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Wow - I just got a heart rate monitor and I have to run/walk to keep my heart rate in the zones it's supposed to be in. (Read 1116 times)

    I am just getting back into running after a break of a few years (my running history includes a couple of half marathons, but that was a few years ago and I've only been sporadically active since then). I tried to get back into it a couple of years ago but kept bonking and gave up - I guess I was overdoing it during training in the past, now that I see what my HRM is telling me. I am not a fan of the run/walk, but it is what I have to do right now to keep that heart rate in the 65-75% zone (or even around 80% of my max!). I can run a couple of miles without stopping, but not without getting my heart rate at close to 90% of my max. I see training plans that are distance/time based for building fitness, like the Cool Running couch-to-5-K or the 13-week run/walk program. I guess I will try to use one of them in combination with my HRM to make sure I'm not overdoing it. I was originally going to push myself a lot harder in building up miles of just straight running, but now I think I'd better go easier and follow my HRM. Have others experienced this? I was surprised at how I have to slow down... Any preferences on a training program to get back into shape? Or advice? (For reference, I am 30 years old, not overweight, and a light bicycle commuter, so I do get some light exercise regularly.)

    Goals: 1. Finish One Hour Runner Program 2. Train for and run a 10K in late winter 3. Run a half in late spring 4. Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, Oct 2009

      sounds about right. My low heart rate runs pace turned out to be about 1 minute slower than what had been my "easy" pace I was using. you are not aerobically fit is all. don't worry... 95% of America is not aerobically fit. if you work out for a month you will see a difference although it may not seem like it. What I did is plot my times and it convinced me I was improving. My low heart rate runs were up and down but the general trend was downward. And I noticed that my pace for 7 miles was pretty much the same as my pace for 3 miles. Which means I was developing some endurance. It is all relative. A lot of runners are better than me. But I'm better than the me of 6 months ago. And that is really the only person I am competing against. Actually at the beginning your improvement will probably be rather quick so that is kind of rewarding. my advice is to recognize where you are and just know that next month you will be farther along. I tried to do too much last year and I developed some minor injuries that slowed my progress. Since you are not overweight you may have less of a problem building miles. For me I have had to be careful to add miles too quickly. Good luck.

       

       

       

       

        How did you determine your max HR? If you did it with a formula - it could be way off and then the question becomes what is my max HR - which may eliminate your original concern.

        When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?


        Hawt and sexy

          Meh. Standard. If you are going to use a HRM for training you need to pick a method. There is a user group or two here to help with that. I am a MAFfer, so the only time I worry about max HR is when the person's max is lower than average. In a case like this, it is usually not a problem. Newbie HRM users usually do the calculated max. 90% of that is bad no matter what age if you are doing an easy run.

          I'm touching your pants.

          JakeKnight


            On those two mile runs ... how do you feel at the end? Are you gasping and puking? Having long conversations about the price of wheat in Kansas? Somewhere in between? Why are you using the HRM? What are your goals? How did you determine your max HR? Did you think you were "overdoing it in the past" before your HRM told you so? If not ... who do you trust more - you or your HRM? Why did you keep "bonking" in the past? How did you know? How far and how often and how fast were you running? Why do you think you have to "push yourself" to anything? What does that mean exactly? Lots of questions. All leading to the same (now fraught with danger) advice. Or at least maybe heading towards that advice, depending on the answers. The advice: put the HRM down for a while. Or shoot it. With a large caliber weapon. Start running gently, frequently, and consistently. See how you feel in a month or two. Make running fun, something you look forward to, and the "getting back in shape" part will take care of itself. ----------------- If you log your runs, making your log public will get you some more helpful advice on all of the above.

