Back From The Dead?

06/07/2009
Saturday

I went for an easy trail run with my daughter today. She has been feeling out of sorts and sore when running lately. I suggested to get off the tar and hit the trails. I offered to show her the trails and felt it would be a good time to overcome my poor running experience on Thursday.

We ran the pit loop near my house which is moderately technical and hilly but nothing too tough. It was great! I felt good, we went her pace and had a chance to talk comfortably about everything.

The thing that stands out the most is how good the run felt. We went 4.5 miles,
similar to Thursday, The pace was close but I was walking dead on Thursday....yet today was a very enjoyable run
My daughter was very happy too as she had no pain and she felt great!

Upon our return, per my suggestion, we hit the cool pool water to help the legs and it felt fantastic. Isn't it funny how much a different two days can make. The two runs were very similar as far as terrain difficulty, the temp and pace were concerned.
Yet I sucked on Thursday and totally enjoyed Saturday.

I did experience something odd though, usually when I run, my heart rate will spike up into the 200s during the first 400 meters or so, then settle down. This time my heart rate spiked at one point of each mile(except the last one). Not to the point that I felt it but when I downloaded my stats I noticed it.

I chalked it up as a fluke and was not too worried about it.

4.5 miles 44:47 (9:58 pace) 142 av----240 max heart rate
splits:
10:09...133-192
11:51...144-240
10:49...146-240
10:03...144-199
9:29...144-154 with decent kick at the end.
ended with a half mile cooldown walk, cooldown swim.

06/07/2009
Sunday.

I was up late Saturday night and felt spent from the sun and work around the house so I decided not to worry about a run Sunday and treat it as a "however I felt kind of of day" Run, not run.....what ever.

Well, when I woke up at 7:30 (a bit late for me) I decided I would do a moderate road run. Not push too hard but still feel like I worked. I took off down an 8 mile loop from my house and hoped I didn't fall apart halfway (where all the hills were).

It actually went very well and I felt pretty darn good. The weather was perfectly clean and sharp. I didn't really start sweating much until I hit the hills. Though everytime I checked my heart rate it seemed low for the speed and amount of effort I was experiencing (beteeen 132-143 as an average).

At the end of the run, I was glad I went out today, I had a very good kick and immediately went right into a cooldown 1 mile jog in which I ran a similar pace as the run so really a 9 mile run I guess.

I hit the pool and enjoyed a cooldown swim. Again like Saturday, I felt very good and strong during the run but was suprised when I down loaded my stats. The heart rate was askew just like Saturday? Three of the miles were normal but all the others had a huge spike in max heart rate.I am not sure what is going on and the only thing I can think of that is different from any other year is running the 50k. I am wondering if that could cause the irratic heart rate.

9 road miles, 1:21:38 (9:03 pace) 143 av.....214 max

Splits:

9:01...143-205
9:05...140-208
8:53...138-151*normal
9:00...141-214
9:10...141-198
9:02...141-151*normal
9:21...147-190
8:17...150-210.....good kick then 1 more easy mile
9:47...134-144*normal

Each spike is only for a few seconds and just happened once during that mile. Now that this splike thing happened twice, I don't think it is a fluke.

As a cooldown I hit the pool for a nice easy swim. Then later in the day went for a nice 3 mile trail walk with my daughter's dog.....very relaxing walk for me but an exciting romp through everybit of mud he could find....I think he is a trail monster at heart.... so what..a trail mutt or trail puggles? He is a beagle/pug mix.