Long night last night - decoupling defined.....UGH

Training is really amping up now. I know I have written that several times but each time I have written or made that comment the current training has been either A) longer or B) more intense than in the past. This week is no excpetion.

I am in what is call "build 2". There are a total of 3 builds over a 12 week span. I will hve three weeks of intense training in each of the three "build" phases seperated by a rest week in between each build. The purpose of each build phase is to increase intensity and duration to get me both mentally and physically ready for the race.

My workout last night was as follows:
Duration: - 2:15 - Tempo finish. The first part of this run is warm-up in heart rate 1-2 zones. Increase the pace of your last 30 minutes to race pace (Zone 3-4)

I had the best of intentions. The night was cool and I was about 2 miles into my run when I crossed paths with Rick. I joined him in his run and that always equals (increase of pace). I hate to slow him down but do like running with someone so I ran faster than what I should have. We proceeded to run the next 4 - 5 miles together. He peeled off at my 1 hour:10 minute mark. I still had another hour to go. I hadn't eaten supper becaues I can't eat right before I run. I didn't take any nutrition (gu gels) and only 10 oz of water. I held my pace for as long as I could. By the time the run was over, I was hurting. I basically ran zone 3-4 with a lot of zone 4 for the entire half marathon plus.

Below you will see a graph of my run. The red line is my heart rate (see it creeping up and to the right). The blue line is pace (see it going down and to the right) The fact that my heart rate and pace are getting farther apart as the run continues is called "decoupling" and is a sign that I pushed too hard. Ideally my heart rate should stay relatively flat compared to my pace. If both lines are flat, decoupling rate is 1%. Anything less than 5% is considered very good. Mine on this run was 11%. I can't get it through my thick skull that pushing at the beginning compounds in the end. This is as much a blog entry for me reminding me not to do anything stupid as it is for you.



Tonight I have another 1 hour run that I am going to take it relativly easy on. I a hill climb bike ride that there is just no way I can do tonight due to time constraints and physically.

All for now....

Tracy