6.0 miles, 59:42 moving time, 9:57 pace

I ran this morning with PTC friends at the Rose Bowl. I didn’t feel great when I woke up, so it was a good thing that people were going to there, else I would have woosed out. I must have slept funny, my neck was super stiff and cranky. Steve, Lynda, and I went on a 6 mile loop. We took Seco up and above the Arroyo; we ran along the top bluff. We stopped at Jack in the Box for water and potty stop. Then, picked up the pace running back along Linda Vista to Salvia Canyon. My IT band was tightening up during the run. If I kept good form and kept my legs behind me and not in front, I felt IT a lot less. Coming down Salvia Canyon, I was 8:00 pace. I was ignoring the IT and started flying. I kept up pace to get a 8:07 for mile 6!

Recently, I started wearing my heart rate monitor again. It’s interesting data. My huffing and puffing for air doesn’t always coincide with high heart rate. During the initial climb up Seco, I wasn’t huffimg and puffing too badly, but my heart rate was sky high, 175 bpm. Heart rate seems to be the initial shock treatment of starting to run period. Once I settled down, it was more like 140 bpm. Even during my hardest push at mile 6, I topped out at 160 bpm.

Lessons I learned: (1) go to bed earlier and get more rest. (2) warm up the heart as well as the legs (3) stretch the IT and manage IT, before it becomes a huge issue (3) enjoy the sunrise with friends.

Me, Bruce, Stephen, Pam, Steve, Nic, Lynda