Strange way to write a post title, I know. But just imagine me saying it and you'll get why I wanted to speak write that way! Because I'm excited!
I've been playing with Zone 2 running for a couple of months now. I haven't been anywhere near as consistent as my partner 
Don't have the energy? Don't have the motivation? Have too many other priorities?
Who knows. Anyway, I have still been chipping away at it. Learning how to do it. Learning what works and what doesn't. Trying to increase the amount of time I spend running in Zone 2 in total.
I did fairly well last week when we went parkrunning at Berrinba, here in South East Queensland (Australia). I felt pretty rubbish but I still managed to run jog like a 70-year-old woman. On a fairly flat course, I managed to run my 5km in 50:53 with an average heart rate of 130 but I had a spike into the 140's (which is firmly into Zone 3) at the beginning and another spike into the 150's at the end... despite trying to slooooooooow riiiiiiight doooooooown at the end!
This morning, at Meadowbrook, another parkrun in the same part of SE Queensland, I had a much better time. I had slept heaps better. My belly felt fine. I liked the course and the atmosphere more. And with a similar course in terms of elevation, I managed to run with an average heart rate of 127 beats per minute and only bumped into Zone 3 a small handful of times, with a max of 144.
Jogging the whole way, I had a much better time than last week, feeling overall much better. And while I didn't manage to stay wholly within Zone 2 (which was my goal) I was very happy to see that I managed to keep my heart rate stable at the beginning and the end with the crowd pressures, and anytime it spiked, I simply slowed right down and my heart rate dropped again immediately.
With an official time of 48:25, of which 44:30 was in Zone 2, I am very happy with this outcome. Happy and proud. This preservering is paying off. And it was great to go back to Meadowbrook for the first time in many years. I think we'll go back again soon!
I might be additionally swayed by the fact that they have a massive playground to climb all over ;P
All photos were taken by my favourite member of the paparazzi, Brad (aka