To be an endurance runner, and not feel like you are going to die from doing it, you need to master three key things.
Firstly you need to be physically fit. This usually means being in the gym, or home workouts, and focusing on weight training to strengthen your core and different muscle groups. This is an aspect that many runners overlook the importance of, or simply don’t make the time each week to get done.
Secondly you need to be mentally fit. This means being prepared, have you got the right kit, are the trainers in good shape, and have you planned the time to train within your busy week? When you are out, how will you cope with the long lonely training runs? Music? Podcasts or audiobooks or will you run with someone? How will you cope on a freezing February Wednesday when you need to get 8 miles done plus a sprints for good measure? Mentality towards The end goal is as critical as the miles you run.
And thirdly, you need to be aerobically fit. This means you need your heart, lungs, and your blood flow, to be as healthy as it can possibly be. This is where heart rate training comes to fruition.
Of the three, if you are not aerobically fit, but you still tick box numbers 1 and 2, you are still going to really struggle, especially the further you run. Ask yourself why you never see a body builder or weight lifter out running? They are as physically fit as you can be, but almost without exception, they couldn’t run for a bus, let alone a marathon. And, by the way, that is fine, because they aren’t training to run, they train to lift and be muscular, so their specific training is working for them.
If you go for a run and you find yourself out of breath, and just tired out way before your muscles are ready to give up, it means aerobically you are asking more than you are capable of. This is caused by running to fast for too long, even though you might look at your watch and think your pace is steady, sadly your watch is not the reason you are flagging, it’s your aerobic a system.
So how can you improve your aerobic capacity?
The heart is a muscle, just like a bicep, and like any muscle it’s needs the correct activity to make it stronger. To make a bicep stronger you would lift weights, you would start with something light and over a period of time increase that weight and, hey presto, those biceps are bigger and stronger. Now, of course, we can’t work the heart muscle in the same way, but the theory is much the same, we need to work the heart to a point it can cope with, and then keep increasing it until it learns (muscle memory) and becomes more efficient.
The most common way to train your heart is to work in zones. These zones are split into 5 and each zone represents something.
Zone 1 – the easiest of running zones. This zone would be used to warm up or a post run cool down.
Zone 2 – this is where we build endurance, increase cardio fitness and where we burn the most fat, so if weight loss is one of your goals, zone 2 is your friend.
Zone 3 – is for aerobic fitness. So running in this zone will work the heart to a level whereby it can cope with what you are demanding and blood flow will be at it’s most efficient.
Zone 4 – Lactate threshold. Most runners think they suffer with lactate acid build up, where the muscles seize up and feel heavy. The human body doesn’t have the ability to create acid as it has the wrong PH level, but what actually happens is lactate builds up in the blood and then clears, this produces energy. However, if you run to hard for too long, the system can’t clear the lactate quickly enough and so stores it in the muscles. This is where they now feel heavy and tired. Think of a heavy wet sponge, thats your muscles.
Zone 5 – maximum heart rate that is only ever used in very short bursts, such as 100m sprints for example.
How do you know what your Zones should be?
It is very important to understand that everyone’s zone is unique to them. Just because you are the same age as someone else and even look the same weight and be the same height, there is no physical way of knowing somebodies aerobic level of fitness.
You can Google dozens of ways to work out your zones, some smart watches do it automatically for you, but the problem is they are generic. Generic is not a word we use in run coaching. We are all different and we are all changing, depending on our lifestyle and the training we do.
Your Zones need to be calibrated for you specifically and the only way to do that accurately is in a lab with treadmills, blood tests and expensive oxygen machines. 99% of us don’t have that luxury, so how else can we do it. With my coaching I put people through a series of 3 tests, and these tests have been proven to give you the most accurate reading, outside of lab blood tests.
Let me tell you about John…
One of my runners, John, a 46 year old male, ran the London Marathon 2024 and achieved a PB of 3hrs 28mins (pace 7.50 per mile) with an average heart rate of 143 beats per minute. A few months previously, whilst training purely by miles and not paying any attention to his zones, he ran Paris Marathon in 3hrs 48mins (8.40 per mile) with an average HR of 148.
That’s 50 seconds per mile quicker, for all 26 miles in London with a lower HR. But the most important aspect of that comparison is how he felt during both races. In Paris he reported that the last 6 miles (10k) was torture, he felt like giving up, his legs felt heavy and his body was screaming at him to stop. However, despite running so much faster in London, at the end he felt fine, and even said to me, he felt he could have gone even quicker. 3 weeks later he ran the Leeds Marathon, time 3hrs 38 mins (pace 8.16 a mile) with a HR at 144, and reported feeling aerobically great, but physically tired as it was so close to London.
John trained with such focus and consistency to the plan that was written specifically for him, which is why his London run was such a huge success. He ignored the noise of Google and other on-line chat, and trusted the scientifically proven approach to increasing his aerobic fitness. “It’s a complete game changer and has filled me such confidence, there isn’t a distance I can’t complete” was John’s words to me.
About me – Lee Perry
I am a UESCA qualified endurance running coach, as well as English Athletics. UESCA provide data driven, and a scientifically tested, approach to endurance running that can be followed by any runner of any age and standard. I am also a level 3 personal trainer, fitness coach, strength and conditioning coach and level 4 nutritional advisor. I coach runners from all over the world. I am runner myself, having competed 4 London Marathons, 1 Berlin and countless others, as well half marathons and ultra marathons. Every runner I work with receives a unique plan to them, nothing is ever generic.