Saturday's parkrun, at Tollcross, was slightly surprising. It wasn't a great time, 40:27, but comparably to what I've been running the last few months, it's a good improvement - especially on a tough course like Tollcross (it's a 5km course with 10 hills...). I had no 'game plan' for the run, just tried to keep walk breaks brief (which didn't always happen) and try to run at least part of each hill - but in the last km I went a wee bit silly, lol, as I thought about the treadmill intervals I've been running recently, and realised I could pick the speed up considerably for 20 seconds, 'rest' (walk) for 20 seconds, then get a faster run done again, and so on. At a couple of points my Garmin said I was running at a pace of around 8 minute miles, hahaha. Okay, so managing that for 20 seconds at a time was doable for a couple of minutes... :-) Anyway, even though it's still outside 40 minutes, I felt that if I continue treadmill work during the week, and keep losing weight, it will be no time until I'm back under 40 mins, and heading back towards the 35-36 minute time I was consistently managing in 2012 and 2013. I'm wearing a Garmin 620 now (having finally retired my 610) which has a built-in cadence monitor, and that can show me afterwards exactly how much walking I was doing compared to running - I'll definitely use this info going forward.
Yesterday was 'long run' day. Last week I ran 8.5km so I decided I would aim for 10km this time. I tried to stick to a simple run/walk interval of around 1-1, albeit I actually ran the whole of the first kilometre (slowly) without a single walk break. I did that km in about 7:40, which I was quite happy with, but of course adding in walk breaks after that, the time quickly ebbed away from me. I set myself the very generic goal of being "under 90 minutes" - the slowest I've ever ran this distance before is 86:17 when I last did the Glasgow Womens 10km race in May 2014, during a year when running was really not happening for me. My 'personal best' is coincidentally also at the Glasgow Women's 10km race, but in May 2013 when I did it in 71:11, and I've managed several different times in between since I started trying to run that distance back in late 2011. I know I'm nowhere near the level I've been before, at the moment, and very much just starting out, but 41 minute parkruns suggests perhaps 84 or 85 mins for a 10k, and that's what I hoped. As it happened, I managed to finish in 86:23 - so it's the slowest effort I've ever done, but actually loads of positives from it. The last 2 kms were at a good pace compared to the middle bit, so I know I managed to bring back a bit of pace towards the end - and, just for Robert haha, I even did a bit of heart rate monitoring to see how I got on.
For the 10km, my max heart rate recorded at 195, and average at 169. Each walk break saw my heart rate drop reasonably well. Interestingly, my PB race in spring 2013 when I feel I was much fitter, recorded my average heart rate at 196 - pretty much exactly what Robert said in one of his recent comments. My 'max' heart rate seems to be about standard. The difference in my 15 minute quicker 10km run is that my average geart rate was 182. As in, of course I ran more, but more so I was fitter enough to keep my heart rate higher for longer. In yesterday's run, when my heart rate crossed 190, I was struggling to keep going, and would slow to a walk soon after.
I know it sounds daft, but my idea of being 'fitter' (for cardio) was that my heart rate wouldn't peak as high - but actually it's just about how much longer I feel able to stay in the higher ranges. So, now I feel I have something to work to! I'm going to wear my HRM a lot more frequently, including gym sessions, and see what happens in things like circuits and HIIT. When I'm running, I'll try to keep the heart rate higher for a little longer before I take walk breaks, and train myself to manage the higher intensity bits a little easier.
My two runs this weekend suggest that at the Alloa half marathon in 5 weeks time, I'll be lucky to come in under 3 hours. Well, 'lucky', or just well trained over the coming 5 weeks... :-) I would love sub-3 hour for Alloa, for a couple of reasons, not the least of which is that most years there are very, very few people slower than 3 hours, and thus a strong chance I'll come in dead last. I know someone has to, but I'm not sure for my goals this year it'll be good for me, mentally. Ultimately, I'll be burning kcals for 3 hours, so I'll remain extremely positive about it, train well, keep losing weight, and just generally make sure I continue to make progress. :-)
Great effort, and it's so refreshing to see someone taking positives from their runs, and not worrying too much about the comparable times. My neighbour obsessed too much about times and distances for over a year and he admitted to never loving his runs that much. I kept saying to him to 'run naked' (so to speak) and enjoy the run for where it takes you, lift your head, breathe and enjoy. He loves heading out now and is subsequently getting faster and losing the weight. Also, great effort on the 10km target increase! "Sarah 'un point' - Couch 'nil points'!" :D x
ReplyDeleteAw, cheers Spidey. I'm not sure I'll ever "love" running, haha, but I'll keep on getting out there and giving it a go. :-) x
DeleteWell done with progress on the 5km time. On a flatter 5km and keep improving on the pacing and you'll be well under 40 minutes. I suspect when it all starts coming together on the running side you might see some big jumps.
ReplyDeleteOne way you could experiment with to get fast a faster 5km is to run slower right from the start so the need for walking breaks is diminished. If there are hills you'll likely still need to walk, but that's OK, it the effort level that is important to maintain not the pace, when you get back on the flat you can get back to running.
