October 16, 2007I had some kind of mental block to doing this first long run. With little over 6 weeks left until the Seattle Half Marathon, it was time to get going!
Here's a stretch of Myrtle Edwards Park along Seattle's waterfront where I ran today.
More than you really want to read about heart rate zones:
I planned to run 1:10 to 1:20 at an easy pace, keeping my heart rate in zone 3. It's good to keep c
ertain workouts somewhat easy and sustainable to establish a strong aerobic base, gain fitness and grow more mitochrondria ("the powerhouse of the cell" - we all learned that in 6th grade biology, right?). Zone 4 workouts train your body to push up the aerobic ceiling or threshold (i.e.; in time you can go faster longer without going anaerobic) and improves endurance. Zone 5 are the short, intense, anaerobic efforts like interval training or shorter races.Anyway, the point is to vary the level of training via the heart rate zones to get the most benefits from training. I wanted to run this longer workout in zone 3, something sustainable and
not hard since I hadn't run anything over 7 miles in many months. Fo
r me that would be around 143 to 163 beats per minute (according to the VO2 max testing I had done in 2005). I did VO2 max testing to determine my fitness, my aerobic and anaerobic thresholds and things like that. A mask was strapped on my face to measure CO2 output and a heart rate monitor on my chest while I ran on a treadmill slow/fast/on an incline and stationary cycling. According to that testing, I was given heart rate "zones" to guide me in my training and other information.But 
(long story short...) I believe my HR zones have changed since then. I have had changes in the dose of a thyroid medication I take and have seen a shift in HR. The medication can affect that and my training/racing HR tends to be lower than was a year ago. When my dose was higher, my HR was higher and I'd occasionally get palpitations and tachycardia. My HR would sometimes suddenly rise 20 points during a steady, moderately paced workout, to as high as the mid-190's and I'd become breathless and dizzy. I had to stop a workout on several occassions when this happened. I was convinced that my thyroid medication was causing this and sure enough a lab test supported that. I've since had the medication reduced and I've seen my HRs stay lower this season and rarely have they accelerated HR out of nowhere anymore. The accelerated HR happened only once during a race - the 2006 Seattle Half Marathon. I was on pace for about a 1:50 time, but around mile 8 my HR shot up to 190's and forced me to slow and then walk. I'd recover and resume running only to have the tachycardia return. That reduced me to walking about 6 times in the last 2 miles of that race, but there was nothing to be done about it. You just can't keep going with a heart rate artificially above your limit. I finished in 1:53:18 official (1:52:51 chip time), around 30 sec. better than 2005.
So to figure my heart rate "zones", I use my current maximum heart rate (the highest I've noted during any race or workout this season), and that would be 186. A zone 5 workout is just 90% to 100% of my HR max (i.e.; 168 - 186), zone 4 is from 80% to 90% of the max HR, zone 3 is 70% to 80% and so on. So, for a zone 3 workout, I'd want to keep my HR between 143 and 163. And so that's what I did today. It mostly was low to mid-150's. Here's a site that will calculate your zones and gives a brief explanation of each heart rate level and the purpose to train at each:
(long story short...) I believe my HR zones have changed since then. I have had changes in the dose of a thyroid medication I take and have seen a shift in HR. The medication can affect that and my training/racing HR tends to be lower than was a year ago. When my dose was higher, my HR was higher and I'd occasionally get palpitations and tachycardia. My HR would sometimes suddenly rise 20 points during a steady, moderately paced workout, to as high as the mid-190's and I'd become breathless and dizzy. I had to stop a workout on several occassions when this happened. I was convinced that my thyroid medication was causing this and sure enough a lab test supported that. I've since had the medication reduced and I've seen my HRs stay lower this season and rarely have they accelerated HR out of nowhere anymore. The accelerated HR happened only once during a race - the 2006 Seattle Half Marathon. I was on pace for about a 1:50 time, but around mile 8 my HR shot up to 190's and forced me to slow and then walk. I'd recover and resume running only to have the tachycardia return. That reduced me to walking about 6 times in the last 2 miles of that race, but there was nothing to be done about it. You just can't keep going with a heart rate artificially above your limit. I finished in 1:53:18 official (1:52:51 chip time), around 30 sec. better than 2005.So to figure my heart rate "zones", I use my current maximum heart rate (the highest I've noted during any race or workout this season), and that would be 186. A zone 5 workout is just 90% to 100% of my HR max (i.e.; 168 - 186), zone 4 is from 80% to 90% of the max HR, zone 3 is 70% to 80% and so on. So, for a zone 3 workout, I'd want to keep my HR between 143 and 163. And so that's what I did today. It mostly was low to mid-150's. Here's a site that will calculate your zones and gives a brief explanation of each heart rate level and the purpose to train at each:
http://www.runningforfitness.org/calc/hrzones.php
This is what you DON'T want to happen with your heart rate:
The run:
The route went from my home in Magnolia, across the Magnolia Bridge, along Myrtle Edwards Park and south along Seattle's waterfront. Except for the down then up on the bridge, it's a pretty flat run. Long runs get my hips, knees and ankles a little achy feeling and I felt about as good as I can. I did make a mental note that it must be time for new running shoes since my ankles and feet felt it more than I expected. Anyway, I ran for a fairly comfortable 1:40 which was encouraging for my first time out. I did keep my HR in the low 150's most of the run, except for the uphill portions. Adding 5 to 10 minutes each week and increasing the pace (or heart rate) here and there should make me ready for the 13.1 mile race in 6 weeks. I don't expect to be competitive at this distance, but I noticed that in last year's results, my target time of around 1:50 would have been good enough for 5th in the 50-54 AG. After a couple more long runs in upcoming weeks, I'll try to come up with some goals for the 2007 race coming up. Right now I'd say getting under 1:50 should be a reasonable goal.
This link provides a way to map your route and find out mileage and elevation:
1 comment:
Gotta love the long runs !! and it's just time and miles before the aching goes away. i used to only build up to 10 miler before the half.... and then shur nuf, at mile 10 my knees and hips locked up.
the picture of you doing VO2 test is not your most attractive one. :)
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