The last thingy: HR Training - Day 42 & Final Thoughts

Today was a very odd day. After a stint in fixing the toilet tank in the bathroom all night and into the morning, I woke up too late for the group run. I figured that I could possibly run in the evening and subject myself to one more night of treadmill hell, but I was really tired - almost to the point where I felt like I hadn't even gone to bed at all.

After running my errands for the day, I decided to just take that final day off for my own good. This was the only one of two days where I actually bailed out during the entire training plan, the other being a light run a week earlier.

So this is what my last week ended up as for the Training Effect:



And the overall since the beginning:



So what was the point of all this?

Well, this is what I got out of it:

1.) HR Training does work, but it does take a great deal of time and patience in it. If I was an elite career athlete instead of a weekend warrior, I would probably devote a whole year to just tune in my HR and not do any events. But I'm not on the cover of a Wheaties box, so the idea of me strictly doing that doesn't fly.
2.) If you run for fun and only for fun, then HR Training isn't for you. The fun for me was gradually sucked out and I tried my damndest to enjoy the runs with what I had.
3.) If you have a very specific goal in mind, HR Training can work for you. But your patience will be tested greatly. Expect to be frustrated with yourself for the first two weeks. It will get better once your body "gets the message", but it'll suck at first.
4.) If you decide to do HR Training, expect to be ALONE. Unless you can exercise restraint and not get sucked into the semi-competitive nature that group runs can generate, you're better off being alone and focusing on yourself.
5.) If you train on a treadmill, you can tune your HR better - but it can turn to crap when you're outside. However, 99.9% of races will not be done on a moving rubber belt, so learning how to run outside while HR training is necessary. There's no point in learning how to develop perfect-pitch in vocal music if you're not going to practice actual songs for a concert. This goes back to the goals thing.
6.) If you decide to pursue HR training, get a VO2Max/Metabolic test done. There is a cost, but you'll have the most accurate information to help you out and the motivation factor of "I PAID FOR THIS, I BETTER USE IT" really kicks in. I doubt I would have taken my HR Training as seriously had I not paid for my testing.
7.) If you are not able to mentally handle HR Training while doing other types of workouts (cross-training), you might have to abandon your cross-training for a little while. I had to since my brain was stressed out from trying to remember the training patterns for my specific HR training.
8.) Get use to radio interference and those transmitter belts just going nuts for no reason. Mine would lose signal or give off a reading that didn't match my perceived exertion.
9.) Figure out what your perceived exertion is using the HR data. The better you know what your breaking points are, the more in-tune you'll be with your HR when you lose the connection or get erratic readings. My perceived exertion has gotten better since my start of this training 6 weeks ago.
10.) If you train outside, you need to REALLY focus on matching your perceived exertion against your HR. Reason: You may not hear the beeps or the HRM might not operate properly in spots. The world isn't a quiet place usually.
11.) If you decide to HR Train, do as much of it as possible to adapt faster. I walked alot more and did alot of the slower light-runs when I had time. The more time you put in, the more does come back. However, it also has the negative effect of getting really boring and giving you the desire to scream obscenities frequently.
12.) Don't be afraid to ask questions or to question the methods of any HR Training plan. I know with my training plan specifically, there were alot of crazy things and every run seemed like it was an interval run. Eric told me that the training plan he devised for me was to tune into my HR zones better. However, looking back I think my training zones were too wide and I should have had more sub-zones to train at. Running at my Aerobic and Anaerobic Thresholds made me go as fast as I could within those zones, but I know that isn't always the best thing to do now. You need a variety of HR Zones or sub-zones to train in depending on what you're aiming for in your goals. This is why I developed those sub-zones for myself based on my own observations in my training.

As for my actual performance, I'll let the numbers do the talking...

These are the numbers for the runs that were "light". Check out the average speed and the top speed of these:

12/18 - 21:50 avg/15:30 max (this was before the official training)
12/22 - 23:23 avg/13:27 max
12/23 - 20:16 avg/16:51 max
12/25 - 17:39 avg/10:44 max
12/26 - 17:57 avg/13:02 max
12/27 - 19:39 avg/13:29 max
12/28 - 16:06 avg/9:52 max (this was a very good day)
12/29 - 18:23 avg/15:28 max
12/30 - 19:23 avg/14:53 max
01/01 - 19:52 avg/14:27 max
01/03 - 18:27 avg/13:58 max
01/07 - 19:23 avg/15:57 max
01/09 - 19:35 avg/14:19 max
01/14 - 16:47 avg/11:12 max
01/16 - 15:17 avg/10:45 max
01/19 - 19:02 avg/15:52 max
01/21 - 20:07 avg/16:28 max (powerwalked, cranked up treadmill to max%)
01/31 - 17:01 avg/10:56 max

As you can see, the overall speed has increased within a six week time. Also, my HR has been more steady as well (although I do need to fine-tune things a bit more).

