[p_hilip]

Hi folks…I am not a new runner but I am relatively new to trying to improve endurance. For a long time I have felt that I do not run “properly” (meaning poor form) nor efficiently (meaning too much energy). Training for the Uphill Athlete has really helped me understand that I need to spend the summer building a much stronger base to improve my aerobic capacity (definitely have ADS). Thus, I am not just trying to plod along and increase mileage, pace, and cadence, I am aiming to spend time in zones 1 and 2 to improve my heart rate. However, I find that controlling my HR is difficult. On the treadmill I can find the right pace with a low heart rate (zones 1 & 2). Outside, my HR jumps into zones 3 a & 4 but I don’t feel like I am running too fast nor too aggressively. Maybe this is because I slurped down a morning coffee before setting out–I dont know. But I feel like if I am going any slower I may be walking to bring my HR down. Perhaps I need to swallow my pride and do walk/runs to stabilize the HR? Any advice on how to control HR would be very helpful for me. Thanks in advance!

Topic

[agunn]

agunn on July 18, 2019 at 10:17 am #25134

I’m in the same situation and based on what I’ve read in the book and in the forums it’s classic ADS. Sometimes I feel like I am running painfully slow and I often have to walk, but I’m hopeful it pays off in the end. It’s the worst when I’m running with a lot of other people around – I feel like I need a sign saying I’m doing aerobic threshold training.

[p_hilip]

p_hilip on July 18, 2019 at 11:29 pm #25138

Maybe I’ll create a shirt that says Aerobic Training in Progress

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on July 20, 2019 at 10:40 pm #25203

Walk/running is a great way to learn the intensity to train in, while also building your aerobic capacity. I refer to this period as the patience phase, as there’s no way around it if you want to build your aerobic base, but everyone I’ve coached sees improvement. I recommend retesting on the same route every 4-6 weeks so you can track incremental progress. While 11 min/mile pace might still be slower than you want, if you started at 13 min/mile, that’s a huge improvement in your aerobic capacity. Efficiency will come, and the more time you can spend at aerobic threshold, the quicker you’ll see results. While caffeine can spike your heart rate, that still illustrates the need to go easy enough so that you don’t go too hard. All this is to say, stick with it, and know that you’re not alone!

[p_hilip]

p_hilip on July 21, 2019 at 1:33 pm #25206

Thanks. I had an excellent run yesterday keeping my heart rate in check (zones 1 and 2). I spent time breathing through only my nose too as a way to better understand the aerobic threshold. I can definitely feel my slow twitch muscles working. It may be slow but as the heat of summer is setting in, I’m fine with these slower workouts.