I was feeling pretty decent today so I decided to do the 2400m Step Assessment to get a baseline for future tests. Here's the protocol:

1. Run 2400m @ 140 bpm and record time. Take 90 secs rest.
2. Run 2400m @ 150 bpm and record time. Take 90 secs rest.
3. Run 2400m @ 160 bpm and record time. Take 90 secs rest.
4. Run 2400m @ 170 bpm and record time. Take 90 secs rest.
5. Run 2400m @ 180 bpm and record time. Take 90 secs rest.

Here were the results. I took splits at the 1200m mark and will only use the last 1200m because it takes a little while to get to stable HRs. I only did 800m on the last one (180 bpm) because I was in serious need of finding a bathroom due to eating a bowl of cereal right before heading out for my run.  All of the paces felt pretty comfortable. The only difference I noticed was once I hit 170 bpm my breathing started to feel slightly more labored. 180 bpm felt fast but only because I haven't spent any time there yet. Overall this is a good sign that my run fitness is moving in the right direction.

140 bpm: 6:41 pace (138) @ 1200m split, 6:55 pace (141) @ 2400m split
150 bpm: 6:18 pace (145), 6:28 pace (151)
160 bpm: 5:48 pace (153), 5:56 pace (161)
170 bpm: 5:12 pace (164), 5:30 pace (171)
180 bpm: 4:57 pace (164) only 1/2 mile

My usable data will be:

6:55, 6:28, 5:56, 5:30, X:XX

My goal for this year is as follows:

6:48, 6:18, 5:45, 5:20, 4:57

Once I can hit that type of an assessment I will know that my base is fully developed and I'm ready to start specific training for either 5k/10k or Half Marathon/Marathon. I've noticed this on past assessments that the correlation between pace and HR is about 30 seconds for every 10 bpm give or take 3-4 seconds.