I read the 80/20 book on heart rate/ effort training by Matt Fitzgerald and thought, why not? I might be getting pregnant in the next few months, so why not do a training plan where my heart rate isn't in the 170s all the time? Even if I had MONSTER gains, they would probably disappear while being pregnant and for the time after when I can't run. So this certainly can't hurt.
I did my testing according to the book and using his website and the calculator it links to here.
Here are my results:
What I found is I THOUGHT a 13:00 was an easy pace for me, though admittedly I don't do my long runs that slow. And I take breaks and pause my Garmin on my long runs... So I went out and tried running in Zone 1. I wanted to just scream. I can go faster than this! How can I get better if I do this! I know the answer, or book told me the answer, anyway. I am building up my aerobic endurance, which does not happen well at the heart rate I normally run at.
After I settled down, I realized that this pace is enjoyable. I could go forever! And I can listen to a podcast instead of music. Music allowed me to focus on something other than pushing through and wanting to stop. Now I don't really want to stop, and I am able to focus on something else because the running requires less effort.
Another item I noted after reviewing the half marathon plan in the book is that other than the long run, the workouts were time-based. After reviewing how many miles I would cover on even the longest time-based runs, I knew I couldn't take the plan as it read. No way those miles would be sufficient. So I emailed the author. He got back to me the next day and said at a minimum, he would assume a 10 minute mile to determine how far or long I should be running- which was a pretty big difference. I also agree that is a minimum. I'm guessing it could be anywhere from 7-10 minute miles.
As far as speedwork, I think I have to take those as they read. If it says a 1 minute interval, I will probably do a 1 minute interval. I have done so little speedwork that I don't think I can sustain maximum effort for 2x longer than someone else doing this program.
I counted back and realized I would have had to start my training the week after my my half marathon in order to do the full 15 weeks. I figured since I didn't seem to need very much recovery time, I could at the very least assume I had a decent base already and jump in a little late. I did my own running and started the program really in the second half of week 2.
I will say, I do a "group run" at my local running store. I have to use quotes because everyone there, literally everyone, is faster than me. I've accepted this and just used it as a way to get new routes and motivation. I'm not sure I can run 10 miles just on my own. But if someone gives me the route and I know everyone else is doing it that day, it somehow makes it easier.
And even though I'm the slowest person in that group, I still manage to have some amount of vanity because showing up for the first time, knowing I was going to run my Zone 2 pace, and even warm up in Zone 1, was hard to swallow. Zone 1 is 4-5 minutes slower than I would have started out at on any other long run. So if they thought I was slow before, LOOK AT ME NOW! Even better when we do an out and back, so they can see how far I HAVEN'T made it yet when they turn around. Oh well. I will just keep telling myself its worth it when I can turn around and have a big drop in my half marathon PR. Hopefully.
Since I am at a slower time at work right now, I'm also going to try and take the time to try and reign in my eating a little bit. We will see how it goes.
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