Notes:
Ok, I was supposed to do 5 miles today but due to some time constraints, I could only do 3. Still, I made the most out of the workout by figuring out my maximum heart rate! LOL. I did the test incorrectly… I forget that you’re supposed to go with the easy first few miles and then the last few minutes is when you sprint. I actually did the sprint but went way too fast in the beginning that I ended up having unscheduled walk breaks!

Even then I still was able to figure out my max HR — the largest number that showed up on my Garmin was 185 bpm, add 5 beats to that and my max HR is 190 bpm! Not too bad. This means, though, that if I want to workout in the “zone” where I want to increase lung capacity and the number and size of my blood vessels AND improve my respiratory rate, I’d have to keep my heart rate between 133 – 152 bpm.

Looking back, the average heart rate (based on my last 9 workouts) is 161 bpm. ACK. This means I’ve been working out in the “Threshold” and “Red-Line” zones! Oh, if you haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, check this site out (Kudos to Sheryl for finding that article!)

Anyway, the run tonight wasn’t too bad — aside from going to fast, I felt relatively good. It was rather crowded at the park, though, so I’ll deffo try to go run around 4 or 5PM.

Garmin Connect; Nike+iPod:

Notes:
I can’t believe my Nike+iPod died on me during run… again! I don’t think I’m going to set anymore distance/run goals on that thing. I’ll just use it for music and if it does keep my data, fine, I’ll upload it. But from now on, Garmin’s going to be my primary technology training tool. It really sucks as I really liked the Nike Running website — in the end, it’s all just eye-candy. And I’m not about to hack the records so that I can still post my run data; there’s a way to do this via XML but what’s the point in that?! Iono, I guess if I’m just into the whole reporting thing, I would but I still think it’s stupid and time-consuming… >_<

Anyway, the run wasn’t too bad! I focused on going slower so that my heartrate was kept between 150-160 bpm. The first few miles were relatively tough! LOL. I didn’t realise, until going through my training runs, that this was my *first* long run training since the San Diego Marathon! Ahhhh! So I practically missed 3 weeks of long-run training. Eek. So yeah, I felt a bit winded in the beginning but it was not so bad that I just wanted to stop and just walk.

I stuck to the 6:1 interval as played on my iPod and let my sis set the pace. (I ran with my big sis Annelle, who’s training for the SF 1/2 marathon like me and base-building at the same time — lol! The lucky gal will be running the Marathon to Athens marathon!! Yesh, the original marathon; the reason why we call it, the marathon.) But yeah, she set the pace for the first 6-miles; it was fairly consistent, but for some parts we sped up because she felt that going too slow was wreaking havoc on her knees. 

I had to leave her after the 6th mile (as she only needed to do 8 that day) and continued my run. The Nike+iPod freezing on me (at 4.89 miles!!) kinda messed up the workout again but I guess I should be used to it.

Stats, as usual: Garmin Connect, Nike+iPod stats (post-crash):