First run in over two months

And so today I managed to get out of the apartment and onto the seafront. It was also the first time that I used my new Garmin.

I purchased a new watch because I wanted to see if I could do better with a heart-rate monitor. I was not wrong.



Normally I run with only an eye on pace (and an ear on my tiredness.) However, I could be trying hard, and feeling like I'm not running as hard as a I should be. This is almost akin to the reading efforts of my students. We can measure their reading ages, and some read masses and hardly improve them. But reading ages, like pace achieved, does not tell the entire story. A month might have been a difficult reading month (they happen!) A student may work hard even though they don't achieve.

Although society may not be bothered about this condition, for the mental health of a student it is useful to be at the very least conscious of the importance of praising personal effort. Therefore, to be able to set the students a target on the physical amount read (against their prior attainment) is a very useful ability.

In the same way, to be able to see my running heart rate against its target is useful too. What is the point in burning out sub 7 minute miles when my heart rate is over 180? It cannot be sustained. My maximum heart rate should be, according to this site, 188 BPM.

And, according this calculator http://www.runnersweb.com/running/hr_calculator_new.html, I should be running between 144 and 161 for an easy run, and 172 and 177 for a hard run.

What is the upshot of this? I think that I need to start slower than I ever thought before! And to somehow begin to make a training programme.

Beginning a routine

And so I am a few days away from the start of the new term. My new apartment is almost sorted, and my legs no longer ache every morning.

I have been to the gym three times so far this week. The second time I wasn't able to finish the session - only 19 minutes of running. But I did run.

One of the especially silly things about my running habits is that I want to drive the gym that is only a mile and a half away. It would take 10-17 minutes to run that distance. But I don't. Instead I drive. However, as with all such things, my car exhaust has snapped in the middle. While the Cat is fine, whether the garage will replace that too remains to be seen.



Tomorrow I should either walk down to the gym, or run for an hour on the sea front. For some reason, my mental fitness has waned. I cannot commit myself to it. But I know I should. Hence the brute psychic force of blogging that I should might make me do it...

Back to the gym

Yesterday I went to the gym for the first time in a long time. It was also the first time I had managed to have unpacked things for my new apartment. For the past two years I have saved a hell of a lot of money by lodging with people. I have paid for it in other ways though.



Not least in my waist. My girth has increased from 31 inches to 36 inches in the past six months or so. I know why. Too much eating out. Fortunately my budget precludes that.

What were my numbers in the gym? I did a HiiT session, which was expectedly difficult. My heart rate hit 195, and I could feel the frantic ache of my chest. My heart rate did drop at least 20 beats during each rest, though – I couldn’t ask for more.

I do want to run; I do want to stay injury free. I intend to train for a week or so, and then plan a more substantial training programme.

I have paid a substantial amount of money in order to obtain insoles. I used to own a pair when I was younger – NHS funded and clumps of plastic. They were entirely necessary. My arches had collapsed (as they have now.) My new insoles are thin, yet can absorb the impact of my feet. That is despite an article read yesterday that suggests that such absorption is something of a myth, and it is the rest of the leg that (should) absorb the impact.

One thing is for certain: I have missed training. It is bad for the spirit. But after the marathon, there was simply no way in hell that I could have continued without (even more) lasting damage. I ran two fast enough 10k races on a damaged foot – a foot so knackered that I couldn’t even run to the start line. But now? It feels much better. It is still weak. But it is better.

Running

isn't bad really, is it?