Consolidation 1: I can slow

[nowster]

Time: 8:50am. Weather: 11°C, Cool, Sunny, Dry

Slower and much easier.

The aim this morning was to "soft pedal" things. I'd overdone it on the graduation run and also hurt something in my left shin. I'd taken two rest days, but was restless to go out again.

It was a little later than I'd usually go out. It's a bank holiday and I'd treated myself to a lie in.

The aim was to keep the speed low and the heart rate in zone 3. I achieved the first but not the second. HR peaked at 157bpm rather than my more normal peak of 180bpm.

The warm up walk was again up the steep hill towards the post office. I ran a much shorter route today. Rather than go down the straight I immediately took the path beside the high school. Then continue on down the hill, past the college's sports hall, spotting some horses in a field to the right of me.

The pace was easy, almost plodding. It felt a bit like speed walking.

The dog walkers were out in force this morning, and it was easy to chat with them as I passed.

Into the woods for the first time. The kissing gate latch was a faff. The path was packed mud and gravel. This is a new feeling. Thankfully the ground was firm enough and not slippery. A rottweiler was mooching round in the undergrowth. I said hello to the dog but it wasn't interested in me.

The bridge across the brook and a climb out of the valley. More dog walkers. A child being carried on its father's shoulders. And then a wag said something to me like "That's a lot of fuss just to go for a bacon butty."

Across the main road and into another green area, down into a continuation of the same valley. Near the end I was out-stared by a Siamese cat, defying me to run onto the bridge it was standing on (the path went another way).

And then out of the woods and done.

The cool down walk was a steep uphill.

At points my left shin was twingeing, and I adjusted my landing so it didn't hurt. I might have gone out a day earlier than I should have, but by doing a lower intensity run today I don't think I've made anything worse. A couple of hours after the run, it's feeling OK again. I might take two rest days again before my next run.

I returned home and did the stretches.

At no point in this run did I feel in any way out of breath. In fact, I was hardly breathing any heavier than I would have been if I'd brisk walked that distance. I wasn't sweaty either. The curious bit is that the bulk of the run was in HR zone 4 according to my watch (avg 146bpm), and it felt much easier than its description of that zone (fast, almost uncomfortable pace with forceful breathing). It felt more like the description of zone 2!

Anyway, this was a bit of a revelation. If I hadn't run out of distance, I'm pretty sure I could have kept up that pace for a good while longer.

Stats:

Distance: 3.17km (running), 4.44km (total)

Duration: 27 mins (running), 42 mins (total)

Pace (running): 8'28"/km. Splits (by km): 8'08", 8'05", 9'01", 9'31"/km

Top speed: 9.1km/h, 6'35"/km (pretty meaningless)

~~~

I was again listening to RTÉ Lyric FM this morning. Not much music but more chat. There was an interview with Van Morrison this morning. He's 75 today.

[Jools2020 Graduate]

Good to know you can slow, too! I am the Queen of slow! 😂

It almost feels like cheating - but I love my slow runs. I really look forward to them.

Hope your shin is ok after your efforts this morning,

I’ve been working in the garden today; at one point I had to go some distance to turn the hose on, so I jogged down the garden. It made me want to go out for a run! In the cooler weather, I may be able to run later in the day, now! Choices!

[nowster Graduate in reply to Jools2020]

It's still a bit sore. We went up to Skipton and on to Aysgarth Falls this afternoon. It was giving me a little gyp walking around but only if I didn't fully flex the foot.

[Roxdog Graduate]

Brilliant description of the joy of running and noticing your environment. Taking it steadily was a good plan! Happy for you!

[Ian5K Graduate]

Well run. 🙂

I see there’s no symbol for a runner on that shared path sign. I should write a stern letter to the council. 🧐

[Brunsamarathon Graduate]

I love how much more you can notice on a comfortable run 😊🏃‍♂️

[acountrycabbage Graduate]

I missed your graduation post -

🌟 C O N G R AT S ! 🌟

Must feel great to be ‘official.’ 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Maybe the wag feared she would break a nail. Your online crew are way more impressed with your efforts - sounds like a great first consolidation run ☺️

[nowster Graduate in reply to acountrycabbage]

Wag as in wit, not WAG as in football.

[acountrycabbage Graduate in reply to nowster]

I just googled it, hadn’t heard of it before! 😂

[Instructor57 Graduate]

Well done, sounds like a good run !

Nice to slow it down occasionally 😁👍

[MccHa Graduate]

Well done nowster 👏 the joy of slow running you see and notice things more...

I went slow for my run today and to be honest I did enjoy it and not aching as much afterwards 😂

[Tasha99 Graduate]

Have you got your heart rate zones set accurately? The devices’ estimates are sometimes way out. My friend’s watch was set at 170 when she often sees 200 on a sprint. I think your max may need increasing if you see 180 on a regular run, your max would need to be higher than that. Saying that, it takes a couple of attempts to start bringing hr down so keep with it. I couldn’t do it first time! Second attempt got me a 48 minute 5k. Then it came down gradually to a plateau where now i see gradual improvements.

[nowster Graduate in reply to Tasha99]

It's following the usual age related formula, I suspect.

[Tasha99 Graduate in reply to nowster]

You should be able to change it 👍🏽

[nowster Graduate in reply to Tasha99]

Not sure what to, though.

220-age gives 169 as Max HR

208-(0.7 × age) gives 172 as Max HR

Both of these are probably too low. If I can do a 5km, 30 min run at 170bpm rising to 180, and it feel like it's hard but not impossible, something's not right about the calculation.

That said, I do intend to continue to do runs at the 140-150bpm range, gradually extending their duration. Today was 27 minutes only because I ran out of path. Next time will probably be 33 minutes (Week 9 + 10%).

And I'm going to do some intervals work too, as mentioned before, using the C25K timings.

But I do need to keep an eye on how the shin is behaving.

[Tasha99 Graduate in reply to nowster]

The calculations don’t work. They’re just rough estimates. Your max is the highest you’ve seen it ever go. If you go to 180 in a run and it’s not hard, I’d say change it to 190 whilst you work out what the actual figure might be. Your zones will be higher then.

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Lovely post nowster, sounds as though you really relaxed and enjoyed it, great run, well done! There will be no stop 🛑 in you now 🏃