Day Three started with a 6:00AM rise after a not-so-restful night but I still felt prepared for the day's challenges ahead. Before I even got out of bed I had to test my Resting Heart Rate with my new Polar Heart Rate monitor. I'm not sure how accurate the reading would be considering my lack of sleep but the reading was 77. When testing for your RHR (resting heart rate) its best to do it on three different days and then take the average. This was my first day testing so since I did not know my exact numbers I figured that I would work with the general outlines for someone my age. That would be a Maximum Heart Rate (meaning how many times your heart can beat per minute) of about 200 and then work within the percentage zones during the workout. I'll explain more later.
Today's run was a 'Tempo' run and not as long so I didn't feel for a heavy breakfast this time.
This is a banana and egg white omlette (don't knock it 'til you try it) with cinnamon and a slice of wheat free pumpernickel bread.
The drink is almond milk with whey protein powder mixed in.
We want to start our runs earlier and earlier these days because the heat has been unbearable. We did some light stretching and then were out on the road by 7:30.
Today's mission was a 'hard intensity Tempo' run. We were to start with a warm up mile and then once we finished that we began the tempo section. During the warm up mile I would want my heart rate monitor to indicate that my heart is working between 120 and 140 beats per minute. This is about 50%-60% of my Maximum heart Rate (MHR) and is considered the energy efficient or recovery zone and it's pretty much where you want to be for a warm up or cooling down after working at a high intensity.
My heart rate monitor is worn around the torso just under the bust line and I think I'm going to need to pin it to my bra as I'm kind of small and the strap only just fits. The display unit is a neat little watch!
The tempo section of the workout would only be twenty minutes but it's twenty minutes of vigorous effort. Not 100% maximum burnout and almost kill yourself effort but about 80%-90% effort. If I ran at an effort any higher than that I would only be able to hold that speed for probably under a minute at most. Think explosive sprinting.
Now back to the tempo section. Basically after the warm up mile I would have to run my tail off for 20 minutes trying to keep the same pace and working within my 80%-90% MHR zone. Sounds easier than it is. We decided to run out from the mile mark for 10 minutes and then turn back to complete the other 10. I set my Target Heart Rate alarm to go off on my watch if I went above 180 beats per minute which I thought was my 90% mark but I discovered during the run that it was actually about 190. Remember I was just working with the general numbers and not my own personalized zones. I'm going to have to take a VO2 test I think...
Anyways the beeping worked out because I knew that as long as it kept beeping I was working where I should be.
So we finished our warm up mile and stretched quickly. Then we proceeded to run as though we were escaping a zombie attack. The first five minutes weren't so bad but once I reached ten I realized what a challenge it really was. I've always been running on feeling and guessing at whether I kept the same pace throughout but now that I had this little sucker beeping away on my arm I would have to catch myself and push harder when it went quiet. I did well keeping the steady pace though...even when my heart rate monitor slid down a bit and wasn't detecting my heart beat I managed to keep a good pace while fixing it. Once it caught my beats again it was at 167 so I just sped up a bit again now that I wasn't wriggling the strap up under my bra and including a few bunny hops to help it on the way. I ended up at the mile mark almost exactly at the end of the 20 minutes (I was about 10 seconds off) and we had another mile cool down before reaching back at home base. After calculating our mileage it turns out that I did about 3, six minute miles. Of this, I am proud! Haha!
I had my usual protein shake, taking care to SIIIPPP it this time and by the time I got home it was too early for lunch so I had a post run snack.
Granola, banana, cherries and skimmed milk.
I had a nap and woke up feeling very fatigued. I wasn't sure how I was going to get all of my errands done plus my weight training but once I actually got up, moved around and ate some more I thought, 'Oh hello energy.' I ended up finishing everything I had to do and powering through my strength workouts doing better times and steadier reps with shorter recovery times (indicated by heart monitor) than I ever have...all in time for a little love from the sun. I'm loving the effect that all of this endurance training is having on my strength workouts. It really goes to show how important it is to mix things up!
Giving my poor feet a little rest and trying to correct my ridiculous pants tan that has made my legs three tones: Pale on the upper thigh, darker on the quads and bronze the rest of the way down from the tops of my knees. Sheesh.Great way to cool down after a busy day.
And so ended day Three!
Today is Day Four and I am taking it as a rest day. Its a scheduled cross train day but I have speed work tomorrow and I am going to give myself a break after all of that work yesterday!
Pity I am 'resting' at my office desk. :P
Ho hum...
More tomorrow!! x
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