When you have a stubborn streak

[ForbiddenPlanet]

On Friday I had planned to run for 36 minutes @ 135 bpm heart rate, but it was a rest day in my 5K plan, and the suggested workout on my watch was "Rest" as it had been the day before. So I took a rest day.

Saturday was my 5K plan weekly Long Easy Run and I messed this up, covering 10K in just under an hour which is too fast for my present state of fitness and fatness to qualify as an easy run on a warm and muggy day. Then the watch annoyed me by telling me I needed 34 hours to recover.

I had planned today as a rest day, but as I'd had one on Friday, I decided to do the watch suggestion of a Base Run 39 minutes @ 135 bpm, except I decided to make it an easy run and was pleased that I did it with average HR of 121 bpm.

But then I decided to give my watch "something to recover from" and immediately pressed the button to start another run. I decided I would run until my HR crept above 140 bpm, or I felt tired, or I'd reached 25 km for the day.

Around 13 km (19 for the day) I suddenly hit a wall and headed for home, sticking in a couple of laps around the park to make 21.4 km for the day, with average HR of 134 for the second run. And "only" 45 hours recovery "needed" according to the watch. 😂Cadence was high throughout and I never got above zone 2 - pleased with those stats.

So I guess that's my first HM distance run. Fairly rubbish time of 2:27:51 but it was supposed to be an easy run! 😁

I appear to have lost half a stone (I'm sure it will come back with a few beverages!), so next time I think I would take a hydration vest and some gels - maybe that would stop me hitting a wall. 😀

[Me_time Graduate10]

If 2:27:51 is your rubbish time for HM, I would be so embarrassed to share my run stats.Well done on doing the distance

👍

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Me_time]

Thank you - as it's my 1st attempt, maybe I've no real idea what's a good or bad time. 🤔

At a recently family gathering I learned that my older brother ran a HM in 1:50 at age 65, so I guess in the back of my mind that's a target - though he has been a runner and overall fitness enthusiast all his life, so probably way better than I could achieve!

[Me_time Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

My first HM was a few weeks ago and it was 2:19:06. I was so chuffed! I am not expecting to achieve that again. That day everything just fell into place and it turned out to be a good run. I thought 3hrs is more realistic time for me hehehe.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Me_time]

Ooh congratulations!!! 👏👏Significantly better than me! 🤣🤣

I'm sure 2:19 is just the beginning! 🏃‍♀️💪

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to Me_time]

My PB for HM is 2'07'28" set in April, but I haven't improved on that since.

I'm spotting a pattern where I have improvements in Spring and Autumn but seem to consolidate the rest of the year.

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

I'll wager if you get that 10K in 45 minutes, you'll be dipping below 2 hours. 👍💪🏃‍♂️

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to ForbiddenPlanet]

You may well be right!

[Frenc Graduate10 60minGraduate in reply to Me_time]

Lol with you there Me_time ! There aren’t enough digits out there for my time 🤣.

[Me_time Graduate10 in reply to Frenc]

Hehehe..I would be just happy to complete it everytime I plan to do it 😆

[Frenc Graduate10 60minGraduate]

Super well done ForbiddenPlanet ! That’s brill. I think we must all have a stubborn streak lurking - I certainly need it sometimes 😁. Well done again! 😊😊😊

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Frenc]

Thank you Frenc. I was quite surprised I kept going to that distance! 😁

[Irishprincess Graduate10]

I don’t think that’s a rubbish time at all. My first HM was slower than that, I was just thrilled to get the 13 miles done at all!

Well done and congratulations to you 👍👏 and for the weight loss too! Both major achievements 💪

If you head over to the Marathon forum and ask for your well earned HM badge, you’ll be given a lovely shiny new one for that forum 🤗

Also, there are lots of tips there about hydration and fuelling for longer distances.

healthunlocked.com/marathon...

[ForbiddenPlanet Graduate10 in reply to Irishprincess]

Thank you for the encouragement and info IP! 🙏 I'll head over there and check it out! 😀

(I think the weight loss might just be sweat loss! 🤣🤣)