Why Consistency Matters More Than Low Heart Rate Training (Runners Over 50)

In this episode, Herb explains that low heart rate training only works when built on consistent running over months and years, especially for runners over 50. Drawing on his experience (80+ ultramarathons, three heart attacks, and nearly 10 years coaching), he emphasizes frequency, duration, and intensity, recommending easy, comfortable running and noting progress comes in months, not weeks. He advises choosing a realistic weekly schedule—typically three, four, or five days—that you can maintain even during stressful weeks, using fixed run days to remove daily decision-making. On difficult days, a short 20-minute easy run still counts, and missed runs shouldn’t be made up; just resume the next scheduled day. Example weeks show all runs kept easy, with harder work added later after a solid base.

00:00 Why Consistency Wins
00:56 Low Heart Rate Basics
02:29 Herb’s Comeback Story
03:06 Stop Chasing Perfect Plans
03:31 Choose Your Weekly Days
04:32 Coaching Community Invite
05:04 Make the Schedule Stick
06:32 Sample 3-5 Day Weeks
07:49 What Changes Over Months
08:54 Final Takeaway and Wrap

P.S. If you are passionate about running, and you don't want to lose that passion, then getting your copy of my new Forever Runner Method book is the right move. Click this link to get yours: https://foreverrunner.com/

Runners over 50: Pain free running without injury with slow running!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey runners, how's it going? I spent a lot of time on this channel talking about low heart rate training, and it's important, but low heart rate training only works when it sits on top of consistent running week after week, month after month. By the end of this video, you'll know why consistency is what everything else depends on, how to pick a weekly schedule that actually fits your life, and how to keep it going when life gets in the way. I'm Herb the Forever Runner. I've run over 80 ultramarathons, survived three heart attacks, and rebuilt my whole approach to running after the second one. Everything I'm about to tell you comes from coaching runners over 50 for the better part of 10 years and from making plenty of my own mistakes along the way. So in run coaching, we we talk about frequency, duration, and intensity. That means how often you run, how far you run, and how hard you run. And in general, the more you run, the better, provided you do it correctly. Specifically, low heart rate training works on volume. The more often you run, the quicker you'll develop that monster aerobic capacity. The ideal approach would be running five days a week for at least 45 minutes at a time at a very comfortable pace. And even with that training schedule, expect to see results in months, not weeks. You see, low heart rate training is a slow process. But even if you can't afford to run five days a week, you'll still improve even if you only run three days a week, it'll just take a little longer. The key is consistency. It's more important for low heart rate training to get out there on a regular basis than to always have gaps in your run training. For an older runner, that regular schedule matters more than any single workout you'll ever do. One great long run does very little for you on its own. 200 easy runs over a year changes your body completely. I learned this the hard way. After my second heart attack at 62, I couldn't train hard even if I wanted to. My cardiologist had me walking and slow jogging at a heart rate that felt almost embarrassing for months. But I showed up and I did the boring, easy work anyway. Then fast forward to now, my running is better than it was in my 50s. The reason is simple. I kept showing up year after year at an easy effort my body could actually handle. And here's where a lot of runners over 50 get stuck. They go looking for the perfect plan, the exact heart rate, the ideal weekly mileage, the right intervals, and they follow it hard for three weeks, get sore or tired or sick, and stop. Three weeks on, two weeks off, over and over. That pattern gets you almost nothing. So how much should you actually run then? Well, pick the number of days you can hit almost every week, even on a busy week. For most runners over 50, that number's three, four, or five days. If you're not sure which one, just start lower than you think. If you're coming back from time off or you're newer to regular running, three days a week is plenty. Three quality easy runs repeated week after week for a year will do more for you than six days a week you hold for a month and then abandon. If you've been running steadily and you recover well, four or five days works nicely. The key is honesty. Pick the number that you can still hit in a stressful week when you're tired, when the weather's bad, when your knees a little cranky. The number you wish you could do will only let you down. So if you want to help help figuring out your own schedule and the low heart rate training that goes with it, I provide run coaching in my forever running club over on school. It's full of runners over 50 doing exactly this, sharing their weeks, asking questions, keeping each other going. The dues are cheap. You'll find a link in the description below and in the pinned comment. Come on and say hello. Now let's talk about how you actually keep a schedule going. Because picking the number is the easy part. Holding it for a year is where the real work is. First, put your runs on the same days every week, you know, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, whatever, whatever fits your life. When your runs live on fixed days, you stop deciding each morning whether to run or not. The decision's already made. You just show up. Second, keep the habit alive even on your worst days. Some days you'll feel great, some days you'll feel flat and heavy. On a flat day, just get the run in, even if it's only 20 minutes. A short, easy run still counts and it keeps your streak going. Skipping the day entirely is what does the damage over a year. Third, plan for missing ahead of time because life happens. If you travel, you catch a cold, you'll have a week where nothing goes right. When you miss a day, you don't make it up and you don't pile it on to the next day. You just return to your schedule on the next scheduled day, like the miss never happened. One miss run means nothing over a year. Trying to cram it back in is how people get hurt. So let me show you what this looks like on an actual week. Your week might be Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Monday is a short, easy run, maybe 30 minutes. Wednesday's another easy run, similar length, and Saturday is your longer one, a little more time on your feed at the same easy effort. Three runs, same three days every week. That's the whole plan. A four-day runner might add an easy Thursday. A five-day runner adds one more easy day and keeps every single run at that comfortable, low heart rate. Every run that week is easy, no speed sections, no hard days to recover from. For most runners over 50, easy running done consistently is what drives the results. You can add sprints and harder work later once the base is solid. I'll cover that in another video. The runners who improve the most are the ones who make peace with easy running. They trust that showing up at a gentle effort over and over is doing the real work under the surface, because it is. Let me tell you what actually happens when you string together months of consistent easy running. This is the part almost no one shows on social media because it's not very dramatic. Around two to three months in, your easy runs start feeling easier at the same heart rate. You're covering more ground at the same effort. Around six months in, the pace at your lower heart rate has usually increased, sometimes by a lot. Your recovery between runs improves, the nagging little aches settle down because your body adapts to a regular, predictable load. I've seen runners in their 60s and 70s take more than a minute per mile off their easy pace at the same heart rate, just from running consistently for a year. The only thing that they changed was consistency. They picked a schedule that they could hold and they held it. Here's the takeaway. Consistency is what makes everything else in your training work. And that goes double for low heart rate training. Pick a number of days you can truly repeat three, four, or five. Put them in on the same days each week. Keep showing up, even when the run is short and slow. Do that for a year, and you'll be a different runner. That's it for this week. Be sure to check out our Forever Running Club in the description. Hope to see you there. Bye.