Just Keep Runnin'

My thoughts on that program. The reason it works on elites is that they already have years of base mileage when they start the program. The name of the program is a misnomer. What is actually happening is not "build speed, then endurance". It is "use the existing endurance, work on speed, then continue to improve the endurance". A runner without a life-time aerobic base will not be able to do the workouts at the intensity needed to improve his speed. He will only fatigue himself and risk injury.

In your case - your half is 1:30, your full marathon is 3:34. That is a clear indicator of the lack of base conditioning. I would recommend working on that without distractions. 6 days a week, no less than 8 miles on each run. Do not worry about the pace - run whatever feels natural even if it is slow. The most important thing is that the next day you feel good enough to run the same mileage again without a risk of injury or overtraining. Race or run time-trials once every couple of weeks to see where you are at. You should be seeing improvements in distances as short as a 5 K.

When I joined this blog, I was hoping that I could get information from someone with as much experience as yourself. Thanks for responding. My average heart rate for all the training I've done in the last 5 months is 168 (my max HR is 196, min is 50). Should I slow down, or continue at that pace? I just want to make sure that I'm doing the optimal training, not just the right amount of miles. What do you think?

Your body knows how fast you should run better than your HRM. Go with your intuition. It should feel relaxed. You should be able to maintain a conversation. Your legs should not be hurting the next day after the run. When in doubt, err on the side of slow.

A warning sign that a training pace is too fast for aerobic conditioning in being unable to maintain a slightly faster pace in a race. E.g if you race a half in 1:30 and are not in better shape, 7:30 pace for an aerobic run is too fast. But at the same time, if you pick up to 6:15 and feel you can hold it forever after running a couple of miles, then 7:30 might be OK.

Having said that, continue to use your HRM and pay attention at how fast you have to run to reach a certain heart rate and how it changes from day to day. But never use it as a pacing guide - see the top ten list of training mistakes link at the top of this page.

Thanks again for the responses, this is the help that I need. I use my heart rate monitor more to check (after a run) how I did. During the past 5 months, other than races, my daily averages were between 158 and 177. While training for my first marathon, the treadmills at the gym had HR monitors, so I wore my chest strap and noticed that 169 bpm was where I usually was during my long runs at 8:00 miles. Since May, all of my training has been outside and I run faster off the treadmill.

As far as pain goes, I've really only had sore muscles after the two marathons. I feel virtually no affects the day after any run. I ran the TOU half at 1:30:03 and didn't know how long I could maintain that pace (my HR average was 178) but felt just fine the next day. I guess that is anaerobic and I didn't know I could only maintain my HR that high for 16 miles...

Should my training ever focus in the anaerobic state? Does training in the aerobic state prepare you better for racing in an anaerobic state?

By the way, good luck at SGM!

When you run a race longer than 100 meters, you always have the aerobic and the anaerobic component. The longer the race, the bigger role the aerobic component plays. The marathon is 98% aerobic. The 10 K is 90%. You can see the chart at

http://www.gillathletics.com/articles/news021302.htm

for other distances.

As you can see, a race longer than 2 miles is always at least 70% aerobic.

The good news is that your aerobic system is very responsive to training, and it does not take a rocket scientist to know how to train it - just go out and run every day at a comfortable pace. The key is consistency.

OK, so aerobic is the focus. Then I shouldn't worry about attempting to go longer in an anaerobic state?

So when you run, do you use a heart rate monitor? During a marathon, what is your heart rate compared to your maximum HR?