I think I may actually be getting somewhere fitness wise!

I had three great runs this week. First run was a 5k around the neighborhood. I'm not quite sure I believe my HRM, but if it is correct, I did my fastest ever run of my main neighborhood course, all without going significantly over a heart rate of 160.

Next was a ~9k at a fairly respectible pace with my heart rate staying in the low 150s for all but one big hill.

Finally, I did 18k as my long run. The first hour (and about 8k) was all done around 8 min per km with a heart rate that was mainly in the upper 140s to low 150s. After the first hour, my heart rate did climb. I did quite well for 14k, but the last 4k were a real drag, and my pace slowed considerably for the last 2.5k. We will see how my long run for the upcoming week goes, but I think I need to do a lot more runs in the 18-21k range to get my muscles used to going for that long. And if I can lower my time per km by a fair amount, it will be interesting to see if the limiting factor is the distance or the time.

Overall stats for the week are:

• Total Distance: 32.3 km

• Total Time: 4 hr 12 min

• Elevation Gain: 290 m