Breakthrough Run
Today was my 50 minute short run day. I went to Planet Fitness to lift weights for an hour before going on the run. Usually, my splits on the second 50 minutes of a 100 minute run are better than the 50 minute runs, so this is especially encouraging.
From the start, I've been keeping a record of my splits and making this chart. Initially, I was basically walking with my arms up with a cadence of 127. I increased the cadence slowly to 130 before the break from June 9th to Aug 11. There was also a five month break in from January to May while I wrote a book and got lazy.
On August 11th, I increased the cadence to 133 and have increased it more rapidly than before to 139 today. Something clicked today and my step length suddenly got an inch longer from previous runs.
My average heart rate was 105 today, which is on the low end of normal. The calories burned per mile dropped to 131.
This is the sudden improvement I've been hoping for. Even before today, I was well ahead of the original projected progress line to run the marathon.
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Something unexpected happened during the last two or three runs. My landing has become what I'll call a "soft touch." My heels touch lightly, but there is no risk of heel injury. The front of my foot lands softly without a hint of slapping. Downhill became easier, and my downhill times improved quickly.
I've been listening to a book and told my subconscious to run as slowly as possible at each stride rate. My subconscious has different ideas and is running faster. I'm seeing miles under 14 minutes now without any effort. My stride length is getting longer, but I'm not forcing it. My heart rate is still slow at an average of about 106.
The next system that needs to develop seems to be my lungs. I'm getting slightly winded on the long uphill. My mental coach tells me to take some triactin (Triactin like a man) and deal with it. I may take a day during the next week to run a shorter route that hits that hill several times.
I've drawn my focus inward to concentrate on improving my stride rate. If my calculations are correct, I should be able to run a 9:32 pace at a stride rate of 160. My 100 minute runs should be over 10 miles. From there, a half-marathon is an easy goal.
I have three months to increase my stride rate by 20 steps per minute. The first five should be easy. I'd like to leave a couple weeks at the end to let my mind figure out how to increase my stride length at 160.
If my pace for the half-marathon ends up around 12 minutes/mile as @shipo suggested, that's fine, too.
Best AnswerAvoiding Dangerous Overtraining
@shipo commented he knew some people in his running circles who developed heart problems while on a particular type of diet. This post is not to discuss diet; it is how to detect overtraining. Historically, people have set world records on all sorts of diets. This post is also not to recommend a particular type of training as people have done well with all sorts of training. The purpose is to relate a method to detect overtraining before it becomes dangerous. It is based on The Great Book of Endurance Training by Dr. Phil Maffetone.
Dr. Maffetone recommends training at a heart rate less than 180 minus a person's age. He states that below this rate, an athlete burns mostly fat in an aerobic manner. Above this level, the athlete transitions to burning mostly carbs. It's not important to agree or disagree with this number. The important concept is the Max Aerobic Function Test (MAF).
Any endurance runner should be able to run five miles without stopping. If not, they are probably not an endurance runner yet. I use the term "running" loosely as anything where a person puts their arms up. I call the slow pace "old man running."
A person should run five miles while getting a split each mile and keeping the heart rate less than 180 minus their age. This will feel excrutiatingly slow to most people. Ideally, they'd measure their heart rate each mile, but realistically, I've found an average for the run works well. Then I check the chart for any big anomolies. The idea is if a person is not over-training, they will be able to run faster at the same heart rate. The test should be done monthly.
Because of my training plan, I do a MAF test each day, but I'll show a couple about three weeks apart.
I alternate 100 minute days and 50 minute days. I use a metronome and gradually increase the tempo each day. I gradually increased the distance from 6.53 to 7.01 during this three weeks. I only log whole miles on this table.
Looking at each column, notice the times for each mile improved significantly. Looking across, I tend to run negative splits because of the terrain and because I don't really warm up until I run three miles. Although times usually improve, sometimes, there can be long plateaus.
The other indicator Dr. Maffetone suggests for those of us without access to a lab is resting heart rate. Together, they will detect most cases of overtraining at a minor level where a few days of rest will resolve it.
I would include an undesired weight loss in the equation. I set 170 to 172 as my desired range. If I go below, I reduce my exercise and increase my intake. If I hit 165, I'll full stop, take a few days off, and gain five pounds. In my opinion, this is reasonable advice for any way of eating.
For those who are losing weight and exercising, I'd set a limit for weekly weight loss.
