60 minute run ☀️

[Jools2020]

I’ve done a fair few 60 minute runs this year. Most of them were low HR runs when I had my coach! I never found them hard - many of them were barely any effort. But I haven’t done any for a few weeks so today was the day!

Off I go for my warm up. It was very warm out - so I knew that keeping my HR down was going to be tricky. I record my warm up nowadays so I’m not tempted to cut it short! I start jogging and immediately feel that it’s difficult. Toxic Ten! But I’d rather have this feeling during my warm up and not during the run itself. I do a few faster intervals and slow down again. Some of my warm up is uphill and most of it is in a built up area.

I reach the point where I plan to start my run. What a glorious morning up here in Staffs! I do a few more stretches and after chatting to a gentleman with a dog for a few minutes - I’m off! For some reason, although it’s warming up - it was not difficult to keep my HR down today. Sometimes it’s like that. I have a range of 120 - 133 that I like to try and keep to. I had already turned off the km notifications so I wouldn’t be tempted to speed up when I saw how slowly I was running!

After about 2.5 km, I’m running by the side of the lake. Although it’s only about 8:00 a.m. there are a fair few people about, dog walkers, runners, families. It’s quite a tourist spot in the summer and it looks like the narrow gauge railway will be running.

On reaching 30 minutes, my halfway point, I turn round. I’m not so strict about my heartrate on this leg! I figure I can speed up a little and my average will still be in the range. I consider pulling out the stops for the 6th km but decide against it. It’s very warm and I would be too sweaty to go into Costa! 🤣 Knowing that I have the stamina to do that if I wanted was enough.

It’s definitely much warmer on the way back, but there are trees providing some welcome shade. I carry on, sneaking a Quick Look at how far I’ve run! 😊 I stop the watch at 60 minutes. 6.71 km. Now possibly that’s the furthest I’ve run on a low HR 60 minute run, so very happy! Not even out of breath. Average HR131.

I do a few stretches and head for Costa to celebrate 😊 ☕️ 🍰

[Beachcomber66 Administrator Half Marathon]

That is a really cool run Jools. Completed your planned run, thought about upping the pace, decided not to and finished with a smile of satisfaction. Joys of running captured perfectly.🙂

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to Beachcomber66]

Thanks - yes, it feels just like that today 😊

[SueAppleRun 10 Miles]

Awesome run Jools and sounds just perfect, you are so disciplined too

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to SueAppleRun]

Thanks, Sue! It all fell into place this morning 😊

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

What a great, disciplined run Jools - and bang on target too! You definitely earned the Costa goodies 🌞

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to linda9389]

Thanks, Linda - I had a discount, too, on the cake 😊!

[cheekychipmunks Half Marathon]

Lovely run Jools2020 , sounds just up my street. Well done! 👏👏👏👏

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to cheekychipmunks]

Thank you! Running when it’s hot really isn’t my ‘thing’ so it felt good that this run went to plan 😊

[drl212]

Terrific run and commentary!!!

Well done...

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to drl212]

Thank you 😊!

[over61andstilltrying Half Marathon]

All sounding so good. Well done to you. 👏🎉🏃‍♀️😊 And lovely photos too. I am definitely intrigued by your warm up, perhaps it is something you have developed over a period of time. Perhaps your coach came up with it. It seems to have jogging and intervals and stretching. I wonder how long you spend on your warm up? Oh dear! I do some warm up exercises in my house and some stretches and probably think of the early part of any run as also in the warm up phase.

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to over61andstilltrying]

I suffer terribly with the toxic 10 - and also my heart rate spikes at the start of a run. My coach suggested a longer warmup to help with both these things! After stretches at home I warm up for about 10 minutes - a mixture of walking, jogging and short bursts of speed! Then I stop - do a few more stretches. If I’m going to be running faster or doing intervals I do a few drills and some more short speed intervals. Then I’m ready to start! My warm up is as important as my run 😊

[over61andstilltrying Half Marathon in reply to Jools2020]

Thank you for your reply. I have such a back log of tasks so I don't want to extend my overall time for running. I also can have a heart rate spike at he beginning of a run but not always. I currently have a heart rate alert at 128bpm to ensure that I run at a lower pace and therefore put less impact through my poorly knee. Tend to average 118bpm. This does mean that I have to switch to walking at times to bring my heart rate down. Would prefer to run only, but seems right for me at the moment. How long did you have a coach for? Is that still ongoing?

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to over61andstilltrying]

Wow, that’s a great low heart rate! I suppose it all depends on your maximum HR and I kept forgetting to ask my coach what mine is - I think it’s 165.

I had a coach for 6 months, finished in April. I was trying too hard after illness and getting nowhere - she gave me a sensible training plan to get me back up to 10 miles. I kept to it because she gave me feedback, so I had to! Some of my training was intervals but most was low HR running. I did have to walk a lot at the beginning but over time I got faster and now I don’t need to walk - I just run more slowly to bring it down. My low range is 120 - 133 set by my coach after a benchmark run. I’m happy if my average on a run is around 130. And I do sometimes just go out and run, although I start really steadily. I often speed up for the last 5-10 minutes of a run because I like that feeling!

It’s sometimes a chore to have a longer warmup but I tell myself it’s only 5 minutes longer than I’ve always done and it makes such a difference to my run. I’m fortunate that my knees are ok 😊

[over61andstilltrying Half Marathon in reply to Jools2020]

I manually changed my maximum heart rate on my Garmin watch as it was telling me that I sometimes ran at 110% of maximum which clearly isn't possible. I used MAF (maximum aerobic function) number with adjustments to choose where to set my heart rate alert. My pace is obviously slower running at low heart rate. Today it was 9min 45secs/min. I know lower pace is all I am allowed to do if I don't want to further upset my knee. I have a physio appointment on Thursday. I shall be very interested to hear what she has to say.

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to over61andstilltrying]

I think various different training methods use different heart rates. My Z1 is 72 - 80% of my maximum heart rate. So it works out slightly faster low HR than yours, but the basics are the same. If I understand it correctly then the MAF heart rate you use is for aerobic training and isn’t necessarily your maximum. I’m not quite sure how it works though.

My pace started off much slower than yours (more like 11:00 - 11:30) - and of course it varies - but this run I posted my average pace was 8:45 so I was very pleased with that as it’s got a lot faster at the same low heart rate, although yours is lower than 131.

I hope it goes well with your physio appointment.

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

That sounds like a really lovely run 🙂 And it shines out in your post that you enjoyed it too 🤗

[Jools2020 Half Marathon in reply to Irishprincess]

I did! I was surprised that it worked out so well I was very warm 😃