I'm feeling discouraged as I'm coming off of a 2 week no running break and at my easy pace my heart rate is 10-15 bpm higher. Sometimes my watch goes from like 134bpm to 174 and back to 134 during runs which also makes me wonder how accurate the thing is. I am trying to run based on how I feel but if I had to be honest I probably feel a bit tired. I'm hoping I will regain some fitness.
I remember that just this spring I couldn't run for 1 month due to an injury and when I came back I ran in 70 degrees at a pace 30 sec slower than my normal easy run and felt like absolute crap. I went to PR in the mile so who knows.
However, I've put on about 3 lbs this past cross country season (didn't seem to affect my times, actually PRd in both 5k and 6k). I'm just worried that I've somehow lost a ton of fitness and my heart rate will continue to be high. The last hard effort I did was on November 11th. Help!