Weeks 8, 10 and 14 of 3h30 - Long runs maximum heart rate and pace

by Chris
(Malaysia)

Dear Marius,

In your 3h30 plan, the long runs are given more or less the same instruction, except for weeks 8, 10 and 14. The standard instruction is Effort 1 with a run/walk suggested percentage. In week 8, you insist on staying below 60% of maximum heart rate for the goal of fat metabolism, while running "as slow as possible". In week 10, you say "Do not push the pace. Stay below the heart rate throughout," and in week 14 it's "Be VERY careful with the pace - do NOT run too fast on the running part."

Two questions:
1. For week 10, when you say stay below the heart rate, do you mean below 60% (the low end of Effort 1, eg 114 with a 190 max), or below 72% (the high end of Effort 1, eg 137 with a 190 max)?

2. I assume that these "low or below Effort 1" suggestions apply to these three weeks only. Generally, I guess you'd recommend staying either in the Effort 1 heart rate band while running long runs(if running by heart rate, except perhaps hills where you'd allow some drift upwards for a short while) or perhaps running anything up to just below Effort 2 pace? My question is, do you imagine 3h30 Plan Effort 1 pace as anything up to 5m37 (E1 pace itself), or rather anything up to 5m19 (one second slower than Effort 2 pace)?

Thanks very much for the plan, I really enjoy the variety of runs, and am looking forward to putting them to use in a few weeks at Tokyo.

Best regards,
Chris."

Answer: Hi Chris and thanks for your question.

Now, the general idea for the easy runs (even the longest one) is to run it below 72 % of max heart rate. Sometimes that can even mean under 60 %, but this is not essential. The main point is to really respect the pace on these and you can almost not go too slow/controlled.

I would not worry about pace at all. To make it simple, just stay below 72 % (or right UP to Efort 2 pace, in terms of your questions 2 :) )as a general rule and you'll be all good !

all the best,
Marius