This year I decided to get a bit more scientific with all this triathlon training crap. Last year was the first year that I actually planned some workouts in advance and kept what you might even consider to be a workout journal. Now I have a real plan. It's from the Internet, so it's awesome.
Part of this training plan involves a lot more heart rate based training. I've had a heart rate monitor for a while and I had been wearing it. Problem is, up until now, I just kinda stared at the thing. It was a novelty--something to take my mind off the whistling noise my lungs make when I am gassed. Actually using the thing properly has been rough, and for the first month or so, I nearly stopped using it. I am teaching my body to do the same amount of work without letting my heart rate go through the roof. We're about half way through February and six weeks into my training plan, and I am finally starting to see some results. I have no idea whether this will mean jack during a race, but I am able to do a bit more with a lower heart rate than I could earlier. And that is what I think about when I am running like a chump to keep my hr down. At 60-65% of my maximum heart rate, I can bang out some screaming twelve minute miles. At 70%, I run world class nine to ten minute miles. I understand all that jive about training your body to use more fat than the sugars in your blood stream, but I am pretty sure I can eat a bowl of soup while running that freaking slow. At 75%, which is where I spend most of my time right now, I am finally getting my pace into the low eights. That's better, but I want at least another minute off of that. We'll see if that happens.
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