Roy Benson - Heart Rate Training

ROY BENSON
DECAN CONNOLLY

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Benson, Roy.

Heart rate training / Roy Benson, Declan Connolly.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8655-4 (soft cover)

ISBN-10: 0-7360-8655-2 (soft cover)

1. Cardiovascular fitness. 2. Heart rate monitoring. I. Connolly,

Declan, 1965- II. Title.

QP113.B46 2011

616.105--dc22

2010046982

ISBN-10: 0-7360-8655-2 (print)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-8655-4 (print)

Copyright 2011 by Running, Ltd., and Vermont Fit

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Cheers, Dr. Z.

Dr. Z is a diligent scientist, an engaging scholar, a fitness enthusiast, a critical thinker, and a compassionate and understanding man. He epitomizes a mentor. Thank you, Dr. Z. We hope our work here reflects both your work and humor.

To the runners Ive coached, to those who have come to my camps, to the readers Ive informed, and to Polar Electro and Nike who used my advice, a thousand thanks for your feedback and your trust. Thanks to my wife, Betty, for her patience and support. And thanks to the great Coach in the sky for allowing me to enjoy many happy heart beats.

Roy Benson

To my wife, Shannon, whose tireless effort with our family has allowed me the time to work on this project. Her flexibility and pride in motherhood has given me great freedom, and I am grateful. Thanks to the rugratsKiaran, Fiona, Cillian, and Nualawho have put my work in perspective. To my parents, Charlie and Geraldine, who gave me the freedom to pursue my goals at the four corners of the globe, You might have a good day. Finally thanks to my exercise friends who provided me the constant opportunity for tinkering and exploring.

Declan Connolly

Timing, chance, luck of the Irish? Call it what you want but the writing of this book is the result of one guys tutelage and mentoring. Your authors may be separated by 30 years or so (Benson was already coaching when Connolly was in diapers), but their career paths were carefully guided by a higher force. One day they were chatting about regulating exercise intensity. As they chatted, they realized an eerie similarity in their philosophy. Unbeknownst to them, they had both been mentored by Dr. Zauner, or Dr. Z. Although they were some 30 years apart, the experience of being taught by Dr. Z was lasting and profound. Their paths took very different routes, but Dr. Zs influence was ever apparent.

In 1969, after six years coaching military and high-school track and crosscountry teams, Benson concluded that, if life was going to be about paperwork, hed rather write training plans than lesson or business plans. A masters degree in physical education would give him a chance to do that full-time as a college coach. In the fall of 1969, he began working toward a MPE at the University of Florida. Although his BA was in geography, exercise physiology was already a favorite subject through self-study. The University of Florida did not have much of a graduate program in exercise physiology, but it did have an outstanding professor, Dr. Christian Zauner, to teach the courses it offered. Dr. Zauner also happened to coach a young group of swimmers in his backyard pool. One day in class, Dr. Z mentioned how he used their heart rates to determine their recoveries during an interval workout. This was an immediate eureka experience for Benson. At that time, Benson also was a graduate assistant coach with the University of Florida varsity distance runners. He quickly raised his hand and asked how Dr. Z was doing this. His process of measuring effort by counting heart rates made great sense. It had always been a battle to get the runners to stop acting so tired at the end of each repeat and asking if the workout was finally over. It was even harder to get them going again after each arbitrary distance of jogging recovery as they begged for more time. What wonderful tools their pulses became for revealing the truth about their efforts and recoveries.

That one serendipitous moment lead to Bensons work and study of cardiac response to exercise. But his education really expanded when Dr. Z became his mentor and they started a hospital-based business, Fitness Incorporated, that offered fitness rehabilitation services. Their program was designed around heart rate measurements taken in the days before monitors. After several years, they sold the business to the hospital, and it served as the cornerstone of one of the first hospital wellness centers in the southeastern United States. Not long after, they both moved away from Gainesville and lost touch. Then while visiting a friend in Corvallis, Oregon, Benson learned that Dr. Z was living just a few blocks down the street. Benson renewed his friendship with his mentor, the one person who had the most influence on his professional life.

Connollys career also benefitted from the tutelage of Dr. Z. In June 1987, Connolly graduated with a degree in sports studies from the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. In the summer of 1990, he graduated from the University of Rhode Island with a MS in exercise science. While working as a camp counselor, he applied to graduate schools around the country looking for funding. He spoke to the chair of exercise science at Oregon State University, Dr. Christian Zauner, who said he might be able to find work for Connolly but not enough for a doctorate degree. Connolly drove across the country and appeared on Dr. Zs doorstep. After explaining who he was, Connolly was given funding until Christmas, though Dr. Z told him if he didnt work out, he was outta there. By the fall, Dr. Z increased Connollys funding support, gave him odd jobs to earn a few more dollars, and shared his insights in the field. Dr. Z was widely travelled and understood the challenges facing foreign students. Hed invite them over for holidays, find them summer work, and impart worldly wisdom over Oregons finest microbrews. Hed host their parents when they visited, allow them to call home from his phone. Above all Dr. Z mentored them about what was needed to be successful. Dr. Z took a chance on an Irish kid who didnt have much to offer and nowhere else to go. For that, Connolly is eternally grateful.