            E-mail: eric.fuller.mail@gmail.com
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              Have others experienced this? I was surprised at how I have to slow down... Any preferences on a training program to get back into shape? Or advice?
              I know a couple of people, my mom for example who's heartrate goes way up just by walking to the corner, sucks when you get old. Take care Girl. JUST KIDDING Big grin Big grin

              "The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling." - Lucretius

                Ditto the response about determining your max HR. Very likely you're using an age-based formula which is not a good predictor of max HR for individuals. What was your breathing like when your HRM told you it was too hard?
                "So many people get stuck in the routine of life that their dreams waste away. This is about living the dream." - Cave Dog
                  I found I had to slow done to a walk most of the time to keep my HR in the desired range. In the end I tossed my Heart Rate Monitor and worked on Percieved Rate of Exertion. It works better for me.
                    I did a lot of HR training earlier in the year and it really paid dividends but like so many others have said, if you don't know YOUR VO2/lactate threshold (max HR, in my opinion, is a worthless number) then you're not heart rate training. The best way to determine that is to go to a lab. There are several field tests that you can use. Different people have different opinions of the validity of each. I calculated mine using a treadmill test and then confirmed/tweaked it with subsequent tests. I tried to retest about once a month. Some other things to keep in mind... Your HR doesn't start when your legs start. Mine usually settles in around 20 mins so if you start out too fast then your HR will blow right past where you want it to be. Depending on your level of fitness you'll start experiencing cardiac drift at some point in your workout. Basically, at a given temp and pace, your HR will have to increase to keep up. If it's hot/humid when you run then all bets are off. Nice clinical numbers with laboratory conditions don't mean much when you're an hour into your run on a hot day! If you're going to train this way then find your VO2 max and find a real training plan that utilizes these numbers. I really enjoyed Total Heart Rate Training.
                    2008 Goals Don't attack the guy that passes me like I'm standing still when I think I'm running fast...I can't catch him anyway and I'd just look silly
                      Thanks for the advice, everyone. I am aware of the problems with the max HR age-based methods - maybe I will go get a VO2 test. The old age-based methods served me pretty well when I was a very serious competitive swimmer in my teen years and my current max isn't too far off of that, so I am not too worried about being one of those individuals who is way off of what the formulas predict. But it would be nice to know what a test could tell me. I think I will hang on to the heart rate monitor, if only because it slows me down. When I got to thinking about it, as a swimmer I had a wide range of speeds and corresponding effort & intensity levels from warm-up/cool down to sprinting. Then I was sedentary for a number of years and when I tried to take up running, my only pace & effort level seemed to be jogging and sucking wind (of course I can go faster, but jogging itself seems hard to sustain sometimes)! I tried to just power through and always got worn out and didn't stick with the running more than a few months at a time, with long breaks in between. But I thought that run/walk was wimpy or something like that. Consequently at the end of even 15 minutes of continuous jogging at this point, I am exhausted and can't imagine adding any distance! Likely my problem really is simply that I need to build back into being in shape. I will just have to take it slowly, I guess. Smile P.S. Isn't it amazing what good shape we were in as kids/teens? I had no idea at 16 or 17 that I was in the best shape of my life! I could climb our 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado no problem, ski, whatever - then as a lazy twenty-something I would try to go ski/climb 14er's and be weak and seeing stars from lack of anaerobic conditioning! The I-did-sports-as-a-kid-but-then-was-a-total-slob-in-my-20's is a story I am hearing from a lot of people...

                      Goals: 1. Finish One Hour Runner Program 2. Train for and run a 10K in late winter 3. Run a half in late spring 4. Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco, Oct 2009

                        Thanks for the advice, everyone. P.S. Isn't it amazing what good shape we were in as kids/teens? I had no idea at 16 or 17 that I was in the best shape of my life! I could climb our 14,000 foot mountains in Colorado no problem, ski, whatever - then as a lazy twenty-something I would try to go ski/climb 14er's and be weak and seeing stars from lack of anaerobic conditioning! The I-did-sports-as-a-kid-but-then-was-a-total-slob-in-my-20's is a story I am hearing from a lot of people...
                        no kidding... if you ask people in their 30's who have been timed many years ago what they can run for a 2-mile time they will probably say "oh I'm out of shape... I bet it would take me 13 or 14 minutes". Then they find out it takes them almost 20 and get bummed out as they are practically puking to make that time.

