What follows is not going to be that easy to either practise or understand, hence, you will have to go slowly in order to take it in properly. In order to accurately assimilate these tips, you will have to read them carefully. It would be even better if you could print them, as you will then be able to read them at your own pace and check the data included in the tables herein. In addition, it will be necessary for you to write down the training schedule that you have planned for the next few days. This is because when you see it in black and white it somehow becomes more of a compulsory thing. All the above, along with a daily record in the form of a diary of what you are practising everyday will become your training manual. Whenever you feel it necessary, you will be able to check in it the training endured for such-and-such race, and how well you performed them.
In order to proceed with this level, we needed to know two pieces of data, i.e. Aerobic power and the different Workout Intensities. This will sound like double Dutch to you. However, do not despair. Please check this information on heart rate before you read further.
The crucial moment for carrying out the Cooper Test (also known as the 12-minute test) has finally arrived. This will allow us to assess our physical condition based upon our aerobic power. The test involves running for 12 minutes at a good pace, and then compare the results with those shown in the table below. Repeating it at periodical intervals, this test will act as an indicator of how much progress we are making through our training. You will be able to obtain further information and a more comprehensive table by clicking here, although this is not essential for what follows next.
| TEST DE LOS 12 MINUTOS - TEST DE COOPER | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DISTANCE RUN IN 1 KM | 2,40 | 2,45 | 2,50 | 2,55 | 2,60 | 2,65 | 2,70 | 2,75 | 2,80 | 2,85 | 2,90 | 2,95 |
| MINUTES/KM | 5:00 | 4:54 | 4:48 | 4:42 | 4:37 | 4:32 | 4:27 | 4:22 | 4:17 | 4:13 | 4:08 | 4:03 |
| MAX VO2 | 42 | 43 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 |
At this point, people usually ask me the following: "And how do I know the speed I am running at? How do I measure distances?" Taking for granted that we do not have access to an athletics track, there is no other alternative than to choose a specific route and measure it. A pushbike odometer may prove very handy. Should you do not have one of those, use the one in you car. In the event that you do not own a car or if your car is not fitted with an odometer... Well, you really made it difficult for me; however, the chances are that you will always find regular runners in parks or a club that usually uses the park as training track. You can ask them, they are bound to know the exact distances of the most frequented routes.
The next piece of data required relates to the Workout Intensities. The latter are controlled in different ways; however, we will be only concentrating on two of them: Taking the maximum heart rate (MHR) as our starting point and applying the Karvonen formula, we will be in a position to state the following:
The MHR is the maximum amount of times that the heart can contract in one minute. In other words, your heartbeat or pulse rate per minute. Usually, the following formula is used:
| MAXIMUM HEART RATE FOR MEN | 220 MINUS YOUR AGE |
|---|---|
| MAXIMUM HEART RATE FOR WOMEN | 226 MINUS YOUR AGE |
Although reliable, the collected data is usually very conservative and the margin of error increases the more trained you are. Nevertheless, as it is easy and we are just beginners, we can use it. You will be able to consult detailed information as well as any table develop therefrom by clicking here.
The contributor to this page, my good friend and coach Víctor Arufe, recommends using the Karvonen formula. Said formula uses the Heart Rate Reserve (HRR), which is the MHR minus the Resting Heart Rate (RHR). Using the HRR, we calculate our target training intensity percentage and we add to it the RHR.
Have I lost you with my explanations? Do not worry, it happens all the time. Let us use an example so you can see it clearly. We have a 30 year-old male with a heart rate of 60 pulses per minute at rest (these are measured in the morning, before getting up). His MHR will be 220 - 30 = 190. To this data, we must deduct the RHR. Hence, 190 - 60 = 130 pulses/min of HRR.
