I tried it last year. It is a great way to build base mileage and avoid injury. It also can be frustrating. If your fitness needs improvement or you run in an area with hills you may end up walking as much as running to stay in the target zone. I ended up running primarily on flat rail-trails for just that reason. When I ended it after 12 weeks I felt fitter and was slower in the shorter 5k and 10k races. From what you describe of yourself why not continue to train at relaxed pace? Mix in occasional striders to vary the runs and build your distance that way. Running should be enjoyable and being a slave to the monitor was not fun for me.

------------------
My Running Log[/URL" target="_blank">
Me[/URL" target="_blank">

One aspect of it that I can comment on is the gaining speed and fitness while staying under specific HR ranges.

I went through a period where I was told by the Dr's I was not to exceed a certain heart rate. It started at 100. In a matter of weeks my speed while not exceeding 100 greatly improved. I was bumped to 110. Same thing. After a few weeks, I could stay at ander 110 and go a lot faster with seemingly less effort. It then went to 120 and then 140 and there were substantial personal improvements over time at each level.

There is much more to the training philosophy than that but like a lot of different key elements of the different training programs out there, there is typically something of merit in each one.

------------------
www.fatmantrying.com[/URL" target="_blank">

Yes I lost speed. I ran over 2,600 miles last year and for the most part was injury free. I think part of it had to do with running flat surface trails while training low heart rate and then racing courses with hills. I think the method is a great way to improve fitness. It did not work to make me faster. My Marathon times last year were 4:19 (April), 4:21 (September) and 4:25 (December). At the beginning of 2006 the McMillan calculator predicited faster Marathon times based on my 5k and 10k results. Instead of getting faster running longer distance by the end of 2006 I was running slower in the shorter distances. This year I am trying to vary the runs. I am working in tempo and recovery runs on a hilly course.