Essentially this will be how I improve. Remembering how relaxed the winners look at these races, they have to be doing training like this.
Last night I ran slower than a 10 min/mile pace. Which I haven't done for two years, at least for a whole run and less than an hour. I kept myself just at the point where I was starting to sweat. When checking my heart rate I was 114 to 126. My legs did not feel any worse on mile three than mile one, they felt great. I was below my aerobic maximum (calc. 143) and I was about 60 to 65% of my Maximum Heart Rate (calc. 187). I feel like I could have gone for 10 miles at this rate.
So, Eric Harr's book indicates that most of your training should be Level 1 and Level 2 Heart Rate zones. He also said most of your race will be Level 2. Which I believe is about 70% of your max. In my case about 130. His Six week Training program doesn't get you into Level 3's and 4's until about week four.
I just want to assure I got this totally right, please let me know if I am off base. I run in a zone that is very comfortable, this would be about 80% of the time spent training. This burns more fat, and increases my bodies ability to use Oxygen. This causes me to be able to go faster with less effort. Seems almost insanely stupid that I would think I need to finish my workouts with a sprint or push my aching legs beyond their limit when my aerobic level can't handle it.
In contemplating all this I go back to Shawn's original theory of life from High School. He started the SLUG club, and we even had T-shirts. The slogans were "Work Why" and "Laziness Breeds Success". Shawn probably had this type of training in mind, he just didn't realize it.
2 comments:
Yep that's the plan. You can't sacrifice your HR zone for speed and expect to finish strong. We are on the same page with this thinking.
I will throw the HR training book back in my work bag next week and I'll find the part about the intervals. It's likely very similar to your book. A small part of the training but necessary.
Sounds like we are all in agreement. I am all over this plan now too. It's been very helpful for my swimming. If I feel like I am getting too high, I just flip to an easier stroke until I get back down to where I'm supposed to be. So far, I feel like I can swim all day in "the zone." It has clearly already worked with the running, as I seem to be improving every time I get on the treadmill. I think that's the easiest place to test it, since you can very accurately control the conditions. I need to keep up the running, because that's where I get the biggest bang for my buck. I have a hard time staying in the right zone on the bike, and swimming requires great technical skill and air plays such a big role that HR is harder to manipulate. Overall, I do like Mark Allen's article (and that is the one I referenced at the Gap), and I think you're right about the Slugs. Pushing too hard isn't really helpful. It actually makes things worse in some ways. Of course we all have to work. It's just about working smart instead of working hard.
Keep it up and you will improve in all three events.
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