From your figures it would look like targeting a zone around 170 bpm for you long run would be sensible, say 165 to 175. I would hold back from going anywhere near you max HR on these long runs though as this would see you going well into the anaerobic zone, none of us can keep up for too long in this zone.
As a general rule, the slower you run the further you can run, so getting used to running nice and slow will be a big help. As you get fitter and more used to running in this long run effort level things should become easier and more natural. Speed will improve but more importantly your ability to keep running will make big strides forward. Eventually the need to walk will melt away.
Ah, thanks for this. But, erm, no. x
DeleteSeriously, we should try and have a chat over a cuppa some day - I 'get' what you say about running slower, but I really believe that my slow and steady progress with running started going haywire when I stopped doing what I was doing and started listening to more experienced runners telling me I should "slow down" all the time. All. The. Time. I'm not skilled or confident enough to have different running speeds, therefore by slowing down for longer runs, I ended up slowing down for everything, and my confidence got shot, as I felt I was getting 'worse', and - significantly - not living up to what everyone else "wanted" from me. Not what i wanted, I was trying to please everyone else, and in the process, I lost belief in what I wanted. I determined this year I would stop worrying what other people wanted me to do, and I certainly wouldn't TRY to run "slower", because it just messes with my head. I need to be a confident runner, albeit slower than pretty much everyone, and failing to manage running to the expectations of others is a big part of why my confidence got absolutely shot about 16 or 17 months ago.
For me, I need to work on decreasing the walk breaks, and that's in my head and my heart. Currently my *running* speed in 5km parkruns is significantly slower than my *running* speed in 5km parkruns when I very first started out in 2011 - I'm walking about the same amount, but I've never got back my 'speed' after "learning" to run slower for my HM training etc. So I'm doing this a bit different to the "general rule", because a lot of my inadequacies with running stem from confidence, and only seeing improvements in speed and/or distance and/or consistency will build the confidence back. :-) I just need to run more, at the moment - that's all. Run more, not panic, and just get fitter and back on track. x x
I don't mean to sound as defensive as this came across! :-) I really do appreciate your comments, and your suggestions, always - sadly it's just this particular one is one that doesn't sit well, due to what happened in the recent past. x
DeleteDefensive? No! Stroppy? Yes ;-)
DeleteOnly joking. I understand where you are coming from. Perhaps I can expand a bit more so you can see where the suggestion of slowing down might fit in better with how you want to progress things.
The advice to slow down is for your longer runs to make it easier to keep running when running longer distances. For short runs, or for interval training you'll want to go for speed and use walking for recovery. A good training plan with have a whole mixture of passes, some recovery runs/walks at slow pace, long runs at slow pace, some easy runs at a relaxed pace, tempo and intervals sessions at higher paces. 80 to 90% of mileage at easy pace or slow, and the rest tempo or intervals. Mixing things up you can even use a hill walk as a tempo - hills add so much extra work for the body to do that it can easily require just a high a HR as a tempo run/race.
This is one of the useful things about HR monitors - it allow you to compare different types of workout against each other more easily as the HR correlates so well with effort level. This way you can know that 10 minutes on the stepper is equivalent to 10 minutes easy run etc. (I'm giving this as an example, I've never been on stepper or treadmill, but hopefully you'll get the ideal.)
One thing I'd also say is that HR values you've mentioned so far tell us just have much effort you put into your runs, while you might not be going as fast as the super skinny fairies at the front end of the field you are working just as hard as them.
As you start trying different types of training activities and races out and see how your HR responds you'll get a feel for what you types of intensity you are able to maintain for different times.
For instance, my 10k average HR is always in the 174 to 178bpm range, while two half marathons have been 169 and 175 (the later I had a bit of virus) and my ultras in the 140 to 165 range depending upon distance. I'd expect you'd see a similar progression, just with different values to start with.
You might find that now your 5km average race HR is 190, 10km is 180, and half marathon 170.
When training for the half you'll want to mix in lot way running at around half marathon intensity and once or twice a week through in some 5k race as a tempo session and then perhaps a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session such as hill sprints/sprint intervals. With sprints you'll go nearly all out for just 10 to 20 seconds then walk back. You'd start off with a small set of intervals as the weeks pass and
you get stronger you add more intervals.
With the HIIT you totally ignore the HR monitor as it's too short an interval for your heart to get up to speed before the interval is finished. You can use the HR readings after for amusement though, I wouldn't be surprised if you find you max HR above 200 :-)
For the slower sessions the HR zones can be used to keep your pacing on track. It's particular useful for hilly routes where even a slight incline can turn an easy pace into tempo interval. In instances like this you just back off the pace as soon as you see the HR rise, and if it continues to rise simply walk and maintain yourself in the HR zone. Once the HR starts dropping pick the pace back up to keep yourself in the zone.
It might sounds like a lot of effort but within a few weeks it'll become second nature, eventually you'll be able to pace without it.