last run

My schedule called for 4 miles with 1 @ MP and 1 @ HMP.

I did the whole run at the high school track. My heart rate monitor was way, way off during the warmup (before I broke a sweat) and I threw an extra warmup lap in hoping that the HRM would settle down, but it didn't. I took several splits thinking it had settled down, but I don't think it was tracking until the 4th lap.

 Time Distance  Pace     HR
11:04  2000m    8:57    195
 3:42   800m    7:27    181  -- 3:15:09 pace; HRM obviously messed up
 1:52   400m    7:31    165  -- HRM still messed up
 1:50   400m    7:23    157  -- tracking
 3:32   800m    7:06    163
 3:31   800m    7:05    169
 8:42   1600m   8:45    145

The MP was very easy. It felt considerably easier than my usual opening mile of a marathon, so that was heartening. The HR on the last 800 of the HM pace was disturbing though. The last 1600 of my 2 x 2 miles on Monday was 6:52/168 which is way, way better than that. Some of this might just be my HR ranges coming back to normal.

I think my pace versus hr gets a little skewed when I include more intensity. I'm not necessarily faster when my pace/hr improves because I can't necessarily sustain a high heart rate for as long. For instance, the first time I did Pfitz (and was in over my head), I averaged 177 bpm during a tune-up 10k and then averaged 182 bpm in a 10 miler later that spring. My marathons have been remarkably consistent at 172 or 173 bpm, but there's always been a taper before them.

On the knee front, I didn't notice it today. It's not completely better, but it's not a concern.

The hip thing is a concern. Today I felt it mainly in my lower back at the base of my spine and at the top of my butt. Then I felt it in my groin on the cooldown. Very strange. It must be some kind of muscle imbalance. My toe didn't know which way it wanted to point on each stride as the various muscles battled it out when my foot came off the ground. I came home and tried a few stretches before I got tired of them. Hopefully endorphins will get me through. I seriously considered dropping out of the Frederick marathon when my right hip got very tight and increasingly painful from 8 to about 15 (and felt better when I hit the real hills). My guess is I'll have some kind of rough patch like that but make it through. There's also a fair chance I laugh because I don't feel it at all on race day.

My schedule calls for 2 miles tomorrow, but I don't really see the point of going to the trouble.