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Base Training Progress
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How are people progressing with base training ?
I have been base training for 9 weeks now, I am running every weekday, 45 - 60 mins each day. My times have not improved - i am at unbelievable 15.5 min mile, but I can now get up all my hills without going above my 147bpm limit -
Has anyone else had any better results or is this common ?
I have been base training for 9 weeks now, I am running every weekday, 45 - 60 mins each day. My times have not improved - i am at unbelievable 15.5 min mile, but I can now get up all my hills without going above my 147bpm limit -
Has anyone else had any better results or is this common ?
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But here's my tuppence worth:
Started base training 4 weeks ago. At first it was INCREDIBLY frustrating as I had merely to set foot on a moderate incline before my heart rate went through the stratosphere. I have been running 5 times per week (distances of between 3 and 6 miles during the week, and long runs of 10, 11, 12 and 13 miles on Sundays) and at the outset was recording 10:40+ minutes per mile. Bear in mind that I ran a 1:51 half marathon in September (8:29 pace) and you will understand why this felt frustratingly slow to me.
Four weeks on, I have managed to get the pace down to 9:50-10:00 minute miles on all my routes (most of which include a few fairly big hills) and like you, I can now get up all my hills without exceeding my 149 bpm ceiling and without walking. So I guess it's progress although it feels very slow!
Although your times have not improved, your fitness definitely has - demonstrated by your ability to manage all your hills within your HR limit. Unfortunately the key ingredient in base training is patience and results are by no means instantaneous.
I guess how quickly you will see progress is in part determined by what stage you were at when you started base training. Were you a new runner without much previous fitness? If so you may find it takes longer to see results.
The other question I'd ask is whether you've calculated your heart rate ranges correctly. You need to know both your maximum and resting heart rates to do this properly. Subtract your resting HR from your maximum HR to find your working heart rate - training percentages (ie no higher than 70% WHR for base training) are based on the WHR rather than either of the other two figures. To calculate 70%, multiply your WHR figure by 0.7. Then (and this is the important bit) add on your resting HR to give you your 70% HR limit for base training.
I have been running for over ten years, but had always adopted the policy of get out the door and run at my max effort - doh!!
I am going to stick at it for 6 months and see what happens.
The important thing is that you are in about the right zone or are getting there.
The slow speed MAY indicate that you could go higher - what HR were you running at before?
Read the Hadd articles (link on base thread) and do the Hadd Test to see where you are at.
But no matter how slow, those miles count. You will only be stronger for your work in the long run, IMHO.
I started BT on October 15th after a lay off due to an achilles strain in the Windsor 1/2M. Prior to this I mixed running with other CV work, so I was generally fit at the start of BT.
My Max HR is 198 and my 70% of WHR figure is 152. However, I gave BT a go at ~145 but have not been too concerned if the rate has drifted up to ~150.
I ran a 10 mile race in the first week of BT and did so at 7m 45s pace and an avge HR of 147, so I feel that was a pretty good baseline test.
In the last week I've started to consistently run at or under 7m 30s pace for an avge HR of ~145 bpm.
So, I am happy with BT and will continue doing BT at least up until Xmas. I am lucky in the fact that probably due to my initial CV fitness I was able to start out at under 8m/mile pace and therefore have not had the slow-running frustrations that some have. Also I live in west London, not renowned for its hills.
My only problem has been one of upping the weekly mileage too quickly thinking that as it was all at an easy pace it wouldn't matter. It does, I didn't get any specific injuries, it's just that my knees and hip joints felt battered. So, I eased back a little.
So, it'll be a steady increase in mileage for me from now on.
Don't know whether I'll ever acheive it, but I'm keen to see my mile pace go under 7 min @ ~145 bpm.
Hope this helps.
Anyhow i started base training the following week, so i calculate this is my 7th week, my doesn't time fly by when you're ...
Although i am slower than i was at the race (for obvious reasons)Yesterday i did a test keeping HR under 150 ran a measured 4 mile course in 43:25 and i'll use this to measure my progress in further weeks.
