I went to the track at the local high school and ran intervals. My hams and legs felt fine! I think I ran about the same pace as last week.
I ran two splits at 1/2 lap (1/8 mile) each. Then I ran a split at 1/4 mile, and I ended my planned splits with two more at 1/8 mile each. My recovery between splits was 1 1/2 laps or 3/8 mile. I felt fine during the intervals. To reduce the stress on my knees from running a small loop, I reversed my direction after the 3rd split.
I wore my wife's HR monitor. At the end of a 1/8 mile, my HR was only up to 101 68% of max). At the end of the 1/4 mile it was up to 106 (71%). It looks like I'd have to run a much longer lap to get close to 80%. Next week I'll wear my GPA so I'll know the pace I'm using.
The first question that came to me when I saw my HR at the end of the first split was whether the monitor was giving accurate values or not. When I'm sitting quietly, the monitor is within 1 beat of my HR taken manually. Because of this, I assume the monitor was giving good readings. I know I have very good oxygen capacity, and that probably is why my HR didn't go very high at the end of the splits. I was running pretty fast, but I wasn't breathing heavily.
Next week will be my last session for intervals. I want to run hills for three weeks, followed by a 13 mile long run the next week, and then a two-week taper to the race on April 21. The course for the Salt Lake City half-marathon has a 2/3 mile steep descent off the east bench (27th East to 23rd East), as well as a few small hills, and I want to train for them.
Allen, I wanted to let you know that you are this week's Faithful Soles Runner of the Week (just click on "Runner of the Week" under "Weekly Features", or simply scroll down the home page and you will see the write up). It is an honor to have someone like yourself for our members and visitors to read about and I know you will inspire people of all ages and abilities.
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