Sunday, July 31, 2011

lets compare, shall we?

disclaimer: i know running in extreme heat/humidity isnt good for you. i know that it makes your heart work harder/beat faster. i know i dont always make the smartest decisions, and im ok with that. i wasnt trying to prove anything with the death run track workout last week during the heat wave, i just think the following comparison that occurred among a few runs showed some interesting results.

july 20th
4:00am
64 degrees
5 miles 45:08

mile 1: 9:17 (avg hr 159)
mile 2: 9:00 (160)
mile 3: 9:06 (162)
mile 4: 8:55 (166)
mile 5: 8:48 (172)


july 21
5:30pm
93 degrees (aka death run)
5 miles (one of the miles is warm up laps)- this hr based track workout is as follows (especially for you Jeri, since you left the comment asking about it... which i now realize i never got back to you about):

warm up lap to get hr to 130 (for garmin users, turn off your auto lap option before running and press lap after this first warm up lap). run one mile keeping hr at/around 130, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 140, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 140, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 150, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 150, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 160, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 160, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.
warm up lap to get hr to 170, press lap. run one mile keeping hr at/around 170, press lap. 90 second rest, press lap.

well, just walking around the track had my hr at 131, so i decided to say screw it to the 130 attempt. during the 140s laps, my heart wanted to beat closer to 150... during the 150s laps, my heart wanted to beat closer to 160... i just couldnt win. (and whats the deal with my 150s laps being slower than the 140s and 160s? weird).

so yeah, this is how it turned out....
mile 1: 11:37 (avg hr 146)
mile 2: 12:20 (154)
mile 3: 11:51 (165)
mile 4: 10:25 (175)

and lets compare it to 6 weeks ago when i did this track workout on a much cooler/slightly rainy morning:

mile 1: 12:24 (avg hr 134)
mile 1: 11:08 (144)
mile 2: 10:00 (153)
mile 3: 8:56 (163)
mile 4: 8:12 (174)

dear maine marathon, once again im begging you please please please, low temps. k thanks.


and back to a cooler run...
july 26
3:00pm
72 degrees
5 miles 43:49

mile 1: 8:40 (avg hr 147)
mile 2: 8:51 (165)
mile 3: 9:08 (162)
mile 4: 8:43 (164)
mile 5: 8:24 (169)
still glad i live in maine and not any middle of the US hot humid gross sweatfest all summer long places.

6 comments:

  1. It is totally a hot humid gross sweatfest in Louisiana right now! I had a failed workout yesterday! Nice workout for your run!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am totally with you in Dear Maine Marathon - lets hope that Oct 2 is nice and cool like last year! I wouldn't even mind drizzly weather.

    ReplyDelete
  3. yuk, that's disgusting. starting HR training in the summer sucks bc you have to run SO SLOW at the beginning.

    ReplyDelete
  4. thanks for the explanation. So I assume this is a workout you do periodically to check your progress with the HR training. The better conditioned your HR is, the quicker the paces at lowered HRs? How often do you do this "check up"? So much heart rate stuff I DON'T KNOW. Meh, good thing I'm a nerd and like to learn. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. and can I just go ahead and call you the B word for having a 60 degree run the end of july? I don't think we've dropped below 75 (even the middle of the night) since may. And that's with 100% humidity almost every night. I hate my life.

    ReplyDelete
  6. yup... supposed to do it every 6 weeks. you definitely start off slow and your heart conditions to pump more effectively, thus filling up more, but beating slower but allowing you to run faster. i think thats how it works ;) and although ill allow you call me a B, its really not my fault i live in maine and not middle of nowhere so dak :-P soooooooooo just move. k thanks.

    ReplyDelete