More noob help please? (Read 107 times)


    Hi all, I got bit by the running bug last year and became a poster child for too much too soon. I suffered from a IT band problem for months. Then I discovered that if I ran "fast", I didn't irritate it. So I strained my Achilles shortly after. I'm just now able to run slowly, comfortably for up to 6 miles at a time a couple times a week, and 3-4 miles on the other days. I wanted to get a couple of bench marks to gauge my progress so last week I ran 4 miles at a track, a mile at a time with a lap walked in between. Each mile was ran at a different heart rate, starting at 140, increasing by 10 bpm per mile. My times were as follows, 1-12:20  2-10:50  3-9:45  4-8:40. I have been trying to run "maf" style in an effort to not hurt myself again. My question is, does having run the second mile a minute and a half faster than the first one compared to only a minute less on the following ones mean anything as far as how I should paced myself on my everyday runs? It absolutely kills me to run that slow all the time.

    Btw, I am a 42 yr. old man, I have never tried to get a max heart rate but have seen it as high as 195 on the monitor before I knew better.

      That type of training is a cutback. Scaling back the pace every mile or two. I like them and think they are healthy  In my opinion, it is better to get a faster but safe workout rather than pounding mile after mile with a recovering injury.   Another tip, at least while you are recovering, is to change directions on the track every couple miles as running too many laps in one direction can put stress on certain areas and not on others.  Just sayin :P

        5k  = 19.48 10/1/13

      10k  = 45.28 4/16/13

      Half Marathon = 1:37.16 9/08/13

      Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/12  4:39.11


      Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/13 3:40.34


        That's the first time on a track in months, I usually run on roads, the ones in my area are all gentle hills with a few flat areas. The slower miles irritate my Achilles much less than at a faster pace. I hope I don't ask too many silly questions. Not that I ever was really fast, in high school I could do a 24+ second 200 though, remembering that makes it really hard to adhere to low heart rate training to build a base and hopefully continue to recover. My end goal for this year is to complete a marathon, hopefully faster than a 12 mile/minute pace. As I get older my time is getting more valuable, especially for athletic interests. I don't want to waste any more time injured, and train as efficiently as possible.