77

77?

This is the "Polar Running Index" in my 2 last runs this week...

This is a considerable step-ahead from the mid-high 60s of when I resumed running in January.

When I was in top form, I was consistently around 85+, but 77 is already a very good level which was similar to when I run 2h42' @Boston Marathon.

Clearly I am not anyway near to run a marathon because my range of autonomy is about 15km at most and my legs are still too bulky and stiff from the cycling. I feel very good general stamina, but the stride needs a lot of work...

for more about keeping track of the form using the Polar Running Index, check this older post

Train so far this week:

- Mon: great bike ride with E. along the Shenzhen coastline... very hilly and we hammered down from start to end... 100km in 3h20' (drizzle, slippery roads...). In the last 10km I was really dead.. since the ride was far beyond my usual range.

- Tue: 11km very easy run @4'40"/k pace (in HK)... I felt dead after the long bike ride, but I was pleased that the HR was low and kept steady (Polar Index 77)

- Wed (evening): my first time ever to try to run in Dongguan around my neighbourhood, and most of all in the evening. Somehow I carved a star-shaped loop around the blocks and it was very quiet...

It was drizzling and I felt super good... pace around 4'10" and HR very low, Polar Index 77

- Thu (am): bike ride in Dongguan... legs tired because of the run the evening before. But I was still ok to ride at 32kmh average speed until a thunderstorm came so I cut short... total 55'

- Fri (am): overslept, so I just hurried for a quick run.... air was incredibly crispy and fresh (for our standards), so I tried to make a mini tempo run... only 3k in 10'25" (3'28"/k pace): The fastest I have ever run since november 2008... I could have sustained that pace for some other km but I did not want to push too much... total 8k