Forums >General Running>Starting Heart Rate Training
So I am a 175lbs, 53 year old male runner with a marathon PR of 3:27:32 and I just completed the Mohawk-Hudson Marathon in 3:28:58.
Overall my running habits are bad; I don't stretch, warm up, cool down or weight train.
Wanting to try and change things up and to try and break 3:25:00 in the Spring I have decided to try training by Heart Rate over the winter.
My easy lunchtime run today (last PRE-HR training); 5miles on treadmill @ 6.5mph and 1.5% incline;
Average HR - 151bpm (81% of max)
Maximum HR - 171bpm (93% of max)
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4203775371
If that was an easy run, your max heart rate is much too high, although the average is probably about right. I would suggest checking your HR monitor is working OK; the gap between the max heart rate and the average heart rate is extremely high for an easy run.
For most of my easy runs on the flat, HR doesn't deviate much from the average once I'm warmed up, maybe +/- 5bpm. A 20bpm variation between average and max is more like what I'd expect to see from a hard interval training session or a long progression run.
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr, 1:15:48
Up next: Runway5, 4 May
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
I'm actually guessing the High Heart Rate is a one time blip in the Garmin data. Everything else looks nice there, although, like me, it's probably just a little too fast.
Very very difficult for most of us to actually make an easy run, easy.
Caffeine-fueled Runner
I concur that the HR is much too high for an easy run. I looked at your data and you have about 20 minutes at an elevated level before it backs off. That doesn't really make any sense unless your level of incline decreased (your cadence decreased after that point. Is it wrist-based or chest strap based? I'm guessing wrist-based because of the cadence data. The Garmin chest-strap monitors give more data than the wrist-based gives WRT cadence.
I've almost always trained using HR zones and your probably going to discover what you consider "easy," isn't.
PR's--- 5K 24:11, 10K 49:40, 10-Mile 1:26:02, HM 1:56:03, Marathon 4:16:17
Maniac #11112, Fanatic #14276, Double Agent #2335
Heart Rate is based on data gained from wearing wrist watch - Fenix5.
I know my "easy" runs are not easy - but they are less stressful that the "hard" runs.
Tried my first Heart Rate based run today;
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4206689259
I tried to keep my heart rate at or around 120bpm;- 3 mile treadmill run at 1% incline - Average Pace 10:36min/mile (5.7mph)
Average HR - 117bpm
Max HR - 131BPM
This felt tough, and I will need to re-calibrate my watch to account for my reduced cadence. I did manage to get my heart settled into fluctuate between 115-120 bpm.
A couple of weeks of heart rate training and getting confusing results;
Yesterday to a long/slow run trying to keep my heart rate down between 125-135 bpm. Found it very hard to control and had to stop and walk at several points. Ended up running 11miles @ 9:38 average pace. Average heart rate 135 bpm.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4237840393
Today went out for a tempo run. Ran 6.5miles @ 7:13 average pace. Average heart rate 141 bpm.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4239752549
Anyone have any comments/thoughts?
A couple of weeks of heart rate training and getting confusing results; Yesterday to a long/slow run trying to keep my heart rate down between 125-135 bpm. Found it very hard to control and had to stop and walk at several points. Ended up running 11miles @ 9:38 average pace. Average heart rate 135 bpm. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4237840393 Today went out for a tempo run. Ran 6.5miles @ 7:13 average pace. Average heart rate 141 bpm. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4239752549 Anyone have any comments/thoughts?
Hills.
Even though your long/slow run was much slower, the heart rate was creeping up because it was such a hilly course. The tempo run, though done much faster, was much less hilly., Consequently, the reason the easy run had a higher HR than you might expect, relative to the hard run, is because the hills stressed your heart rate,
While their might be other factors, like rest, temperature, length of the workout, the hillier terrain would certainly contribute quite a bit to what you experienced.
I concur that the HR is much too high for an easy run. I looked at your data and you have about 20 minutes at an elevated level before it backs off. That doesn't really make any sense unless your level of incline decreased (your cadence decreased after that point. Is it wrist-based or chest strap based? I'm guessing wrist-based because of the cadence data. The Garmin chest-strap monitors give more data than the wrist-based gives WRT cadence. I've almost always trained using HR zones and your probably going to discover what you consider "easy," isn't.
i looked at it too, and concur with what he said. It really looks like your heart rate monitor went into a very discreet phase of cadence lock, whereby it stops picking up your actual heart rate and starts picking up your running cadence in lieu of it. I would be 100% sure of it except the rate of 168/169 bpm is a little low for cadence, though you probably were running quite slowly.
The truth for many of us is that when anomalies appear on our heart rate data that are way out of the realm of expectation, we usually ignore them. THese things are not always accurate, and when they are off, they usually go way way off. Whenever you see stretches of a workout that weren't that hard but go into a duration of 170+ bpm, it is usually cadence lock. When you've monitored your HR data over a long enough time, you get a sense when something is just messed up and know when to ignore it.
EDIT: Look at your cadence line. It is exactly the numbers you are getting as your heart rate during that phase. Exactly 168, 169 bpm. A case of interference.