Today I decided to walk outside. I haven’t done that much since Christmas and I really missed it. Because I have not been outside much, I wasn’t as experienced planning what to wear as I used to be.

I went down the street and around the big block. My main focus was to have good form and practice pushing off with my toes since I haven’t figured out how to do that on a treadmill. I don’t know why, but I have difficulty maintaining that smooth (not bouncing) feeling outside. As long as I was focusing on it, I was fine. As soon as I started thinking about something else I noticed bouncing and not feeling smooth.

After one loop around the big block, I was way too hot and starting to sweat. I opened the vents of my jacket and ended up unzipping the neck beneath my gaiter. Hmmm. Maybe I didn’t need the gaiter. (I hate having a cold neck!)

After my planned three loops I went home to find my husband had taken the truck to buy a newspaper (my fault it wasn’t delivered — long story) and my stainless steel water bottle that had been sitting on the back bumper was somewhere in the street between our house and the gas station. Thank goodness I found it in the street about half a block away. It has a new dent and lots more scratches, but is otherwise unharmed.

So, I’m not sure how cold it was, but I definitely was overdressed today. I probably just need to walk outside a little more often to get re-acclimated.
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I walked for 37 min. My max heart rate was 173 and I averaged about 155. I’m beginning to think that my race heart rate should be higher than 140 — the milestone I used last year to PR during the Air Force half marathon.

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