Daily Log 15 march 2011 - Run and run

See how my running form changed over 4 months   

OK. I am deeply inspired to run now after my realisation yesterday. After a whole day of rest yesterday, I woke up and went for a morning run. I ran at my usual location, the park near my home. Today's workout was a sort of fartlek run. I would run at a pace which was just below 80% MHR. As soon as I exceeded 80% MHR, my Polar FT60 give out a loud yell and I would stop running and walk until my heart rate went to 70% MHR then I would repeat the cycle.


The intention here is to train my body and brain to know the conditions of running at 80% MHR. It would usually take me about 30 seconds to go from 80% to 70%. Even with the slow walk I was managing about 3 mins 30 secs per lap which would have given me a 7km time of 70 minutes. I know it's still a slow pace and its slower than the 63 minutes I managed during the FT Day 2011 7km Run, the interesting thing is that I was doing it at an average of 73% MHR. When I compare that against the 87% MHR I endured during the race, it's an incredible revelation and I know I'll be running faster at this heart rate as I continue to improve running technique and lose the 20kg weight that I am carrying.

I decided to run again tonight but with a different strategy in mine. I've been wanting to count my stride and cadence for the longest time. Every time I started counting when I run I would lose the count and give up. I've been eyeing a Polar RS800 with the stride sensor which can calculate my cadence, length stride and all that good stuff but I haven't been able to justify buying another heart rate monitor.

Today I downloaded an app for the iPhone called Free Pedometer GPS+ which is able to use the iPhone to give me the data I wanted.

I ran another 5 km tonight but a bit harder than this morning. My average heart rate tonight was 76% MHR. I obviously ran faster than this morning and have lots of good date to boot. I'm going to analyse the data and write about it later.

About Reza Ali

Reza Ali Reactivated tells of the journey of Reza Ali as he embarks on transforming himself from a 120kg (35kg overweight) 46 inch waist unhealthy and unfit person to someone who can compete in a triathlon. Don't be afraid to dream. Take action. Correct your mistakes. Learn from failures. Bit by bit, you will get closer to your dream.

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