Hadd
Got some time, lemme try and answer another portion of your last post:
Antonio Cabral wrote:
I can see that this time the workouts you recommend are related to 5km race pace... I don’t see any HR recommendations like you had given in Joe’s thread.
Have you ever seen a HR graph from a run? I must see if I can post up some on a host website and link to them on here... it would make what I about to write more clearer for those who know little about HRs.
Okay, I have had a Polar HRM from 1993 and one of the models I have can be set to record the HR every 5 secs, 15 secs, or every minute. So I can send a runner off on a run and afterwards download all the info to a PC and get a line graph of what happened to the HR during the course of the run.
If you go through Phase I as advised in an earlier thread, then you can get to a state where I can send you off for a 10-mile run (or longer) and either a) tell you to maintain a HR range (and record the mile splits) or b) tell you to maintain a particular running pace (and record the HR).
Let's say I do as I have done many times and I have the runner complete a session of 40 laps of the track at "Mpace". What I will find (assuming the runner was fresh and rested for the session) is a basically "flat" graph for the whole run, fluctuating up and down by only a few beats. Like a kinda jagged, but basically horizontal line graph. (... I must post some up).
What I should NOT find (since I know the running pace is Mpace), is that the HR rises over the course of the session (after the first 10-15 mins or so that it takes for the HR to stabilize).
So, Mpace = flat graph; approx 87-90% HRmax.
Knowing that it is going to be a flat graph, I can tell the runner to stick in a HR zone of (say) 172-177 HR, and set them off.
I also know that when I have trained them well enough that HM pace will also elicit a flat graph; approx 92-93% HRmax, but still flat and not climbing over the course of the run.
So, I can tell the runner to stick to a pace (HM pace) or I can tell them to stick to a training zone of 180-183 HR. Not higher.
So, this means that up to Mpace, and even HMpace, I can tell the runner just to run in a HR training zone. An advantage of this is that the runner does not need to know the running pace, so the session does not have to be done on a known route, the runner can set off in any direction and know that he/she is doing the session as required. This is mentally very relaxing; the runner is not always running the same route, they can go as the mood takes them. Too, they are not even worrying about mile splits; if they are in the right HR zone, they are doing the correct workout.
However, what I know from experience is that if I give the runner a session at (say) 10k pace or even faster, then the HR is going to climb from beginning to end of the rep/session. The HR graph will no longer be flat once the running pace goes above LT.
So, if I want to get the runner to run mile reps at 10k pace, how can I give them an HR guideline? I know the HR is going to climb throughout the rep, so what HR could I possibly give them to run at?
I don't like the runner to be in doubt at any time, or confused as to whether they are going too slow or too fast (mainly because I know most motivated athletes will err on the side of too-fast). I like them to know precisely what I want them to do, and do exactly that.
Since I cannot be with them all the time (I often coach by email and may never have met the runner I am advising), whenever I want the runner to run at a pace that is faster then HM pace, I give the advice by running pace rather than by HR. To be sure the pace is right for the particular runner, that training pace will be based on their recent 5k time.
So let's say I am giving the runner a session of 3 x 3k. Since I know the pace, I also know whether or not this will be above LT for that runner. Assuming it is, I therefore know that the HR will rise during each rep, and during the session. I am therefore unable to give a precise enough HR range to act as a pace guideline for the runner. So in this case I give a pace-related guide (eg: 3 x 3k at 95-96% of 5k pace with an 800m jog recovery between reps).
Having said all that, I might still get the runner to wear the HRM, but this is really for my benefit. They can download the info and email it to me, or if I am present I get them to call out the HR as they pass on each lap (so I can know that they are not having to work too hard). In other words, although I don't give them an HR guideline for the session, I do know what the HR should do over the course of the rep/session, and can ensure that the runner is not having to dig too deep to maintain pace. If I learn they are working harder than I want them to, to maintain pace (that night, perhaps due to previous training, or non-training related stress), if I am present I might curtail the session so as not to overwork the runner needlessly. So the HR info is still valuable, although not precise enough to control the training pace (once that pace goes above LT).
Short answer; once you go above approx HM pace, it becomes more difficult to control the running pace by HRM since the HR graph should rise over the course of the run.