I am quite puzzled by how fast your run your "Easy" run... Because let's say that the general rule would be recovery-easy run: max 75% HRmax
75% of my HRmax of about 190 would be 142 and if you look at the two runs Roberto was talking about, the HRs were 145 and 147 respectively. I guess it’s mostly a sign that I started getting impatient with plodding along after 5 consecutive days of easy running following the Ballycotton race. If you look at the HRs of the 3 previous easy runs, you get HRs of 139, 140 and 140, well within Roberto’s range. He definitely has a point, though. I believe that running the easy runs too hard is the single most common mistake runners make, and I sure have been guilty often enough myself. Having said that, the coach seems to be fine with it. At the start of base training he kept telling me to run slower but he has not brought it up again in the couple of months since.
After the epic weekend training I felt surprisingly sprightly on Monday. I particularly noticed this on Monday afternoon when I realised that my hips and glutes were very slightly sore but the quads, which almost always are by far the worst affected part, were absolutely fine. Those magic ice baths are working, I’m telling you (I should tell Niamh as well).
Of course the running since then has been all easy, and incidentally within Roberto’s parameters, not that I tried specifically to stay there. Monday was very easy, but Tuesday’s numbers had me do a double take. The combination of low HR (141) and fast pace (7:28) was new, and running had never seemed so easy, floating effortlessly over the pavement at sub-7:30 pace. The coach, however, was significantly less enthusiastic and immediately sounded a warning. That kind of feeling is dangerous; it may well be a good sign but it’s very early, we are still over 4 weeks away from the marathon, and there is a danger of me being worn out come race day.
As a result, he is monitoring my pace and HR figures very closely and will decide on the next training accordingly. This is where training becomes a black art to me. I think I have understood most of it so far, from base training to preliminary speed work, but were I left to my own devices at this point in time I would not have a clue on the best way forward.
Good thing I have the coach advising me, then.
- 14 Mar
- 8 miles, 1:03:35, 7:57 pace, HR 136
- 15 Mar
- 10 miles, 1:14:44, 7:28 pace, HR 141
- 16 Mar
- 10 miles, 1:16:44, 7:40 pace, HR 142
I agree completely about the easy runs but it is hard sometimes especially when you're feeling good.
ReplyDeleteI was chatting to John McL the other day and he was saying how much he is enjoying following your training and can't wait to see how you get on in Vienna.
We are both looking for great things and that pb starting with a 2!
Is your max HR still 190? It drops as we age. Mine has gone from 185ish down to 165 over 20 years.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, agree about easy runs too hard being a possible problem. I think it's more of a problem when there are distinct hard sessions being run, rather than in the general base-building phase. Also, the lower one's mileage, the less one needs to go very easy on the easy days (a 60k/week runner would recover well day to day).
I would have thought that 3bpm above 'target' was nothing to worry about, Im coming off 3 months of Base Building (for Vienna too incidentally) where my 'target' HR is 140 but i find that my day to day form, and the geography of the run can see's it fluctuate +/- 5bpm quite easily.
ReplyDeleteI havent really let it bother me some days its magic, im in the zone, other days ive acidentally eaten a bag of M&M's and find the run a bit tougher.
I think a lot of people focus way too much on higher intensity training above their Anerobic threshold, and miss out on the benifits of the slower easier runs. Ewens also makes a good point at 130+ a week the easy runs have to be easy. (at least for me, and most other mortals)