Valentine 5k : 3rd Place : 18 degrees

Today was about just seeing where I'm at with less than 50 days to my first race. I definitely didn't set myself up for success running this at the end of a recovery week, and at 18 degrees. First off, I get stale quickly without any intensity in my training and secondly, I have never ran well in this type of cold. My heart rate doesn't elevate and it is truly a suffer fest to try and get any speed. For example, when I ran this in 2008 my avg HR was 170 Max 180. Today, avg HR 163 Max 169 YIKES! Might explain my very slow time of a 7:30 avg per mile. What did I gain from today? I entered that area of "suffering" for the 2012 season. Today it was very unfamiliar, but this will be a thing of the past very soon. On to the next one.... Enjoy your training =)