22 miles. No HR monitor today as I knew it would be super low and I didn't have the energy to push. I wore my Camelbak which zapped my legs for the first 15 miles. Once it was empty though I felt great because of the hydration and the loss of weight. All of this was between 8500 and 9700 ft altitude. Average pace was 7:35. HR never broke 140.
98 miles for the week and it's killing me to fall short of 100. I'm vacillating between going out for 2 miles and slapping myself for being so OCD. I missed a second run last night so the plan was to get 103.
Excellent week for me. 2 solid interval sessions and 2 long runs both up high and at an OK pace. 4 quality runs in a 98 mile week is the path I need to stay on.
7 comments:
Tim,
At the risk of looking like an idiot, and a slow one at that...
I am coming back from a partially torn Posterior Tibialis tendon. I was training for a marathon and took 12 weeks off until my foot felt well enough to start running again. In the meantime I have put on 15 pounds.
I decided to try to maintain a low heart rate like you espouse. So, I've been running 4 - 5 times a week for 4 miles each run, which feels like all my foot can handle right now. I am trying to keep my HR below 150, so if it hits 151 I walk it down to 139 and start running again. I have been doing this for 3 weeks, and am very slow, like 10:30 pace.
How long should it be until I see significant progress. I was a 1:3X half marathoner and 1/2 IM athlete prior to my injury.
Sorry for the long post.
Eric
Eric- You're not an idiot. And you're not slow.
First- the weight is adding stress so getting it down is priority one. You'll be healthier on all fronts. Particularly with a foot issue which is taking a beating anyway. I would recommend wrapping it which will help to support the arch more.
The low HR thing is a game of patience and it will take longer to see results the less you run. But it will happen! An added benefit to you right now will be that it also holds you back from running hard on your foot which will allow you to run more. You'll want to slowly build volume with out breaking down and as you do this you'll improve faster. 20 miles per week isn't a lot so the improvements will be slower- maybe just a few seconds per mile each week? As you adapt to the mileage, build on it! One of my athletes who just started a long focus on the lower HR running has taken over two minutes per mile off her tests in one month. She's running ~50-60 mile per week right now. That's not completely typical but I have seen many athletes who are disciplined take a minute off immediately.
I would place your goals as first losing the added weight.
Then staying healthy in regards to your foot.
Then working on building mileage at the low HR. You sound like you're doing great on the discipline side and this really is the key to seeing significant improvement! So keep it up! If after a month you don't see any change then consider trying something else, but give it an honest shot first. Test every week by warming up for ~15:00, starting at a walk, then jogging at ~HR 130 for 5:00, then building gradually to HR 140-150 and holding it there for 5:00.. Then start your test and do maybe 3 miles. Do this every week. I would love to hear how you're progression is!
T
Thanks for your Response Tim! I will try to stick with the plan, since I don't have any goals this year other than to get my foot solid again for next year, maybe this will be a blessing in disguise.
Do you have any pointers for taping? I've never done that before.
Eric
I would say to check out the web for taping ideas. It's kind of important to get the foam under wrap or shave. It's a pain in the ass to wrap but if you can at least do it for longer runs it will help.
You can also get rolls cheap on e-bay. Foam and tape.
T
Hey Tim,
I actually had a somewhat similar question, so this seems like a good pace to ask it.
I'm starting from just about nothing, fitness-wise and have been running for about four weeks now. Last year I was running up to twelve miles at a time, but pretty slowly, and I'm guessing, with really bad form. Anyway, when I started, I could do about three miles at a pace of 11 min/mile with a heart rate averaging around 178 bpm, peaking at 187.
I decided to try running at a lower heart rate and set a limit at 160 bpm. This meant a lot of walking breaks, but after doing this for the past three weeks I've improved to the point where I can do about five miles at a time pretty comfortably at a 13 min/mile pace and an average heart rate around 157 bpm.
So I've been wondering where to go from here. Would it be better to cut my heart rate max again to something like 150 bpm, which is going to mean more walking. Or keep the same max heart rate and increase speed and distance.
Any thoughts?
Matt
Matt- I would say to try to hold HR to 160 max for now. You're 28 years old (?) so this isn't completely off the mark. It would be better if it was a max of 155 but I tend to believe it is important to work the muscles and tendons too. Walking isn't going to develop running strength or durability. If in a couple of months you can run 10-11 minute pace at HR 160 then maybe lower it then.
As you train consistently at HR 150-160 your pace will get faster- as you have already seen. This will continue indefinitely if you have the patience to stick with it. And as I said before, the more mileage you build up to, the faster it happens. Test every week or two weeks to see results and keep motivated.
To help with running economy you should do strides. Start with 3-4 X 10" and also start each one with a very low HR (stand for a minute to get it down). Then run each one comfortably fast and try to hold what feels like good form. Faster cadence. Relax and don't strain, these aren't sprints. HR shouldn't break 160 on these as they are too short, and this is part of the key to them. You need to keep them to less than 20" so you aren't taxing your aerobic system. These benefit your central nervous system only. Increase speed very gradually over the course of a few months. Do these maybe 2-3 times each week at the end of a shorter run.
Does that answer your question?
Cheers!
That answers my question beautifully. I'll start integrating those into my runs and see how it goes.
Cheers,
Matt
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