Low HR Training

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Newbie runner needs guidance (Read 565 times)

    Hey everyone This is my first post on RunningAHEAD, so I'd just like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to read my post. I consider myself to be a beginner to running. I've run on and off in the past, but never seriously, and my mileage has never exceeded 15-20 kms a week. I've decided that now is the time for me to get serious. I've set myself the objective of running the half marathon in Ottawa at the end of may. I would like to eventually run a marathon, but I think the HM is a more reasonable goal to start with. I stumbled upon this low heart rate training, read up a little on it, and to me it seems like a great way for a new runner to start. Run slow and build a base. I went out and purchased a HRM and have been using it since I started running. 180-30(my age)=150 which is the max HR that I should reaching during my runs right? So I've made my target HR during my workouts 140-150. I started running about 2 weeks ago, 3 times a week, for 20 mins. I added another day to my running week because I felt like 3 wasn't enough, so am now running 4 days a week, and plan to add 10% distance every week. Now, the problem is, I have no real running experience, so I have no idea if I am on the right track. Am I overdoing it? Underdoing it? I would like to hear your opinions on how this newbie should be running to get the most out of his running. If any of you are willing to make me a running program, that would be great also Smile Just so you know a little about me, I am 30 yo male, 5'8" 175 lbs ( about 15 lbs over weight ). I have no injuries. See my log for more info on my runs. Once again, thanks for your feedback! Appreciate it! Anthony
    gregw


      I think you're definitely on the right track. A word of caution though -- when running slowly, it's easy to build up your weekly mileage more quickly than your muscles, tendons, and ligaments can stand. 10% a week is a good rule of thumb, but you need to take a "cut back" week every 3 or 4 weeks, running say 50-75% of the last week mileage. Also realize that increase by 10% is a geometric increase and 10 weeks of that would be a 260% increase or 670% over 20 weeks! While 10% in a week is OK I think, you probably shouldn't increase more than about a mile per week over the long term. For instance, going from 20 - 40 a week over 20 weeks is pretty reasonable, but going from 20 to 134 (which is only 10% a week) probably isn't. There are some good beginner half marathon plans that will give you a reasonable mile build up schedule. Hal Higon has some at http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/index.htm for instance. Sounds like you're doing great. Keep it up!
      BeeRunB


        Below is an example of how to build up mileage. HARD/EASY. Ave. 5-7% per week. Building hard days first. Recovery week every 4th. I'm sure you can extend this chart on your own, or create your own. Just an example. In miles: ...................... DAY....................... Wk#...1....2....3....4....5....6....7....TOTAL 1........4....0....3....4....0....3....0....14 2........4....0....3....4....0....4....0....15 3........5....0....3....4....0....4....0....16 4........3....0....3....3....0....3....0....12 5........5....0....3....5....0....4....0....17 6........6....0....3....5....0....4....0....18 7........6....0....2....5....2....4....0....19 8........3....0....3....4....0....3....0....13 9........6....0....2....5....3....4....0....20 10......7....0....2....5....3....4....0....21 11......7....0....3....5....3....4....0....22 12......4....0....3....4....0....4....0....15 13......8....0....3....6....3....4....0....24 14......8....0....4....6....3....5....0....26 15......9....0....4....6....3....5....0....27 16......5....0....3....4....0....4....0....16 17.......9...0....4.....7....3....5....0....28 18.....10...0....4.....7....3....6....0....30 19.....10...0....4.....7....4....6....0....31
          Thanks for the replies! I like that training plan and will definitely use it. I will have to add a couple of weeks before week 1 to build up to that mileage, but otherwise its pretty much exactly what I need.
          Rudolf


