Training zones

Today's workout consisted of a run and a quick swim.
The run was to be a 5 minute warm-up followed by 25-30 minutes of running in zone 2 (extensive endurance zone). My heart rate for zone 2 is between 139 and 151. This is the zone that I need to train in to build my endurance.

After my warm-up, I set out to make 3 loops around the mall (if you follow my blog, you know that this is my preferred route during early morning runs). First lap was done in 9:05 and my heart rate was hanging around 145. So far, so good. During lap 2 I noticed my HR had moved up into the 150-155 range...a little too high. So I slowed down the pace. Lap 2 was done in 9:35. During lap 3 I made an effort to slow down even more (time was 9:45), but my HR was hanging out around 160. Not only is this out of zone 2, it's all the way into zone 4! Zone 4 is supposed to be reserved for short workouts that aim to improve anaerobic threshold...which is not what I need to be doing right now.

I haven't worn a Heart Rate monitor much in the past, so I'm not sure if this is where my HR has been during running all along, or if it was just a little elevated today since I'm still getting over my head cold. I guess time will tell. I'm not that excited about running slow enough to keep my HR below 151 though!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
Ran 3.63 miles in 28:42 (7:54/mile)
Swam for 15 minutes. Did intervals 6x96yd (4 lengths - close as I can get to 100 yards in this pool). With 30s recovery between each. Average interval time was 1:44. I intended to do 10 intervals, but the only other person in the pool left, so I had to cut my workout short in order to follow the new rules. Cooled-down with 5 minutes of drills.
I did this swim workout wearing some baggy shorts. This gives the same effect as running with a parachute. It's much harder to swim with baggy basketball shorts on than with a nice sleek pair of swim shorts (take a minute to enjoy the mental image that you now have). This added drag helps directly build the muscles used for swimming. I throw one of these "drag" workouts in once in a while.