I've been practising low heart rate training.
Some days it goes well.
And others, like this morning, it doesn't.
I woke up about seven times last night.
Broken sleep is a surefire way to make sure I'm not well rested.
And as I was reminded again this morning:
Not well rested = stressful = almost impossible to run with a low heart rate.
Makes sense. It's totally logical. People have been banging on about the importance of sleep for maximising performance for years.
But it's one thing to read it in a book.
It's another thing altogether to watch it play out in my lived experience.
On a day when I've slept well I can easily warm up and easily find myself running in Zone 2 (117-136 beats per minute for me) or even Zone 1 (98-116 bpm).
But when I wake up with belly pain, or in a rush from a nightmare, or toss and turn in the heat these are the days I struggle to get out of bed.
These are the days, I have now learned, are better suited to an easy walk in the bush.
Over the years, people have tried giving me all sorts of advice to improve my sleep.
About 20% of the suggestions have been total gold.
Everything else that's been said I was either already doing, or makes no scrap of difference, or occasionally actually makes it worse.
So, I come back to my word: Practise.
On days I find tough, I actively practise what I know will make me feel better in the short term and improve my well being in the long term.
On the days when I feel okay, I also try to remember to practise.
And on the days when I feel amazing to the point of mania, then too I practise.
CC.