            Hey everyone I stumbled upon this low heart rate training, read up a little on it, and to me it seems like a great way for a new runner to start. Run slow and build a base. I went out and purchased a HRM and have been using it since I started running. 180-30(my age)=150 which is the max HR that I should reaching during my runs right? So I've made my target HR during my workouts 140-150. Anthony
            My understanding is, that 180-age is not the whole formula for MAF HR, considering You are not aerobicaly trained, on very low miles per week, begginer, I would use the minus 10 factor for the first year. so You MAF would be 180-30-10= 140. In my understanding this is the HR to do the testing, the MAF test, but training sessions should be bellow this say 120-130. Does this sound correct to the experts ?
            BeeRunB


              ********** From The Maffetone Method by Dr. Philip Maffetone page 61 ©2000 (Ragged Mountain Press): 180-age --subtract 10 if you are recovering from a major illness like cancer, heart disease, etc. --subtract 5 if you haven't exercised before or irregularly, have been exercising with injury, regressed in races or competition, get two or more colds or flu a year or have allergies or asthma. --use the 180-age number if you have been exercising regularly for up to two years, at least 4 times weekly, and have had none of the above mentioned problems . --if you are a competitive athlete and have been training for more than two years without any of the above problems and have seen progress in competition without injury, then add 5. ********** Then you set a zone of your final number -10. So, if you fit the 3rd category and are 30 years old: 180-30=150 150-10=140 zone: 140-150 Warm-up slowly to 140, at least 15-30 minutes, even more time is fine, then stay in the zone of 140-150. It's okay to stay lower than the zone. eg 130-150 Walk if necessary to stay under the ceiling. Especially up the hills. It's about managing stress and staying healthy, while progressing in race times. Warming up and cooling down is very important. I'll take as long as 7 miles to get to my 180-age -10 number. Never less than 20-30 minutes. Always walk for 10-25 minutes after depending on the distance. --Jimmy


              Misplaced runner...

                So Jimmy, I'm curious, if warm-up is 20 to 30 minutes and cool-down is 10 to 25, what are you're daily run mileages? Some of my weekday runs don't total more than about 35 to 45 minutes. Also, I've noticed many post weather data in their logs. Where is this information being obtained and how accurate is it for the particular location that you're running? Not intending to hijack this thread, but I think this information will be of good use for Anthony and other recent new folks to this group, such as myself. Thanks, Tim

                Current focus: Texas Med Run 10k (2/3/18) and Bayou City Classic 10k (3/17/18).

                gregw


                  So Jimmy, I'm curious, if warm-up is 20 to 30 minutes and cool-down is 10 to 25, what are you're daily run mileages? Some of my weekday runs don't total more than about 35 to 45 minutes. Also, I've noticed many post weather data in their logs. Where is this information being obtained and how accurate is it for the particular location that you're running? Not intending to hijack this thread, but I think this information will be of good use for Anthony and other recent new folks to this group, such as myself. Thanks, Tim
                  On the weather thing, I use wunderground.com. In addition to airports, etc., you can also find personal weather stations, one of which is probably practically in your backyard.
                  BeeRunB


                    So Jimmy, I'm curious, if warm-up is 20 to 30 minutes and cool-down is 10 to 25, what are you're daily run mileages? Some of my weekday runs don't total more than about 35 to 45 minutes. Also, I've noticed many post weather data in their logs. Where is this information being obtained and how accurate is it for the particular location that you're running? Not intending to hijack this thread, but I think this information will be of good use for Anthony and other recent new folks to this group, such as myself. Thanks, Tim
                    You can read my running log below, there's a link. Be careful, it's very exciting to look at. You might get hooked. A warm-up can be as little as 15 minutes, which mean running a pace that gets you to to MAF -10 (at the most--unless i'ts an MAF test)--slowly-- by the end of the warm-up. The warm-up mileage counts towards total mileage. For cool-downI'll walk 10 minutes for 5-8 milers, 15-20 minutes for 10+, 20+ minutes for 18+ milers. I obtain weather data from the my personal meteorologist that I pay to live with me. (a.k.a. Weather.com--that I pay to have on broadband cable). Completely accurate as weather accuracy goes. Just pop your zip code in. The idea is to keep track to see how weather affects you stress-wise. Plus, it's good to know that the weather might be the reason you seem to be regressing, or progressing, --Jimmy P.S. Read a Maffetone book like the Maffetone Method or Training For Endurance. It helps to educate yourself from the source. It's not a small decision to try this trainiing--it's pretty radical. Also the Bollerplate Sticky and FAQ
                      I will definitely check out Maffetone's book. I want to know as much about this method as possible. I have a question regarding what I should eat pre-run. I read somewhere in the FAQ to avoid eating carbs up to 3 hours before running. Seeing as this method is meant to burn fat as energy does this mean that I don't need to eat anything before I head out? Also, as I mentioned earlier, I plan on running the HM in May. Seeing as I am a newbie with practically no running background, should I just stick to LHR training all the way till May, gradually increasing my mileage ( I plan on using the program Jimmy posted above )? Or should I follow a typical HM program with speedwork etc? I am not too concerned with time, just want to finish and have a good experience. Thanks again for your replies!
                      BeeRunB


