marqueePython wrote:
Like splits looking like this:
1: 8:10/mi
2: 8:05/mi
3: 8:00/mi
4: 7:55/mi
5: 7:50/mi
6: 7:45/mi
7: 7:40/mi
8: 7:40/mi
9: 7:20/mi
10: 7:00/mi
Track your heart rate:
1. Morning HR
2. Average HR during the run
3. Peak HR during the run
4. HR when you push STOP, HR 1min later, HR 2min later.
5. Evening HR
For a medium effort run, look for your Recov1min HR to drop to 120bpm, and your Recov2min HR to drop to 115bpm or less. That's a good way to gauge the intensity load of a run.
For a very easy recovery run, look for Recov1min HR dropping to 115bpm, and Recov2min HR dropping to 110bpm or less, even into the 90's. That's a nice and easy run.
An very intense run or race may only see Recov1min HR drop to 130bpm, and Recov2min HR drop to 120bpm, or stay above 120bpm for several minutes after stopping
If your a.m. heart rate is elevated, say 5 or 10 beats above your lowest recovered HR, and you are doing an a.m. run, do that run 5 or 10 beats lower than originally planned.
I ran 85 miles last week with three long days of 19, 17 and 20 miles. I used the above guidline, and though my a.m. HR was as high as 60bpm 12 hours after a long run, two days later with easy recovery runs it was down to 38bpm.