Slow Mo Fo

It's 3:50 A.M. and Lori is getting ready for me to take her to the airport. She's going to be in Arizona for a week. And I'll be here wearing a loin cloth and grunting, howling at the moon with the dogs.

Yesterday I used my heart rate monitor and did a 3 mile jog only jogging in my aerobic zone. For me, this zone is about 150-164 BPM. This zone is your base zone, and for me, for now is an incredibly slow pace. Possibly even slower than walking. All my training so far has been in the higher anaerobic zone, which explains why I get tired so quickly. I never built up my base. So, for now, I run slow. It seems counter-intuitive, but in the long run, it will pay off. In a couple of weeks, this same heart rate zone will be at a higher pace as I get more fit, as my endurance improves. This will allow me to run farther distances.

Read about it:
HERE - Heart Rate Zones Explained
HERE - Train Smart This Winter: Base Training Basics
and HERE - Base Training
Calculate your zones here. There are many calculators, and they're all just rough guesses.

So here's my results:
http://runtracker.runnersworld.com/ba/journal/archives/13179/20090508
As you can see looking at my heart rate, I started at 150 BPM (very slow) and gradually increased it to around 164 BPM. It's a very slow pace. I came hoem and Lori was about ready to form a search party and find me because I was gone so long. The hope is in a couple weeks I'll be running faster at the same heart rate levels. I have a training program that includes these slow runs, long runs, interval runs, and tempo runs, with some hill interval runs thrown in. So in July when it's time for the 6 mile Santa Cruz run, it should be cake. Right?

An example of my training plan:
Tues - Interval training 2 miles
Fri - 3 mile slow base run
Sun - 4 mile slow base run
Tues - 3 mile Tempo run
Thurs - Hill interval runs
Fri - 3.5 mile slow base run
Sun - 4.5 mile slow base run