Today was my longest run to date. 5 miles. After my 11:53 single mile earlier in the week, it was gratifying to know I have not lost my ability to run incredibly slowly. 19 minute mile average. 1253 calories burned.

I started out running 1 minute / walking 1 minute. But was unable to maintain that (previously I have been doing 30seconds run / 1 minute walk). What I wound up doing was basing my run / walk on my heart rate. I ran until my heart rate got above 160. Then walked until it went back down under 140 (so, 139, in other words).

Turns out that running in this way, I was running about 40 - 50 seconds, then walking from 90 - 120 seconds.

I also noticed that I recovered faster in the shade. In the shade I was around 90 seconds to get back under 140. But when I was on the parts of the trail that were in direct sunlight it took significantly longer for my heart rate to recover.

For one particularly glaring section it took almost 3 minutes for me to recover. Though, once back in the shadier sections my heart recovered at the appropriate rate.