Geeks and Nerds, how do I chart progress? (Read 838 times)

I really like having visual representation of my progress. Does anyone have a link or know what the best way to measure progress and charting it is? For example, I run with a HRM and would love to see the progress, but do I have to have a standard race pace or distance? Do I have to measure my VO2 and use that? Any ideas, tools?

I guess I'm not sure what you're specifically asking. Are you asking how to determine if you're getting fitter? If so, then I would say a time trial or races could help with that. You have an HRM. I assume that you run at least one or two routes on a consistent basis. If so, mark out the course here, and make sure that you select it when you run it. Over time, you should see your pace at a given heart rate over that course get better.

You are right, I this is not clear. I will come back later with a better question

I'm wondering the same things as I'm also using a HRM (although I'm still in the walk and walk/run phase). I'm not completely sure what to measure but the following relationship should apply: As "fitness" improves HR per "effort" per "time" should go down. So my HR should decrease if, over the span of many sessions, I keep a constant pace. If I keep my HR constant over many sessions, my pace wil go down (I'll speed up). There are many factors in my definition of "fitness": going faster, going longer, better form, shorter HR recovery times, HR/pace, etc. I'm just not sure how to measure them all accurately and consistently and TBH, I'm not sure I really need much more than just "feeling better". But being an software engineer, I just can't help myself Here's a few things I've been trying: avgHR * pace : sort of a "miles per gallon" measure : lower = better Rockport Fitness test : walk a mile as fast as possible and record HR at end - gives VO2max avgHR / speed : how many beats/min for each mph If I *really* wanted to get scientific I guess I'd dedicate one session per week as a benchmark session, alternating a fast pace session with a slow pace session every other week and track the change in HR (hopefully it would go down). I'd also want to track my avgHR at the end of a long session since HR tends upward over time. A lot of this depends on what data your actual HRM gives you and how much time you want to spend analyzing your stats. For me, avg HR, pace and distance are enough for now, but hey, I may want a better HRM toy once I switch over to full time running . The bottom line for me is that a little HRM tracking is fine but I don't want to lose the fun I've been having outside during my walks. I know it will take time to get as fit as I want and I'm going to enjoy that time rather than dread it.