This is a great video Will. I have been there and know what you mean. I am in the sub 3 hour plan right now and taking it easy for the first 6 weeks and looking to smash the last 10 weeks! thanks for all you do
I LOVE this video. You see it time and time again. Has happened to me too. I wanted to run sub 3 and tried to train to that level. Ended up getting injured... Then I took a slower approach. build a good aerobic base and then trained to just maximise the outcome. Later in my block I did start training towards 3 h but closely analysed my data to see if it was realistic and was constantly monitoring for sign of overtraining.
Great video, I’ve been looking to get away from time specific plans but didn’t know how else to train. This way is analogous to how I strength train - working off a current 1RM rather than picking an arbitrary future weight.
Dr Will, thanks for this, it makes sooo much sense. As a result of your videos, I am changing my approach to training and running races. Setting PR’s is something I think most runners are interested in but my aim is now to set realistic time goals. One question: Garmin does give estimated times to finish. In your experience are these estimates reasonably accurate? Thanks
Haha, yeah I totally agree almost everything. The part that is a stretch for me, is the person running the race like a chicken with their head cut off just because they used a goal pace plan. I mean they should still take care of nutrition and hydration and everything even though they used the plan and fell off target.
Some great content on this channel, will for sure check out one of your plans when I get closer to my goal race! One question tho - What is the best way to input my HR zones in my garmin since it only has 5 zones compared to the 7 you use. Perhaps you've mentioned it in a previous video and I somehow missed it.
Thanks mate. I know I’ve written about how to input you HR into Garmin but I can’t find it. The main zone you want to make sure you have correct is zone 2. Within Garmin connect you can change the % of threshold for each zone.
Hey Will. Love the content. When you speak about the target heart rate zones within the specific race distance, is that the average heart rate for a given time period (such as the first hour of a marathon being under 170 bpm, like you mentioned in your Auckland marathon recap) or should I aim for my HR to never exceed the max BPM for that zone? I’m training for a 2hour 55 marathon at the moment and have a threshold HR of 174. Using your calculator, my zone 3 is 154 - 165, which seems to low for a marathon?
Hey Blake, aim for your HR not to exceed the top of zone 3 for the first hour (at least). If your threshold is 174 bpm, I would say your zone 3 sounds right. It's easy enough to test during training. Run 60min (or a half marathon) at goal marathon pace, and see what happens to your HR and how you feel. You should be able to reach a steady state for the first hour of a marathon. i.e. a stable HR. If you're HR increases from 30min onwards, then you're not at a steady state, and you'll blow up before the end of a marathon. You can do a follow-up test (a week later) by running 60min without your HR going over 165 bpm. Start at 154 bpm, and allow cardiac drift to increase your HR up to 165 bpm as you fatigue. Compare your pace and feelings between the two 60 min tests.
Not sure youll get this as its a 3 wk old video but why is a threshold test last 20 min of a 30 min effort? Isnt lactate threshold supposed to be a pace you could hold for an hour? Are you talking about another threshold here?
Hey Thomas, I’m ignoring the first 10min because it takes at least 5min for you to reach a steady state. That’s not such a big deal for power or pace, but matters a lot for HR. 60min is one of those general reference points for lactate threshold. In reality I could be 45min for one person and over an hour for another. If you rolled off the couch there’s no way you’d hold threshold pace/power for an hour, but if you did 12 weeks of 10km training, then you’d be pretty efficient at buffering lactate, so you might be able to hold your threshold a bit longer than an hour.
Hey Will, thanks for the reply! Makes sense :) so for someone that's been training for a while it would still be between 10k and half marathon pace :) keep up the good work, love the more scientific approach you bring :)
This is a great video Will. I have been there and know what you mean. I am in the sub 3 hour plan right now and taking it easy for the first 6 weeks and looking to smash the last 10 weeks! thanks for all you do
Nice! Excited to see how you get on.
