TRAINING WITH A HEART RATE MONITOR |
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CHAPTER 2: HEART RATE TRAINING Heart Rate Monitors (HRM) offer an incredible potential for optimizing workouts and racing. However, the problem is that not a lot of people have done good research on how to really use them. I decided a few years back that I really wanted to figure how to use a HRM for training and racing. Every book I read was confusing and always seemed to leave things out. So I went to it and figured out what seems to work. Again from my own studies I will give suggestions on how to use a HRM for Smart Running. .. Maximum Heart Rate (HRmax) You CANNOT use a HRM for Smart running if you don’t get this number as close as possible. There are predicted methods for finding HR but to make specific utility of this devise you need to find the value for yourself. I will give you the method I employ for finding my HRmax. Wearing a HRM, run four half-mile repeats with 100 meter jogs with each one increasing in the speed. Then run one more almost all out. At the end of this last one, you should be pretty close to your HRmax. It is a good idea to do this back to back weeks to get a good number. .. Training: Pace and HR If it requires more effort to run fast, then it only makes sense that a higher Heart Rate will be elicited. However as I mentioned above that training at a particular pace will feel harder then racing at that same pace. So it would seem that the same pace during a workout would have a higher HR then in a race. Actually, and this seems to be a paradox, your HR is lower for race pace during a workout yet it seems harder! Thus a 6 min mile pace during a workout may elicit a HR of 160 BPM and feel really hard. While in a race, the same pace will elicit a HR of 167 BPM but feel moderately hard. What is going on? As I related earlier, by just toeing the line at a race, your HR elevates almost 10 BPM yet you don’t “sense” it. So when using a HRM during training, I have found, contrary to what most experts say, is that I hardly ever train at a HR that corresponds to my race HR. If my average HR for a 5K is 170 BPM, I will NOT train at 170 BPM. During training, your body doesn’t get the race boost. So 5K pace for a workout really is closer to 160 BPM! Again, just like training at a slower pace then race pace is a key, training at a lower HR then race HR is also important. .. Smart Training with HR Through my studies I have found what works pretty well for the specific types of training. I am relating the HR level of a particular workout to your specific age and HRmax. For instance, if you are 40 years old, interval training should be done between 160 and 170. Both of these relations, age and HRmax are good guidelines and give similar results. o Interval Training: 205- your age (plus/minus 7), or 88-93% HRmax o Core Runs: 195 – your age (plus/minus 7) or 83-87% HRmax o Long Runs: 185 – your age (plus/minus 7) or 75-82% HRmax o Easy Runs: 180 - your age (plus/minus 7) or 70-77% HRmax 43 Scully. All Rights Reserved www.smartrunning.com SMART RUNNING: SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO BETTER TRAINING AND RACING .. Build-Up and Negative Splitting Just like when working with pace, you should always start out at a lower HR and end up higher then you want to run most of your workout. So for an Interval workout for the 40 year old, they would do the first one closer to 160 bpm and nearer to 170 bpm for the last one. .. Variability in working HR I have noticed that different circumstances will give different HR (whether it is HRmax or sub- HRmax) for the same kind of workouts. It is very important to realize these because if you go out and do a workout and judge solely on HR then you might be a little disappointed at times. Below are some of the things that I think effect HR and HRmax. The weather Cooler temperatures allow the body to lose less water. You can push your muscles to work to there max without demanding as much from the heart. The heart can deliver and remove blood a lot more efficiently at lower temperatures, therefore lower HR will register for the same effort at higher Temperatures. The time of day I also have seen where if I do a workout in the morning versus the afternoon that I can do the same work at a lower HR. Is this because I am more dehydrated in the afternoon? Other reasons? 44 Scully. All Rights Reserved www.smartrunning.com SMART RUNNING: SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO BETTER TRAINING AND RACING Hydration and Being sick. Over the time of a workout, the HR drifts upwards no matter what. This is called Cardiac Drift. So in every run, your HR will increase even if the effort seems consistent. This is probably due to dehydration. Similarily, days where I was parched gave a higher HR and I have experienced higher HR when I am sick, again due to hydration. Putting in the miles I have seen that after a few weeks of an increase in mileage that I can run at lower HR for the same workouts. I think this is a transient thing, as if I cut back in mileage my HR will go up. I don’t think my long lasting fitness is improved though. Racing and Training I was surprised by this one. When I raced I found that my HR jumped up faster than I expected even though I didn’t “feel” like it should. My first race that I wore the HRM was an 8K. My goal was to run a sub 30 minute race. I just ran it as normal and felt normal. However, when I hit the first mile at 6:05 (which was perfect and felt good) my HR was almost 10 beats higher than when I run at the same pace during a workout! 45 Scully. All Rights Reserved www.smartrunning.com SMART RUNNING: SIMPLE GUIDELINES TO BETTER TRAINING AND RACING |
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