It's been a long time, but I had a really good run today and I have to post about it. I've been running for the past two weeks, trying to catch up to where I was before. I thought I was there, until I read my old blog where I just tracked runs. I totally forgot that at one point in time I was able to run 20 minutes straight. Crazy.

Before last week I was struggling to get 15 minutes done over a half hour period. This time I was so chilled out I was even trying to read my RSS feeds. Maybe it's not the easiest thing to do when your head banging around like that. Awesome. I really felt like I was capable of doing so much more, so I compared the run to how my heart rate was doing last year when I was running.

Last year:
Average heart rate: 152
run: 7 min - 160ish bpm
walk: 4 min - 142 bpm
run: 7 min - 163 bpm
walk: 5 min - 139 bpm
run: 7 min - 168 bpm
cool: 4 min -142 bpm

Today:
Average heart rate: 159 (7 higher)
walk: 2 min - 122 bpm
run: 6 min - 162 bpm (2 higher)
walk: 3 min - 153 bpm (11 higher)
run: 6 min - 169 bpm (6 higher)
walk: 3 min - 152 bpm (13 higher)
run: 7 min - 168 bpm (no change)
walk: 3 min -146 bpm (4 higher)

Numbers, geek, blah blah, numbers, percentile, run blah blah... but what does it all mean? I think this means that at least cardio-wise I'm not as far out of shape as I thought. If I can take good enough care of my back and knee I should totally be able to run 5k by April. Just in time to start training for the ride to Montreal again...

I can't wait for Thursday.