                        Read this sticky--it's an email I received from Phil Maffetone in answer to the same sort of question. Personally, if I'm running any time before noon, I never eat before a run. If I do eat, I'll wait 3 hours before running. During a run, I don't take in carbs, save for a few that comes in plain Pediolyte, which I use for hydration and electrolytes. In a marathon, I eat about 3-4 hours before, then take a few GU's starting after 40 minutes into the race. --jimmy
                          I will definitely check out Maffetone's book. I want to know as much about this method as possible. I have a question regarding what I should eat pre-run. I read somewhere in the FAQ to avoid eating carbs up to 3 hours before running. Seeing as this method is meant to burn fat as energy does this mean that I don't need to eat anything before I head out? Also, as I mentioned earlier, I plan on running the HM in May. Seeing as I am a newbie with practically no running background, should I just stick to LHR training all the way till May, gradually increasing my mileage ( I plan on using the program Jimmy posted above )? Or should I follow a typical HM program with speedwork etc? I am not too concerned with time, just want to finish and have a good experience. Thanks again for your replies!
                          Yea I also don't eat 3 hrs before a run. I also don't eat before any races (ran a marathon 2 weeks ago and didn't eat anything before and finished) It does work, I didn't think it would when I started. I figured I wouldn't have enough energy to finish each run, but I haven't had any problems yet. Have fun with the training and good luck.
                            What about coffee before a run? I'm a coffee nut and have one first thing in the morning when I wake up. Does anyone else have a coffee or caffeine before a run? I know that caffeine dehydrates you so maybe its not such a good thing, but I have read that it does increase performance.
                            BeeRunB


                              What about coffee before a run? I'm a coffee nut and have one first thing in the morning when I wake up. Does anyone else have a coffee or caffeine before a run? I know that caffeine dehydrates you so maybe its not such a good thing, but I have read that it does increase performance.
                              Coffee is fine. It does NOT dehydrate you, that is a myth. It is no more diuretic than drinking a lot of water. Before I even researched studies on this, I noticed that I didn't pee out any more liquids than the coffee I was taking in. If you drink a 16 oz coffee, you probably will have to pee, just as if you drank 16 oz of water. Coffee also pushes the body towards burning fat. So drink away. I do. --Jimmy P.S. Here's one article about coffee: http://www.ific.org/foodinsight/2002/ja/caffdehydnbfi402.cfm P.S. 2 I remember when I was in Italy, I took to drinking these little shots of espresso throughout the day during huge amounts of walking about. It was great; there were these coffe bars all over the place. No one walked around with 16-240z cups of coffee--just little shots at the bar and off with ya. Never made me want to go to the bathroom. I felt a nice jolt, and a got a bit of hydration.
                                Ah, yes. People like to say, "caffeinated beverages dehydrate you!". Well, perhaps more than non-caffeinated drinks of course, but I guarantee I could survive solely on diet Mt. Dew for 2 weeks without dying from dehydration. Or coffee for that matter. Smile
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