Strategy for running any race over one hour

I completed the Goldy’s 10 miler this past weekend in Minneapolis and the weather couldn’t have been more perfect. The course was hillier than I remember, but the mind does that sometimes when dealing with difficult courses. I organized and executed a strategy/plan that you can use next time you are running a 10 plus mile race.
Unlike a 5K or 10K, the 10 miler to marathon makes you actually test your endurance. Unless you happen to be reading this from Kenya and can complete that 10 miler in less than an hour. I’ve found than in any race where you need to run in excess of 60 minutes, that you need to learn to pace yourself so that you hold back from a hard sprint so that you make it to the finish line. For 5Ks or 10Ks, you can probably pin your ears back and go. I actually have to do a warm up for those to make sure everything is warmed up and ready to go. Not so for races exceeding one hour.
I broke down the race into thirds. They are not equal distances but rather timed distances where you apply a heart rate zone for. I will share the one I used for the Goldy’s 10 miler and you can adjust it to any distance using this example.
A couple of items to note. I had not run this course before. Sure, I had reviewed it on the map, but the map will not always be accurate with elevations, how tight the turns are, and how accurate the mile markers on the map relate to the actual ones on the course. I knew it was going to be crowded at the beginning (usually is) but I was not sure about the hairpin turns at certain places where the two lane goes into a one lane both ways for the turn. I had run sections of the course for other races, but I had to assume there were unknowns I had to deal with. Also, water stops, water/Gatorade, etc. were all placed at various spots that lend to a certain degree of difficulty.
So what I did, was take my heart rate training and put up a range of how long I would stay in certain zones for certain distances of the race. Since I know that I go from aerobic to anaerobic at 163 beats per minute (BPM), I gave myself 4 miles below 160, 4 miles @ 161-167, and two miles at 168 plus.
Of course if it was a flat course, I could’ve done it by minutes per mile and just use the mile markers but this adds to many variables to consider to be a good strategy. For example, because it is crowded at the beginning, good luck trying to keep an even pace at the start. I was deep into mile 2 before I didn’t have someone directly in front of me. Also, on hills, my pace moved up 30 seconds per mile and the reverse happened on the downhill’s. If I had to use time, it would be a negative thing entering my mind (“OMG, it just took me 9:45 that last mile!”). That was not the case in using heart rate. 160 going up a hill, 160 going down a hill, but of course the speed changed dramatically.
So how did the strategy work? Ran my fastest mile at the last mile. Ideally, that’s what you want. There’s an obvious reason for this: If you can finish strong, it will encourage you for the next race. Sure, later I thought, ‘What if I would’ve started running 168 BPM plus at Mile 7 instead of 8?’. But there are limits to when you step on the gas and go. I know this from past races where I died with a mile or two left in the race. Your ‘all out’ pace cannot be held for more than 20 minutes. Trust me on this one. I’m not talking about doing a 440 dash, but anything longer than a mile will get your lungs burning and legs turning to stone if you try to cut more than a minute per mile pace in your last two miles.
As with everything athletic, it’s all about balance. For running those last 6 miles (which I knew I could do in less than one hour) I knew I had to keep the heart rate close to anaerobic threshold (plus or minus 4 beats per minute). Anything more and I wouldn’t last more than 2 miles (approximately 20 minutes).
But you don’t have to worry about making that mistake, because I just gave you the plan to keep you away from crashing and burning. Try it in your next over hour race and let me know how you do. It’s worked for me (and kept me relatively injury free – knock on wood).

Recovery time for a Tempo workout

Are you doing your Tempo workout too hard, too easy, or just right? There's a simple way to find out, the two minute test.

As you progress in the distance or time that you run your tempo intervals, you will need to walk or jog between the intervals. Each week as you lengthen the distance from .5 mile to .75 mile to one mile lengths and beyond, the time that it takes you to recover should be the same.

Utta Pippig's coach followed the rule that the runner's heart rate should get down to below 60% of MHR before getting into the next internal or repeat. It's a good rule. But you need to also add to that equation the time it takes you to reach that level. Hence, my two minute rest rule.

It should not take you more than two minutes to get your heart rate below 60% of MHR. If it does, you are working too hard, either by running too fast, running too long [distance or time] or not slowing down enough between the intervals. If when doing the tempo runs [in the 80-89% of MHR range] you can't seem to reach approximately 60% of your MHR after two minutes of walking, change slow your speed or reduce your distance. A tempo run isn't supposed to be a speed workout. It's supposed to teach your body to maintain a pacing speed, not a quarter mile speed.

