Numbers don't lie

Do the math, run your path.

One and a half years ago, just before the Oslo half marathon 2014, I took a fitness test to get my oxygen volume and lactate threshold values measured. It was an amazing experience, and it taught me so much about how our body works. I learned that my lactate threshold at that time was reached at heart rate 162, or at 11.4 km/h running flat. I was told that I could keep going at these values or below for a long time, but if I went above these values, I would most likely hit the lactate wall after about an hour. This did not fit my plans too well, because I really wanted to finish the half marathon in 1 hour and 50 minutes, which corresponds to an average speed of 11.5 km/h. Then I thought "So what? If I can do 11.4, then I can do 11.5 as well", and I went ahead and followed my own plan. It worked for 18 km, but then the last 3 km were so painful and slow that the overall time ended up being 1:55. If I had listened to the advice and kept 11.4 instead of 11.5, I would have finished in 1:52.

Of course, being quite inexperienced yet, I did several other mistakes as well. For example, at that time I did not really watch my heart rate. I did not wear a heart rate monitor, especially not during races. Nowadays I almost never train or race without a heart rate monitor.  I have been using the values I got from that first test ever since, but now I feel that it is soon time for a new test. First of all, I was injured and not running for so long that those values probably decreased a lot during that time. Now, however, I feel that I can run as fast as before, so it would really be good to see how the numbers match. On the other hand, for the first half marathon that is on my list this year (in Bergen in just three weeks!) I really want to go with the feeling and enjoy the race as much as I can. So perhaps I will wait with the test for a while still.

I think the biggest mistake one can make during a long race is to start out too fast. It is unfortunately the most common mistake as well, especially among new beginners. For the first half of a race, you feel so good, it feels like you can keep the speed going for the entire race, but when you reach the half, you already start getting exhausted, and then the end becomes really tough and painful. All experienced runners and on-line coaching sites advise negative split, which means that you run the first half of the race slower than the second half. For a new beginner, this is very counter-intuitive. It is so easy to think "Let me just get as far as I can as fast as I can while I have the energy, who knows what will happen in the end?" The problem is that the probability of something bad happening at the end increases a lot when you start out too fast. I have heard the advice that when you reach 2/3 of the distance, you should still have half of your energy and power left. Again, this is not so easy to measure for runners who are not yet that experienced, but I think it is safe to say that starting out not too fast is a good idea no matter what. If you know your threshold values, and you monitor your heart rate, it is easy to see how you are doing, and whether or not you are running too fast.

Also when training for a long race, most of us make the mistake of running too fast for too long during practice. Of course, running fast is good training, and it eventually decreases your heart rate for that speed. But it also wears out your body unnecessarily, and the effect can rather be achieved by shorter intervals. The biggest loss, though, when you always run fast is that you never get to run slow. Running slow, at heart rate zone 1, has countless benefits. It teaches your body to burn fat, and it initiates a tremendous flush of human growth hormone. It teaches your body eventually to run faster and faster at that low heart rate. It builds up your blood vessels, it strengthens your ligaments, joints and tendons, and it gives your brain the signal that long runs are not dangerous; in fact quite enjoyable. Such positive traces in your brain are said to be very important during a race, when things start getting tough.

The marathon season is here for full. Good luck everybody with your training and your races. And most importantly:

 Don't forget to have fun!!!