In case you missed it, I actually blogged on Saturday about E’s birthday. We had an amazing day! See the post.
What a great week of half marathon training. Oh yeah, did I tell you I’m running the Rock ‘n’ Roll St. Louis Half Marathon on Sunday? I’ve been pretty quiet about it because my training has been sub-par at best until last week.
I increased my mileage to 20 miles this week and finished an 8 mile run today. I’ve been paying attention to my form and my heart this week and it proved to be very frustrating at times.
I realized that I’m a total heal striker and I think it’s slowing me down. So I tried some of the techniques I’ve read about it made my heart rate shoot up. It definitely wasn’t sustainable for any length of time.
That was Friday and I finished my run feeling a little defeated and nervous. After taking yesterday off and spending sometime at the gym, I knew I had to get one more long run in before next weekend.
So I set out today with the goal of controlling my heart rate and if that meant heal striking then so be it. I took off for my 8 mile run fully expecting and accepting that my run would be very slow but sustainable.
First two miles I was able to keep my heart rate around 165 and I felt fabulous. Mile 3 and 4 I was trying to not let it go above 170 and succeeded. Mile 5 and 6 was the same…no higher than 170 or so. By mile 7 and 8 depending on how I felt, I would let it rise just a little more but I ended up keep it pretty consistent around 175.
I have never watched my heart rate so closely when I run but I’m now a believer. I finished the 8 miles feeling like I could have gone longer and I had an extremely consistent pace. It wasn’t the fastest but it didn’t matter.
I feel like I’m going into Rock ‘n’ Roll with a plan now and I couldn’t be more excited to try it out and what better way to have a race day experience than as a VIP. Just think…parking, bathrooms and dedicated bag check! What could be better?
What’s your biggest challenge when you run?
Sweaty Selfie Tanks are back in stock! Check them out! Order yours today!
Nice job Katie! My biggest challenge when I run is the mental part way more than the physical. My mind will sabotage a run before my body gives out. I’m working on it!
YOUR PLAN MADE ME SMILE.
GO KATIE GO!!!
So when it comes to HR–170 is still really high, kind of a gray zone. If you have the patience, take it down another 15 beats to get truly aerobic. Give it a few months and you’ll see amazing results. As to heel striking–if you aren’t injured and don’t have a history of injury, no need to change!
You can do it!!! I think I am a bit of a heel striker as well, but so far it hasn’t caused me any trouble, so I figured I will leave it alone.
My biggest obstacle when I run is my shin splints. Some days are better than others. This morning, it was the cold. Bah!
Good Luck this weekend Katie! My biggest challenge running is definitely my heart rate. And just started using Heart Rate Variability which is proving interesting! I start half marathon training next week. My first attempt!