Ragged Intervals

OBJECTIVE
8 mi. w/ 9x2 min.@ 6:40/mi. & 2 min. jog

ACHIEVED
8.21 mi.@ 8:33/mi. incl. 9x2 min. & 2 min. jog

7:29 AM 73° 94% 0 mph Max HR 179 Avg. HR ~155

It was raining very hard when I got up to go out for this one.

Once I started running from the Y, I struggled. My back was a problem ... right between my shoulder blades. It was like something was pinched or twisted. I thought it would loosen as I warmed up but it really never did. It has caused a mild headache throughout the day and limited range of motion (turning my neck and shoulders).

Anyway I wore my heartrate monitor today. I wanted to see what heart rate did during my 2 minute recovery jogs. I was disappointed to find that I didn't ever fully recover and my heart rate just kept going higher and higher throughtout the portion of the run. During the jogs, the heart rate would come down but wouldn't get lower than when I started the last interval. Of course the rate would take off during the intervals. On a graph, I imagine it as a 2-steps-forward-one step-back pattern. My maximum heart rate hit 179 on my eighth and/or ninth interval. Ironically that is my "textbook" maximum heart rate ... i.e., 220 - age = MHR or 220 - 41 = 179. The heart rate monitoring was disappointing because I was hoping to find that I was recovering better/faster.

My intervals paces were all over the board. I was trying to hit 6:40/mile without looking at my watch very much. Here's what that got me:

Warmup 2.38 mi.@ 8:53/mi.
2 min.@6:48/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:43/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:36/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:44/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:45/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:39/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:41/
2 min. jog
2 min.@7:00/
2 min. jog
2 min.@6:51/
2 min. jog
Cooldown 1.47 mi.@ 8:55/mi.

I'm disappointed that I wasn't more consistent and that I missed my times so much. I may have been letting the heart rate situation get into my head a bit (e.g., you're not recovery properly ... there's no way you can sustain the speed ....).

Needless to say I'm happy this one is over. Looking to be stronger next week!

PRE RUN
FRS & 1/2 Clif bar

POST RUN
SlimFast
Later, water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk