"Speed" Session After 50K

I suppose what counts as a speed workout changes from person to person and varies within an overall running program context. I just finished a short speed workout based on heart rate (my SAP zone). After the Hobo 50K run on Sunday I wasn't sure if I was up to a speed session. But since it's based on heart rate instead of absolute pace, I thought I'd give it a go. If I was still recovering from the 50K, my heart rate would be fairly high and thus my pace would need to stay slower than normal. That's the value of HR based training. You never really push too hard...or too little based on the purpose of the run.

I ran my local Lake of the Woods 5-mile trail. After a 1-mile warm-up jog at "mostly aerobic pace" (MAP), I ran 2 miles at "speedy aerobic pace" (SAP heart rate zone of 143-163), then ended the run with 2 miles back in the MAP zone. The weather was really nice: cool & dry with no wind. The whole run felt easy and I didn't have any sense of being fatigued by the 50K race just 4 days ago. Perfect. So what were my paces and average heart rates?

Total 5-mile time: 45:03
1 mile @ 8:55 pace @ 121 Avg HR (MAP zone)
2 miles @ 7:58 pace @ 148 Avg HR (SAP zone)
2 miles @ 10:06 pace @ 129 Avg HR (MAP zone)
Recovery 2 minutes after run: 131=>100=31 beats
Feeling: 8/10

Not too bad considering this week is a recovery week. Those paces will eventually get faster at the same heart rates. I'm looking forward to a semi-long run of about 12 miles on Saturday morning. Those folks ahead of me in the Grand Slam standings best start training (that's you Gregory & Brian)...I'm gunning for you!

If you are still wondering what the heck MAP, MEP, or SAP heart rate zones are, check out my blog post regarding Phil Maffetone and Stu Mittleman training (July 17, 2008 post).