This message goes at the top of the blog

November started out with a non-working garmin.  My plan was low heart rate training this morning, but I've never tried to do that without a heart rate monitor.  I know how fast I usually go and I know that my heart rate stays down pretty good if I memorize things outloud.  So that's what I did.  Based on my cell phone time, I ran 4.6 miles in 58 minutes, give or take a minute.  That would be about 12:36 per mile.

Garmin worked and registered 5.48 miles in 1:09:49 for an average pace of 12:45/mile.  But the heart rate monitor read way high for the whole run.  If it takes sweat to operate, then there wasn't any of that going on.  When I was done, my clothes were still very dry.  At 30 degrees, no body cooling was needed.

20 degrees warmer today (50 degrees) and the heart rate monitor worked, but today was a fast day.  I ran 5.5 miles at an average pace of 8:35 per mile, starting at 9:22 and ending at 8:06, with improvements on each mile.  Not my best pace, but satisfactory.

11.55 miles at a low heart rate in 2:30:02, or 12:59/mile.  Snow was forcast, but there were only a few flakes here and there.  I was running directly into the wind for about 5 miles and then uphill.  I found it more difficult than usual to keep my heart rate down.  The average was 129bpm with a max up to 138bpm.  I hope this did some good because I don't like to run slowly.

Short, low heart rate run that felt good.  No wind or rain or snow.  Just a cool 36 degrees.  Ran 4.64 miles in 56:21 for an average pace of 12:08/mi and an average heart rate of 125bpm, which never exceeded 131bpm.  Splits were 12:24, 12:06, 11:56, 11:47, and 12:40.

Same route as yesterday, but fast.  This is the fast running blog, right?  The forecast was 20 degrees, but it turned out to be more like 30 degrees.  So, I overdressed and got kind of hot in my sweats, long sleeves, gloves, and face mask.  Ran 4.63 miles in 39:40 for an average pace of 8:34/mile and an average heart rate of 157bpm, maxing out at 168bpm.

5.5 miles in 1:13:05 for an average pace of 13:17/mi and an average heart rate of 128bpm.  Not my best day, to put it mildly.  I did it all without a drop of sweat.  I wore shorts, long sleeves, and gloves, but that was all the protection I had against the cold (28 degrees).  I'm thinking that my heart worked overtime to warm my body, just like it works overtime to cool the body in the heat.  The heart rate monitor was all over.  Sometimes I'd see it jump 10 ticks without any notable pace change.

10.13 miles in 2:06:19 for an average of 12:28/mi and 126bpm.  There was a slight drizzle, but otherwise, the weather cooperated very well.  At 48 degrees, is was 20 degrees warmer than yesterday, and I am more convinced that cold weather slows me down as much as hot weather.

For a while, I heard someone struggling behind me, and gradually gaining.  I thought about speeding up, but thought I better not ruin my heart rate.  Besides, one of my objectives is to help other runners feel good about their efforts.  When he passed me, he said he was very tired and that made me feel better.

What made me feel best was to walk in the door and hear Charles say, "Holy cow, he look like you're in great shape!"  That makes it all worth it.

5.07 miles in 45:23 for an average pace of 8:57 at 155bpm.  Max, if they can be believed are 5:24 pace and 178bpm.  This was my steep hill route with the following splits:  9:22 (warmup, mostly uphill), 10:36 (including very steep uphill for a half mile), 7:35 (all downhill, quite steep), 8:24 (mostly downhill, 8:52 (mostly uphill), and 8:25 (uphill)

Chased about 8 deer on mile 2 and two dogs chased me on mile 4 (when I got the 5:24 pace).  I couldn't shake them off.  So, I finally stopped and made friends.  It took a couple of minutes to calm them down.

I'm not sure if the 178bpm is accurate either, although I frequently saw readings of about 162.

I'll have to take this route more often.  It's not as boring.

4.61 miles in 57:12 for an average pace of 12:25/mi at 126bpm.  After yesterday's effort, it was a nice, easy day.  The flag was not waving at all.  That means no wind at 38 degrees.

Decided to try running on Wednesday knowing full well that I would need to run around a garbage can in the middle of the sidewalk that is always there on Wednesdays.  It turned out pretty well.  4.62 miles in 55:02, for an average pace of 11:55/mi at 126bpm, max 134bpm.

It was colder than usual (29 degrees) and I still beat yesterday's time on the same run, at the same heart rate by 30 seconds per mile.  I don't have a good explanation, but I think I was more rested.

5.48 miles in 1:06:40 for an average pace of 12:10/mi and an average heart rate of 127bpm.  At 48 degrees, the weather was perfect, but the sky was overcast, and there were very few stars to be seen.

12.6 miles, but I don't have the other data.  I ran so long, that the battery wore down on my GPS.  I noticed during the last couple of miles that I had to run slower to keep the heart rate down.  Maybe that means I was running out of energy.

We had our first snow that stayed last night, but on the roads and sidewalks, there was just a little ice, which is quite slippery at 32 degrees.  Thankfully, I managed not to fall.

4.66 miles in 38:37 for an average pace of 8:17/mi and an average heart rate of 154bpm, 167bpm max.  I had no choice but to run fast today because I didn't have much time.  It was 34 degrees, but the extra effort made me sweat.  These were my splits:  8:52, 8:17, 8:09, 7:56, 8:08.

You saw that right.  I broke 8 minutes on mile 4!

I had time to experiment this morning and changed my run, partly so that I could check on a test I started at work yesterday.  I went down to my place of employment.  But that meant most of the run after that was uphill.  My heart rate monitor didn't behave, so the first part of the run was mostly be feel.  When I started going uphill, it started working again.  Overall, I ran 10.11 miles in 2:21:28, which is a very poor pace of 13:59/mi.  Not sure how I can explain it.

I ate two Thanksgiving dinners today.  One for my parents and one for Karen's parents.  I can still hear my stomach working overtime to process the extra load I gave it today.

Did a round about run to work and back again this morning to check on my test.  So far, over 1,875,000 transmissions have occurred without error.  Might as well keep it going until Monday.

I slept in until 5:30 this black Friday, but I was the exception.  By the time I got out (and it was still black outside), the streets were very busy with traffic.

Ran down and then up today for an average pace of 12:38/mi and 126bpm, including over 2 miles of a malfunctioning heart rate monitor.

10.13 miles in 2:00:24 for an average pace of 11:53/mile.  I had a feeling when I walked out the door that this would be a better run, and it was.  My heart rate monitor cooperated the whole time and my average heart rate was 127bpm.

Based on the philosophy that some running is better than none (and that sleep is needed for a productive day), I ran only 2.61 miles in 21:34 for an average pace of 8:16/mile.  Splits were 8:41, 7:59, and 8:02.  Heart rate monitor didn't cooperate again.

About 5 miles in about 54 minutes.  Didn't get GPS started at the beginning.  By the time I figured that out, I was almost to the top of my hill.  I started the GPS at the top and got good times for the rest of the run:  3.44 miles in 27:31 (7:59/mi) with splits of 7:36, 7:45, 8:31, and 8:16.  On an "aided" course, I can hit the 8 minute miles.