I managed to run a 5.06 min pace in a certified course, and this would technically mean a PB on a HM. This course is 70% asphalt and 30% trail route and a 2-loop run. A week after a HM in Bovensmilde where temperature was at around 27 degree, the cooler temperature of 23 degree was a pleasant surprise.
I had in mind to try and improve my time from last week’s HM, and i think i MAY have just made it, if the Garmin Forerunner was at all a base-line watch i can rely on. Weather is a significant contributing factor to one’s run performance. In Bovensmilde, i was running at Z5 73% of the time, while in Rinkeroder, only 40%, and i asked myself, if i were to push upto 73% of effort, will i then score better? I’ll need to test it, i guess… But i never looked at HRM while running, only at pace, and at most times in Rinkeroder, i was performing better than at Bovensmilde.
When i dwell too much into the perceived effort vs. stats, against varying race routes (same distance) and performance, i get entangled, sometimes demotivated and lose focus. I guess it is only natural that one compares, one race vs another, but it is also important for me to realise that at the end of the day, in any race, what counts most, is the experience and the camaraderie that running offers.
Source:
meysrunningjourney.com 