Depending on fitness, you may see results quickly. The key is to use the heart rate monitor and keep all you runs aerobic for at least 3 months.

I started running again about 12 weeks ago- I had pretty high fitness from mountain biking. In the last 6 weeks, my aerobic pace has increased from an average of about 9:25/mile to about 8:25/mile. In 12 weeks, its increased by over 2 minutes. I started at something like 10:15-10:30/mile. Ideally, I'd like to get it down to sub 8:00 pace or lower.

Good luck.

http://This message has been edited by adkblues (edited Nov-19-2007).

http://This message has been edited by adkblues (edited Nov-19-2007).

If you want information on the LHR method of base building, there's plenty of that here. Since you don't seem to be happy with it, I'll try to offer a different perspective.

The idea of base building is to run lots of miles. This generally is accomplished by running your miles easily. If you're running them too hard, you simply wouldn't be able to run many miles. If you're not increasing your mileage, you probably won't see any benefit. If you just do your normal mileage but at a slower pace, you will get slower. That should sound fairly intuitive. It's not necessary to obsess over heart rate. If you're new to running, or run infrequently, it might be very difficult to maintain a low heart rate. Don't worry about it. Run your miles at a pace easy enough that you could carry on a conversation. It's okay if your heart rate goes over your target, especially as you're first starting out. Over time, if you train consistently, your heart rate will become easier to control if you choose to use a HR method of training. Until then, just run at a pace that feels easy, and give yourself some lee-way on the HR. If you want to run/walk, you could read some of Jeff Galloway's writings. Personally, I wouldn't recommend it.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ATLrunner:
If you just do your normal mileage but at a slower pace, you will get slower. That should sound fairly intuitive.<HR>

It may sound intuitive, but it isn't necessarily true. I ran a 5 mile road race on Thanksgiving at a "PR" pace, i.e a faster pace than any race I've ever run, including several 5K. I haven't done 'speedwork' for as long as I can remember, and haven't run anywhere close to the pace I finished at for at least 12 months. The past month has been nothing but SLOW runs based on my heart rate, and a large majority of my running for the past 12 months has been relatively slow as well.

Again, just my $0.02.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ATLrunner:
I don't know, there are lots of reasons you might see that sort of a result. It would take a careful analysis of your training to determine the cause. Generally speaking however, if you slow down your training with all other variables held constant, you will slow down.<HR>

That's definitely the opposite of what I saw. If you're running your
training runs too fast, then slowing down can make you faster. It's
worked for many. I'm not sure how many marathons you've run, but
I did just that to get my marathon time down by about an hour
in not much over a year. It's all in where you are starting from and
there's no basis for what you said other than intuition, because it
does seem natural.

Just to take the other side, if you're running all of your runs at a
training pace, then slowing down, probably won't help much at all
and may or may not cause one to slow down. The problem is
that most people train too fast relative to their current fitness
levels.

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I have to agree with most of what ATLrunner has said here.

My take on base building is to as ATLrunner had said run at a pace in which you can still converse with someone else. Don't fall into oxygen debt.

I'm not a big fan in using heartrate data to determine whether someone is running too hard or too slow. There are so many variations on what heart rate is high for someone that might not be high for someone else. Great if you want to try to find your own range but to attempt to relate it to someone else can be hit or miss.

So back off a bit earlier in your runs and see if you'll last longer. Don't worry about pace and leave the heartrate monitor at home.