Heart Rate Training

I've been doing a lot of reading on heart rate zone training. I've run with heart rate monitors during several long stretches in the past, and found it valuable. It's nice to be able to quantify the amount of effort your body is putting out, as pace isn't always an accurate indicator of that depending on hills, terrain, and how one is feeling at the time.

In addition to my reading, a recent and very interesting podcast by Geeks in Running Shoes (episode 19) featured an interview with a couple of coaches from PRS-Fit who gave some extensive, in-depth information on the value of training in heart rate zones. On a side note, definitely check out this podcast if you haven't yet, all of their shows are very entertaining and informative. I'm really digging it.

So, it got me thinking more of using the HR monitor for recovery purposes. As an experiment, I let the HR dictate the pace today, with the goal of staying in the 130s to be in Heart Rate Zone 2, which is a recovery pace. I wetted the strap again and had a few, small spikes in the data in the first mile or so, but nothing too bad.

It went well. It was difficult to run that slow. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that my pace was as slow as it was for that heart rate. I didn't get much sleep last night, so maybe I can blame it on that? Perhaps it's because of yesterday's tempo run? I don't know. I have a lot to learn with this kind of stuff and I look forward to doing so. Would love to hear your thoughts on this or heart rate training in general, so if you have some food for thought, advice or whatever please leave a comment.

Ran 5.0 miles @ 8:51/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - 134/157
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Mid 40s, sunny, breezy.
Saucony Kinvara, shorts, windbreaker, short sleeved shirt.