Stats - mega drift test

Time for some stats - we haven't had them for a few months. 15 miles today with 12 miles at marathon pace. An odd run, as I was never more than 1.5 miles from home! I decided to run laps of my 1.5 mile test course, so that I could see how my condition is, and whether I was getting much cardiac drift.

I was a little nervous going into this as I was up till 1am at a barbeque the previous night (thanks Sara - fab!). I had to balance getting a good night's sleep with the need to get up early so that I could run before the temperature rose. In the end it worked out OK as the sun didn't come out until late in the run, and I finished with a coolish 19 deg C. The temperature was rising though - about 4 degrees during the run, so not quite a steady state for what is supposed to be a steady state test.

Overall though I was pleased, as once my post barbie stomach had settled I felt quite comfortable for the whole 15 miles. My pace was on a par with past tests done in much cooler conditions. Also, I never perform well running first thing in the morning - my previous tests were all in the evening.

Once my heart rate had settled, I had very little drift until the last few laps, so I was certainly running at a heart rate I could sustain for a marathon. Could I have run at a higher heart rate? Maybe I need to try a higher heart rate next time I try this run.

1.5-mile continuous laps. 2.2 mile warm up, 0.8 mile cool down not included

Lap	Lap time	Mins/mile	bpm
1	12:34	8:22	135
2	12:21	8:14	139
3	12:21	8:13	141
4	12:33	8:21	139
5	12:29	8:19	140
6	12:24	8:16	142
7	12:32	8:21	142
8	12:44	8:29	142

One other thing - I need to get out and race more - I broke my half marathon PB by 4 minutes during the run!