Fitter, Fatter, Slower or Just Tired?

kimmydct

I did a half mary yesterday which was a repeat of last year.  It went pretty well considering my current run training. (Lighter volume Nov-Feb.vs. LY w/ stronger bike focus) Kept the pace nice n steady and conservative and just got it done. I was about 7 mins slower than the same course last year but I'm not sure what factors are most likely the cause.  Here are the stats:


Last year: 2:25:xx, avg HR 163, full taper (did nothing else the week of the race except 10mi bike several days before)


This year: 2:32:xx, avg HR 151, no taper


5k vdot fairly close.


Not sure if it is just not pushing as hard?  Or am I just slower at longer distances vs. LY due to decreased run volume?  Or are my legs just tired?  (Bike volume Jan-April has doubled vs. LY)  Or a little bit of everything?  I am super pleased I can do a half mary at such a low heart rate (for me).  In general, running at any pace below 160 was impossible so I like that....  PS I'm roughly 8lbs heavier vs. LY.

Who knows but we had a beautiful day for it!  Any thoughts?  What could this mean for a HIM run?

Derrek Sanks

I don't think this is anything to worry about based on your prep this year vs LY. Being rested/tapered makes a difference; and the lighter volume this year is also a factor as well as the number of longs over 10 miles and whether you did consistent speed/tempo work. Also, in order to do a fair comparison, you would have to rate your level of effort or RPE the same for both races. Sounds like LY was more of an A race and this year was a C race? With a lower avg HR, I think as you ramp up your HIM training your run will be in a good place.

John Withrow

They say it's ~2-3s/mi per lb of body weight at the same effort level. I don't know about the exact numbers for every person, but speed is definitely correlated to weight.

So let's pretend that the 3 seconds per mile per lb thing is at least in the ballpark, then for ~8lbs, that's ~24s/mile. x 13.1 miles, that's 314 seconds. So... Just over 5 mins theoretically "could" be attributed to the extra lbs at the same effort level.

So you were basically 9s/mi slower this yr (weight adjusted) at ~12 bpm lower HR. You can read a couple of things into that. It sounds like you are actually in better cardiovascular shape, but you didn't treat this as an "A" race and were not tapered and didn't push nearly as hard.

If you said you had the same or similar HR, then I might buy the "slower at longer distances thing". But I don't actually buy that. I'd guess if you tapered and ran another 13.1 next weekend with the goal of nailing that 163 HR and let your pace fall where it may, you're match the PR or come close, and that's at a heavier weight.

Summary: Figure out what your goals are for this season. If it's to have fun with your fitness ans doing cool events, then you are right on target. If it's to PR at the Patriot Half (great race btw), then You probably need to address the body comp issues more directly in the coming months.