It’s been a while since I wrote a run report, so I thought I would today. I have been continuing my training plan to increase my endurance and fitness by running three times a week. My runs are still HR based and vary in effort.
I usually run on Saturdays but had stayed the night on Friday at my brother’s, after a trip to London with him and our two sisters, to see ‘The King and I’. We’d had a great time together, including a trip down memory lane to see our grandparents former house and didn’t get back until well after midnight. I didn’t sleep well on the inflatable mattress and although my plan was to run in the afternoon after I got home, I was really tired so decided to postpone.
It was drizzling this morning, but mild, so I donned my usual running gear, including waterproof running jacket and sun visor and off I went! Long warm up, hit the button on my watch and the run had begun!
It’s not always easy for me to keep my heart rate low during a long run. About 15 minutes in I swallowed a small fly and had a coughing fit! My HR shot up into the next zone and I was not pleased! I even debated starting the run again - but decided to carry on. 😊
It was fairly quiet and I ran on, listening to a playlist chosen by Amazon Music, based on my recent plays. It was pretty good and I was singing along 😊. I’m starting to recognise a lot of people that I see on my runs, especially dog walkers. One of them commented that I was running more slowly than usual - I think he was right. I never seem to see him when I’m doing speed intervals! Perhaps he thinks I can’t run fast 🤣
In the last 20 minutes I was struggling to keep my HR down and mostly succeeded. No more flies, but occasionally lack of concentration or a slight incline pushed it up a few beats into the next zone. I think my coach’s plan is to get me running slowly for 90 minutes before increasing the pace so I’ll run a 10K in that time. She has told me not to think about pace or distance, but in practice that is quite challenging. Of course I’m going to look at how far I’ve run!
Today’s run was 7.38 km at an average HR of 124 bpm. Well within the ceiling of 128, so I’d call that a success! No problem at all with staying on my feet and running for 1hr 20mins and ended feeling good, not even out of breath. I could have continued but decided I’d better not 🤣
Happy running 😊👍
Written by
Jools2020
Graduate10
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👏👏👏👏👏, what a good long run Jools, and well done keeping your heartrate down, especially with the fly incident, think I would have had to walk to recover from that 😄
Thanks, Sue! I was so annoyed about the fly! I was keeping well in the zone before that. I needed water and I don’t usually take any on my runs unless they’re more than 90 minutes or it’s really hot - but I think I shall start using my nice running vest and taking some with me! 😊
Sounds good Jools. Well done for keeping that HR down, 🪰(glad 🕷wasn't needed to get rid of that fly!) , stopping when told and staying on your feet !! And always good to return from a long run feeling you can do more 🤗🏃♀️.
Thanks, Sandraj39 . I was happy because I knew I could have carried on! I wanted to pop into Tesco for a coffee, but it had been drizzling for the whole run and I was soaking wet.
1 hr 20 mins is not taxing at low HR, I’ve been building up to it. 😊 Next week, 1hr 25 mins. Getting slowly to 10K concentrating first on time on my feet.
‘The King and I’ was fabulous! My uncle had the soundtrack to the film and I was allowed to play it, so when I saw the film as a child, I already knew all the songs. It’s always remained one of my favourite musicals, up there with ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.
The current production is well cast. The King was pretty good, (but Yul Brynner was the man!) The voices of Tuptim and Lun Tha were very special and Anna was surprisingly good. Crown Prince Thulalonghorn was great. Loved the part during the March of the Siamese Children when the music changes and in he struts! You have no doubt who he is. The Lady Thiang also deserve a mention. Her singing was fabulous. I’ve a terrible memory for actors’ names.
Loved the sets and the opening scenes of the boat were brilliant! A great night out and we were in the 4th row of the stalls, pretty much in the middle. You can’t beat a good show, especially going to London to see it if you’re a Londoner! A trip down memory lane, zipping round the underground like I was born to it, which I was 😊
Well done Jools2020, sounds like a good run. I'm interested in your low heart rate training. Are you doing it for any particular reason? I really struggle with my heart rate going high quite quickly when I start running and then stays fairly high for the rest of the run. If I tried to keep my heart rate in lower zones I would end up walking much more than running and wouldn't enjoy it much. I don't suffer any serious effects from high heart rate other than feeling quite puffed. But I'd love to have a heart rate of 124 bpm for an entire run and such a long one too. Well done.
Thanks! “Feeling quite puffed” at the end of a parkrun I did back in the summer was exactly why I started this training. Actually I was exhausted and had to lie down on the grass! I had been ill on two occasions last year and wanted to recover my former fitness and build my aerobic base back up!
So 80% of my running is at low heartrate. Some of my runs are slightly faster finish and some are intervals. Yes, you might have to walk at the start (I just slow down). It takes a while, but after a few months you realise that you are running faster at the same low heart rate. Yes, I still get puffed but I expect to when I’m pushing myself either at the end of a long run or during intervals.
I’m doing this ultimately to get back up to an easyish 10K (and eventually a HM) as well as to improve my 5K time without being a gasping wreck on the grass!
I have an online coach to write my weekly plan and figure out all my zones. There’s no real need for that, though; most of it is common sense and well researched. I just like it! Feel free to message me with any questions.
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