Low HR Training

1

First month's results (Read 39 times)

bwyan


    Hi everyone,

     

    First, thanks for all the help you've provided in the form of 100's of earlier discussions. I've enjoyed lurking in these forums for about a month now, and your stories have been a frequent source of encouragement—especially on days when my pace seems to be getting SLOWER and all I want to do is rip of the heart rate monitor and kick into high gear.

     

    I'm sorry that this post is so long, but I hope it will be helpful for others who might read it. I have found it much easier to relate to the stories and results of people that closely match my "profile" as a runner, so hopefully others will find this level of detail helpful too.

     

    Anyway, I've been running since the spring of 2011 when on a whim, I decided to go out for a run and discovered that I couldn't even run a mile without stopping. As a 25 year old, I felt that was truly pathetic, so I decided to fix it. I started with a couch to 5k program, and by the fall, I was casually doing 3-5 mile runs 3-5 days/ week. In 2012, I worked up to my first marathon, and crossed the finish line in 3:49:54 (not amazing, but not bad for a newer runner) with plenty left in the tank and a desire to go faster or farther next time. In 2013, despite running more miles than the year before, and despite many good intentions to run another marathon or try a longer race, I never did either. I don't know why, but I suspect that I was pushing myself to run too fast and ended up doing a lot of my runs in the grey zone.

     

    Well in mid-November, I finally decided to get The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing, started listening to podcasts with Dr. Maffetone, and soon after ordered a heart rate monitor. I "officially" began my MAF training on December 15, with plans to beat my PRs in every distance from 5k to Marathon (won't be too hard) and then run my first 50M in December 2014 (will be quite hard).

     

    My first MAF test (on December 15) was a real shock. I was used to running most runs between 7:15 and 8:30/mile, and running my long runs between 8:45 and 9:30/mile. But what was my average pace for the 5 mile MAF test? 11:19/mile. Boy that was a wakeup call!

     

    I immediately committed to a MAF-only phase for at least 3 months, and will extend it up to 6 if I'm continuing to see results. I run about 35 miles/ week and will increase that by about 5 miles every 3 weeks—less if I'm feeling off, and more if I'm truly feeling good (no aches, stiffness, colds, drowsiness, changes in appetite, or other signs of overtraining). I also ride my bike to work 4-5 days a week, 8 miles each way, and I'm keeping all of those rides below MAF too, of course.

     

    After my first MAF test, I noticed my pace started to improve pretty quickly for the first week or so. I was feeling fresher, recovering from long runs faster, and was even able to cut my coffee consumption from 3 cups down to 1/2 cup a day. But then the stresses of traveling for the holidays, being out of my normal healthy eating and sleeping routines, and being in a colder climate for a week all started to take their toll. By the middle of last week, I had gone from miles in the high 10s to miles in the mid 12s! I was really starting to wonder whether this was a temporary setback or a trend, and was considering whether to add some higher-intensity training to the mix. I decided to at least stick to the plan until my next MAF test, which was today, and then post the results (good or bad) to see if you all had any advice.

     

    Annnnnd…I couldn't have been happier with the results. My first mile time went from 11:05 down to 10:31, and my average pace went from 11:18 to 10:38. Not bad for four weeks of work! Here are the splits for anyone who's really curious:

     

    MAF: 180 - 28 (age) - 5 (for 3 colds in the past year) = 147

     

    Mile Dec 2013 Jan 2013
    11:05

    10:31

    2

    11:28

    10:47

    3 11:18 10:37
    4 11:23 10:45
    5 11:17 10:32

    Total

    56:31 53:12
    Average 11:18 10:38

     

    Based on results like that, I'm feeing really encouraged about sticking to the plan and continuing a long MAF only phase. Reading about all of your results has been great, but when my times started slowing this past week, I began to doubt whether this was going to work for me. This gave me just the boost of confidence I needed.

     

    One sort of odd thing I noticed about both of my tests is that my times on the 2nd and 4th miles were significantly slower than the times on the other miles. I did not have that nice steady decline in pace that many of you seem to get. I was very careful to keep my HR within the proper range, although there were a few times when it was 1-2 beats over. I can't say for sure exactly when this happened, but I can't imagine that 1-2 BPM would change my pace by that much. Can you think of anything else that might be causing that?  I suppose the bit of good news in all of that is that my first and last mile times are very close. Not a lot of drift happening over the 5 miles (I notice a more drastic drop off in pace starting at about mile 7 on my longer runs).

     

    Anyway, I'm so excited to keep on this journey and see how low I can get my MAF pace to. I'd love to see it in the high 8s in 6 months, and would be THRILLED if I could ever get it below 8.

