Of Mice and Marathons

Is the strap is too loose? I usually keep it pretty tight, and it doesn't require too much adjustment.

The resting HR is good.

What's your HR max? Once we get that we can sort out the HRR to figure out the proper HR for your easy runs.

I think I need to notch it up a bit. I just didn't want to throw it off too much.

I used the basic formula to determine HR reserve and my zones. I know there are many suggested formulas but my breakdown looks some like this for the basic:

115-152 fat burning

152-167 aerobic zone

167-175 lactate threshold

My terms might not be lining up, but basically easy/recovery, maintenance to upper end of marathon pace, lactate threshold.

I think the problem with the basic is that it only gives me a max of 190, which is obviously higher than I want to train at for an long durations. On the treadmill I've pushed a LT tempo from 168-178 or so. Seems like it would sky rocket during a 5k session.

So - (you may already know this - apologies if so) if you are using 190 as your max HR based on the generic formula of 220-age; (which is not necessarily wrong, but you may want to conduct some of your own testing to determine your true max HR) - I would use the following:

Most "aerobic" efforts according to Lydiard's 1/2 effort - translate to about 70% HRR. 1/4 effort is about 65% HRR - and high aerobic is 75-80% HRR.

That calculation for 70% is Max HR - Resting HR * 70% + Resting HR = HRR. So 190-40 x 70% +40 = 145.

So if you are doing your easy runs at a 145 HR - and it may be humbling to see what that pace actually is per mile - eventually your body will become more efficient and will be able to sustain a much faster pace at the same HR - and at the same time be less taxing on your body.

For me - if I lock into running at around the HRR's as mentioned above - with most of the aerobic efforts right at 70% HRR - and the recovery efforts below 65% - my pace per mile gradually decreases (I get faster) with the same HR effort as I get more and more aerobically efficient.

Depending on your level of fitness and natural talent - this can be dramatic. Google Mark Allen - triathlete and HR training. Although he could race in the low 5 min range per mile he was struggling in competitions - he discovered that his HRR in the 70% range was actually 8:15 pace. After several months of training using this method, he was able to drop his pace still at that same HR into the 5:20 ppm range and thus extend his aerobic endurance.

Thanks for the helpful feedback. I used to use the monitor on the treadmill so that I wasn't worrying about pace too much. Lately I have been working to hard to hit 8:00-8:15 (for whatever reason). I turned off my pace a few months ago and check it when I am done. I've been slowing backing down my easy pace more and more.

I've been running pretty slow and the HR monitor confirmed that I am more or less in the range. I could have run the entry run above slower, although I was quite comfortable. It could have been under 140 I think. My average pace was 8:45 for a dry day with a decent amount of climb at the end. But, yes, quite humbling! I expected it to be solidly in the 130 range.

Thanks again for the tips. I'll check out Mark Allen.

Cool. I think you have it zeroed-in with 10.5 miles at 145 HR - for a solid aerobic effort. If that was for recovery, I would slow it down just a bit.

Some days after a hard training effort, that 145 HR may translate to a much slower pace per mile - but what you are really looking for is the benefits of the aerobic blood flow and the restoration of the proper ph levels after anaerobic efforts. In other words, you should not really care what the pace is - it should be about time and the proper HR effort to maximize the benefits of adaptation in recovery. And if you can do that by feel instead of using the HR monitor - than you are way ahead of the game.

I only display time of day and mileage on my watch at this point. Like my pace, I am only checking my heart rate after runs. The idea is to try to intuit the heart rate based on effort. Today I might have been a little slow, but it is a pace I have gotten comfortable at and I enjoy my runs a lot more and they feel a lot less like work, which is what I want most days.

The day after a workout I will try to see if I can keep it under 140.