Vacation running progress

I took this week off because my kids are on vacation. It's great to have additional time for running and I'm running ahead of my daily average of about 2. 2 miles. So far this week I'm averaging about 3 miles per day, today I ran 3.42 at a 9:14 pace. Looking back at my late fall 2008 paces I'm doing pretty well, my average pace in November was over 10:00 min/mi and now it's less than 9:30/mi. This morning's run started fast (for me) and I very quickly realized I couldn't maintain the 8:30 pace I was running. After adjusting my speed I settled in aiming for about 2.25 miles that would put me a little ahead of my usual M-F run distance. Once I did my usual halfway loop I chose a few streets that ran away from my house to extend my total distance.

The heart rate monitor is great to have because it provides instant feedback in terms of how hard I'm working and how hard I should be running. I used it on the elliptical yesterday and it was interesting to compare those rates with rates when running. I know, based upon my pulse rate, that I need to push myself harder. I did accelerate a few times near the end but I still didn't get to 80% of max rate that is recommended for progress. I always think about the phrase "Train, not pain" and I live by it making good progress by pushing incrementally without making training a negative experience. That's probably why I look forward to my workouts instead of dreading the work.