First half marathon since focusing on Z2 was poor - advice on training?
So last month, since acquiring my first tracker, I’ve shifted my runs from fairly challenging, to HR focused. I’ve been targeting mid 120’s for my workouts.
Recently, I ran my first half since training like this, about 7 weeks after my prior one. I dealt with high temperature and humidity in both (albeit the first one was cooler), and my performance was a full 9 minutes worse. Pretty disappointing.
This calls my training into question. It’s possible that the conditions were just awful, but I’ve also been training in the 120’s almost exclusively. If I get over 132, I back off. If I get below 120, I pick it up. But my RHR is around 53, and at age 40, maybe I’m underestimating my Z2?
How hard should I be training, in terms of HR, to maximize my aerobic benefits? I’m disappointed in my performance, and have a long way to go, in order to try and target a 5 hour marathon.