3 key indicators

I was running through Valley Forge Park yesterday. About a mile in, I glanced down at my Garmin. It showed my heart rate in big, bold letters, then my lap pace and my distance.

These three indicators are really all I need for a good run... here is why.

I want to keep my heart rate in check at all times. For example, when I plan to run a relatively easy 5 miles, then I want to build my heart rate as I go. So the first mile or so, I keep it under 150, then below 155, then below 160, and not worry about it in the last couple of miles.

Lap pace is important too. I don't really care what pace I am going at any point in time. But if I plan to go out easy, say a 9min pace, then drop it as I go, then I can use the lap pace to keep me close to the mark. If I have .25 miles left in mile three and I was trying to do a 7:30, but I'm at 7:35, I can pick it up a bit. This is good practice for race pacing on longer races.

The distance indicator is more to feed the other two indicators.

With all of that said, I will sometimes use total time for my primary indicator, if I plan to do a 90 minute run or longer.

a long week

My daughter came into town with her boyfriend last weekend. It was GREAT to have them and we had loads of fun. Nice dinners, movies, Wii games, shopping, sight seeing in Philly, etc. It was nice to get to some places that we haven't been to in a while (Victory Brewing Company) or I haven't tried at all (Simon Pierce). All very good.

At the same time, work was insane! Several things hit at the same time and I'm still trying to sort through it.

I got a small cold - tickle in the back of the throat with a cough that kept me (and Sena) awake at night.

Somehow I managed to get 7+ hours of training in for the week. I snuck in a 1 hour bike ride here - an hour on the eliptical there and when everyone slept on Saturday I did an hour on the trainer followed by a 9 mile run with a guy less than half my age and 25 pounds lighter - I struggled at the end of the run going up Hillsdale Road - nice 3/4 mile climb.

Today after my daughter and her boyfriend left, I did a 50 mile ride with Joel. We were both feeling a bit ragged, he more than I (thankfully). We stopped by Jacquie and Joanne on the way home and had a cold beer when we got back. It was a good ride.

10 mile run, 60 mile ride, 30 something degrees

Had a pretty good workout yesterday. I posted a run/ride workout with our tri-group. Only one guy showed up for both, but fortunately I schedule these things to coincide with the local run club and the local bike club, so there were plenty of people for both legs.

The run ended up being hilly, which was ok, but I'm surprised how high my heart rate gets and I'm not feeling tired - I'm talking in the 160s - no problem.

So I was going to be the ride leader for the bike segment, consisting of a 60+ mile ride with an option to bail out at mile 40ish. I posted it as an A- ride, meaning 17-21mph or something like that.

There were 10 people. Those that were planning on the full 60 were taking it easy and were not going the A- pace. Those that were planning on the 40 miles were hammering pretty good and getting a bit frustrated when we had to stop several times.

So I found out that I'm not the greatest ride leader - I started with 10 riders, and ended up with just 1 (myself). Ha! Well, the first 5 took the bail out option. Two told me they would drop early, so that left me and two other guys. They weren't really going an A- pace, so I told them I was going to head back at my pace. I felt a twinge of guilt, but got over it. I think they had a good ride and no one would have been happy had we tried to stay together.