I was big on heart rate training as a newbie. If done properly I think it's a great way of disciplining yourself to run within yourself. Crucially, it gives you an objective way of tracking fitness improvements without the need to go out and beat your running times every time. I've mentioned it here before but fetcheveryone.com (my favourite training log) has a feature of "(heart-)beats per mile" which you can compare for runs at different paces. The lower the number the more efficiently you're running.
That’s one of the things that keeps me motivated (along with staying injury free). It’s lovely to see my easy pace improve on the same BPM. Less lovely when it dropped back down after a month with a chest infection...
I was big on heart rate training as a newbie. If done properly I think it's a great way of disciplining yourself to run within yourself. Crucially, it gives you an objective way of tracking fitness improvements without the need to go out and beat your running times every time. I've mentioned it here before but fetcheveryone.com (my favourite training log) has a feature of "(heart-)beats per mile" which you can compare for runs at different paces. The lower the number the more efficiently you're running.
Hoka Clifton 7, 7-mile test run report: lovely!