Suunto running

I had a wonderful run this afternoon. Five miles out and about, 45F, a slight breeze. It was amazing.

I kept an eye on my Suunto t6c watch, which was set to monitor my heart rate, EPOC level, and pace. The heart rate and EPOC increased rapidly during the first mile - much faster than I would have guessed. I was moving along at a rapid pace, but I didn't feel tired, or winded in the least, but the rate of change would leave me winded in a very short time. This was fascinating!! I've never been able to watch my body reacting to the stress of running before, in a kind of detached, objective way.

When the EPOC level got near 100, I walked. After a few moments my heart rate began to drop and then my EPOC level began to drop. Once EPOC was under 90, I started running again. My heart rate picked up and the EPOC also rose, but not nearly as fast as it had. When it went over 100, I walked again. And kept on run/walking. And after three miles, my heart rate didn't rise very much and my EPOC level stayed mostly flat, so I only took one more walk break.

At the end of the run, my legs were a little sore as they would be from any workout. But the rest of my body felt just fine, like I'd been out for a brisk walk. I was hardly perspiring at all. I felt like I could easily run another 20 miles. And overall my pace was still just over an 11 minute-mile.

It amazes me that I can react to how my body is handling the run and keep from getting exhausted by slowing down before I near the exhaustion point. And that means I can probably complete the 100 mile run in July. Woo-hoo!


(EPOC: Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption, a measure for the amount of Oxygen that the body needs to recover from physical exertion. Describes the accumulating training load. More-fit bodies produce lower EPOC levels at the same amount of exertion. When the EPOC level gets high enough, over several hundreds, the body is too tired to go on.)