Listening to Your Body

Bit of a step back week for me. Two runs, a spin and a weight session. I needed it after last week's travel schedule, half marathon and long bike ride. It's all good. I'm getting better at listening to my body.

Most of that listening is done by utilizing a heart rate monitor. I always exercise with one. Running. Riding. Lifting. It doesn't matter. My heart rate monitor is recording the exercise. I knew a couple days ahead of time before I was getting sick with the flu. I also know when I've recovered and can push things. Love training by HR monitor.

I was introduced to HR training by Coach Jeff with PRS FIT (he also got me into a zero drop shoe and corrected my running form... that's another blog post). Talk about an ego crushing first few weeks. Man, I was a whiner. 11:30-12:00 minute training miles while keeping my heart rate at 145 bpm. I'd been pushing ten minute and faster miles on most training runs. I knew nothing about slowing the pace and letting my body recovery.

However, I persevered. I listened to Jeff and kept withing the zones he gave me. Eventually, he put me through a max heart rate test and set my training zones. I've been using these zones for two years now. I've seen the zone 2 run pace drop to 9:00-9:30 range. Just depends on the day and distance.

I can honestly say that I'm more healthy because of the training. Okay, I'll give some credit to changing my diet. Guess who recommended Paleo Diet for Athletes..... Yep. Coach Jeff. However, I give just as much of the credit of staying healthy to HR training. I keep myself from being over trained which keeps my body from being stressed.

Dr. Steve Gangemi has some great articles on his site regarding heart rate training and healthy living. I credit Jeff with showing me the way, but I give The Sock Doc credit for helping me understand the science behind the training and diet. I highly recommend you visit The Sock Doc's site. He has a second site that I find just as useful. If you want an endurance coach to help you with your training, Coach Jeff is the man.

Keep moving forward!