A Question:

Thanks to all of you for your encouragement. I have to admit I have mixed feeling about last nights run. Part of me is amazed and proud that I was able to keep it up for that long without falling over. Be assured, I'm feeling it today. Part of me feels guilty and embarrassed that it was that hard for me and that two fellow team members who are far ahead of me fitness wise were witness to my weakness. Humility sucks. As I've said, though, its water under the bridge and training in the bank.

Which leads me to my question. It's a word problem of sorts. If Phoenix is able to maintain a certain pace for one hour without falling over or having to slow down (sure, she wanted to slow down, but she didn't have to), is that pace her Lactate Threshold - even though her heart rate was well over what "should" be her Lactate Threshold? I suspect my heart rate is relatively high for my age group - the so-called aerobic pace feels ridiculously easy and the "anaerobic" zone feels relatively comfortable. So what do I trust? My heart rate or my perceived effort - what I "can" do or what I'm "supposed" to do? I want to train smart, but I also want to train hard. Any advice is incredibly appreciated.