HR Training and Cardiac Drift

I think you should also consider RPE and how are you feeling. Is the effort level say at 30 minutes similar to that of 75 minutes?

It is always better to start out slow and speed up compared to going the other way around.

I used to be a slave to my HRM; now I glance at it but go more by how I feel which is how I race.

As someone else pointed out it could be that you are getting dehydrated and having cardiac  drift. 

What weather conditions are you running in?  When it's hot my HR drifts up significantly.  It's better to start slower and finish faster.  That's what you'll do in a race, right?

I've switched to using pace zones instead of HR training zones.  I find planning training runs at a certain pace is easier and more effective than running in a certain HR zone.  There are several calculators on the web for calculating pace zones based on race performances.

Here's one:

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/rununiv/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm

TJ

Thanks for all of the advice.  I'm definitely not feeling wiped out at the end, so RPE is pretty level, just the HR climb.  I'll work more on hydration and heat.  I've been a slave to the hr monitor ever since I got it.  I think I'll use it more as a guide on the long runs and go somewhat more by RPE.  Joel Friel's book is on my list. 

 I would definitly either blow out or not work out intensly enough on my short training runs without a hr monitor.  I just don't have the experience in endurance to know when I'm going just under or just over my LT.  I'm much better at lower thresholds.

Overall, triathlon has helped my endurance immensely.  After March of this year, I set a new personal distance record on every long run.  My goal this year was to do a sprint and not walk at the end.  Now I'm more long range focused, trying to improve run times and tackle longer distances.  The long run is my foundation session for improving my base until I can free up more time for longer bikes.  I need to get it right

ps

I love BT!

Cardiac drift is a sign of lack of endurance.  Everyone gets it.  When you start to drift depends on how big of a base you have built. 

RPE training is a whole lot funner than HR training.  HR training is hard because you are going so dang slow at first.  It really sucks to watch old ladies with walkers pass you.  A lot of people do not stick with it long enough to see any real payoff. 

Last year I spent over 12 weeks training below 145bpm.  That's not training at 145, that's below 145.  Lots of runs and rides with low 130 averages.  Every few weeks I would test myself by running 5 miles at 140 bpm.  For the first 6 weeks I did not see any improvement, but at the end of it all my 5 mile average pace went from around 9:30 to sub 8.  For me, getting down to sub 8 zone 1 running was worth the pain of training slow.       

You've pretty much hit the nail on the head.  When "running" up hills, everybody's passing me.  I just tell myself that slow and steady is the point of that session. 

I used to notice the drift much earlier, like 30min.  Now it's not appreciable until after an hour.  Same with joint pain.  I used to get knee pain after 45min (torn cartiledge from skiing).  Now I rarely get it, and it's closer to the 90-min mark.

By the way, 8min zone 1 pace seems awesome to me.  I was extatic a few weeks ago when my short/fast run went sub-8 average for 5k with intervals.  For me, that was haulin' a$$.