In this episode of The Marathon Podcast, Andrejs Birjukov is the guest. He is a heart rate expert and a former professional athlete.

He is now into running and is training for the Boston Marathon 2026.

In this episode, we are mainly discussing how heart rate should be used as part of your training.

Time stamps:

00:00:00 — Welcome to The Marathon Podcast with Andrejs Birjukovs

00:02:40 — From Professional Sprint Kayaker to Endurance Athlete

00:09:58 — Lessons from High-Intensity Sprint Kayaking Training

00:17:28 — Andrejs's Quarter-Life Crisis and Becoming a Heart Rate Expert

00:27:32 — The 5-Zone Heart Rate Model for Optimal Training

00:38:28 — How Elite Athletes Use Heart Rate for Performance and Recovery

00:56:42 — Building Training Load and Perfecting Running Form

01:14:13 — Why Nutrition and Recovery Drive Training Adaptation

01:17:50 — Practical Tips for Fuelling and Estimating Heart Rate Zones

01:27:56 — Andrejs's Book “The Resilient Athlete” and Podcast Farewell

Zone calculator: https://theathleteblog.com/heart-rate-zone-calculator/

Andrejs on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrejsbirjukovs

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