You see runs i have done while base training haven't been entirely all on the roads so it was hard to know exactly how far i've gone so thus didn't know my mile pace, but i can say this i have started to run further in the same time at the same HR so i must be getting faster, if only slightly.
I like this idea of a thread rather thanlooking thru the whole lot of the main thread its so big and here we can see peoples progress at a glance.
Finally my mileage has gone up and have broken the 20 mpw barrier something i've never done before, but it has seemed relatively easy.
She sound like me
I THINK Im getting faster
I ran HM distance at end of Sept. in 1:45.
Base Training started in Oct where 10.4 km would take 67mins. ie Quite slow.
However perserverance & patience is reqd, and by beginning Nov. I was down to 60mins for same distance at 70%WHR. The low HR forces a low speed so less injury (initially sore knees and hips) therefore I could run 6 days a week ie 40+ mile/week.
I've noticed that everytime I tire/spoil my form (ie stiffer upper body, irregular breathing, bad running posture, changing cadence, stride length etc etc) the HR goes up. So does the simpleness of BT 'condition' you mentally to run efficiently (apart from all the internal improvements), I wonder?
PS I've changed my running style so I'm sort of back to square 1.
Crocked early june with achilles problem and did cycling/gym Cv etc until end August. Since when I've been following a 70%whr regime (age 44, max HR 191 / RHR 51) target avg HR = 149 for controlled runs.
at end August I was about 9.30m/mile for 70%whr
mid sept I did a 10k @ 7.18/mile @ 172 avg HR
now I am just over 8:30/mile for 70% whr
I did a 10k last w/e @ 6:44/mile @ 178 avg HR
My milage has risen from<20 / week to over 30 (aiming for about 38 this week)
I conclude that I am lifting my lactate threshold but slowly. Aim to continue through Feb/Mar when I aim to tackle a couple of HM's and would hope to move from 7:40 pace to 7:15 or better.
I'll be doing another set of Hadd 2400m tests next week, but at the last one in September I was pretty much in line with Chip and running 7:30 pace for a 145-150 HR. Looking forward to what the test shows as since then I have simply been running 4 1hr runs per week over a variety of unmeasured courses.
Unsure whether to increase the mileage by
1) extending one session to 90 minutes or
2) add another hour session
I'd welcome any advice/comments on which way you'd go and why.
I can't see any long distance runs so I would extend one session from 60 to 90 mins and reduce the other sessions by 10 mins each. You're still running the same amount of time per week.
If you are recovering from sore calfs on non-run days then start running short very easy (10mins) runs on these days - you are then running everyday but keep one day for total rest and recreation. Else increase the current three 60 mins sessions by 10 mins.
Slowly build-up the time-on-feet on the weekday runs ie 10% increase per week. Every few weeks (say 4th week) repeat the above process: load up the long session and reduce the others so that weekly time-on-feet remains the same). And then just chart your progress.
See the Pose thread on how I got my HR to come down - am interested in your opinion.
The mandatory requirement is to stay injury free.
Hope this helps.
I am not 100% applying BT. Until the end of the December I simply take it easy and don't do any races. When I run I try to go out a bit longer usually 80 minutes to make sure I managed 40-50 minutes in my aerobic HR zone (145-155). In addition, the cold weather increases your HR a bit and makes you work harder.
At my level (1:18 HM) the HR is only one dimension to look at. Apparently you would have to include a speed session once a week if you want to improve your oxygen uptake (VO2Max). However, I only would start doing this if you can run under 8 min/mile. Another dimension is lactate threshold, which you can improve with tempo runs. Finally, reducing weight can be very benefical.
tready base training
76 mins , between 7.5 and even 8 kph
hr below 153
Im doing it at last
Outside 10 -11 mph
maybe its the regular running that helps
but ultra looms
so i'm pretty pleased about that.
Hopefully its a start to getting slightly quicker.
Btw is it legal don't want to get banned or anything!
Good stuff!