150 Run and managed boredom

Today's Stats: (6.02 mi/ 57min 32 sec/ 9:34/mile/ Avg HR 149 bpm/ Max HR 170)

I have had two awesome coaches in my triathlon/ running career ( no, really I don't get paid to do it, but I can't think of a better word). Coach Tony Troccoli at Coachtony.com and Willie Stewart, aka One-Armed Willie, an Olympic Silver Medalist Cross Country Skier. A big Thank You goes out here to both of them. They both taught me a ton and I totally appreciate their willingness to do so.

Both Willie and Tony have taught me that I don't need to go out and run 100% effort on all my runs. This goes totally contrary to my personality that doesn't leave room for less than an all out effort. But, they've both taught me that training smart means some workouts should be less intense.

Here's the reasoning. Running is a violent sport on your joints, muscles, and connective tissue. So, when you are putting in base miles that toughen those joints and connective tissues up, it doesn't matter how hard your effort is, only that you log the miles. In fact running slower means more steps, which means more foot strikes, which actually strengthens those parts more.

But, it is boring. I mean really boring, like waiting for an airplane that's on a 3 hour delay in a super quiet airport boring.

So today, I set off on a 6 mile run with a goal of maintaining a 150 bpm heart rate. That means I get to run a 9:30/ mile pace. The reality is this workout should probably be done at 135 bpm, but I can't run that slow when people are around. My ego gets in the way cause I feel like they are saying "man that guy looks like he should be able to run faster than that". So I'll do the 135 workout late at night.

To show that my fitness is improving, I should be able to run a faster per mile pace at 150 bpm later in the season.

I've even had buddies do 150 races on bikes where they race up a long mountain road, GMR to those who would know the road, without letting their heart rate go over 150. Whoever gets to the top first is truly the fittest. I've tried to do 150 foot races with friends, but our egos always get in the way and it just turns into a speed race, totally disregarding heart rate after about a mile.

Tomorrow I've got a 14 mile run in the hills. Should be awesome. We are having spring like weather here in January in California and it is gorgeous outside.