hi

have lurked on and off for a while, but some poor progress has prompted me to return. So here's the thing: I'm 45, about 142lbs, and 5'3 (female) and have been running (this time!) consistently for almost a year. I could do with losing about 8lbs (although I am fairly muscular), and usually run about 30 miles a week.

I am working on a rough HR Max of about 178 (+ 5 as I have been running for a while), but all in all I'm now running at about 132 ave (in 2 weeks this has become much easier to do with no effect on pace). My pace is about a 12m/m. I am planning on doing this for about 3 months - I no longer walk/run and my running is genuinely easy.

Two questions:

1. how strict do I have to be? e.g. 2-3 beats over is OK, or not? given that I am working off estimates anyway, I can't see that this matters that much

2. as I improve I am finding that it takes me longer to get up to target HR and that I don't have to slow down to maintain it: should I (a) lower target heart rate or (b) increase pace to keep same HR?

I've been doing the former the last couple of weeks as I think my initial HR was a bit too high.

Final question - I figure that you need a good bit of mileage to reap the benefits, but also some rest. I usually run 6 days a week. Is this OK for LHR training?

Thanks very much

hi

have lurked on and off for a while, but some poor progress has prompted me to return. So here's the thing: I'm 45, about 142lbs, and 5'3 (female) and have been running (this time!) consistently for almost a year. I could do with losing about 8lbs (although I am fairly muscular), and usually run about 30 miles a week.

 

I am working on a rough HR Max of about 178 (+ 5 as I have been running for a while), but all in all I'm now running at about 132 ave (in 2 weeks this has become much easier to do with no effect on pace). My pace is about a 12m/m. I am planning on doing this for about 3 months - I no longer walk/run and my running is genuinely easy.

 

Two questions:

 

1. how strict do I have to be? e.g. 2-3 beats over is OK, or not? given that I am working off estimates anyway, I can't see that this matters that much

2. as I improve I am finding that it takes me longer to get up to target HR and that I don't have to slow down to maintain it: should I (a) lower target heart rate or (b) increase pace to keep same HR?

 

I've been doing the former the last couple of weeks as I think my initial HR was a bit too high.

 

Final question - I figure that you need a good bit of mileage to reap the benefits, but also some rest. I usually run 6 days a week. Is this OK for LHR training?

 

Thanks very much

Hey Danielle,

Welcome to the far reaches of the galaxy.

During an aerobic base phase, try to be as strict as possible.  Dr. Phil said in one of his interviews that even a few beats over can cause some athletes to regress---depending on their state of health and fitness. A beat or two over every now and probably is fine, as long as you bring it back down when you notice it. If you train over MAF for extended periods during base phase, then you might be defeating the purpose of the training. Remember that this form of heart rate running is not about an average HR, but about using a HR ceiling. The MAF is pretty much at the point where your body is ever so slightly beginning to use the anaerobic system/fibers, just barely. Spending too much time over MAF might be detrimental, even if your average HR ends up being below it.

The idea is to keep speeding up to stay at MAF, not lower your HR ceiling. The faster your aerobic speed, the more endurance you will have.

If poor progress brought you back to MAF training, and your pace is about 12 min miles at 180-age+5, then my guess would be that you should be using no more than 180-age or 135.

It's also important not to overdo it, even when you are using this method. I've become a big believer in not going past that point in any run where your pace at the same HR is taking a quick steep dive, after seeing a slow, steady drop in pace (or maintaining close to even pace---those of you with finely tuned aerobic systems and fast aerobic speed!). Something akin to this:

mile 1:  11:30

mile 2: 11:55

Mile 3: 12:25

Mile 4: 14:15 Big slow down

Several of us here also use MAF -10 or lower following days where we run at MAF. For recovery.

Remember you only get 3 whines around here (e.g. "This slow pace is so frustrating"). If you do this right, you'l get faster and faster.

Good luck.

--Jimmy

btw my resting HR was 51 the last time I had the luxury of 60 seconds in bed in the morning to test it (have an almost 3 year old)! which was about 10 days ago