How to Improve Your Running Performance

Heart Rate (HR) and Maximum Heart Rate (HR Max)

Your heart rate (HR) is simply the number of times your heart beats per minute while pumping blood through your body — to your muscles, your brain… and occasionally to other body parts depending on the circumstances.
Your maximum heart rate (HR Max) is the highest number of beats your heart can physically reach during maximal effort.
And here’s the important part: your HR Max is mostly genetic. Two runners with the exact same race times can have completely different maximum heart rates, so trying to “improve” your HR Max is pointless.
What’s the point of knowing it then?
Because HR Max allows you to define your heart rate training zones:

• easy endurance
• aerobic training
• tempo effort
• threshold work
• high-intensity intervals

In other words, it helps you control your training load and avoid running every session too hard.

MAS and VO2 Max

The letters that make your legs hurt…

VO2 max is the maximum volume of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise (measured in milliliters per kilogram per minute). In simple terms, it’s the power of your biological engine.
The higher your VO2 max, the faster and longer you can run before your legs completely revolt.

MAS — or Maximum Aerobic Speed — is the running speed at which you reach your VO2 max.

Beyond that pace, your body starts relying more heavily on anaerobic energy systems… and you usually pay for it pretty quickly.
Why does it matter?
Because VMA is incredibly useful for structuring your training:

• interval workouts
• threshold sessions
• tempo runs
• long runs
• race pace workouts

Most running training plans are based on percentages of your VMA. Instead of running purely by feel, you train with precision — and your race times will usually thank you for it.
Your legs… maybe a little less.

All our running routes in France (image: Lyon)

What’s the difference between HR Max and MAS ?

They are simply two different ways to measure effort.

MAS measures speed

MAS focuses on what you do:
the speed at which your body reaches maximum oxygen consumption.

HR Max measures internal effort

Heart rate training focuses on how your body responds to effort:
how hard your cardiovascular system is working at any given moment.

The key difference?

MAS measures performance.

Heart rate measures physiological stress.

MAS improves with training.

HR Max is mostly genetic and tends to decrease slightly with age.

In practice, the two approaches complement each other very well.

MAS training is ideal for:

• track workouts
• interval sessions
• GPS-based training
• precise pacing sessions

But VMA does not account for:

• fatigue
• heat
• altitude
• poor sleep
• stressful days

Heart rate training is ideal for:

• long runs
• trail running
• hilly routes (urbirun Lisbon for example)
• hot weather
• variable terrain

Because your heart rate reflects how your body truly feels in real time.

The ideal solution?

Use both.

Heart rate in the hills.
VMA pacing on flat terrain.

All our sightrunning routes in Italy (image : Florence)

Which training method should you choose?

There’s no universal answer.

Both systems are useful, and both have strengths and weaknesses.

Interval sessions and high-intensity workouts

→ MAS is generally more reliable.

Long runs and easy endurance

→ Heart rate gives a better picture of real effort.

Trail running and elevation gain

→ Heart rate becomes essential.

In short:

• use MAS to plan your workouts,
• and heart rate to adapt them to the conditions of the day.

How to calculate your MAS and HR Max

Good news: you don’t need a laboratory or a scientist in a white coat.
A running track is enough — and even that isn’t mandatory (buy the way, do you know why the track is 400m long?)

How to measure your MAS

The simplest methods are:

• the Cooper Test (run as far as possible in 12 minutes)
• the Half Cooper Test (6 minutes)

Ideally, perform the test on a running track, well rested, and on a good day — not the morning after too many beers or raclette.

Then the calculation is simple:

Distance covered ÷ 200 = MAS in km/h
Example:
2400 meters in 12 minutes?
Your MAS is 12 km/h.

That means your threshold pace (roughly 85–90% of MAS) should be between 10.2 and 10.8 km/h.

How to estimate your maximum heart rate

The classic “220 minus your age” formula gives a quick estimate, but it’s often inaccurate.

A field test is much better:
after a proper warm-up, run hard for two to three minutes uphill or at maximum effort and record your highest heart rate.

Your sports watch will do the rest — and unlike your ego, it usually doesn’t lie.

The fun part?

Repeating these tests every few months to track your progress.

A discreet but very satisfying pleasure for any runner.

You just want to have fun ?

No problem. Run one of the urbirun sightrunning routes, to run and explore new places, on your own, at your own pace, with eyes wide open. Stop running randomly or getting lost, avoid sketchy places, and simply be guided along the best route to see point of views, iconic landmarks, or beautiful monuments. Be urbirunner, and run moments rather that kilometers.
Check-it out, urbirun has more than 250+ sightrunning routes available in its boutique.

All sightrunning routes in Germany (image : Munich)

Want some break in the training ?

What about some sightrunning - ***What is sightrunning ?***