Cardiovascular Goals for 2009

I have decided that I would like to set a goal (long-term) of running an 8 1/2 minute mile while staying within 80-90% of my maximum heart rate (220-53 = 167; 80 % = 134; 90% =150). This goal will increase my anaerobic tolerance and improve my high speed endurance. Right now, I am running a 10 minute mile at about 85% of my maximum HR so I have to work on increasing my running speed at a rate that allows my heart rate to stay within 80-90%. To accomplish this, I will need to make small, gradual changes each week. Since I also have a knee injury, my running will be limited to 10 minutes, 3x week and I will augment running with the stair master and use varying heart rate target zones to train to help increase my aerobic capacity. So, here is the overall plan (intermediate goal) and then I will make adjustments each week (immediate goal) to move toward my goal.

• 2x week I will do moderate intensity aerobic work (10-40 minutes at 70-80% HR) to enhance power and improve blood circulation. This will be in the form of the stair master and I will adjust my work upward 10% each week. For example, I am doing 30 minutes at level 11, so each week I increase my resistance level to 12 for a longer portion of the 30 minutes. Right now, I am doing 18 minutes at L11 and 12 minutes at L12; next week it will be 15 minutes at L11 and 15 minutes at L12 until I do all 30 minutes at L12. I will continue this as long as I am within 70-80% HR, otherwise I will slow the resistance to 5% per week.
• 2x week I will do hard intensity aerobic work (2-10 minutes at 80-90% HR). This will be in the form of intervals on the stair master. I will do 5 minute warm-up and cool-down with 9-20 minutes worth of intervals. Again, I will use HR to determine increases each week.
• 3x week I will do my 10 minute of running and attempt to increase the pace each week by 10% while maintaining my target HR of 134 - 150.
• Once a week I will do a light aerobic workout on the stationary bicycle for 40 minutes at a light level (60-70% HR) to increase aerobic endurance, strengthen body to tolerate higher intensity training, and increase fat metabolism (part of my weight loss goal).
  
• A minimum of 2x week (or more) do some walking in my neighborhood at a very light level for 40 minutes at 50-60% of my HR to help in recovery after heavier sessions.

This may seem like a lot but all of these can be incorporated into my gym sessions or at home (I have a stationary bike and my neighborhood is great for walking). Regardless, none of the sessions will last longer than 1 hour. My back-up goal will be the following: To improve my cardiovascular performance (measured by resistance level, time, or HR) in all areas by 30%. This will be more difficult to measure but I believe it can be accomplished and monitored each week.

YWeight?: My Goals for 2009