Personalized Training Plan with Heart Rate Monitoring

Question
"Hi, I'm from Charleston, SC.  I've ran 4 years of high school track
and XC and 1 year in college.  I run anything from the 800m to a 5k,
better mid-distance.  I've been off of running for nearly 2 years and just
started back running.  I've run 4 times so far and find I'm not that
bad out of shape.  My speed and strength is definately still with me.  My
schedule only allows me to run about 3 or 4 days a week.  I just got a
heart rate monitor and have geared myself to try a more scientific
approach to running (ex: target heart rate for aerobic, lactate threshold,
vO2, anaerobic).  Do you think this is a good approach?  To stay in my
target zone I've NEVER run so slow in my life!  It feels great but it's
rediculously slow (ex: aerobic = 12-15 min. miles).  Is it even
beneficial to be running so slow?  I feel like I should be walking.  If so, I
never knew the base phase could be so easy."


Answer
Daniel,

Heart monitors are okay for some people, but if it were me, I would put it on the side. Learning to listen to your body and run how you feel is a much better approach, when mixed with science. I mean, have a scientific concept, ie. intervals or tempo run, and then let how you feel dictate the run.

Heart monitors can have a negative affect when you are very tired, yet push yourself to keep a rate...you can end up burying yourself.

I have trained with world record holders, gold medalists, world champions, etc and can count on one hand the number of times any of them wore a heart monitor.In all honesty running a 12- 15 min mile is about as productive as sitting on the couch. Hope this helps...if you have more questions, write back.

Ryan