Follow your heart

This day was full of illusion. The watery sunlight that filtered through the school windows lulled me into expecting a warm, easy run. Though in the back of my head I knew we'd go hard, a workout seemed intangible on such a picturesque day. But with shapely white clouds dotting the baby blue sky the true temperature was a real disappointment. As I stepped outside I was dismayed to feel a nipping breeze reminiscent of the late days of October, not the usual misty warmth of April. Already surprised by the weather, I was also subject to a surprising workout. Full of anything from 1200s to 200s, it wasn't just the random combination of distances and speeds that threw me off. No, I was also confused by my own pacing. Usually I can more or less hit a pace just by feel, but today everything seemed either slower, faster, or both. The hardest intervals felt too neutral while the more relaxed intervals pushed the pace too far. I would like to blame the whipping wind that hit with a menace every time I rounded the first curve. I could even blame my teammates for poor pacing since for the most part we ran in packs. However, I don't believe either of these was really the case; I think the combination of conditions and lack of pace practice thus far combined to compromise my ability to just speed. Naturally, this got me thinking about a dependable gauge for effort, no matter the day. Though splits can be helpful they aren't very flexible, and though running by pure feel is, it leaves too much room for interpretation. This is why I personally like using heart rate as a gauge in situations that require a bit of flexibility. You've probably heard of VO2 max, lactate threshold, and other terminology for different heart rate zones, but truly knowing what they mean and how they're used can help you tailor workouts to your specific speed. Here's a website I found detailing the importance of training at each level... http://www.3-fitness.com/tarticles/zones.htm While this is by no means a complete analysis of heart rates, it does provide the basic framework for heart rate based training. As well as helping to dictate training, testing your resting heart rate after waking each morning can alert you to problems in your body. If it's especially high it could signal oncoming sickness or overtraining. My advice is to begin to pay attention to your heart rate in any situation. It's not necessary to micromanage it, but keeping an eye out for irregularities, as well as using it to adapt workouts, can give an unbiased appraisal of your conditions. Runners are generally dependent on numbers. Add heart rate to your repertoire to add another dimension to your training!