Average Heart Rate (Read 126 times)

While your Resting HR and the average HR while running is a bit on the high side, everybody is unique and you just may have higher MAX HR as well.  Observe your max heart rate in a race, maybe just before the end of a 5k or 10K which would likely be within a few beats of you Max.  Then calculate your HR zones based on the Heart Rate Reserve which is the difference between the max and resting HR.

I agree with Happyfeet. People have wide variation in resting HR, average HR and Max HR, and weather conditions and terrain can have a big impact too. Try and identify what your max heart rate is (5k race is a great idea) and work out your training zones off that.

Like others have said, there are wide differences in heart rate ranges and the age-based estimates (which cardio gear goes by) are very often not accurate. My wife has a low 30s resting and mine is mid 40s. When we are running together, my heart rate is usually a good 20 beats higher than hers. But I can still beat her in a race (but not by much). What does that mean? Nothing. 

Monitor your breathing is the better way to go. If you pay attention to it, you can feel/hear the point where you begin entering threshold training zones. Breathing rate kicks up noticeably and conversation becomes difficult. Most of your running should be below that level or at a pace where you can carry on a conversation. If you can't carry on a conversation comfortably, then you are entering a higher stress load and/or threshold pace which should only account for one or two workouts a week.

Most people run too fast too soon resulting in injury. The cardio system adapts much faster than bone, muscle, and ligaments which gets people into trouble. Slow it down and be comfortable for most runs. If you want to work on speed, keep that to just one per week unless you run every day. If so, you may be able to have two faster runs per week (but the risk of injury goes up).

I'd say you're running your 6 mile runs too hard. It's easy to do especially when you're running 25 miles a week. 175-180 is damn near my maximum race heart rate and I'm 5 years younger than you. When you run on your usual 6 miles could you talk to someone next to you for that whole 6 miles, or would it just be a word, hard breathing, another few words, really hard breathing, etc?

I'm 66 and am rebuilding my running base after a "year off" to deal with foot issues and job requirements.

I use a Garmin Fenix 5X to track HR.  Resting HR is averaging around 57 bpm.  At my peak training a couple of years ago, values in the 40's were common.

Maximum HR (ever) that was recorded by my chest strap HRM was 199 bpm at the end of a marathon where I was picking up the pace each mile in the last 3 miles.  I was sprinting the last 200 yards to catch and overtake a couple of "targets."  That was 4 years ago.  My average HR during what I consider easy runs is about 142 bpm.  During slightly more intense runs, more like 152 (about 11:00/mile including some hills).

It's been about three months since I did one of the 30-minute assessment runs.  Run with a chest-strap monitor rather than a wrist based monitor (I can choose either and I find, on average, that the two are usually quite close).  Since it was early in my rebuilding process, I ran at a pace I could sustain for the 30-minute duration.  My average pace was 10:08/mile (Split pace was 10:05/mile on mile 1 and average HR of 154 bpm, 10:15/mile on mile 2 and average HR of 160 bpm, and 10:04/mile for the last 9 minutes, 40 seconds of the test).  My average HR for the 30 minute run was 164 bpm (peaked at 180 bpm at the end of the run) and showed a smooth and gradual climb as I continued the run.  The program also evaluates the HR data for the LTHR (estimated at 169 bpm) which is quite close to the value that Garmin estimates using it's own algorithms.

Granted, I'm a little older and about 20 pounds heavier than my peak capabilities at running this test just three years ago at age 63.  Running the same test then, my pace average pace was 7:25/mile.  I obviously ran further in 30 minutes (4.05 miles) and my splits were 7:17, 7:19, 7:39, and 7:29 per mile for the first four miles.  If you do the math, you'll find that the pace during the last 16 seconds of the run  averaged 5:20/mile (I was flying at the end).  Average HR for each mile was 167, 172, 174, and 176, respectively.  Maximum HR during that run was 190 bpm with a 30-minute average of 176 bpm.  The LTHR value was higher than "typical" (at 180 bpm) for that run.  Most of the time it has been very close to 170 bpm.

As others have noted, each person is different.  Fortunately, I have HR data for nearly all my runs since 2013 and have developed a sense of what is normal (for me).

YMMV!