My fastest easy run ever! (Read 1469 times)

Okay, kind of an odd topic, but I really did just run my fastest easy run ever!  Of course it was the perfect morning to run, 48 degrees and calm.

I ran 5 miles this morning at a 10:06 pace (10:06 per runkeeper, 10:08 per my log here) and an average heart rate of 149 (70%), that's the fastest I've ever run keeping my heart rate under the 70% mark.

I got my heart rate monitor back in January and when I first started with it I was having to run an 11:00ish pace to keep my average heart rate under 149.

I'm still hung up on my goal of a sub 2 hour half marathon in 2 weeks, but if I keep this up who knows, maybe that 9:09 pace that I'm struggling with now will be an easy run pace for me a year from now.

Many have claimed a sub 2 hour marathon is physically impossible.  But they said the same about the 4 minute mile 100 years ago.  So I wish you well on your quest.  2 weeks might be pushing it though.

 

 

seriously... great job.  enjoy your progress and keep it up. 

 Whoops, I meant sub 2 hour half marathon!  I went back and edited it!

npaden, have you checked out the LHR group? I think some of what they go on about is a load of bunk to be honest, but you seem to be zeroing in on HR as your primary effort indicator. They think that is the best way to go about things, you might learn something. I think that the HRM is best used as a data point for analysis after the fact, I pretty much never use it to set my pace during a run. Some people feel HRMs are tools of the devil and you must listen to your body. Regardless, here's the link:

http://www.runningahead.com/groups/LOWHTR/

They think that is the best way to go about things, you might learn something. I think that the HRM is best used as a data point for analysis after the fact, I pretty much never use it to set my pace during a run. Some people feel HRMs are tools of the devil and you must listen to your body.

FWIW, I think they are good for keeping you from running too hard on easy days.  For newer runners struggling to learn what that feels like I think it's a useful tool.  Past that I start to question the value as a daily indicator.

Interesting reading over there in the Low Heart Rate training forum.

 

According to them I'm still running too fast.  My MAF would be 142 and I'm trying to keep my avg at 149 which is my 70% HR number.

 

I'm also messing up by doing some type of speedwork once a week, they say I should completely stay away from speedwork.

 

Too late to change things up now, but I might look into it a little more.  I for sure enjoy running more at the easy pace than when I was running every run about as hard as I could go when I was just starting out.

 

Whether I'm running at 149 or 142 heart rate I think the key is building a good aerobic base and pretty much everyone agrees on that.

I'm a "low HR" guy, but prefer to call it The Maffetone Method or MAF training.  You have it wrong. Speedwork is fine, working over your MAF is fine. What the program is about is monitoring the health and state of your aerobic system as you go. The key is monitoring your speed at your MAF. If it is progressing, then your current total training load is fine. If it is regressing, then adjustments need to be made. Maffetone suggests periodization along the lines of Lydiard, but not exactly. He suggests an aerobic base period where you run exclusively at or under your MAF, then a period where you bring in speedwork, then race season. If at anytime, your speed at MAF regresses, go back to base training or take a rest. 

The most famous folowers of his program have been Mark Allen, Stu Mittleman, and Mike Pigg. Allen did a 12 week base period at MAF every year (he called it his "patience phase"), followed by more intense training (prodigious) and racing. He'd return to base training when he saw regression. He'd also take a few months off every year after the Kona Ironman. Click this to read about his training (remember it was what HE could handle---don't try his more intense period without consulting a psychologist first ).

It's all about managing stress. Your training load also includes life stress. I've seen it in myself and others that when your normal stress load gets raised to an abnormally high level, and for too long, the speed at MAF will start to regress. Running needs to be cut back, and sometimes eliminated during these times. It's very easy to enter a state of overtraining when stress is chronically high. And it doesn't take much volume at all to enter one.

That's what the program is about. If you want to  know more, feel free to ask any questions over in the forum.

You're doing fine. I recommend to anyone doing any form of training to do a monthly MAF test. It speaks volumes about how your endurance and aerobic system are really doing. It's a great guide through the stresses of life.

--Jimmy 

Tchuck,

Everything I've read on heart rate training takes your resting heart rate into the equation.

To compute your HR zones, subtract your resting from your max, take your percentages, then add back in your resting. So 188 MaxHR---60 Resting HR---find 70% of Max. 188-60=128 128X.70=89.6, 89.6+60=149.6 (70% MHR)

All the articles I've read use it this way.  All the calculators I've seen calculate it this way.

My actual maximum heart rate is 188 X 70% would be 132 which would be below the aerobic base building threshold.  It would be below the MAF by 10 beats.

Here are Mcmillians training paces as per your last race:

Recovery Jogs        11:41 to 12:11

Long Runs               10:41 to 11:41

Easy Runs               10:41 to 11:11

Steady-State Runs    9:39 to 9:56

Tempo Runs              9:15 to 9:39

Tempo Intervals         9:08 to 9:27

I'd say you're either running too hard for your "easy" paced runs or you don't push yourself hard enough during a race. By reading your notes about your last race, I'd say its the first.

Here are Mcmillians training paces as per your last race:

 

Recovery Jogs        11:41 to 12:11

Long Runs               10:41 to 11:41

Easy Runs               10:41 to 11:11

Steady-State Runs    9:39 to 9:56

Tempo Runs              9:15 to 9:39

Tempo Intervals         9:08 to 9:27

 

I'd say you're either running too hard for your "easy" paced runs or you don't push yourself hard enough during a race. By reading your notes about your last race, I'd say its the first.

 

I think my most recent race was just a bust.  My pace was 24 seconds slower than a 7.93 mile Tempo run the week before where I didn't come close to going all out based on either my perceived effort or based on my heart rate monitor.

If you took a 9:00 pace that I ran on that 7.93 mile Tempo run (at a 167 avg HR) and plugged it in the calculator it spits out splits pretty comparable to what I'm running now.  Easy run 10:11 - 10:41.

I think a heart rate monitor is a pretty good indicator of an easy pace.  I think the big factor that I never realized made such a huge difference on effort on a run is temperature.  The only way I ran so easy this morning was because it was 48 degrees.  If I was running on an 80 degree sunny day I would probably be pushing the opposite end of that scale.