The intensity chart is as follows:
| INTENSITY CHART | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heart rate 1 - HR1: Minimum aerobic threshold = 50% of your HRR |
Example: HRR x 0.50 + RHR | |||||||||||
| Heart rate 2 - R2: Workout within the aerobic threshold = 51-70% of your HRR |
Example: HRR x 0.60 + RHR | |||||||||||
| Heart rate 3 - R3: Workout within the aerobic threshold = 71-84% of your HRR |
Example: HRR x 0.75 + RHR | |||||||||||
| Threshold heart rate: Workout within that anaerobic threshold = 85-95% of your HRR |
Example: HRR x 0.90 + RHR | |||||||||||
| Max VO2 Approximate maximum VO2 = 96-100% of your HRR |
Example: HRR x 0.97 + RHR | |||||||||||
The training thresholds: The minimum training threshold is defined as the target intensity to be reached by the load so that it produces the right adaptations in the sportsman that help improve its performance during prolonged efforts. Karvonen located this level at an approximated value of 50% of the HRR. Concerning the aerobic threshold, it will be necessary to consider the following:
- Not everyone has the same minimum threshold.
- Stimuli below the minimum threshold do not yield any positive adaptations.
- Once the minimum threshold has been exceeded, the effectiveness of the aerobic training shall be greater, as long as the anaerobic threshold is not exceeded.
- The improvements achieved as a result of aerobic training are greater during the first stages of the training plan.
From now on, we will run for three days a week. The remaining four days may be used for active rest or total rest. When we speak of active rest, we mean to rest from running. You can practise another sport or simply go out for a walk at a good pace. Total rest is just that, to have a complete rest from sports. When practising a sport, resting can be as important in itself as exercising, because it helps assimilate the latter.
Those three days will include the following:
As you can see, it is indeed the HRR what sets the rate for your training. With practice, you will manage to effectively calculate your rate without resorting to measure your pulse/heartbeat or wearing a pulse meter (which on the other hand is the ideal thing to do). For the time being, it is necessary to monitor your pulse/heartbeat.
The long-distance run shall be equal to the longest distance that you have managed to run during the last three weeks, i.e. that if last week, for instance, you managed to run 7 km non-stop and that is so far the maximum distance that you have covered lately, we will use said figure as the long distance reference value. The mid-distance can be between 60 and 70% of said value.
In order to make it easier to understand, we will draft a training plan using said data:
Alternatively open the Rate Chart, as you already know, it is not as accurate although more convenient, and look up the selected column: Male - 30 year-old. You will notice that it shows the value of HR1, HR2, HR3...
As we mentioned before, the long-distance to cover is 6 km, i.e. the maximum distance run lately by the person used in the example above.
For the mid-distance, we will calculate 60-70% range of 6 (the selected long-distance). The result is a number between 3.6 and 4.2 that we will round up to 4 for the sake of understanding.
Last but not least, we set the resting intervals that follow the days of effort, and the overall picture looks more or less as follows:
| Monday | Long-distance at HR2 (136 beats/min), 6 km |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | Total rest |
| Wednesday | Mid-distance at HR3 (150 beats/min), 3.5 – 4 km |
| Thursday | Total rest |
| Friday | Active rest |
| Saturday | Mid-distance at HR2 (136 beats/min), 3.5 – 4 km |
| Sunday | Active rest |
It is always necessary to do warm-up and cool-down exercises before and after training respectively. Check the Warm-Up and Stretching Exercise Chart in order to find information about how to complete them.
We can keep increasing that plan by 10-15% every week for up to a total of 8 weeks. This should be more than sufficient, because you must realise that, if you have started as shown in our example, you will have run 13 km during the first week, and by increasing this at a weekly rate of 10%, you would be running 28 km after 8 weeks, including a long-distance running day of 13 km, which are distances more than acceptable for signing in for your first long-distance running event.
Any series running and hill-sprint can wait for the moment until you have been running for at least 6 months. Nonetheless, what you can do is to change different paces, e.g. for every 5 minutes running slot in 2 minutes at a slightly faster rate. Alternatively, do fartleks, which are also pace changes of rates, but actually performed at random intervals.
It may be quite possible that, in spite of my effort to explain it correctly, you still have some serious doubts, since; I must admit, it is not easy to take in. If you are a bit confused by all this, do not hesitate to drop me a quick message on my e-mail address.
Finally, we will proceed with a schematic review in order to consolidate what we have covered so far, since the core issue of this training is that you learn to schedule your own training exercise plan.