Overall, I would have to say my experience was good and I will be taking some aspects of what I've learned and incorporating it into my training

For those in Seattle, Tacoma, or points in-between, definately do your VO2Max training test at The Balanced Athlete in Kent. You'll get your test plus the bonus of a training plan and advice on improving your performance...and making sense of crazy HR Training zone runs.

Well, now that's over - on to the future!

I SAID GO HOME!!!: HR Training - Day 41

The last light run of the training plan, I had the fortune of running at my in-laws place in North Bend, WA. The skies were clear, so the view of the Cascades, Issaquah Alps, and Mt Si were in full view with their mild snow-covered caps.

I usually run to the Snoqualmie Valley Trail, but I decided that I would try to run on the roads. I took the original run and added an extra 15 minutes on it to make it a 15m-3m-15m-3m-15m run, using the first 15 minutes as a warm-up. For this warm-up I tried to keep my HR under my Aerobic Threshold, but as you can see in the graph - it didn't work well (although my HR didn't jump that high on the watch that I can remember, it recorded otherwise - go figure). Eventually, my heart rate settled down and overall my HR did try to stay at or below my Aerobic Threshold, occasionally drifting over. I sometimes wish that someone could invent a pair of glasses that have the HR numbers displaying in a Heads-Up Display like a video game. That way, you don't have to keep looking down at your watch to figure out where you are and when you'll be bleeding over your HR.

On the way back to my in-laws house, this insane dog decided to show its authority and come at me. I stayed remarkably cool and screamed at the dog to GO HOME! The dog gave me a WTF look and backed off. Lucky for the pooch.

I do need to practice running below my Aerobic Threshold outside. I personally think I've gotten it down decently on the treadmill, but races don't happen on a treadmill and being outside in the nice weather for the run was a good exchange for having a HR that wasn't as smooth as it would be on the treadmill. I am confident that it will improve as the weeks go on and I put more time into my training.

Last day of the plan tomorrow. I wonder if I'll be able to stay with the group? I wonder how much distance I'll cover?

Slowin' My Roll: HR Training - Day 40

There was something about this week that just seemed...draining. Originally, I was going to run immediately after work to catch some daylight left, but some force in the universe was sucking the life out of me. Maybe Dick Cheney was nearby? He is out of the White House after all. (Damn that Jon Stewart and his Star Wars comparison!)

Anyhoo, I decided to go down to the dungeon again after dinner. However, I decided to hold back during the Base Builder II run. I did my best to keep my Zone 1 runs at 135 bpm or less instead of hitting the Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm. I also was trying to keep my Zone 2 HR at or below 150 bpm (but I was looking to keep it at 148 bpm as best as I could.)

I have to say that it was a good run. My ground speed was between 3.7-3.8 MPH for Zone 1 runs and 4.3-4.4 MPH for Zone 2 runs. I didn't have too much HR drift and I think due to the good warm-up, I was able to maintain my HR's in the right places.

Tomorrow is my light run that I'm going to do at my in-laws place, Sunday the last day of the training plan (an LSD Base run) that I'll do with the group. Looking forward to the end of this and building on what I've developed these past 6 weeks.

Setting the Dial: HR Training - Day 38

The last Base Builder run in the training plan. I did it as Rx'ed for the 40 minutes.

Certain facts I have to face:

1.) You can't win the lottery without atleast buying a ticket.
2.) My warm-ups will always be a challenge.

I did a brisk walk at a 3.5 MPH speed and my HR was hovering around a 109-115 bpm. I did this for about 8 minutes. However, once I started to get into a light jog, the insanity in the first 10 minutes showed up. As you can see, things really didn't settle in until after those 10 minutes were up and I was running in the 5 minute block at zone 2.

However, I decided to lower my intensity and try to keep my HR well below my Anaerobic Threshold of 161 bpm in Zone 2 and below my Aerobic Threshold of 138 bpm in Zone 1. As you can see, it actually did work and I was pretty steady for the most part. I did notice something else though. When I was keeping my HR around 130 bpm in the middle of the run and then shifted to the second Zone 2 interval, it took more to raise my HR to get it around the sub-150 bpm range. In my training after this week, I need to have each workout setup to run at certain points with the zones. This means possibly breaking up the zones I created into smaller sub-zones. This way, I can tune my body into the right exertion perception against my HR, eventually getting this working in my races.

Since I'm nearly done with the plan, here's the rest of the plan for the final week:

Thursday: Rest
Friday: Base Builder II
Saturday: Light (I might extend this to an hour)
Sunday: LSD Base (planning to join the group again for this one to see how my body behaves on relatively flat roads versus hilly trails like I had done the previous two LSD Base runs)

Expectations and Astronauts: HR Training - Day 37

Another group run, doing a Base Builder II workout. As you can see in the image, the warm-up isn't there. I tried to do one, but it was a serious flop. I had tried to do some brisk walking and some very easy jogging to get my HR going and the blood flowing, but my HR dropped back to the resting state again after standing around too long before the actual run.

I'm still trying to learn how to monitor myself on the ground versus the treadmill. I'm also trying to get use to running with the group without getting sucked into everyone elses pace. There are some steady moments, but not enough steady moments within the zones. I will be tightening this up as time goes on in my training after I'm done with the plan for this week and beyond.

