Resting heart rate has always been a pretty good indicator for me when training is good well. Once it hits the mid-40s, my conditioning is beginning to improve dramatically.
I think I’m there. I’m also a big fan of watching my training effort on Garmin. Most of my workouts with any kind of tempo or speed have been in the high 3s to low 4s. I know Garmin’s data sometimes gets a bad rap, but I find it works for me. My estimated VO2 max on my Garmin 735xt also had a slight increase last week.
I REALLY like my Garmin 735xt. This November will mark two full years that I’ve been wearing one of Garmin’s wrist heart rate watches. That’s two years of data. It’s pretty neat to go back and look at all of it. You can see where I took time off and where I was recovering. You can see where I was injured. You can see where I was sick or stressed. I HIGHLY recommend living training with heart rate. It takes out a lot of the guesswork.
I’m still working my way through The Brave Athlete. The writing style is fun to read, and it’s full of so much information, almost all based in science. I have a lot of work to do on the mental side of running/triathlon and this book is going to get me there.
I finished this book last night. (Photo from CNN.)
I am obsessed with this little dog. Probably because she looks a bit like our Merry girl. She ran 70 miles of a multi-stage ultra in China with an ultrarunner from Scotland. He made a promise to her to bring her home with him, not realizing how challenging that would be. But he did it! It’s a very heartwarming story.
What are you reading these days? Stay neon!
Neon Runner Girl 