Numbers

I am a numbers geek, but I never really realized it until I became a runner, too. I love keeping track of my pace per mile, my heart rate, calories burned, and all those other statistics. And it's all good, since sometimes the only thing that motivates me to get out and run is the thought of collecting more data.

(Why did I drop out of grad school, though? Because I didn't like analyzing and collecting data! Isn't life just a puzzle.)

Yesterday's run:
3.38 miles
38:06
11:17 pace
151 bpm

8:56 max pace
163 max bpm

686 cal

Mile 1: 10:43, 142 bpm
Mile 2: 11:24, 152 bpm
Mile 3: 11:39, 157 bpm
partial:11:32, 157 bpm

Today I did quarter-mile repeats on the road, rather than on the treadmill. I did four of them and was pleasantly surprised at my speed. On the treadmill I was between about 2:17 and 2:25, so I was quite a bit faster today. Part of it is just the nature of the treadmill - you can't just start running fast, it has to work its way up to the speed I want. Also, the repeats seemed much shorter on the road -- probably because I wasn't watching that little progress bar all the time!

First I did an easy jog down to where I was going to do repeats. I say "easy" but it was 10:19 (0.84 miles), which is actually rather speedy for me. I felt good, though.

Repeats:
1: 1:59:68, 7:50 pace, 144 bpm
2: 2:00:60, 8:18 pace, 165
3: 2:07:17, 8:19 pace, 162
4: 2:06:95, 8:27 pace, 167

Repeat 2 was actually 0.24 miles and Repeat 3 was 0.26, but it was close enough for government work. I am amazed at the low heart rate on the first repeat!

Then I jogged back: 10:44 pace and 155 bpm. Burned 690 calories. I just made banana bread so I can "give back" some of those calories as soon as it cools!