Run 5km March 7 2011

My current running form (March 2011)  

I didn't run a lot last week so I was really looking forward to today's run. Ever since the results of my medical and fitness test I've been excited at the prospect of pushing myself a bit harder than normal. Today was a combination of intervals and a tempo run over 5km. I still run at the park near where I live so that I can keep an eye on pace that I am running at. For some reason each lap is just about 360m. Don't ask me why. Life will be so much easier if it was a full 400m.



I have to run 14 laps of that park to cover 5km. These are the lap times:

Lap 1   3:18 Easy
Lap 2   2:55 half sprint/half easy
Lap 3   3:04 half sprint/half easy
Lap 4   3:00 half sprint/half easy
Lap 5   3:51 Easy
Lap 6   3:58 Easy
Lap 7   3:40 Easy
Lap 8   3:16 Hard
Lap 9   2:58 Hard
Lap 10  2:44 Hard
Lap 11  4:05 Easy
Lap 12  3:49 Easy
Lap 13  2:55 Hard
Lap 14  4:44 Easy

Total 47:27

The timing is a bit erratic but the half sprint/half easy was really really hard. I ran out of steam by the time I did the 3rd intervals and no matter how slow I ran, my heart rate was still about 80% MHR (see hear for my explanation about what Maximum Heart Rate MHR is and why it's important) so I had to walk for some of the easy run until I get it down to a reasonable rate. My average heart rate for today's run was 81% MHR which is higher than usual for me. I usually run at about an average of 77% MHR.

The odd thing is that on my hard runs for laps 8 to 10, I was running at about 88% MHR which I'm not supposed to. I suspect that my 180 beats per minute maximum heart rate may still not be accurate. I must test my maximum heart beat to make sure.

Anyway, even the run was tough and hard, this was an enjoyable one for me. I think if I can maintain a 2 min 30 pace per lap I'll be running the 5km in 28 mins which suits me just fine.

Let's see what happens in a few weeks time.

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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