Running Program – Strides (adapted for heart rate monitor and treadmill training)
This article describes how I have adapted “Strides” (also known as “Striders”) into my hard sessions. I frequently refer to striders in my training diary, which you can follow on the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog.
The idea is to do 100 meter repeats at near sprint speed, interspersed with 100 meter jog recoveries. The 100 meter sprints should start easy and build-up to fast speed over the first 20 meters, then hold the fast speed for 60 meters before coasting back down to a jog over the final 20 meters. Since I do not run on a track, I have adapted this for my own workouts on a treadmill.
I start with a warm-up mile at say 5mph to increase my heart rate to about 65% of my maximum. I then input my “sprint” speed into the console. Since the treadmill then takes around 0.02 to 0.03 miles to reach the full speed, this allows me to build-up the speed and simulate that first 20 meters. I then maintain this speed for the remainder of 0.1 miles before inputting 5mph into the treadmill console. The machine then takes roughly 0.02 miles to reduce to the jogging speed. I maintain the jogging speed until another tenth of a mile is reached then start the process again.
Another change I make for my own adaptation is to start with a lower “sprint” speed and increase this with each successive “stride” until I reach the fastest speed for the session. Generally, I aim for the fastest speed to be faster than the planned speed of my subsequent intervals. I like to do this as it initially makes the intervals feel easier. I monitor my heart rate throughout and reduce the speed if I find that I have over-estimated my ability.
Let’s say I planning to run half-mile intervals at 8mph (my estimated speed for 85% Maximum Heart Rate), then I may conduct a session as follows. After my warm-up jog when I reach the 1.0 mile mark I immediately increase the treadmill speed to 6mph and maintain this until 1.1 miles. Now I run at 5mph until 1.2 miles, then run at 7mph until 1.3 miles, then 5mph until 1.4 miles. This process is repeated with stride intervals of 8mph, 9mph and finally 10mph at which point my heart rate has increased to just below 85% of my maximum. The final 5mph recovery takes me to the 2.0 mile mark, and I’m then ready to commence my main interval session.
As my fitness improves, I may start the strides at 7-8mph and increase to 11-12mph. The idea is to be at around my planned interval training heart rate by the time I commence the main interval training session. This could be anywhere between 80% and 95% of my Maximum Heart Rate, depending on where I am in my training cycle and fitness level.
The maximum speed of my treadmill is 12mph. If this is not fast enough to meet my heart-rate requirement, then I can simply increase the incline of the treadmill to make the workout harder.
October 12 2009 02:15 pm | Running Program
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