Heart Rate on the Long Run

Cardiac drift in heart rate (rise) is due to dehydration. In order to keep the heart rate down (if that is your choice) you will have to start drinking liquids with substantial amount of salt (almost to the point of not tasting good) in order to keep you blood volume high after 90 minutes of running. Even on hot days, you can become dehydrated and experience cardiac drift in an hour's time. Your heart rate is not, in my opinion, a good focus for training. Determine your pace using four key variables:

1) your current racing fitness;

2) your environment;

3) your fatigue level prior to the workout (influenced by the amount and quality of recent training and racing plus such things as sleep, nutrition, and emotional stress);

4) your training goal for the workout (easy, medium, hard, etc.)

As a general rule, run your long runs at 75% velocity of your current 5k race pace (what you think you can do on the day of the long run). So, for example, if you can run 5:30 pace for a 5k today and you have a long run scheduled, then you can run 5:30 / .75 (330 seconds / .75 = 440 seconds per mile) = 7:20 pace. If you are preparing for a marathon race and your long run is going to have faster running specifically oriented to improving stamina for holding marathon pace (this would be a hard workout) then you would insert faster running at .87 to .90 velocity of your current 5k pace). .87 simulates marathon race pace and .90 simulates half-marathon race pace. Whatever your heart rate is for any of three training goals is what it is. Don't focus on heart rate and run pathetic workouts because you think h.r. needs to be at some magical value. Also, get in those fluids!!

jman, i just ran a pretty hilly 15 mile run and my heart rate averaged 165 with the highest being 176 (May have been a bit too high). There are also a lot of environmental factors that contribute to heart rate (temperature, stress level, diet, wind, terrain, etc) and that is important to keep in mind. I guess it depends on what you were trying to accomplish on this particular long run. I get a good amount of the lower end aerobic training throughout the week, so this enables me to get out and really run my long runs hard. You will benefit from the run you described in a lot of different ways. I don't think your heart rate was too high, but be careful on the lower end. Anything below 120 or so is not very beneficial as far as an athlete is concerned. Happy long running!

Thanks guys.

It's nice to be able to put info out there and get good, solid, quick information from guys who know what they are talking about. I didn't have any fluids on the run, so that would explain it, Tinman. Snowrunner-- I was just trying to keep the HR as low as possible so that I could start to utilize "fat-burning" as a source of fuel. I got the idea from the long HADD thread a while back. I have been really focused the last 8 months on trying to get my aerobic ability in line with the rest of my training b/c I have decent speed (55's 400) but as I go up the steps to longer distances...my PRs worsen dramatically. I feel that if I can become more "aerobically sound" that I can DEMOSLISH some old PRs. You pondered my current shape...I am not sure b/c I have not raced in over 6 months, but I recently ran 5 miles slow and easy, went right into 10 miles hard and ran the 10 miles in 65 min...which is good for me becasue the 9th mile was in 6flat and the 10th in 5:58. I am (was??) a 17:58 5K guy a the last time I raced.

Thanks again.

the information available on this message board is just absolutely awesome.

where else can you ask a question about running and get so many good replies so quickly?

we are really lucky to have this. I try to tell my freinds

in England but they dont seem very interested. I dont know, sometimes I wonder if they are really botherd about improving their performance?

maybe I need a letsrun.com T shirt and then they will ask me about it instead of me telling them?

What is 'HADD'? I have seen it twice today and neither context gave me a clue as to what it stands for?

Help me out?

Michigander,

Take a look at this link. It'll take a while, but it will revolutionize your running. I promise...it has so far for me.

Not what is "Hadd", but who! Coach based in Italy who's (very long) thread on training is now legendary...

Somebody should be able to link to it for you...

beat ya to it!! :)

Johny O:

I am a huge fan of GB running. I wish I was there running for a club and coaching too. My mom' side of the family are English and Scottish. My Dad's are Irish and German.

tinman wrote:

Johny O:

I am a huge fan of GB running. I wish I was there running for a club and coaching too. My mom' side of the family are English and Scottish. My Dad's are Irish and German.

ahaa now I know why you have been posting on the English threads tinman.

I've not seen your name on any of the Welsh threads though, but that's ok, they can look after themselves the Welsh they can. I've seen the results I have.

cheers, JonnyO

God save the Queen.

Cheers! God save the queen!

Ah, I can see meself runnin on tha moors now.

I swear by heartrate racing. Since I started using a monitor in my races I have virtually eliminated going out too fast, then fading. Really keeps me honest and under control early on. If you can firmly establish your lactate threshold then run right under that pace, that is worth tons for a marathon. Most people have no clue and no feedback, go out way too fast then fade hard. I usually throw my monitor off after half way, where it has done its job and its time to gut it out. From my training I have developed a solid rule set about how long I can run in what range with what consequences. People say that that is dumb because your heartrate fluctates, based on stress, dehydration, nervousness, etc. And it does, but it is still a very, very valuable tool. No one would argue about the value of race splits, even though miles are often mismarked, you have uphills, downhills, .... By the way, I race for over a marathon at near 170 (this is quite a high and painful rev for that distance) but I think you potentially have alot of capacity remaining. The advice on cardiac creep is correct. The best way to deal with it is to run under cool conditions (42 F is my favorite) and to drink copiously (I shoot for 1 liter per hour, though some can not handle that much and end up with cramps).

tinman wrote:

Cheers! God save the queen!

Ah, I can see meself runnin on tha moors now.

tinman, I run on the moors every day here in Yorkshire.

I would love to run in Oregon. If you are coming over this way any time, let me know.

I used a heart rate monitor in the early '90s. now I always try to guess what my heart rate is. after a while, I think you develop a feel for the correct pace in racing and training. when I ran London marathon this year, my splits were even all the way to the finish.

Ain't it illegal to run with a HRM?

wannabeakilla,

you have to be joking, right?

I don't disagree with the general gist of what you write tinman but ...

you're 0.75 ratios and more importantly 0.87/0.9 ratios are very rough guides to running pace. Any you criticisms of focusing on HR could also be mad about these numbers. In additon most courses we run on for long runs are not measured.

I quite like the HR as a guide. Like tinman writes, you get constant feedback. It does depend on the individual but the original poster's numbers seem fine. I will always try and keep a sub 135 HR for at least 15miles of a 20mile run. Its difficult not to allow the HR drift during the last few miles without dropping the pace noticeably.

no i'm serious. i'm 90% sure of this.

I'm 90% sure you're freakin retarded

Just to be anal, I checked with the IAAF by fax some years ago. It is not illegal to wear a HRM in races.