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Hi All,

A little feedback on the 7k today.

It was quite cold here in Geneva , in total there were more than 33000 participants running throughout the day, so as you can imagine it was a quite large event. 

It is my first race and I decided to remain around  my normal limit of about 145bpm throughout the course, little did I know that that number would simply sky rocket.  I did not anticipate what it meant to run in a crowd.  I averaged 167 for the course and hit on 187.  My max heart rate is suppoed to be about 176, lol....  I normally watch my heart rate a lot whilst running but after the 2nd Km I decided to forget about it and concentrate purely on how I felt.

I felt good throughout the course and I kept my breathing down as much as I was able, slowed down in the descents in order to recover a little and in general kept a  steady pace thoughout. 

There were about 1760 people in my age group and I came in 1373rd, I was thrilled even to have finished.

Up until today my fastest pace over 5Km was at 7:12 min/km.  Today I averaged 6:17 over 7.2Km so I was absolutely delighted..  17 Seconds less per Km  and I will reach the mythic 5K in 30minutes.....  I ran the 7.2Km in a total of 45:34..

I didn't break any records but for a 46 year old, overweight,  ex 20 year smoker I am over the moon. 

I learned a lot about myself today, the effort requires both physical and mental preparation, the body needs to be correctly fueled, remaining relaxed is essential and there is a huge buzz in crossing that finishing line.....

All in all a wonderfull day...

The temperature has been around 8° degrees that last few morning but today it was 1.0°.  Before beginning my run I walk for 5 minutes as a warm-up and usually I  manage to just get into Zone 1 ( 50-60%).

This morning however I had only walked a few paces and I was already at the far end of Zone 1 heading for Zone 2. 

Does the cold weather affect the heart rate by increasing it in order to try and stay warm ?.  I had a good sleep and everything was normal except for the elevated heart rate.  My run was fine but I was 10bpm over my average and yet I felt as though I was breathing running quite easily.

Hi Daniel,

I am a newbie to running too and erven though I can't directly answer your question I would like to mention some points.

I have read countless books and articles on the web concerning training programs.  All of them advice practically the same advice. Start slowly, build up slowly, rest as indicated and listen to your body.  If you increase too quickly you will do damage which you will regret if it lays you up for a couple of weeks.

Are you following a program, if so which one..   Also you did not mention your current age or general fitness level so it would be very difficult to make a judgement even for the more experienced runners.

What are your goals , 5K 10K  HM, etc..  and how quickly do you expect to achieve them ? Are you beginning from nothing or you you already have some kind of sports/fitness background?

Dear Dog,

Thank you for your response, and yes I laughed at its simplicity..  Am I a scientist, no, but I suppose that 20 years of IT kinda makes me a little bit geek.

Your reply concerning the cold weather is definitely interesting in relation to the effort required to transform the humidity.

The main reason that I ask for such detail is simply down to the fact that as a 46 year old ex-smoking beginner I want to try and avoid injury which might be caused by my ignorance.  I run alone and I get any advice from anyone I know, no-one is a runner.

The geek side of me can't help but look towards the technical side of things for answers, although I do realise that simply listening to ones body is sometimes all that is required.  But then again if you arrive at feeling signs of dehydration it usually means that you are already too late .

Anyway thanks for the information, I probably have a long way to go yet before requiring to carry some water....  I learn slowly but I learn...

Cheers Roy

Hi UC,

 Are those "After the Run" recuperation drinks in the same league..   My local running shop wants to convince me that they are very important.