Running: What’s in a number?

Written by: Derick Williamson, CTS Expert Coach

While it’s still a good idea to just go out and run sometimes, running with a heart rate monitor is one of the best things you can do to improve your training and performance. With new products that are affordable and simple to use, runners of every level have found that implementing heart rate training in their programs can be the key to success. But what do all of these numbers really mean and how do you best utilize this data to enhance performance?

Heart rate monitors have been around for a while and there have been some significant advances in functionality and ease of use. Many new systems come with a plethora of options that can sometimes overwhelm a consumer; gadgets like predicted VO2 max and altitude can be useful side notes, but you should not feel like these are absolutely necessary for quality workouts. At a minimum, find a heart rate monitor that gives you current and average heart rate for your whole workout as well as individual intervals. If you really want to track your training and progression, look for a model that offers downloadable capabilities, like the Nike Triax Elite, so you can send heart rate files to your coach or use them for subsequent training analysis.

To begin to understand the numbers that your heart rate monitor spits out at you, you must first understand what those numbers encompass. The average US adult has a resting heart rate of about 70 beats per minute; with trained individuals, we can see resting heart rates as low as the mid-thirties. For our purposes we’ll consider the greatest heart rate variable to be training state, but we should also consider other significant variables that will influence your heart rate at both rest and exercise.

Factors such as stress, dehydration, food and sleep patterns can influence your heart rate, giving you heart rates that are higher than a given perceived exertion or running pace would normally indicate. Athletes who find themselves with heart rate readings that are chronically elevated should contact a coach or reevaluate their training and lifestyle habits. Those late nights, pub fare, and the additional stress that life throws your way will really sap your training and race aspirations. So, when the volume and intensity of your training go up, it’s increasingly important to prioritize and balance your daily schedule.

Runners are notorious for keeping track of their weekly volume and progression through the sum of their miles. When an exact course is not measured out, we often use estimates of average pace and time to determine mileage. Most often, I find runners using this method for their long, recovery and foundation runs and it often leads to the runs being harder than they should, which compromises recovery and diminishes the benefits of training. This is where the use of a heart rate monitor provides one of its greatest advantages: holding you back.

Many times runners are always going too hard, cheating themselves of what could be very beneficial active recovery. Using a heart rate monitor and basing your long runs and recovery runs on time, as opposed to distance, can really benefit both your fitness and speed. A runner who averages 167 beats per minute during an all out eight-minute effort on a flat course or track should aim to keep their heart rate between 137-159 beats per minute for their long aerobic efforts and recovery runs. By keeping these runs well below your max sustainable effort level, you can effectively train the appropriate (aerobic) energy system. This self-imposed restraint allows for better recovery from prior hard efforts, and makes you better prepared for subsequent sessions that will stress lactate threshold and VO2 systems.

Training long and slow will certainly increase your fitness level and give you a great foundation to begin to build your season on, but you will need to incorporate intervals into your training in order to stress your lactate threshold and VO2 systems for varying and progressive lengths of time. Over a period of weeks, slowly increase the total amount of time (via increased number or length of intervals) you spend near your maximum sustainable pace. Allow for 24 hours of recovery between these sessions. In these workouts, the same athlete that held a 167 beats-per-minute average for the eight-minute test should increase their heart rate training range to 161-170 beats per minute. Begin your early season runs at the lower end of the range and as your efficiency at this intensity increases, begin to hold a higher pace and higher heart rate for the given interval. As you add volume to these intervals, top out at no more than 115% of your goal race distance or goal race time for events up to 10 kilometers. For those that are racing longer events, such as the half and full marathon, use these runs as a way to maintain near race pace efforts while continuing to build your volume. Test yourself using the same eight-minute effort on the track every 6-8 weeks so that you can monitor your progress: compare the distance you covered in your first test to the distance covered during the most recent test, as well as the average heart rates. Ideally, you’ll see an increase in average heart, distance covered or both. Make appropriate to heart rate ranges as dictated by these follow up tests.

I have athletes do their interval work on measured courses or on the track, depending on their race or event. This way, you can physically and psychologically train yourself to hold certain speeds that are often faster than race pace. Over time, many of these athletes begin to key in on pace rather than heart rate, as they become more self-aware and able to judge their intensity. Even then, though, heart rate can still be important. Though you or your coach may be moving toward the use of pace for short, speed interval sessions, strap on your heart rate monitor and observe your hear rate recovery during your rest time between intervals. You should see your heart rate recover in a consistent pattern during the intervals. If you begin to notice that you are not recovering appropriately from interval to interval; and you’re having a difficult time maintaining your prescribed pace, it’s time to back off the work, cool-down and give yourself a few days of active recovery.

A persistent inability to raise your heart rate to usual levels during a workout, as well as atypical fatigue or significant changes in resting heart rate, could indicate an overreaching state. This can be the desired training effect, as long as it goes away after a few days of rest and active recovery. If this continues after the training block is over, regardless of taking sufficient recovery, talk to a coach and reevaluate your program so you don’t find yourself in an overtraining situation.

Using heart rate is a great way to dial in or step up your training, and it helps you make the most of your hard work by making sure you’re following the fundamental principles of training. When heart rate is used correctly with all the other variables in your training, it can truly help you train right and race better than ever.