I was happy to get back to 7Km last week, and then did 5Km twice, one was Parkrun, plus a 2Km at niko-niko pace in my barefoot shoes.
The niko-niko pace for me should be a heart rate of 103bpm (138-age/2), but I just cannot run that slow! Niko-niko is Japanese for 'Smile'. 😃
So today I got out my old phone, downloaded a metronome app, and set it at 150, and started off to run a couple of Km with that as my step rate, to see what my heart rate settled at. I did not use the barefoot shoes - too scary. The answer is 125bpm, so that's too fast. Cut step rate to 140 per minute, and ran another couple of Km, (boy this is slow!) and that gets me to 110bpm heart rate. That will have to do, I can't run any slower. I probably just have a little heart.
So then I just ran, up hill, down dale.... until I got home. This is the actual route that killed me off last September, so I am pleased to say I don't feel like I even ran a step, muscle-wise, despite the ascent and descent. But the 'happies' are there, so it must be okay. 9 Minutes per Km, yawn!!!!
A grey old day, not actually raining, but trying hard.
Happy running.