Is there value in running at low heart rates?

I sat in the Boulder High School auditorium waiting for one the legends to take the stage. The legend was Arthur Lydiard, one of the greatest running coaches of all time. I was excited to hear directly from him on his approach to aerobic training. Specifically, how did he communicate the value of long slow distance runs. This type of base training program is now well understood, however not always implemented well.

It is also not without contraversy among internet forums.

Lydiard was quite elderly at the time, had a New Zealand accent and recently had a stroke. In fact, it was during this lecture tour in 2004 that he passed. All that to say, it was difficult to understand the lessons. However, I remember one point he made very clear:

“Americans train too hard all the time.”

Remember, this was 2004 and American distance running was at an all-time low.

I share this story because I see this same problem within many runner’s programs today. They want to work on pace and speed. They include a lot of intervals and tempo, but they neglect the highly valuable aerobic development work.

As I review my own training methods for Savannah, I would have to accept that developing a high end aerobic base was part of what was missing. It is also why I’m committed to taking a longer time to develop that base this winter.

Developing a base doesn’t mean we only include slow and low effort runs. However the bulk of the running volume should be of that nature. Running any of the distances we race is an overwhelmingly aerobic sport.

What does this mean in practical terms? Here are a few ideas:

  1. Go back to last week’s message. The baseline goal is to focus on freqency first.

  2. There’s value in using Heart Rate to govern some of your runs. I like to use a set HR Max for these runs because it forces a runner to remain aerobic and aware.

  3. How do we set this ‘max’? There are ways to test and set these markers, however I’ve found as a runner and coach, it’s best to keep it simple. I often use three methods, depending on the runner’s mindset and approach:

… * Max HR x 75%, it’s a ballpark estimate that works for the majority of people.

… * Maffetone method: 180 - age (he uses some other variables too, but this gets us started)

… * I set a HR that is lower than a runner’s current average HR, knowing they are unlikely to use method A or B because it will require more walking than running until they’ve developed a better aerobic base.

Many of you will see these type of workouts in your programs. At this point, everyone on the team can benefit from a deeper aerobic base. You’ll also see some things like strides, fartleks, steady state and even some shorter tempo efforts.

This week I returned to using the HR Monitor for every run. I set a peak HR of 150bpm (moving this to 140bpm this week) as my goal and humbly found myself walking frequently. To be truthful, on one hill, I gave up and decided to get to the top and then walked to recover.

Appropriately doing some base training requires patience and humility. The reality is that aerobic development takes time. The great news for us as we prepare for races, the response to high intensity efforts and the physiological benefits from them can happen quickly.