I’ve put my max HR down a bit as I wasn’t really reaching the highest zone. This felt more realistic, though it’s slowed me down again in lowest two zones. There are so many formulae and theories out there that you have to tinker a bit and go by feel.
I began the second run directly after the first and just stretched my legs and ran at a more normal pace. Really nice after an hour of slow slog.
Cold for me today - I didn’t ever really warm up. The chillier air brought out an overpowering scent of lime blossom. There were sunflowers in many of the gardens I passed. I can’t believe how quickly the year has gone. Lammas, the first harvest, the grain harvest, is almost here and autumn won’t be far behind. Lammas is Saxon for half loaf, the first bread baked from the gathered grain.
I got rather lost in the network of cycle tracks leading back onto the Oxford road. It was very breezy, grey and brisk, and the wind gods had thrown a gift down into my path, a spray of oak leaves and acorns, now resting on my shrine.
A woman at a bus stop on the Oxford road said to me that that was the right pace to go at. I explained it was a training run and had to be slow. I often wonder what other runners think and if they realise the snails pace is deliberate. Most people who pass me are sweating, panting and running flat out.
I hope you can make sense of the collage: which graphs go with which run.