Friday recovery run - 10km

Running is a cheap sport, relatively speaking. Expenditures include shoes (in my case, probably about one new pair every few years), entry fees (thanks Fairfax - I love donating my hard earned to a big newspaper company), and once every blue moon (in my case, twice now) a fancy new gadget. Tested out the brand new Garmin Forerunner 225 this morning. I got it primarily due to the optical sensors heart rate monitor (I have always hated wearing a strap around my chest - hence the appeal), more in an attempt to ensure that my easy days are in fact 'easy' enough. While the distance and cadence seemed accurate, unfortunately the same could not be said for the heart rate. Averaging 146 bpm (which seems fair), the range it fluctuated through in the final 4km was absolute 'B.S.' One minute I was 98 bpm and getting informed that I was in the 'warm-up' zone, the next minute I was maxing out at 192 bpm. This was despite no change in pace nor perceived effort! The marvels of modern technology. I will try it again tomorrow, perhaps with the strap tighter again (although it is currently tight enough to cut of my circulation!). Nevertheless, 10km in 43:02, averaging 4:18 min/km (which is slow for me) - but the key to the run was that I now feel much better then before I started, the essence of a recovery run. Looking forward to a brand new session at Centennial Park tomorrow morning - 20 x 200m hill reps on a 2:00 cycle. The lucky hill is Mt Steele in Moore Park. Bring it on!!!