- Miles:
- 3225 total / 443 in 2013
- Goal:
2013 Berlin Marathon under 4:00.
Stuart i'm reading the book ...
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I'm reading the book "Finding Ultra", and I just read that you should try to do as many miles in Zone 2 with respect to heart rate (for the author, that was below 140 bpm). Evidently, all of my training is in the "gray zone--a dreaded no-man's land where the effort exerted exceeds that which is requried to properly develop the aerobic engine, yet falls short of the intensity necessary to significantly improve speed or increase anaerobic threshold." The grey zone is my bread and butter! (145-150 bpm). Oh lovely, so this is why I haven't made any significant gains in the past year. I need to SLOW DOWN!?
Depends what your maximum heart rate is -- don't compare someone else's heart rate recommendations with your own as the figure is meaningless unless you know what their max (and ideally minimum) HR is. Otherwise you can judge it by feel -- the "grey zone" is generally considered to be moderate to hard aerobic. Easy aerobic (conversational pace) is where you want to be, and I think that's where you are. That doesn't mean moderate or hard aerobic is bad -- as pushing the pace helps develop running economy.
about 1 year ago • Like • 2 people
And I also think your lack of serious gains over the past year have been due to injury (hip and ankle), and the resulting lack of consistency. I think you'll start to see improvements though soon as your consistency so far this year has been great, plus the weight loss will help a lot too. :)
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person
Yeah, what Stefan said.
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person
You see, that's why I like DM so much, I learn from you all guys for free! thanks for post and comments
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person
Well, I guess I need to find out my max heart rate. 220 minus my age is 173, which might be close. I'm thinking it's a bit higher. Still, the author of the book was 40 and in better shape then me so 140 would be high if anything. Right? Today I did 10k and kept my HR under 140 (when it hit 140 I slowed or walked until it went to 138). I had to walk, briefly and partially, up some hills. I'll tell you what: I haven't felt this good after run in a long time. Usually, I'm DEAD.
about 1 year ago • Like
Stefan--I think maybe I take it a bit beyond conversation pace on 99% of my runs. One reason is I run on trails, and I find my pace is about 1-2 minutes slower per mile than on roads. This makes me push it harder. I'm also jumping over logs, mud and streams as well as navigating uneven trails full of rocks and roots. I agree about the injuries--they definitely hindered my progress--and I have made progress; just not as much as I'd like. I need a plan, and one based on HR monitoring seems a good start
about 1 year ago • Like
A plan seems like a great place to start! Your trails sounds awesome!
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person
Interesting insight! My best running results came in the spring of 2011, after I put in many miles of very easy zone 2 running!
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person
Forget the 220 minus age -- it provides a statistical approx. average. Under that formula my max HR would be 180, and in fact it's close to ~200. You can find your max HR by doing all-out hill sprints after a warm-up. by the 3rd or 4th sprint you'll get close to the max -- the point at which you want to collapse/puke. Safer still, do a controlled test on a treadmill :)
about 1 year ago • Like • 1 person