After three days on the treadmill, it was great to get outside again. I know it was only three days, but it felt longer and running outside is just so much better than moving your legs with everything else staying in place. The one tough thing was that it was cold. It wasn't the coldest weather that I've run in this year, but is certainly felt like it. The sun was great, but the wind was biting and seemingly coming from all directions.
It was one of those "wear everything you brought with you" runs. Because Ottawa weather is, well, Ottawa weather, I always bring extra stuff with me so that I have options. When I checked the forecast in the morning, it called for -4C and light wind. By the time lunch rolled around, it was -18C with the wind chill. I just dumped everything in my bag on the floor and put it all on (full base layer top-to-bottom, tech shirt, Brooks Storm jacket, nylon pants, toque and gloves). It was a good call on my part.
The schedule called for 30 minutes easy with my HR in zone 2. I chose my new go-to 5.5km route that loops over the Pretoria Bridge, and for some reason I had a hard time keeping my HR down. It was nothing crazy, just slightly into zone 3. I will chalk it up to a string of late nights and the wind. I'm not looking for excuses - I think they are probable reasons - and apart from niggling over the HR, the run was fantastic. The paths were mainly clear; I finished another episode of Zombies, Run!; and, sensation-wise, I felt terrific. Day 100 is tomorrow.
A note on heart rate monitors...
I used the Garmin Forerunner 610 for this run, and it captured my HR perfectly. For the last three runs on the treadmill, I was using my TomTom Runner with the HR transmitter pod on the strap that came with it and a Polar premium strap, which is the best strap on the market and works with pods from Garmin and TomTom, and maybe others. If you look at the treadmill runs over the weekend, the HR curve is a mess, with my HR apparently getting into the 200s. I think I can safely conclude that HR recording on the TomTom is really poor. I don't know whether it is the chest strap, transmitter or wrist unit, or some combination of the above. Maybe it is better with the newer units that use optical technology and no strap. The web is full of folks griping about problems with straps. For the most part, I have been able to overcome my problems, but I'm at the point where I think I am going to cry uncle with the TomTom.
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