Progression Run

The boyfriend and I drove to our destination for this morning's run(me)/bike(him). First, we were going to go to Walden Pond but then about halfway there, I questioned whether bikes were allowed there. A quick look at the website (thanks blackberry) told us that no bikes were allowed. Ooops. So I went to the Mass DCR site and found a Rail Trail nearby that we headed too. 11 miles of paved trails. Glorious. And it was only 63 degrees at the start!!

I had an 8 mile progression run to do with the last 2 miles either moderate or hard, I'd decide when I got there.

Mile 1: 10:26, 147 avg. HR
Mile 2: 10:02, 151 avg. HR
Mile 3: 9:44, 156 avg. HR
Mile 4: 9:39, 159 avg. HR
Mile 5: 9:20, 1:64 avg. HR
Mile 6: 9:15, 163 avg. HR
I decided to run mile 7 moderate and mile 8 hard:
Mile 7: 8:40, 168 avg. HR
Mile 8: 7:43, 176 avg. HR

For the last mile, I gave the boyfriend my Garmin (he was riding alongside me) and told him that: 1. I'd like to run a sub 8 mile and that my heartrate should be between 176-180ish as that's my half marathon heartrate. So he stayed right beside me and paced me which worked out really well. I ran hard for that last mile and was very happy to see the 7:43 and the perfect average heart rate. Maybe all hope isn't gone for a half marathon PR in 5 weeks even though my running hasn't been consistent the past few weeks.

I hit 20.7 miles for the week, which is a good place to keep building from after coming back. I'll aim for 25 this coming week including either a 5K or 10K race on Sunday. I haven't decided which distance to race yet, probably doesn't matter since I doubt I'll PR at either distance.

Have a great holiday weekend to those of us in the US!