I LOVE this video. You see it time and time again. Has happened to me too. I wanted to run sub 3 and tried to train to that level. Ended up getting injured...
Then I took a slower approach. build a good aerobic base and then trained to just maximise the outcome. Later in my block I did start training towards 3 h but closely analysed my data to see if it was realistic and was constantly monitoring for sign of overtraining.
Nice work! Time goals are still important for motivation, but letting go of the time fixation is the big one.
Great video, I’ve been looking to get away from time specific plans but didn’t know how else to train. This way is analogous to how I strength train - working off a current 1RM rather than picking an arbitrary future weight.
Yep, it's the same concept as % of 1RM. Using your current level to dictate your training. Let me know how you get on.
I knew I was ready to follow a sub 3:00 plan when I ran 1:22 half. Ended up with 2:59
Dr Will, thanks for this, it makes sooo much sense. As a result of your videos, I am changing my approach to training and running races. Setting PR’s is something I think most runners are interested in but my aim is now to set realistic time goals. One question: Garmin does give estimated times to finish. In your experience are these estimates reasonably accurate? Thanks
Based on. Anecdotal feedback on the Garmin predictors, they’re hardly ever correct.
Haha, yeah I totally agree almost everything. The part that is a stretch for me, is the person running the race like a chicken with their head cut off just because they used a goal pace plan. I mean they should still take care of nutrition and hydration and everything even though they used the plan and fell off target.
Some great content on this channel, will for sure check out one of your plans when I get closer to my goal race!
One question tho - What is the best way to input my HR zones in my garmin since it only has 5 zones compared to the 7 you use. Perhaps you've mentioned it in a previous video and I somehow missed it.
Thanks mate. I know I’ve written about how to input you HR into Garmin but I can’t find it. The main zone you want to make sure you have correct is zone 2. Within Garmin connect you can change the % of threshold for each zone.
Hey Will. Love the content. When you speak about the target heart rate zones within the specific race distance, is that the average heart rate for a given time period (such as the first hour of a marathon being under 170 bpm, like you mentioned in your Auckland marathon recap) or should I aim for my HR to never exceed the max BPM for that zone? I’m training for a 2hour 55 marathon at the moment and have a threshold HR of 174. Using your calculator, my zone 3 is 154 - 165, which seems to low for a marathon?
Hey Blake, aim for your HR not to exceed the top of zone 3 for the first hour (at least). If your threshold is 174 bpm, I would say your zone 3 sounds right. It's easy enough to test during training. Run 60min (or a half marathon) at goal marathon pace, and see what happens to your HR and how you feel. You should be able to reach a steady state for the first hour of a marathon. i.e. a stable HR. If you're HR increases from 30min onwards, then you're not at a steady state, and you'll blow up before the end of a marathon. You can do a follow-up test (a week later) by running 60min without your HR going over 165 bpm. Start at 154 bpm, and allow cardiac drift to increase your HR up to 165 bpm as you fatigue. Compare your pace and feelings between the two 60 min tests.
Thanks mate. Very helpful!
Not sure youll get this as its a 3 wk old video but why is a threshold test last 20 min of a 30 min effort? Isnt lactate threshold supposed to be a pace you could hold for an hour? Are you talking about another threshold here?
Hey Thomas, I’m ignoring the first 10min because it takes at least 5min for you to reach a steady state. That’s not such a big deal for power or pace, but matters a lot for HR. 60min is one of those general reference points for lactate threshold. In reality I could be 45min for one person and over an hour for another. If you rolled off the couch there’s no way you’d hold threshold pace/power for an hour, but if you did 12 weeks of 10km training, then you’d be pretty efficient at buffering lactate, so you might be able to hold your threshold a bit longer than an hour.
Hey Will, thanks for the reply! Makes sense :) so for someone that's been training for a while it would still be between 10k and half marathon pace :) keep up the good work, love the more scientific approach you bring :)