This morning the sun was shining, an ideal opportunity to go for a run. This will be my first proper run for 5 months, since getting plantar fasciitis. I weighed myself before setting off. My weight has risen to 11st 10lb, almost a stone and a half heavier than this time last year. I put on the running gear, heart rate monitor strap and Garmin Forerunner 310XT and the new Brooks Adrenaline GT12s. I set off intending to do just 2 miles at a very relaxed pace. After half a mile and feeling a lot better than anticipated, I changed that to 3 miles. Around the 2 mile mark, there was some mild knee pain, but I was now a long way from home and kept going. The pain didn't appear to get any worse and I completed the 3 miles in 32:38, an average pace of 10:53 at an average heart rate of 162 bpm with a 2 minute recovery heart rate was 35 bpm. This time last year, I ran a 4 mile training run in the same time as todays 3 miles at the same average heart rate, with a 2 minute recovery heart rate of 46. I feel so unfit.
The 2 minute recovery heart rate is the statistic that interests me as its a good indicator of the overall state of the cardio vascular system. There a scientific paper titled 'Importance of the First Two Minutes of Heart Rate Recovery after Exercise Treadmill Testing in Predicting Mortality and the Presence of Coronary Artery Disease in Men', by Michael J. Lipinski, BS, George W. Vectrovec, MD, and Victor F. Froelicher, MD.
http://www.cardiology.org/recentpapers/AJCHRR.pdf
The article is heavy reading, but in a nutshell it says that a 2 minute recovery heart rate of less than 25 is an indicator that you have not long left in this world.
I put the Ant Stick into the netbook and the data transfered from the Garmin 310XT to the computer and uploaded to Garmin Connect to view the route taken and analyse the data. It says I burned 414 calories. A small contribution towards the 21 lbs that I want to lose. The Bristol Half Marathon is in 4 months time.
In the afternoon, I received a very nice reply from Lupa Foods in response to my query about the La Carmela San Marzano tomatoes. Their customer service is good.