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@GershonSurge, a few comments:
- As a general statement, I have a real issue with any training program which prescribes a specific formula for determining a heart rate zone or training threshold; the fact is, every heart and circulatory system is different, often dramatically different, and no one formula, regardless of whether it is 220-Age or 180-Age or something else, will be accurate across the board for the general population. See Note 1 below.
- Regarding your chart showing your two runs; I don't know if you can draw any conclusions about improvement from it given both runs were probably at a slower pace than your natural pace (certainly the first was slower). I say this because I've noticed a phenomena where when I'm running at an unnaturally slow pace, my heart rate will be unnaturally high. See Note 2 below.
- Relative to racing speed, in my experience, lighter weight is almost always faster (assuming one isn't anorexic), even when the resultant weight reductions include a high amount of muscle loss. See Note 3 below.
Note 1:
- Heart rate observance and training is an issue I frequently harp on if for no other reason than the formulas used for determining heart rates are highly incorrect for most of the runners in my circle. In my case the 220-Age formula is WAY off in that it predicts my Max Heart Rate will be 161 (which implies I might be able to momentarily hit 161 but cannot sustain said rate). Yeah, about that; on my very first run with my (then) new Fitbit Surge, I ran a very hilly 9-mile loop around a local lake here in New Hampshire and my *average* heart rate for the run was, yup, you guessed it, 161 (my peak for the run was well up into the 170s).
- Another data-point: during my lunchtime 10-miler this afternoon I was feeling a bit frisky given some cooler weather today and uncorked my fastest training run on that loop. Looking at my heart rate plot from the run I see my average rate was only 136, however, during the later stages of the run, when I dialed up the speed even more (my final four 1-mile splits were 7:49, 7:39, 7:15, and 7:56 which was an uphill climb to the finish), I had my heart rate up in the 165-171 range for a good ten or more minutes (see image below).
- Wikipedia also has an interesting take on heart rate variances between individuals: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_rate#Limitations
Note 2:
- I have found when I'm leading a group run with some of the beginning runners in the two running clubs I help to coach, I naturally match the pace and stride length of the person I'm running next to. I never really thought much about the differences in cadence/stride length until I got my Fitbit Surge and noticed my heart rate when running at a slower speed with an unnatural cadence/stride length for me was usually as high as my natural running speed. Consider the following (aka. a tale of two runs):
- Run 1: Prior to a group run on 29-Jul-2015 10:44 AM, I went out for a fairly quick 6-mile tempo run; my final stats (per my Surge) show 6.07 miles, 52:41 minutes, average pace 8:41, steps 8,644, beginning heart rate 70, average heart rate 151, peak heart rate 166.
- Run 2: Group run on 29-Jul-2015 11:46 AM, I led the group run at the pace of my slowest beginner on that particular day; my final stats (per my Surge) show 3.32 miles, 33:20 minutes, average pace 10:01, steps 5,316, beginning heart rate 100, average heart rate 150, peak heart rate 166.
Note 3:
- Within the running community there is a truism which states for every 10 pounds a person loses in weight, they will speed up by 20 seconds per mile.
- Back in 2013, when I lost something on the order of 70 pounds over a seven month period, my race times improved by closer to 30 seconds per mile for every 10 pounds of weight loss.
- My 5' 5" wife, back when she was a teenager, was a naturally gifted runner (still is), and was invited to join the La Jolla track club to develop her as an Olympic hopeful. She was fortunate to run with the luminaries of the track and field world, I won't drop any names, but if you know of any Southern California based Olympians from the mid 1970s, she probably knew them pretty well. Her first year with the club she raced at a weight of about 105, she won most of her races and photos of her show a beautiful girl full of life and vigor. Unfortunately her coach told her she needed to lose weight and called her a "fat cow". Taking his words to heart, she became anorexic and dropped down into the 70 pound range. Initially her times improved a bit, but in my opinion no better than what would have been expected of a teenager one year older, and then she pretty much collapsed. Photos of her from that year show a dangerously thin waif where even her hip bones can be clearly identified sticking out through her racing uniform.
- Long story short, lighter is typically better when it comes to racing at the elite level, but it can be taken too far. That said, as much as I hate the BMI charts, I would think any given individual would need to be well under median weight before they can be considered too light for racing purposes.
Best AnswerUPDATE
I started running again on Aug 22 after a nine week layoff due to an injury. It only took a few days to bet back to the old speed. The red line was on Aug 23. The black line is my best run since then.
I increased the cadence from 137 to 143.75 from Aug 23 to yesterday. This is the limit of rapid increases for now.
My heart rate still averages in thee bottom half of the zone.
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