If you find that in your recovery time, your MHR drops from 80-89% of MHR to less than 60% in less than a minute, chance are you aren't running it fast enough or long enough. So, in this case, increase either to reach the more than one minute recovery time.

Either too fast or too slow is not the way to go. Like Little Red Riding Hood, you want a speed and distance that's just right. ;->

Week One of 12 Week Half Marathon Plan

Alright, here is the Half Marathon Plan in a nutshell. You will run 5 days a week. Sunday and Friday you have off (how great is a plan that starts you off with a day off?!). Monday, Tuesday, Thursday are easy days (my defintion of easy might be different than yours if you are beginning runner, but they will become easier as you acclimate to the training). Wedenesday is a Tempo or Speed Workout. Saturday is your long run.

A couple of items to point out. Your easy and long run days are run at 70% of your HRM (see yesterdays blog on how to figure this out if you need a reference point). But I want to stress that while reaching this running might seem easy, stayin below it will be the real challenge. If you are a Type A (like I am) when it comes to training, it is very difficult to not go above that number. But I ask you to please follow this for the 12 weeks and see if it doesn't make a difference in your Half Marathon results.

To give you a personal example of the struggle, after running the Walt Disney Marathon four weeks ago, I gave myself a couple of weeks to receover and then got back on the treadmill. I set the speed to a 10:32 minutes per mile (5.7 on the treadmill). I felt I needed this to slowly get back into training. After a mile and a half, I couldn't keep my heart rate under 146 if my life depended on it. Every couple of minutes, I would lower it... 5.6, 5.5, 5.4, 5.3, etc. until I finally got down to 4.8 (that's a pedestrian 12:30 minutes per mile!). I wasn't crazy about running that slow (my average pace is usually a 10:30 in easy training) but I knew the run would be worthless if I didn't keep my HR to under 146.

So what caused me to be so out of shape? Well, it could be I took too long off from training or made it too easy the last couple of weeks. Could be me getting older. Could be the pounds I picked up on the vacation that we took in Hawaii. The point is that they body doesn't lie. You can lie to yourself but you must train in the right heart rate zones or you will never truly get better in future training. You need to check the ego at the door going into the health club before going in. It's better to train smart than just train.

The good news, is that from running for over 25 years, I have learned that my heart rate average will get better. I know that soon, as the pounds melt off, my body gets back into training mode. Soon, I will be back closer on my easy days to the 10:30 mpm that I was running a couple of months ago. The key is patience and persistence. I know that this will be hard for a lot of you (as it is for me) but remember my goal is to keep you running. And if you don't follow the under 70% rule for you easy/long runs, you will not run your potential. You will either injure yourself or show up to your half marathon tired on race day.

So here's the first week's plan:
Sunday, Friday - off
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - 4 miles easy (under 70% HRM)
Wednesday - 5 miles Tempo (80-88% HRM)
Saturday - 9 miles (under 70% first 7 miles, 70-80% last two miles)

-I will check in during the week with more on the Tempo run and Long run descriptions.

Getting Ready for a Spring Half Marathon

I'm already registered for a spring Half Marathon and want to give my readers a great running plan in case any of you are planning to run one in the next months. The plan I'll lay out will cover a 12 week period. This plan is tied to Heart Rate Running, so if you need a refresher on how to determine your heart rate percentages, please read over my earlier articles.

This is a very simple plan. Each Sunday, starting tomorrow, I will give you that week's plan. The week I'm setting is from Sunday through Saturday. This doesn't have to be those days, you can adjust accordingly, but follow the basic tenets of the plan if you want to use it successfully.

There are five running days a week. Saturday is the long run. Wednesday is reserved for either a Tempo Run or Speed Workout. You will note that about every 3rd or 4th week, I back off of mileage for the week as well as each day's mileage. That is to help you recover for the training stresses that your body will be going through.

Before I send out next week's plan tomorrow, I ask that you find the following heart rate ranges for all three workouts - Easy/everyday and Long Runs (less than 70% HRM), Tempo (80-88% of HRM) and Speed ( 90-100% HRM). Remember, the HRM (Heart Rate Max) is the following formula = (Max Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate (difference) x percent + Resting Heart Rate.

Just a quick example to help you. My heart rate max is 185 beats per minute. My resting heart rate is 55. So the difference is 130 beats per minute. So my everyday rate would be 146, determined by 130 x 70% = 91 plus 55 = 146. For Tempo, it ends up being between 159-169 and Speed 172-185.

This means that I won't let my heart rate go over 146 in my easy runs and most of my long run (there is something that I add to the long run different than what you see in other plans but I will share that with you later).

