Judebert

I've been improving, slowly, doing my heart rate intervals. I've never had a problem with energy, I've never been out of breath; my only complaint is that it's so slow: the morning 5K that used to take 30 minutes now takes 45.

At the end of every run, though, I've felt like I could do another. Which led me to wonder whether I could take on a marathon.

My friends who have run in marathons tell me that my 14:00/mile pace is acceptable, and that I could start training. The websites say I'd need to run a lot more (which I really don't have time to do).

I thought, "I'm doing something new here. Nobody has information about running a marathon on heart rate intervals. Why not try a run on the weekend just to see how far I can actually go?"

My family practically laughed at me.

I suppose I'll have to be my own support this time. I'm not saying I can keep running for four hours, or twenty-six miles. I just want to see how far I can go, and maybe make it a regular weekend running thing.

Judebert

My legs have were really sore yesterday. I suppose that's the expected result of a 9-week hiatus, though. I'm afraid to check my weight, especially with all the holiday binging I've been doing.

This morning, while I waited for Tatiana to get ready, I set the zone alarms on my new heart rate monitor. The American Heart Assocation guidelines were pretty vague: they said my max heart rate was 220 minus my age, and that I should exercise between 50% and 85% of my max. The guidelines that came with the heart monitor said my max was 219 minus my age, and offered three zones that I could exercise in.

I wound up setting my zones to 120 - 141 BPM. This was the aerobic zone, and it fell within everybody's guidelines. I should be pretty safe.

The plan is to run until I set off my high alarm, then walk briskly until I set off the low alarm. Rinse, lather, repeat. It's my hope that this "heart rate interval" exercising will be essentially identical to aerobic exercise, resulting in quick weight loss and cardiovascular health.

The run itself was both outstanding and disappointing. I wound up walking much more than I expected; it seemed like I couldn't go more than 100 meters without setting off my high alarm, no matter how slowly I tried to pace myself. The balls of my feet hurt pretty badly from rubbing inside the shoes. My overall time was a dismal 14:09 pace, a total of 45:36 for the whole run.

On the bright side, this was the easiest run ever. I was never really breathing hard. I had plenty left over for a sprint to the finish line. My knee didn't even hurt! I could've run a whole marathon on these intervals.

I'm actually looking forward to running again on Friday! I just need to get some padded inserts. Maybe I could wear two pairs of socks.