Training for an Ironman is all about heart. I'm not talking about the will power to get up at 5am to head to the pool... tried it, didn't work... or the determination to swim the extra lap or run the extra mile... or the guts to convince yourself to never quit. Nope, I'm actually talking about my physical, beating heart.
Ever since my first practice with Team in Training I've been using a heart rate monitor to track my workouts. The cumulative goal has been to spend 75% of my training working aerobically (what we call Zone 2), 20% working anaerobically (Zone 4) which is typically done with interval or speed workouts, and interestingly enough only 5% in what might be called race pace (Zone 3). Six time Ironman World Champion Mark Allen trains like this so why shouldn't I. The hardest part about this training has not been the blood pumping speed workouts... no, it's been avoiding the temptation to go faster when my workout is targeting a heart rate in Zone 2. I'm a pretty competitive guy and like to measure my performances against other people. But, when the heart rate monitor says I'm not to run any faster I have to swallow my pride and let the 65 year old grandma pass me.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to put my heart rate training to the test during a practice half marathon put on by our coach, Lance. Since I had been training with a heart rate monitor I thought it would be a good way to pace myself. However, looking around the 'net I couldn't find anything that detailed how to run a race with a heart rate monitor... so I made up my own plan. Basically, I felt when in Zone 2 I could run almost forever so I decided to run the first hour of the half marathon near the top of Zone 2 or a heart rate of no more than 160 bpm. After 60 minutes in Zone 2 I would allow myself to run a little faster by upping my heart rate limit to 165 bpm and thus venture into Zone 3 for 30 minutes. Finally, I would run the last 20 minutes or so at the bottom of Zone 4 or about 171 bpm.
That was my plan. I knew it would get me to the finish line but I had no idea if it was at all optimum for running a fast race. In the few races I've run before... mostly a scattering of 10k's... I nearly always started out fast and tried to hang on. I'd heard the fastest race typically involves a negative split... running the last half of the race faster than the first half. It certainly appeared my race plan would allow me to run a negative split. Let's see how I did. All data courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 305:
Ever since my first practice with Team in Training I've been using a heart rate monitor to track my workouts. The cumulative goal has been to spend 75% of my training working aerobically (what we call Zone 2), 20% working anaerobically (Zone 4) which is typically done with interval or speed workouts, and interestingly enough only 5% in what might be called race pace (Zone 3). Six time Ironman World Champion Mark Allen trains like this so why shouldn't I. The hardest part about this training has not been the blood pumping speed workouts... no, it's been avoiding the temptation to go faster when my workout is targeting a heart rate in Zone 2. I'm a pretty competitive guy and like to measure my performances against other people. But, when the heart rate monitor says I'm not to run any faster I have to swallow my pride and let the 65 year old grandma pass me.
A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to put my heart rate training to the test during a practice half marathon put on by our coach, Lance. Since I had been training with a heart rate monitor I thought it would be a good way to pace myself. However, looking around the 'net I couldn't find anything that detailed how to run a race with a heart rate monitor... so I made up my own plan. Basically, I felt when in Zone 2 I could run almost forever so I decided to run the first hour of the half marathon near the top of Zone 2 or a heart rate of no more than 160 bpm. After 60 minutes in Zone 2 I would allow myself to run a little faster by upping my heart rate limit to 165 bpm and thus venture into Zone 3 for 30 minutes. Finally, I would run the last 20 minutes or so at the bottom of Zone 4 or about 171 bpm.
That was my plan. I knew it would get me to the finish line but I had no idea if it was at all optimum for running a fast race. In the few races I've run before... mostly a scattering of 10k's... I nearly always started out fast and tried to hang on. I'd heard the fastest race typically involves a negative split... running the last half of the race faster than the first half. It certainly appeared my race plan would allow me to run a negative split. Let's see how I did. All data courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner 305:
| Mile | Avg Pace | Avg Heart Rate |
| 1 | 8m20s | 144 bpm |
| 2 | 8m39s | 154 bpm |
| 3 | 9m03s | 157 bpm |
| 4 | 8m38s | 159 bpm |
| 5 | 8m58s | 160 bpm |
| 6 | 8m53s | 159 bpm |
| 7 | 8m53s | 158 bpm |
| 8 | 8m24s | 163 bpm |
| 9 | 8m30s | 162 bpm |
| 10 | 8m25s | 162 bpm |
| 11 | 8m00s | 166 bpm |
| 12 | 8m06s | 167 bpm |
| 13 | 7m54s | 168 bpm |
Total time for the 13.1 miles was 1h50m48s. It's quite obvious I ran a negative split. I ran the first seven miles at an average pace of 8m46s and finished the last six miles averaging 8m13s. The question I have is could I have gone faster if I'd started out faster? If I had pushed the pace in the first seven miles closer to 8m30s would I still have been able to average 8m13s over the last six miles or would I have been unable to sustain the pace and finish with a slower pace of, say, 8m30s... which ironically works out to be the same finishing time. Next half marathon is the Mercer Island Half on March 9th. Stay tuned!
