Runmeter art

I missed Darryl by THAT much! He's a speedy guy. I was trying to get to the Marathon half way by 90 minutes chip time, and was a few minutes late. I never did see him. But what's important to me is that I did see my buddy Lori. She was sure happy to see me. I think she'd been struggling a bit. "What was I thinking, to say see me at 35 K?" she asked. I hung around there a bit admiring the aid station energy, then zoomed up to the pedestrian overpass over Memorial, just near Crowchild. I missed Darryl again.

This time Lori was smiling so I think she was feeling better. She was running a bit behind the 3:50 pace bunny. I noticed there was a bit of a herd on the way out, but on the way back there was only one person with the bunny. I guess that's where the going gets tough.

Lori came back for 35 K, and was happy to see some cookies. We chatted a bit as she walked for a minute, then she finished it off. I hope she's happy with her result. It was a perfect day for a run, cool and sunny.

In spite of making note of some bib numbers I didn't see anyone else I was looking for, though I did see Martin Parnell going by in his lacrosse uniform. Seeing all those people out running and walking 42.2 K is sort of inspiring me. Since I've started running (that word) I'd thought about doing a marathon. I'm not sure IMC counts as "doing" a marathon. I certainly didn't run all the way.

It's interesting watching the different running styles. Some people plod along, and you wonder how they got that far. Others don't seem to be doing anything, yet zoom along. At 35 K one guy had a really good sunburn going; he won't be happy when he gets home. Neither will that one woman when she gets into the shower; she needs a better sports bra.

This was a bit of an experiment, to ride my hybrid up to Mount Royal, then up to Memorial, then all the way home. It's my first outdoor ride this year. I figured if my legs complained I could always get on the LRT to get most of the way home. There were a few twinges, but nothing serious. Going easy it was 45 minutes from downtown to home. This is faster than way back in the day when I rode home after work sometimes. Then 50 minutes would leave me gasping and sweaty and half knackered.

After getting home I had a light lunch and stretched a bit, then mused about going for a run. After dithering a bit I headed out. This was to be a short easy run. Imagine my surprise when run meter told me the first K was done in 4:42! And even more when the second was 3:50! Even my dream self doesn't believe those numbers.

I reset it, and started over. When my stopwatch said 4:59, Runmeter proudly told me I'd done the first K in 1:58. At that point I just ignored it. When I'd run 20 minutes altogether, trying to go easy and keep the heart rate low, I stopped and walked it home. Stretched after. Oh, I didn't mention about the heart rate monitor, did I. Normally I don't wear one when I run anymore. I'm usually pretty good at knowing where I am, and occasionally, well, often, the heart rate numbers are whacked.

Like today, it was saying my heart rate was 185 bpm near the start of my run. Which is a total lie. I'd be horizontal and spasming if that were true. Eventually it sort of sorted itself out and gave me a believable number part of the time. I watched it for a bit, bouncing between 62 and 145. At least that last number was a possibility.

I don't understand why the numbers are stable and believable when I'm on the bike, and not when I run. Any thoughts?

Just for a giggle, here's the two run meter graphs, which explains why the times and distances were so far off. I guess the GPS wasn't feeling the love today.