HR training

partyguinness

Okay so I went away and had my VO2 tested last week (result was 50...my Garmin 235 which of course is not reliable has me at 54)- in a lab, hooked up to face mask and all sorts. The works. Not as bad as I thought it would be. As a current 3:30 marathon runner my aim is somewhere between 3:10- 3:15 toward the end of this year all going well.

But anyway...the guy I went to has literally written a book on the subject and spent quite a bit of time in Africa analyzing Kenyan runners. He is a 2:45 marathon runner himself but now in his 50s and concentrates on Ironman. Is involved with professional football teams and has a whole array of world class athletes to reel off.

Very interesting to see the charts and stats confirming my real time issues i.e. I hit anaerobic too quickly and it just sheer grit that gets me over the line rather than solid endurance base. Bottom line is I train too hard and suffer too much. Told me that my endurance is rubbish. Sure it's fine to get around in 3:30 or thereabouts if that is what I want but it can be a lot lot better.

Sent me away with a 12 week training to focus purely on aerobic runs x4 times a week plus an interval session at threshold and keeping average HR in aerobic and run for duration rather than millage e.g. 60 mins, 120 mins, 45 mins etc.

Started last night with a 60 mins run- really enjoyed it. It was actually pleasurable rather than the usual smashing it out hard at 165bpm and in bits at the end.

So now I have 12 weeks and 5 runs per week just following HR which I have never done before. Going to get some getting used to running at 6:10 per km down from 4:50 per km. Going to skip Manchester and a few other events I had in mind now to focus on this.

In 12 weeks:-

I should be up from VO2 50 to 56
Body fat from 12% to 6%
An extra 2km per hour quicker
HR through the floor
Solid and greatly enhanced endurance base to build on for the summer

Ok I know this stuff is not new and has been around for a good few years but I am not part of any running club and never had any coaching- took up running 4 years ago at the age of 37.

Anyone else done this and more importantly what was the outcome?

Murph_D

partyguinness wrote: »

Okay so I went away and had my VO2 tested last week (result was 50...my Garmin 235 which of course is not reliable has me at 54)- in a lab, hooked up to face mask and all sorts. The works. Not as bad as I thought it would be. As a current 3:30 marathon runner my aim is somewhere between 3:10- 3:15 toward the end of this year all going well.

But anyway...the guy I went to has literally written a book on the subject and spent quite a bit of time in Africa analyzing Kenyan runners. He is a 2:45 marathon runner himself but now in his 50s and concentrates on Ironman. Is involved with professional football teams and has a whole array of world class athletes to reel off.

Very interesting to see the charts and stats confirming my real time issues i.e. I hit anaerobic too quickly and it just sheer grit that gets me over the line rather than solid endurance base. Bottom line is I train too hard and suffer too much. Told me that my endurance is rubbish. Sure it's fine to get around in 3:30 or thereabouts if that is what I want but it can be a lot lot better.

Sent me away with a 12 week training to focus purely on aerobic runs x4 times a week plus an interval session at threshold and keeping average HR in aerobic and run for duration rather than millage e.g. 60 mins, 120 mins, 45 mins etc.

Started last night with a 60 mins run- really enjoyed it. It was actually pleasurable rather than the usual smashing it out hard at 165bpm and in bits at the end.

So now I have 12 weeks and 5 runs per week just following HR which I have never done before. Going to get some getting used to running at 6:10 per km down from 4:50 per km. Going to skip Manchester and a few other events I had in mind now to focus on this.

In 12 weeks:-

I should be up from VO2 50 to 56
Body fat from 12% to 6%
An extra 2km per hour quicker
HR through the floor
Solid and greatly enhanced endurance base to build on for the summer

Ok I know this stuff is not new and has been around for a good few years but I am not part of any running club and never had any coaching- took up running 4 years ago at the age of 37.

Anyone else done this and more importantly what was the outcome?

It looks like it will be an extraordinary improvement if you can pull all that off in 12 weeks. But it’s definitely the way to go. Might need to be more patient if the results don’t come that quickly.

IvoryTower

6% body fat! No chance! But look forward to following your journey, it will give you a great base no doubt

shotgunmcos

I'm same age as you it seems. VO2 56 for 3:10 by year end... sounds about right.

6% BF though, why? 12% is already pretty lean.

I've run capped hr only for a couple of months. Def recommend to establish a base for a plan.

Good luck!

Lazare

Interesting, and pretty timely for me. I've an appointment tomorrow morn in The Beacon sports clinic for similar testing.

Very best of luck with the goals, you seem buzzed for it.

partyguinness

On reflection I think he wants to be to VO2 56 and 6% toward the end of the year race ready rather than in 12 weeks.

TBH I am rather dubious about the 12% (it was calipers)- I would have put myself at 15-16%. At 6% I'll be on the front cover of Men's Health.

partyguinness

Lazare wrote: »

Interesting, and pretty timely for me. I've an appointment tomorrow morn in The Beacon sports clinic for similar testing.

Very best of luck with the goals, you seem buzzed for it.

How did you get on?

Lazare

partyguinness wrote: »

How did you get on?

Yeah really good.

Tests were full body composition in a Bodpod and gas analysed VO2 and AT test on a treadmill.

Body fat is 10.9%
RMR is 1344 kcal, need 2796 kcal/day to avoid deficit at current activity levels.
Told me I've excellent VO2 numbers, max is 51.7, but that's not what he was talking about.

I kinda expected my max to be in and around that, like you I never trusted the watch, that was telling me my max was 54. What was interesting was he kinda laughed and said that everybody gets excited about their max but what's really important is your Vo2/kg number at anaerobic threshold, and how that number relates to your max.
Mine is 45 and he reckons that with the right training I have pretty decent potential. Says his own numbers for his 2:50 marathon were nowhere near as good.

I'm hitting threshold at 145bpm, so I've plenty of work to do but it gave me some boost all the same.

Still trying to understand it all.

partyguinness

So I went back this week for another VO2 test. Was supposed to go back after 12 weeks but ended up running 24 weeks slow HR due to some Covid thing.

Interesting I adjusted my VO2 max on Garmin to 49 back in Feb and watched it plunge to 43. But the lab result this week has it now at 51.47.

I have done zero speedwork or HIIT since beginning of March- purely averaging 60 km per week with 5 runs at 135 max HR- yes it was very slow.

My max speed has increased from 16.5km/h in February to 17.5km/h
My body fat has dropped from 12.7% to 9.9%
Weight down from 72.6kg to 67.8kg

Something about litre capacity having dropped- I was a little lost at that stage but it's good by all accounts. Fat burning more efficient- hitting it for longer which is the goal.

Anaerobic threshold pushed up from 24 min to just under 28 mins

Negatives- have lost over 2kg in lean body mass. I blame not having a gym and zero strength training and a low carb diet I tipped around with in May/June which helped with weight loss.

Heart rate a lot higher (felt grand though) which he cannot understand he thinks that the February figures were surpressed because I was doing regular speedwork at the time but now I have sprinted all out for the first time in over 4 months.