Twice around the Common

Today I went for a run on Clapham Common. I ran on the Common last weekend, but I hadn't run outside since I sprained my ankle. I have been spending a fair bit of time on the treadmill at the gym, though, and I've been using the heart rate monitor David gave me to do a lot of heart rate training.

Today was great. I managed to make it around the common twice, running the entire time. Well, I say running. It was more of a very slow jog. I had set myself the goal of keeping my heart rate at about 85% of my maximum heart rate. I mostly managed to do this, though it became more difficult towards the end of the run. I kept having to pull myself back because I was exceeding 85% by a few bpm.

Now, before you get too impressed, I should point out that twice around the common is about 5k, and it took me over 50 minutes to do it. In order to keep my heart rate under 85% I had to run pretty slowly. Nevertheless, I'm enormously happy about this. Before I sprained my ankle, I could only make it around once, and I was absolutely exhausted. Today, I felt fine. I was only slightly out of breath at the end, though my legs are a bit sore at the moment.

I guess all that time on the treadmill is paying off. I'm pretty sure the excellent wicking socks that Ingrid, Patrick and Jude sent me for my birthday helped, too!