Knowing when to cut a run short

I am thankful for my Garmin, cause without it I wouldn't have had this great blog post for you guys.

I went for a run this evening. I have felt fine all day, a little tight since my 8 miler yesterday, but nothing serious. I mapped out a 13 mile route and waited until the weather hit its warmest point and left for my run. 

Right from the start I wasn't feeling it. Not a typical I don't feel like running feeling, but I was struggling. I know I often have the issue of running too fast on my easy runs, so I kept telling myself I wasn't feeling right because of the weather, because my legs were tight, because I needed to slow down. Lot's of reasons. And lot's of times the reasons are completely accurate. This evening was not the case. 

My heart wasn't in it. My heart and mind aren't in every run that I do, but my actual heart wasn't in this one. It just didn't feel good. 

I told myself I'd make it to 4 and then evaluate whether I should turn right to continue or keep going to head home. I figured after 4 miles your body is in the run enough to determine what your right course of action is. I kept going to head home. It was a difficult 5 miles. I don't often have difficult 5 miles at an easy pace. 

So I plugged my Garmin in to upload my run and check out my stats. 

Take note of my heart rate in this picture. This is what you don't want your heart rate to do when your running. Notice how it just keeps elevating? Even with me running at an easy pace for myself, my heart rate continued to raise. And raise. 

(SIDE NOTE: I always run at about 80%-95% of my MHR. I'm not sure why, I have always known it, but it always seems to be that way no matter my pace. When I do speed work its well over 100%. My Vo2Max is about 46, so I recover well.)

Lets compare it to this one. This is the first 9 of a 16 miler I did at an easy pace. Despite the fact that my heart rate elevates slightly, over the course of time it generally stays the same. 

Apparently I have a good cadence.

Disclaimer, I drank 1-2 cups of coffee before each of these runs. 

Your heart rate is supposed to raise a little for the first mile or two, but then it should level off. If it doesn't and keeps raising then you know something is wrong and your heart just can't catch up. 

Trust yourself and your instincts. Don't be a hero or let a pre-set number determine your day. If your not feeling good, there is probably a reason. You can always try again tomorrow.