I've noticed an interesting situation with my longer runs.
Right now, i run about 6 miles/day during the week. Most of those runs are around 8:40-9:00+ (depending on a variety of factors). I typically do a 12-mile run on the weekend. I noticed that my speed at the same heartrate gets faster the longer I run. Has anyone else noticed this?
I am 45 with 32+ years of running experience. I use 145 as my HR ceiling due to the 180-45+5. I added 5 beats because I remember reading some article (Mark Allen) that suggested an extra 5 bpm for certain people, but I can't remember why now.
Anyway, during yesterday's 12-mile run on 3 4-mile loops, my 1st loop was in 34:26, the 2nd loop was in 34:22, but I covered the 3rd loop in 33:29. I've noticed this on my other 12-mile run, and I've noticed it on 10-mile runs. My 6-mile runs get faster if I start slow. The pace for the first loop yesterday was faster than my 6-mile pace.
I was just wondering if anyone has experienced it. Other than that, MAF-type running has gone great. I've gone from virtually no running to easily running 12-mile runs and 40-mile weeks (on 5 runs due to life) with no problems. I do a lot of my runs in Nike Free 3.0 although I weigh just under 200 pounds currently. I'm looking to drop about 25 pounds as I progress.
FW Half 11/8/09
Dr. MLK,Jr brithplace
How consistent is each mile (HR and pace)?