Let's Slow this Down a Bit

Right - well having read a few articles on base training, I decided to go with the 180 - age and then tweak formula, used by the rather nifty triathlete Mark Allen, and originated by Phil Maffetone, as detailed here. I've tried this before and got fed up with it, as walking is not why I run, and that's what uhas happened in the past. Still - my Nonsuch route is a lot flatter (although it does have some upslopes), but I'm willing to give it another crack. In many ways it's how I've been training the past couple of months, just using the 70% formula, which gives me 150, but this gives me nearly 10% lower at 137 (or 140 if you add in a tweak). Anyway - here's my graph.

As you can see, I have managed to keep the heart rate fairly level!However, if you look at the mile splits (below), you'll see that the pace was slowing! Now - to some extent, miles four and five do tend to be slower/at a higher HR as there is some incline, but even so. Steady HR and pace slowing amounts in my opinion to cardiac drift - as if I'd kept the pace up the HR would be going up.

Maybe I should expect this to some extent - not having run at that HR for some time, maybe it'll take me a while until the heart rate stays flat and I run at the same pace. I've heard people say that this has happened to them. I do however wonder whether overheating and dehydration may play a part. I do try to stay hydrated, but ultimately, it is hot out there and I'm fairly large, which means I don't cool as well as somebody smaller. So where does that leave me? Possibly my underlying heart rate might be okay, but it's just the overheating that's making it go up. It'll make it hard to judge the effectiveness of the training.

The run only included a few short walk breaks towards the back half, and then only on the upslopes. I did feel like I was...not working harder so much, but not "flowing" along so smoothly, and rather than a pleasure, the running became a bit of a chore. The first few miles were great though. I'm just not sure what is happening! It's not exactly a sudden change, but there does seem to be a definite point past where things get harder. Maybe I'll try a track session (dead flat) to take out the effect of the hills, and see how that goes.

One final element to the day - I've been down to see Lindi from the RW forums and have collected my bright yellow pirate kit :oD I've tried it on and it does look decidedly camp!