Happy to say that I thought less yesterday and got onto the running track again.

It wasn’t as easy as just getting out the door though. I had made commitments to my far better half (FBH) to go and see her mother that night, not to eat dinner there (always a trap for dieters) so we had to have dinner at home. Easier but took more time – time which was eating into my running.

I’d also decided to take some readings through my Polar watch and had to get the battery replaced to do so. So by the time I got ready to run, a few things had to be checked off first. Then my daughter (20) wanted me around before she went out that night. Sheesh! Things a father has to do! (I love her mercilessly though!)

Anyway, onto the run. I decided to measure my heart rate to see my progress at this level. Below you’ll find the stats. I decided to measure my start rate, mid run rate, high rate, end rate and recovery rate as well as the time to complete the run. In the triathlon next year I’m thinking of targeting under 20 mins for the run section. However this is after a swim and bike ride, so my performance in running alone needs to be well under that.

The results at the moment mean little really until I get some regularity happening. But start we must!

Run Stats

Starting heart rate   88bpm – this is high and probably due to the fact that I’d just got off my motorbike – always a bit of an adrenalin rush!

Midpoint heart rate   169 bpm – this was using the 2 x one method of running v walking as mentioned in my previous post.

High point rate 175 bpm – this is the highest bpm on the run.

End Run heart rate 130 bpm – this is recorded as soon as I stop running.

Recovery heart rate 105bpm – this is recorded 5 mins after I finish the run.

Run time 29 mins

There are a couple of targets that I’m aiming for:

• Complete the run every day
• Get heart rate up to 180 bpm
• Recovery rate to be below 90 bpm
• Run comes in under 20 minutes

I am told that the most important point is recovery, that is why I want to get the bpm down as soon as I can.

And then there was the diet.

Started off today in line with diet. It is really quite easy when you know what foods to have.

Today’s breakfast was:

• 250ml skim milk with a “lite” chocolate additive.
• Poached egg
• 1 slice wholemeal toast
• Multivitamin

So I’m feeling adequately filled, a bottle of water by my side and I’m off to do some shopping.

Let me know how you’re doing.

Bill