Easy 5 miles was on the schedule for the day...decided to bag the last mile as I really needed to get back to the office...and the mill was just annoying me. The machine is really setup up for cardiac re-hab rather than working out, so it is extremely minimal in features. It does adjust the incline, but the speed only goes to 7.2 mph. Funny the mileage calculation seems to either tick over faster or the speed is off because the pace that is calculated when I enter the miles vs time in runningahead and connect ends up being quite a bit faster. Case in point was today where by the end of the workout I was supposedly doing a 10:30 pace to keep the HR below 145. However, the overall workout came in at just over 9 minute miles throughout. So, something is just not right. Anyway, goes to what GZ always says in that a mill workout can only be compared to another mill workout on the same mill....
So, I am feeling pretty good after a few days of using the runnersworld program downloaded to my Garmin. I set the program to be based on HR as Brandon did last summer as this does seem like a good idea and a great way to keep pace in control based on fitness. I made an assumption that my max HR is 185 given a few 180+ readings over the past months on some inclines and intervals. I also ran the numbers based on the 3:30 marathon target just for the heck of it. This put the paces well slower than my last 5K early in 2009 and my BB10K of 44...so, I am thinking that the 185 is about right as the paces I am hitting seem to be pretty close based on the HR targets. Regardless, I am running a lot slower with the majority of my runs at under 150 which puts me right in MAF territory as well.
I really intuitively have known that I have been running too fast over the past few months, so this focus on HR has been a nice change. Honestly a lot of my twinges are starting to disappear and I am finding myself a lot less beat up overall...really starting to crave more distance and speed.
So, the real question in all of this will be whether I really have the time to bang out the long runs this winter and spring. I think I can definitely get in the weekly workouts, it will just be all of the 20+ milers...I think there are like 5 of them. We will see. Regardless, I will follow
Really preliminary races for 2010 are as follows:
2. Bolder Boulder (running slow depending on recovery from Colfax) May 31st
3. Denver Marathon
Kind of ambitious...need to let the list fester for a bit... Will probably add a small race or two to the list as well...
3 comments:
Its all about slow on those runs. I think you are getting that. You really see it on the long runs which we know are the key. I enjoyed doing the same loop so I could compare week over week. Just a bit faster each time at the same or less HR.
I did Colfax and hated it for my own reasons. But I don't know what other opportunities are out there at that distance (other than FoCo).
Another reason why HR can be higher on the mill, particularly over time, is because of heat dissipation. No self created breeze that you get outdoors by actually moving somewhere ...
thanks guys...
Like GZ commented, I have lots of places I run but no real consistent loop I do... I just need to pick a couple of routes and stick with them. I guess I just get bored and run where my mood takes me.
One of these days I will get a mill for the basement to add some flexibility. Just have to move the train table!
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