Heart Rate Training - a Simple Solution to a Faster Marathon

I’m a believer in heart rate training.  I first decided to go that route after reading about Pricilla Welsh, who at the age of 39 represented the U.K. in the first women’s marathon at Los Angeles in 1984.  While she did not win, she ran a remarkable race and became an inspiration to women athletes.  Being 50, I was interested to learn about her training methods.  They were simple.  She generally ran 3 hard days per week.  2 days at 80% HR (I use heart rate reserve calculations) and one day at 70% HR for 2 ½ hours.  The other day were recovery runs.  She says 10 weeks or this and your pace will improve substantially.

How well does this work?  At the time I had a recent 3:13 PR at St. George and would run a 20 miler at about 8:10/mile and a 13 miler closer to 8:00/mile.  Those times dropped to 7:35/mile and 7:02/mile, respectively.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for something to try that seems to work well particularly for older runners, this might be the ticket.  Give it about 5-6 weeks before you start seeing big improvements.

Last Thursday I began a new round of heart rate training.  I will let you know how it goes.  If you try it out, let me know how it goes for you.