Afterwards, Eric and I had a good solid talk about his expectations versus my goals. As I told him, I'm always willing to listen to people - even if I decide to do something else in the end. This would be one of those times. Eric's expectations based on what I've been blogging about and what his experience is, he recommended that I postpone Cascade Crest for 2010 and focus on my HR for the next 9+ months, maybe do a marathon or 50k as a race to focus on for this time (my calculation, that would put either the Portland Marathon in October, Seattle Marathon in November, Baker Lake 50k in September, or the Ron Herzog 50k in November as a single thing to focus all my efforts towards.) This means that other races throughout the year that I would desire to do would be off the table - no White River, no Chuckanut, no Mt Si, nothing. It would all be HR training and tuning. He said that it was something I probably didn't want to hear. He was right and I decided to go against the recommendations.

We talked at length about everything. The training. My progress. My goals. Everything that could make and/or break me for Cascade Crest. I totally saw where he was coming from - get the HR thing down to where everything afterwards would be awesome later. My thing was to simply aim for the stars. For the past several weeks while training, I had been reviewing all of my data from my past races and training schedules. Looking at what worked well and what didn't. This is what I found so far:

1.) HR training in the past worked (although I went off of the 220-age thing)
2.) I cross-trained a great deal (swim & bike when tri training, bike commuting, and strength training) which added more hours to my training weeks.
3.) I had only one session a week that was dedicated to just faster running (tempos and intervals). All the other runs were either easy or long. Looking at my times during my triathlon training and my half-marathon training for Chicago, the swim/bike/run gave me stronger legs with a better core, the HR training then when going out for my easy runs got progressively better as each day went on - the HR staying under control. The strength training also helped me as well, especially with my metabolism. I was able to process fuel better since the muscles were leaner and more active. Also, I could take the pounding better and recover faster in a shorter period of time.
4.) I ate better. Don't get me wrong. I don't eat the junk like I use to, but I haven't relaxed the portion control on some things.
5.) I weighed less (but that was from very tight control of my diet and workouts to the point of being obsessive-compulsive). I also had less muscle compared to now (although having more muscle mass isn't a bad thing), which made me faster since I carried less while running.

So this is what I decided to do:

1.) Sign-up for Cascade Crest this year.
2.) Focus on my HR for my training aimed towards Cascade Crest after I'm done with the current training plan.
3.) Re-incorporate my cycling (not to mention cycling work commutes) back into my life
4.) Re-incorporate strength training back into my life as well (Looking forward to doing CrossFit again, but starting back on the simple routine using the CrossFit Beginner's Program)
5.) Do my best to buckle down on some of my eating habits to find a good balance between how much I burn during training versus what I need to consume for proper living.
6.) If at any time Cascade Crest seems like it's not an attainable goal based on what I'm going through, I will request the RD (Charlie Crissman) to defer my entry for the following year.
7.) I will use various races from now till Cascade Crest as an aid to help me train, but it won't be a monsterous amount of races. Every training run, every race will serve a purpose.

I had told Eric that I want to experience all that Cascade Crest and moving 100 miles will do. In the past, I had told Eric of my first ultra - the 1st Annual Pigtails Flat Ass. I had gone through some insanity that winter and with my amount of frustration in life, I wanted to run long and just hurt. However, the hurt was short-lived and the euphoria of moving for hours (under 5:30 to be more specific) took over. This is one of the major reasons why I run. People mention their Love/Hate relationship with running and exercise in general. Hell, New Balance made a few commercials on this. The one thing that I did not want my training to turn into is ALL WORK. I want moments to enjoy as well. It took some doing, but I found a bit of the joy in the current training, usually in the slow light runs or when I hit the trail those two times. However, the stress of having to deal with mini-intervals on a daily basis and memorizing the patterns did deflate some of that fun. So this is what I'm left with: Perform at my Potential or Have Fun.

The answer: I choose a happy balance. I will HR train and do alot of cross-training to help facility my aerobic capacity. However, I will make sure that every run counts and that I can smile along the way.

Manic Moderate Mondays: HR Training - Day 36

After a good amount of debate on whether to do the Base Builder II run or the Moderate run, I had decided to do the Moderate run as a double. Basically the same run as I did on Thursday (or rather, I did HORRIBLY on Thursday), but it would be on the treadmill again at the usual 1% incline. As you can see, I was able to maintain a consistant heart rate for each of the 12 minute runs in Zone 2, only rarely bleeding past my 161 bpm ceiling. For each 12 minute part, I was able to maintain a decent speed of 5.6-5.7 MPH until the last set where I decided to slow it down to just 5.0 MPH and learn to relax more. The HR ended up being lower on the last one compared to the others, but not by huge leaps and bounds (about 3-4 bpm less than before).

It was a good run, but I was in that moment of "When is this going to be over?". It's been awhile since I've felt like that on a treadmill run. I can only assume my brain and body need more outdoor stimulation from running.