Since I got my Polar watch my running has changed. In the early days I did  feel something of loser, adding technology to something which I admire for it’s purity. I like how you don’t need alot of stuff for running. I didn’t need a watch. But I got one, because I wanted to know more, and that knowledge comes at the price of getting odd looks in the park when you need to make sure that your bra strap is not caught up in your heart rate strap, which runs the risk (pardon the pun) of raising the heartrates of those around you.

But apart from the occasional entanglement and the general feeling of being “plugged in” I like what my watch does for me.

Firstly it has, along with our varied training schedule, allowed us to run in different ways. So yesterday for example, we did some intervals. We ran 2mins fast and then 2mins jog, three times. It feels much more comfortable for me to run really fast for two minutes KNOWING that is just two minutes, I go for it. I don’t have the distance to get me down or hold me back.  My brain has nowhere to look for excuses, no corner or bend to worry about. It’s very freeing.

Secondly, I get all those little stats, which will never run a race for you but which let you get a little more insight into your running. By letting The Man wear the watch and HR monitor one day, we found out that he’s quite fitter than me,  as his heart rate hardly went anywhere near as high as mine does on a similar work out. That way we confirmed what we kind of knew all along, that he was the stronger athlete and that we need to train off my pace and my ability in order to insure I don’t run all the time to “keep up”, a pattern which inevitably leads to injury and no running at all.

Which brings me back to last night, the two minute intervals were fun to do. We pushed the runs and when I was back later on that evening looking at the stats, I saw that my heart rate went up to 194 BPM and my max is 193 so technically I was running at 101% max heart rate.  So at least I know one part of me is committed to this New York project.

Running Stats:

Shoes: ASICS GEL 3000

3 x 2mins race pace with 2 mins jog

Pace:  Max 4:05

Calories burned: 201

Distance: 2.53km

Three legged dog: 1

(sorry, I didn’t explain about the dog, but he is a regular in our park so I’ll save him for next time)