Heart Rate Training

I started training with a heart rate monitor last June after I failed miserably at my spring season of races...I actually got slower with every race but was training hard...I didn't know what the problem was, so I decided instead of just training and hoping that I was working hard or working too hard...I would KNOW if I was with a heart rate monitor..

First things first, Get a VO2 test. I went to the University of Texas at Austin's Fitness Institute and scheduled an appt with Dr. Phil Stanforth - Director. Here is their link: http://www.edb.utexas.edu/fit/aerobicfit.php

I added the lactate threshold training so I would know what my tempo pace should be. I also began reading "Serious Training for Endurance Athletes" by Sleamaker and Browning. This is a great tool to create your own training programs for each season. I do have to admit it's a little daunting adding all the percentages and inputing it into the form sheets they offer in the book. The first try took my 3 weeks of grabbing it, putting it down, getting out my calculator...etc...and I have an Exercise Science Degree...so, I thought it would be a bit easier. But, the hard work does pay off.

Once you have a plan, you have to implement it. That's the hard part. The first 8 weeks has to be base training to get started. My max heart rate is 193, so my base Heart rate for every run, except 1 per week had to be under 150 bpm. It gets pretty boring sometimes, so I recruited friends that ran slower to join me. While you do this base training, you can work up to 3 times a week of weight training. I did whole body workouts for 45 minutes, light weight/high reps. I also did about 15 min of plymetric training which consisted of 3x15 double leg hops on a bench (12 inches high), 3x15 single leg hops, 3x15 side to side hops and 2 min of single leg jump rope( i worked up to that).

During Base training, I started with 20 miles a week, then increased 10% every week if I could. Some weeks, I didn't increase that much. One day a week, I would do a hilly run for a total of 30 minutes in the hills. I would end up with about 7.75 miles and my average heart rate in the hills started at 175 bpm for the first week and went down to 155 bpm by the 8th week. It's amazing how you decrease your pace every week with the same HR...I ended up with a 9:30 pace for base training in week 1 and ended with a 7:45 pace by week 8 with my heart rate staying under 150...

Once you get through the 8 weeks, then you start interval training and tempo runs and reduce your wt training to 2x's/wk. The different levels of intensity are explained in the book and include: Speed, Endurance, Race/Pace, Intervals, Overdistance, Uphill intervals and Strength (S.E.R.I.O.U.S.). I broke up my training in 4 week stages; 2 stages of base, 1 stage of intensity, 1 stage of taper and 1 stage of competition. The percentage of your Heart Rate is key to doing these workouts correctly. I used my VO2 test and all my numbers to figure out my percentages.

Every week you have to determine how many minutes you do for each level. For instance, on September 1, 2008 I wrote out my training as follows:

Monday: no running, just weights
Tuesday: 15 min EZ,30 End., 10 EZ
Wednesday: 20 EZ, 20 Intervals, 20 EZ
Thursday: 15 EZ, 30 uphill, 15 EZ
Friday 30 EZ
Saturday: 20 EZ, 20 Intervals, 20 EZ
Sunday: 20 EZ, 40 Endurance, 20 EZ

Total: 205 min EZ (HR under 150), 40 min intervals (HR close to max), 30 uphill (HR is what it is), 55 min Endurance (HR is between 152-158

I did this training without any pain/injury and in October, I chose IBM 10K in Austin as a low key race. It was October 19, 2008. My plan was to do the first mile at 5K pace, 2nd mile recover to 164 HR, 3rd mile at 5K pace, 4th mile to recover to 164 HR, and the 5th and 6th miles just push the pace.

With 50 miles of running for the week, I ended up running a PR of 39:28. I felt great for the entire race. I couldn't believe it! My coach has always quoted the best definition of insanity: "Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results". I definitely re-injected some old things that I had forgotten and injected some new things that worked quite well.

Unfortunately, the day after that low key race and the beginning of my race season that looked promising, I was doing a recovery run and less than a mile from my house, I stepped on a big rock and rolled my left ankle. I had to hobble home and it was swollen pretty bad. I stuck it in an ice bucket and crossed my fingers it wasn't serious. The doctor's visit the next day proved me wrong, it was a calcaneal ligament sprain and the top of my ankle connective tissue had torn. BUMMMER!!!! I was in a cast for about 3 weeks. There went my training and motivation to start again. After a couple of months of running, not wanting to run, feeling pain, stopping/starting...I have finally started base training again.

This is week 3 of base. Wish me luck!