     

    Thanks again for all the info you've already provided here.

     

    -bwyan

    Runslowalksalot


      well, done. that's giving me encouragement to stick with it.   I'm on my 3rs week of maf training and day 7 of my carb intolerance test as per the book, though I did have some hot wing sauce on my wings during the game last night, I'll live.

      What was your diet like when you noticed a decline in your pace?   Mine has regressed as well since this low carb thing.

      As far as your pace?   It could be just a normal fluctuation, or not maintaining a steady pace.   My garmin 310 xt has pace feature been know no jump around a bit.   I have better results maintaining a steady HR on a treadmill.  I've even set the display to just time, distance an heartrate, leaving out pace as it doesn't matter while running,  and I'll still see it when I upload data.  Are you warming up properly before your runs?   A brisk 1/4 mile or more walk with lunges and a few  jumping jacks stimulate the blood flow and works well for me.

        oh well I will post in this thread too:

         

        congrats on the nice test! I wouldn't get hung up on the mile splits. were you doing this outdoors? then factors like elevation gain/loss (so small that only your HR/pace relationship will show there is one), wind etc can interfere. your own mental state can also interfere, if you get too hung up on what number the HRM shows, e.g. if it goes over the limit or not.

        BeeRunB


          Most excellent post, Bwyan. A fine contribution to the forum. Welcome.

           

          Nice improvement. How long do you warm up before the MAF test? Sometimes not warming up enough can cause some abnormal splitsahol. Both of your tests look similar in the ups and downs every split. Are you testing outside (not on a track)? If so, it could be that slight inclines are coming into play, or perhaps the wind always blows in a certain direction at certain points. Don't worry too much about it (like C said in the above post). If you keep doing the test the same way, then any progress you've made will reflect in the test.

           

          Once in awhile, stresses poke through the halcyon bubble that is our running lives and grab your aerobic speed by the collar, slam it against the wall and say "I'm here for you,  Twitchweed!", and you'll see some temporary regression--depending on how hard the slam is, and how far it exceeds what you normally deal with. Everyone has different thresholds--one person's mild annoyance at the loss of his favorite Hello Kitty panties is another's major meltdown that can induce weeks of regression, bag-a-day Kit Kat ingurgitation, and hours upon hours of binge-watching on Netflix (with the occasional teary whimper of "Hello Kitty...........hello kitty").

           

          The great thing is you now have a method to monitor the state of your body, and can make adjustments accordingly.

           

          3:49 first marathon is sweet. If you build your aerobic engine, and improve your aerobic speed to around 9:00 or below, you'll be breaking 3:30 no problem. The faster you get that pace, the more endurance you're going to have.

           

          Keep going!

           

          And keep us posted about your progress and races!

           

          --Jimmy

          bwyan


            Hi there. Thanks for the encouragement. I'm so glad to know that I'm off to a good start, and won't worry too much about that pace fluctuation. I'll do my best to answer all your questions:

             

            Were you doing this outdoors?

             

            Yes, I've been lucky to have two beautiful, sunny, cool California days on a local High School track. According to my Nike GPS watch, the track has about 2 feet of elevation gain between its lowest and highest points.

             

            What was your diet like when you noticed a decline in your pace?

            It was pretty much the same as always: lots of vegetables, some fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, etc., with a bit of high-quality meat and fish. I try to stay away from wheat and sugar, but occasionally eat sprouted grain bread. I eat quinoa or rice once or twice a week. Every few weeks, I have a "cheat" meal like a large pizza, burger and fries, or something else that's horrible for me. When my pace declined, I was eating really well, but it was about 10 days after Christmas, when I was NOT eating well. I imagine there was some delayed onset sluggishness from all the holiday food! (and probably from the stress of travel too.)

             

            Are you warming up properly before your runs?

            I think so. Before my weekday runs, I have a 35-40 minute bike ride home from work. When I get home, I quickly change into my running clothes, and am usually out running within five minutes. I try to walk for the first few minutes to give my nervous system a chance to transition from the bike.

             

            Before my MAF tests, when I'm not biking first, I do a more thorough warm up: 15 minutes of squats (body weight only), lunges, twists, leg swings, and light yoga style movement (it's the warm up sequence from P90X2 Recovery and Mobility). Then I head to the track, walk for two laps, and then work up to my MAF pace over 2-3 additional laps. All in all, it's about 15 minutes of warm up on the track AFTER another 15 minutes of non-running warmups. That should be enough, no?

             

             

            I think that answers them all. Thanks again for your help. I'll keep you updated in the results thread.