This plan can be used by essentially everyone, beginner, veteran or expert. I can't guarantee your fastest PR (Personal Record) race(no one can), but you will run it at your best potential if you follow this plan. I've used it to run a 2:00 marathon last year when my best Half Marathon to date was a 2:08. So I'm not promising to take 30 minutes off your last Half Marathon, but it could take almost 7% off your last Half Marathon time.

Look for the first week's running plan tomorrow.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Running for weight loss

January is a great month for veteran runners and just-getting-started runners alike. For the new runners, its just getting the established practice of running in a consistent manner. For the vets, its a chance to back off speed, endurance, and just let the body heal while getting ready for the upcoming year/season.

For both, this is a good time to start burning through the fat in our bodies. Nature has a way of adding pounds during the winter season. A lot of people believe its because of Christmas and the Holidays. Its probably true that all of the down time mixed with parties probably adds a few pounds. But I'm of the belief, that nature adds fat to the body during this season to insulate it from the cold during these months. Of course, that's probably imbedded in my mind because of the fact that I live in Minnesota.

One misconception that is repeated time and time again, is that you can only lose weight quickly if you run at less than 70% of your maximum heart rate. I believe that health club consultants are just trying to help new runners by repeating this misconception. But the truth is, you can lose weight at the 70-85% level, just as quickly. It's simple science.

Let's say you are a 200 lb. man that runs 3 miles a day. If you run a 10 minute mile, you will burn 12 calories a minute, 67% of those of which will be fat. If you run a 8 minute mile, [again staying in the 70-85% zone] you will burn 16 calories, but only 50% will be fat [the remaining calories being burned are carbohydrates in the blood]. Either way, you will be burning 8 calories of fat. One run will take you 30 minutes to complete, the other 24 minutes. Both runs burn the same amount of total calories and fat calories. So if you are looking at efficient running, the second option [running an 8 minute mile] would be the way to go.

I'm not advocating that you do all of your runs at 70-85% of your maximum heart rate, in fact, that would get you injured sooner or later. What I am advocating is that you don't fear incorporating a tempo of faster workout in your training because you were told those workouts don't burn fat [or that they don't burn as much fat].




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Using MHR and RHR to calculate out everything necessary for your running program

So you have your MHR and RHR rates, now it's time to use these numbers to determine all of your heart zones.

Let's use an example to demonstrate the zones. First take you MHR and subtract your RHR. For our example, we will use 185 for the MHR and 55 for the RHR. Using the result, multiply it by .60, .70, .80, .85, and .90 and add your RHR to all of these percentages. Let's look at the example:

185 – 55 = 130

.50 – (130 x .5) + 55 = 120

.60 = (130 x .6) + 55 = 133

.70 = (130 x .7) + 55 = 146

.80 = (130 x .8) + 55 = 159

.85 = (130 x .85) + 55 = 166

.90 = (130 x .9) + 55 = 172

Your probably wondering why we use 85% for one of our calculations while all other calculations are done on increments of ten. 85% is used as a common threshold for the body moving from an aerobic state to an anaerobic state. This means that you are using your muscles without oxygen, which will limit the amount of time you can continue running before the muscles will give out. Outside of speed workouts, you normally don't want to exceed the 85% even in your running or risk failure of your muscles to continue to perform. 50% is widely accepted as the minimum training threshold for gaining any type of endurance for running.

So how should we use these zones? Well, from my past post, remember that you can use these zones to determine what zone you should be training in for each running day:

50-60% (120-133) is usually considered warm-up or if you are going very easy, as in recovery, from a heard workout the day before.

60-75% (133- 152) is considered Aerobic Development – Long Slow Distance, or easy days.

75-85% (152-166) is when you are trying to build aerobic endurance.

85-95% (166- 179) is all anaerobic endurance, so this for distance that is ¼ to 1 mile in distance.

95-100% (179 and above) all speed, going more than a quarter mile at this level is very, very difficult.

Now I want to stress that these are just averages. If you have your maximum and threshold rates determined by a certified health club trainer, the reading will be a lot more accurate. For example, I have a 185 MHR and 55 RHR. When I have been tested, my zones end up like this:

Warm-up = 127 – 142

Aerobic Development = 142 – 152

Aerobic Endurance = 152 – 162

Anaerobic Endurance = 162 -172

Speed/Power – 172 plus.

As you can see, the feedback from the testing done at a health club monitoring my heart rate through various speeds, inclines and stresses is a lot more accurate than using the percentage formulas. Again, not a wide margin of difference, but still more accurate to the point of letting me know the exact number of beats for the training, especially in terms of moving from aerobic to anaerobic.

Tomorrow, we will put this together to put together a weekly training program for your running improvement.