Goku

Hello all,

Let me just start by saying I think triathletes are awesome. I haven't done any triathlons yet but intend on doing it. Probably will enter my first event sometime next year. I run and have recently started taking swimming to improve my technique for the triathlon and entered my first ever run a few weeks ago. It was a half marathon. I have sort of been inactive for the last couple of years and decided that the only real way to get back in shape and lose all the weight I've gained would be by participating in competitions. It is really cold here in Montreal and I've even trained in -23 degree celsius weather. On top of that, I've only been training for the last 2.5 months. Now for my question. I didn't do too well on the run. Since it was my first run, I was happy with the results, ie finishing the race and not placing last. I did a time of 2:43 (not too good by your standards but I want to train harder). What I find odd was my heart rate. From the start of the race, it hit 170 bpm which I found odd. And throughout the race it averaged around 180. I don't usually go this high. I train at around 155 bpm. And towards the end it even hit 195. I think it was because I was feeling a rush and my heart rate wouldn't go down. I also know that I should never have gone that high. Trust me, I was only shooting for 170 tops but it just wouldn't go down. I thought it was a hrm malfunction but when I took my heart rate after the race, it was on the ball. Also worth mentioning, I was only working towards building base miles so I haven't done any interval training, fartleks etc.. Only recovery and long runs. In any case, by the end of summer I want to bring my run time down to approx 2:15. Is that at all possible? I can only run 3 times a week or my knees start to hurt. Even though I run 3 times a week, I still go to the gym 2-3 times a week as well. Do I have to run 5 times a week to really improve my run time to 2:15? Also, I'm not sure if it is important, but I am 30 years of age..
I ask you triathletes because I noticed that the best runners there were the triathletes. It blew my mind how fast and in shape the triathletes were...