mostly thinking about my form – forefoot striking, upright body with head in line with my spine, striking the ground beneath my hips and having springy knees (well I know what I mean by that!). Well, to my surprise I set a new PR of 29' 31"! This running lark can be so fulfilling when it goes well, can't it?

I walked home (cool down) took on some water and changed into my new Nike Free RNs. Having watched a few YouTubes on how to adapt to minimalist shoes, I followed the advice of jogging just 1k in them to start. I went back over to the field and did one lap, forefoot striking with a fast (180 spm) cadence to complete 0.85 km in 5 minutes. And they felt great – I'm not got to rush it but I'm looking forward to running many miles in them. Happy running!

[cheekychipmunks Graduate10]

Fabulous FR! How lovely to be able to concentrate on your form like that, and great that it resulted in a PB for you! 👏👏

I’m getting a Garmin for Christmas (thanks kind husband!), so I’ll be able to monitor my HR too. I’m never overly exhausted, nor do I breathe very heavily nowadays, and my resting heart rate is very low. Will be interesting to see what it gets to whilst running.

Hope you love your new runners! 😀

[Flyingred Graduate10 in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you Cheeky! Yep, a watch with HR monitor is a great toy. I'm sure the new runners will be great but the old ones are pretty decent too! I look out for your posts about what you find out from your Garmin.

[Sadie-runs Graduate10]

Ooh. I am very curious about those Nike Free RNs. Do keep us posted. Just reading Born to Run right now...

[Flyingred Graduate10 in reply to Sadie-runs]

Will do, but I'm going to transition slowly – I'm keen to protect my achilles and calves!

Born to Run is a great read and convinced me to try a minimalist shoe. From reading reviews and forum posts I heard about 'Chi Running' which I started yesterday.

[Sadie-runs Graduate10 in reply to Flyingred]

That’s very wise!