Base Training

1385386387389391

Comments

  • Thanks No84, I'm just hoping I don't go back to struggling again tmrw, time will tell.

    Welcome to the fold S88, hope the injury isn't too bad and you're able to join us soon.

    LL, there are a number of ways you can find your max.  You can find a hill of 100-200 m and run up it 4 or 5 times.  After each rep jog down slowly and increase the effort on the next run up until you go flat out on your last rep.  Another way would be to run a hard 800m rest for a short while and then do a flat out 400m, the number you see after your last rep will be pretty close to your max.  You might want hubby with you in case you collapse in a pile, or if their is a malfunction with the hrm he can take your hr manually image 

    I started this training before I got my hrm and I was just trying to run nice and easy.  When I got my hrm I realised that my nice easy runs had been run at about 82% or so.  Just try and keep the runs really easy, conversation pace.  When you are done you shouldn't be out of breath at all.  Obviously the better shape you're in, the better your pace will be, but I don't think i've read of anyone who hasn't had to slow down considerably for this appoach to training. 

    As far as hrm go, If you don't need/want a hrm with all the bells and whistles then you can get some very basic models pretty cheap(£20ish but no idea about the quality.)  I got a garmin fr50, which I've been really happy with, for £44, and it does everything I need, plus it auto downloads the info straight to your computer when you get within a few metres of your computer.  There is an optional foot pod that you can get with it that will tell you distance and pace but that's an extra £60, well out of my price range at this moment in time.  You can have a look at heartratemonitor.co.uk if you want to look at diff models and prices.  I'm sure there are plenty of other places, but it's worth having a look there cos I think they have pretty decent prices and you can at least get an idea of price ranges,etc.  Hope santa doesn't forget you image

    Happy basing to all.

  • Hi Base Trainer, You're so kind with all your advise. (Sorry if I didn'y reply more quickly but I have quite a limited access to the family PC at the moment...)

    I have a good hill near home and I shall experiment on finding out my MHR. I should be good fun. (I see if husband could strip himself off his PC for a little while and help me with that).

    Otherwise I was starting to plan my training for next week and from what I gathered from the previous postings, I am planning on running for 40 mins at easy pace for the next 5 days.

    I have mapped my route on Fetch so that I know where I'm going. This will take the stress out of the work out!

    Also, I am going to join the gym because I used to practice and seriously enjoy Pilates. It's really good for the core muscles, which at the moment need a good work out!

    Did you go out today? How is the wheather near you? It's torrential here! (Herts)

  • Hi LL, happy to be of any help.  Enjoy you're max test, a lot of people hate the idea, but I find a peverse sense of enjoyment in the odd bit of self torture.

     The plan sounds good, just run less or take a day off if you feel like you need it.  I'm probably not the best person to ask about upping mileage, as i went from 0 - 40/50km in under a month. When I started running to time instead of distance, I just set my alarm to go off after 20 mins and then turned around and ran back. 

    It was raining all day yesterday and i'm not quite that dedicated so I didn't go out.  Today was dry and about 8 degrees so I made it out, but only had time for 40 mins, the pace seems to be improving and I seem to be able to keep my hr down with much less effort.  I noticed that the UK is being hit with some bad weather, hope it improves soon.

  • Done the test!!! Bloomin' eck, that was hard! How can you like that?!?!?

    I enrolled the whole family, my husband and my 3 boys. My older one (9 years old) ran to the meeting point where we met my husband and my other 2 (6 and 4). Hubby at top of hill readu to start the stopwatch to count my hr, one boy at bottom and the other 2, well, we had to throw a rescue party afterwards as they went for a little walk in the wood... LOL

    It was b** hard but I think I hit as close to MHR as I could. I ran 5 X about 100 minutes at 43secs each.

    My hr was 198 at the end. So here I am prepared and ready for building up my base training!

    Marathon! Here I come!!

  • Congrats on the test, admit it, you enjoyed it really image

    I realised that you mentioned earlier about your husband having a hr monitor, could you borrow his until you get your own?  Based on your max, I would say try and keep your hr between 140 and 150 until you are running an hour a day.

    When is your marathon?

  • And remember, LL - you need to do the test every week image
  • Ha, that would be enjoyable image Maybe I should try it.

    Well I finally got through the whole thread, took me long enough.  Now it's time to concentrate on the running, which seems to be improving, as i'm finding it easier to keep to a low hr.

  • Base trainer, I have a FR50 and have set the HR zones 130-140 .This is the first time i have used this function. Zone alarms set for ON but no alarms going off when im outside the zone.

    Any clues?

  • Have you got ZO HRM set to on?

    M.

  • Like No said make sure you have zones on, zo alarm on, and zo hrm on.  If those 3 are all on it should work. 

    Time for a quick run before our xmas party image should read "slow" run reallyimage

  • Thanks for the replies. Yes all 3 set ON. ZONE run OFF. All that is happening is little arrow on corner pointing up or down. If i go + or - set rates should the alarm go off continuously until within zones ?This morning was 1st attempt at using this function.Very annoying, i did the whole run looking at my watch.

    Is the alarm loud?

  • Also should  CHIMES be on?

    Ta

  • Well quick run of 43 mins was done as a work session, 166 av hr, so around 83% of max.  Certainly feels a bit different to my usual runs, but nice to have a slightly faster sessionimage About ten mins quicker than same route done at av hr of 151, now when i can do the same route ten mins quicker at the same hr i'll be happy. Todays ten mins quicker means ten mins more drinkingimage 

    Happy basing all.  Hope you get the hr alarm working M.

