Oh BEAUTIFUL day!

I have been battling a very sore throat and had to miss Track Night yesterday. In fact, I was at urgent care while my group was working out. The good news is that while at the doctors, the nurse exclaimed over my having the following stats from the testing equipment:

• Blood Pressure - 110/72
• Heart Rate (sitting up in a doctors office!) - 54
• Oxygen Saturation - 100%

She said I may have a virus, but my vitals are definitely good. Also of note, the last morning I checked my true resting heart rate it was all the way down to 49. That is my best yet. I must be doing something right to have raised my oxygen up to max and to have my resting heart rate lowering. Now....if I can just get myself to stop eating too much on weekends.

Today we had highs of 66 degrees with mostly clear skies. It was AMAZING.

I still had a sore throat, but it was better and there was NO way I wasn't getting out there after work to do a make up session of last nights scheduled run of 800 (at 80%) - 800 (at 80%) - 400 (at 90%) - 400 (at 95%).

Instead of finding flat track for my run I went to the trail that runs along Padden Parkway and up over the 205 freeway. Yes...OVER....as in HILL. I figured I would call it practice for the Shamrock.

There I was at the crest of the hill with gold and orange clouds against a deep blue sunset sky. It was a 'favorite moment' for sure.

Here is a shot early in the evening when I had got out to park and start my 1 mile light jog warm-up headed east. You can see Mt Hood on the right hand side.

SCARY EVENT: In the first minute of my LIGHT warm-up jog, my Heart Rate Monitor went off. I thought it was to say "Too Low". Nope. It said "Too High" and showed a heart rate of 228. I assure you, that was crazy wrong. I figured out it was caused either by my belt being too loose, my iPhone playing music right next to it, or static electricity from my shirt. Either way, I turned off the iPhone, tightened the belt and remoistened the pads. It began working normally after that.

HIGHLIGHT: Running high over the freeway on the raised trail at the golden peak of sunset.

Average Pace:  12:00
Best Pace:          7:15
Average HR:      159
Max HR:            176 (in the last lap - the 95% run up hill)
Weight:              169 (after eating two cans of high sodium soup last night)
Body Fat %:        34% (was 38% six months ago)

Outdoor temps:  60 degrees and 42 % humid. Clear