I was running the other day with a guy who runs at about a 6:15 pace. This is very fast for me and I can’t hold that past a mile or mile and a half tops, but I noticed even during that first mile or so, moments in it, for 5-12 seconds, even he slowed down a bit, ever so slightly to catch his breath. I say ‘catch’ his breath but this may not be the correct description because he wasn’t huffing or puffing. It might have been no longer than 5 seconds. Then he would pick his pace back up again for about 2-3 minutes. Same thing.
Do all of you fast runners do that? Surge?
How do you stick or confine yourself in running to a particular zone above VO2max?
I can easily run under 65% and keep my BPMs right on 65% or 70%. However, on tempo runs, I can’t stick in a particular zone above 85%. My MHR is 189. ON a temp run, I want to keep it slightly above or right at 162 BPMs for 40 minutes, Mine will go something like this: first mile, 168, second mile 171, third mile 181. After that point, or even after the second mile, using my HRM to gauge effort is simply unworkable. On the fourth, fifth mile and sixth mile, it will stay 178-181, although my pace has dropped significantly. I cannot get BPMs back down to 162-165. I have tried all kinds of ways of trying to make 80 percent stick all the way from front end to back end in the run, but for me, at least, once I get it above 85% it spirals upward, upward and although stops short of Max, does not get back down to 162. I guess my question is can you good runners “stick” at say, 85% AND STAY RIGHT ON 85%?
Do any of you swing your shin leg up to your butt conscoiusly during running or straighten your foot when it is coming up to the thigh? I video taped myself running and my swing leg shin is way low. in addition to that my foot angles out. Whenever I see fast runners run by me, if I look at their behind view, their heel lift is high and their feet are straight, up and down? Can that be fixed or is that genetic?
I am not a very fast runner so I can’t respond meaningfully to your questions but I can tell you this regarding #3, anything you have to do consciously during a race regarding running or cycling form will not last very long and will do you little good. The key is to work on form during training and to try to make good form unconscious. Running form can be fixed.
Yes, when doing intervals. Sometimes short, sometimes long. When doing tempo or LSD, no…I just run, but may add some quick intervals into the mix.
After years of HR training for running, I now go by perceived extertion and time for tempo and intervals. I only use my HRM for LSD, where it’s a bit more consistent. It’s more about pushing my time benchmarks than HR (for me).
Tempo/intervals - yes, because I want a long stride. My long run stride is about quick feet and usually shorter stride length.
No idea what your friend is doing. It may be some warm-up routine for him, since he only did it the first mile.
Sticking the 85% ON THE MONEY and holding it: no. Sustaining 85%, PLUS OR MINUS a few bpm? Sure – but it took a few years to get to that point. For a runner of your experience, 162 bpm for 40 minutes is a pretty solid effort, so you just might not be ready to hold that pace for that long — yet. It will come with time. Keep plugging away.
I did mention paying attention to your HRM a few weeks ago, but only as a guide. Pilots call what you’re doing “chasing the gauges” – trying to stick a certain HR. Too many factors will cause your HR to vary during the course of a run: even a small incline can raise your HR by 5 bpm. Non-running factors come into play, too: a hangover is worth about 10 bpm, a pot of coffee is about 5. Also, remember that your HR will lag your effort for a bit, so it is possible to “overshoot” your target HR. Go with RPE first, then use your HRM as a second point of reference. After a while, you’ll be able to run down the road and think “wow, this feels like a 156 pace”, and sure enough, that’s what your HRM says.
“Swinging the shin leg up to your butt” is another way of describing “long stride with good knee lift”. Some have it, some could but don’t, some (think Alberto Salazar) never will get it. There are other things going on with the runners you describe as well – from the way they push off of the balls of their feet to the way they drive with their elbows. Problem is, they aren’t thinking about it, and probably couldn’t describe it in words. Hill running – hard intervals up a very steep hill – is good for form. A few weeks of hills (twice a week or so) will go along ways towards curing inefficient form (excessive side-to-side motion, legs going in funny directions, head-bobbing). Plus it strengthens your legs, and it promotes that nice, flowing stride you are talking about. Mother Gravity is the most unforgiving of form coaches.
FWIW, just get out there and run. Don’t worry about what the guy next to you is doing.
Having used a HR monitor in the past, I have a good idea of what HR I’m at from my PE level. I do not use a HR monitor now, though.
My running background started in middle distance. 400m, 800m, 1600m. So I learned the form of high knee and good foot lift not from any conscious effort to get that form, but just as a byproduct of learning to run by running fast. It carried over to my distance running (though to be truthful, I’m not well suited to distances longer than 5K for running). I remember one fellow triathlete in college telling me he could tell it was me from behind by 1/2 mile just by my foot and knee lift.
I have studdied running under www.robsrun.org Rob (Guru) Higley who trained Greg Bennett and Simon Whitfield in the 90s and if you look at fast and technically efficient runners they look like they are kicking themselves in the arse. The reason behind this movement is due to there ability to work below and behind them in the running stride. I hear a lot of people say, wow look at his stride length! What they dont realise is there is no knee lift and the leg in front of the body is a catch and nothing else. If you concentrate on core stability, balance, alignment, flexibility and timing, you will start to be able to run fast with less effort than a lot of Triathletes who spend more time slogging themselves training to run distance, instead of concentrating on what matters most in running…technique. If you don`t believe me check out the link in the first sentence.
As for little surges in running at speed over distance. My experience of this is that there are short ups and downs that you go through running above threshold. Your form does get ugly if you let it and my view is to drop it a point on my perceived effort scale and go through a check list on form to ensure that I am not using muscles I shouldnt be. An example of this is too much tension in the chest, arms and shoulders. Next time your out running, look at all the people that run with tension in the upper body.
I am no expert in this subject and Rob has studied running for 25 years.