                         

                         

                         

                         


                        A Saucy Wench

                          no kidding... if you ask people in their 30's who have been timed many years ago what they can run for a 2-mile time they will probably say "oh I'm out of shape... I bet it would take me 13 or 14 minutes". Then they find out it takes them almost 20 and get bummed out as they are practically puking to make that time.
                          Ummmm actually for the vast majority of non runners in their 30's 20 minutes would be a fast time. I would guess your typical "I used to be in shape but I havent been to the gym in a couple years" cant get 10mm. I ran for YEARS before I could hit a 10mm

                          I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                           

                          "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                          jEfFgObLuE


                          I've got a fever...

                            Thanks for the advice, everyone. I am aware of the problems with the max HR age-based methods - maybe I will go get a VO2 test. The old age-based methods served me pretty well when I was a very serious competitive swimmer in my teen years and my current max isn't too far off of that, so I am not too worried about being one of those individuals who is way off of what the formulas predict. But it would be nice to know what a test could tell me.
                            A VO2max test is meaningless at this stage of your training. If you want to know your max HR, you can do some hill repeats, say 4x200m, and sprint the last one. Another test I've seen is to run 800m all-out, rest 5 minutes, and blast another 800m. You'll hit your max in the second one for sure. Anonther note about HR training is that your heart rate will be much higher in hot conditions versus "ideal" running weather (<60°f, overcast).="" since="" it="" seems="" to="" be="" a="" hot="" summer="" everywhere,="" there's="" a="" good="" chance="" your="" hr="" values="" are="" inflated.="" or,="" put="" it="" this="" way="" --="" a="" hrm="" is="" basically="" useless="" in="" hot="" weather.="" i've="" been="" doing="" a="" lot="" of="" runs="" on="" an="" indoor="" walking="" track,="" and="" i've="" been="" amazed="" how="" easily="" i="" can="" run="" at="" a="" faster="" pace="" and="" lower="" hr="" than="" outside.="" (i="" shoot="" for=""></60°f,><80%max on easy days indoors). best advice at this point is to not worry about hr -- focus on running at a pace where you would feel comfortable having a conversation. on="" easy="" days="" indoors).="" best="" advice="" at="" this="" point="" is="" to="" not="" worry="" about="" hr="" --="" focus="" on="" running="" at="" a="" pace="" where="" you="" would="" feel="" comfortable="" having="" a=""></80%max on easy days indoors). best advice at this point is to not worry about hr -- focus on running at a pace where you would feel comfortable having a conversation.>

                            On your deathbed, you won't wish that you'd spent more time at the office.  But you will wish that you'd spent more time running.  Because if you had, you wouldn't be on your deathbed.


                            A Saucy Wench

                              Best advice at this point is to not worry about HR -- focus on running at a pace where you would feel comfortable having a conversation.
                              What Jeff said. If you really are concerned about it, run what feels like an easy pace, and then slow down a bit more. If you keep focusing on running MORE and keeping it easy, you will run an appropriate pace to build low HR endurance.

                              I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

                               

                              "When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

                                Check out the Low Heart Rate Training group. http://www.runningahead.com/groups/LOWHRTR/Forum I've been training this way since I started running a little over 1.5 years ago. I'm still a beginner, but it's worked well for me so far. I started off running 12-13 minute miles and often had to walk to keep below my MAF HR (180-AGE). Now, most of my runs are 9:XX/mile, with an average HR in the 130's (my max is 195). People that have run a lot of races, can easily figure out what thier easy pace is with the MacMillan calculator, and may not need the HRM. As a beginner, it's more difficult to know what "easy" feels like.
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