  • When i go into training mode i get units, zones, zo alarm, zo hrm, then the low and high, then some other stuff.  With those 3 after the units thing set to 'on' it works for me.  It isn't loud but you can certainly hear it if you aren't on a busy road or something.  Don't remember where the chime thing is, but you can always try it.  If it still isn't working get in touch with who ever you bought it from.  I'm not using the zone alarm at the moment cos i run with my mp3 and it means running with one ear free, so I have to look at the watch all the time, but i'm getting better at keeping in the zone.  But i'd certainly change it if it didn't work at all.

  • Just tried mine whilst sitting down and it should beep every 5 seconds or so
  • Does anyone know if there is a refresh button somewhere on this site?  Or is it meant to auto refresh?

    Is it working?

  • Do you mean auto refresh so whenever a post comes the page loads the message up?  How about pressing F5 which will refresh your browser?
  • Thanks No, I had to jump to the previous 20 and then come back to see your post.  I'll try the F5 button.  Computer literate, who me. Don't make me laugh.
  • By the way No, how's the running going?  Is the cat safe?  What is your weekly schedule like?
  • The running is going fine, ta.  I'm sort of sick at going so slow (7km/h - really?  I can pogo faster than that!).  I want to keep it going but I'm cheating - I am putting together a schedule that has a faster session per week.  I know it's not really in the spirit of things but hey ho.

     M.

  • Nothing wrong with throwing in a work session or two, depending how many hours you're running a week.  I know Hadd advocates it in his article.  Have you read it?  Have you done a Hadd test?  Lots of fun.
  • No, I've not done a Hadd test - do you have a link handy?  And as to hours running...I'm getting better!  image
  • I'm no good at links but if you type 'Hadd article' into google, you should find it pretty much at the top of the page, tricoachjill or something has a copy.  It's a long article but well worth reading.
  • Gone a bit quiet on here.  Just got back from a 10km run.  Don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but my splits got progressively faster today. My hr was pretty even during the middle 6k, 149 for the first 2 and then148 for the next 4, but i ran each 2k split 30 secs faster than the last.  Any theories?  Shouldn't they slow down a bit, or at best stay the same?  Not complaining, obviously, but seems a bit weird.
  • Hi basetrainer I think the fitter you get your HR will become more stable and you will have to speed up to keep the heartrate up thats my theory any way Im no expert stick with the HR it really works slowing down. Im now 5wks in and now starting to see the benifits off slowing down and increasing my mileage. I ran a 10k on saturday and got a PB 50 mins not bad considering Ive been running 11+ min miles these last 5 weeks so Im a happy bunny.
  • Congrats on the PB, I bet you're chuffed about that. image I'm starting to notice some improvements so I'm happy to be patient.  It helps that I only started running to get into shape and therefore don't really have any preconceived notions of what I should be doing. I'm still going slower than everyone else out there, but as i've managed to knock ten mins off my ten km loop in three weeks, i'm pretty happy. 

    Anyone got any thoughts on stiff knees?  Not really a big problem but I do sometimes feel like my knees get stiffer towards the end of a run, like they need to be stretched out, but not sure if there are any knee stretches.  Maybe i've just inherited my mom's dodgy knees and at some point they'll say 'that's enough'.

  • Just surfing the web and I came across a better description of my knee thing.  Someone described it as 'movie theatre' syndrome or something.  You know that feeling you get in your knees when you spend too long sitting in one position with your knees bent.  Anyone else suffer from this, now and again?  Now that I think about it as bent knee syndrome, I'm thinking it's probably just one of those things you can't do anyting about. 
  • Don't know much about knees I'm afraid - at the moment, I probably don't run far enough or hard enough to injure myself and am hoping I can deep it that way.  I posted on this thread about 6wks / 2 months ago when I started to 'base train' and have been plodding on ever since.  I am noticing a very slight upward movement of my speed for a given HR range (I think I need to re examine my max HR, but maybe next week!).  What I have picked up in the posts since mine (and I have read them all) is that I'm probably not running long enough or frequently enough to reap the benefits fully.  I am currently managing to get out 3 or 4 times a week and get in 2 30-40 minute runs and 2 longer runs (up to 90 mins but at least an hour).  However, the benefits I'm seeing are mainly around being able to run for longer - up until I started this, I'd never run for any more than an hour and now I feel like I can plod away for ever (well almost - I have managed 2 and 3/4 hours for the Seagrave Wolds Challenge).  So, I shall carry on shunning speed work etc until the new year and am hoping to have built up some kind of base to 'spring' into action and get my first HM under my belt in March.
  • Congrats on your SWC, I've never managed more than 90mins on my feet so i think it'll be a while before i manage anything like that.image I agree that base training certainly makes cranking out the miles easier.  I also think you're right about improvements coming quicker the more hours you can put in.  I think you can certainly see decent results from 5 hrs a week, and i'm sure you can get away with less, but I think at the end of the day, the more you put in the more you get out.

     It's quite a novelty coming from a run and not having to spend the next half an hour trying to control your breathing.  If i'd known that was possible I might have taken up running years ago.image  The best thing about being a newbie is that improvements come so quickly.  Although i'm still travelling at snail pace i have managed to improve my pace from 9min k's to 8min k's in 3 weeks.  I've tried to keep my hr at 150 or less for all my runs (max 200) except for two work sessions done at 165 (and the last 3k of one run where i went mad).  It's more of a shuffle than a run, but who cares.

    Anyway, keep on keeping on, I'm sure your aerobic base will continue to improve, and your hm will be a breeze image

Sign In or Register to comment.