"I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."

I have had my Garmin Forerunner 310XT this morning and I’m excited to start running with another tool – Heart Rate. This will help me assess my running intensity at different zones. I know that using HR in isolation is not a fool-proof method of assessing intensity but with that and using the pace I’m running at it’ll be more accurate than usual. I was going to purchase the 410 but this seems to have had some bad reviews on the touch bezel when it gets wet. Also the 310XT has a larger screen and it is completely waterproof.

With reading Daniels’ Running Formula recently I can see that keeping to the right intensity for the session is important. Whether it’s / Interval / Threshold / Marathon / or Easy Pace, the session can be much more effective at the right pace. E.g. with completing an interval session it is important to reach a point of VO2max and sticking at this (100% - 98% max HR.) there is no point in running at a higher intensity (leave this for repetitions). Threshold running is designed to increase the body’s system to clear lactate acid. There is no point in running this higher than Lactate Threshold intensity. This is around 90% max HR.

I need to do a hard hill session soon to calculate my max HR but for now I’m using 220 minus my age. I think I’ll leave the hill session to after Chester Marathon.