Used a Polar Heart Rate Monitor for First Time

[crnewhouse]

Another question for the brain trust regarding HR monitor running. I live in South Texas, so it's hot all the time. Like, still 88 degrees at 10:00PM hot. Sometimes when I do my runs my HR will get up to around 160 and the only thing I can do to bring it down is walk. I can trot along as slow as possible (sometimes even slower than if I was just walking anyway) but unless I actually walk, I can't get my HR down below the 150 threshold. Usually it happens after about 20-25 mins of continuous running. Is this because of my fitness (and will get better as I progress through BB) or is it because of the heat? If it's because of the heat, should I allow my HR to creep up to 160 or so, or still treat 150 as a hard ceiling?

Edit: I just completed my first week of BB, so this HR question is in regards to the LSS BB runs.

Fellow Texan chiming in here:

- Could you possibly go for a run earlier in the day?
- Maybe you should take some of your running indoors. You can run on a treadmill two times a week and do your longer run outside.
- Another thing to note, we are starting to approach cooler (read slightly less hot) days so maybe that will help your outdoor runs.
- Remember it's not necessary to track your HR. I do it, but I am an analyst by trade so I love studying data trends. However, the rule of thumb for your LSS is can you maintain a conversation (3-4 sentences at a time) while running. Try talking to yourself every now and then. Just make sure no one else is around or you will look crazy
- Run/walking is not a bad thing. It may not seem awesome right now, especially since you are further along in your Base Building, but you're still doing wonders for your body keeping your HR in that aerobic zone.

Hope this helps!

Edit: I read first as fifth. You are just starting out so don't worry about running/walking right now. I wouldn't sweat it even if you were in your fifth week. Fitness is a long journey and progress may be slow, but you will make progress in the long run (pun intended).

[WallBilly]

Another question for the brain trust regarding HR monitor running. I live in South Texas, so it's hot all the time. Like, still 88 degrees at 10:00PM hot. Sometimes when I do my runs my HR will get up to around 160 and the only thing I can do to bring it down is walk. I can trot along as slow as possible (sometimes even slower than if I was just walking anyway) but unless I actually walk, I can't get my HR down below the 150 threshold. Usually it happens after about 20-25 mins of continuous running. Is this because of my fitness (and will get better as I progress through BB) or is it because of the heat? If it's because of the heat, should I allow my HR to creep up to 160 or so, or still treat 150 as a hard ceiling?

Edit: I just completed my first week of BB, so this HR question is in regards to the LSS BB runs.

I was living in Atlanta during my long-ago running phase, so I feel your pain!

It's probably fitness and the heat. Both will get better shortly. In 8 weeks of Base + 2 weeks of Black, the mile pace that I needed to maintain on a flat course to stay under 150 bpm went from 13-14 minutes/mile to 9 minutes/mile. I was not a couch potato when I started, either. I had been doing TB-style strength training for 2 years and was playing hockey twice a week.

So I would not panic about walking a little bit unless it is still happening in November. I also would not panic if it crept up above 150 for a bit during LSS as long as it was not the majority of the time.

[WallBilly]

P.S.:

Remember:

The goal of LSS during Base is to strengthen your cardiovascular system, not to run.

The tools that you use to measure the training effectiveness are the heart rate monitor and the clock.

You could accomplish the same goals on a stair-stepping machine, or walking up stairs in the office tower, or swimming, or any number of other things.

If you have to walk for 3 minutes in 92 degree heat but your heart is still running at 150 bpm, that's just as effective for your goals as if you were running faster on a 64 degree morning in Michigan.

Your heart and lungs don't give a rip how they get stressed.

[K.B.]

The heartrate guidelines are just that, guidelines. I've mentioned this before but 5-10 beats here or there isn't something to be concerned about. Here's the problem with getting hyperfocused on heartrate:

1. Daily Heart Rate Variability

Heartrate does NOT always correspond to effort. Training zones are usually meant to elicit a certain level of intensity to bring about specific adaptation.
Sleep, stress, and dehydration can raise or lower your heartrate on any given day by 5-10bpm.
Your HR can vary day to day by 2-4bpm for no reason at all.
Caffeine can elevate your HR for up to 24 hours after ingestion.
Running in hot or cold weather can increase/decrease HR as your body makes efforts to cool or vice versa.

2. The Accuracy of your HR Training Zone

The formulas used to determine max heartrate (which are then used to calculate aerobic zone etc) are based on the average. Whether this is the 130-150bpm rule of thumb or the Maff Method (220 minus your age etc.). You might be below or above average. To get YOUR actual Max HR you'd need to go to a testing facility that has the proper equipment, get hooked up and measured after doing strenuous tests like a lab rat on a wheel.

3. Equipment Precision
You can't trust the technology 100%. Things like sweat, malfunction, positioning/movement of strap, other HR monitors in the area, distance between receiver/monitor can all cause fluctuations. Some minor and some major.

So when you take all that into consideration, you can't get hung up on a few beats here or there. It's not that precise of a science to begin with. The only people that should be walking during Base are beginners that can't complete the runs continuously yet. It's simple, just go for an easy jog in 1st gear. YOUR 1st gear. Use the talk test, and look at your monitor every once in a while to make sure you're not wildly out of bounds and you'll be good to go. The HR zones are guidelines to keep you out of Tempo-mode and to stop you from breaking out in sprints or fartlek.

[J-Madd]

This might be a bit off the topic, but we are in the general vicinity of how to pace base runs. I've never used a heart rate monitor, and I like the talk test a lot. For a beginner, that is probably the best way to go. Once you are more experienced you might also just pace yourself by your min/mile ratio. I find that once I'm in a 8.45 - 9.00/mile groove, I'm working but I can go on almost indefinitely. That's definitely my "first gear." Much slower, and I'm really not working very much, but much faster and I'm going to start working too hard for base build (60 min of that and I won't be able to do this again tomorrow!). 8.45-9.00 and I'm golden (for LSS). I don't use any tech but a stop watch and known landmarks on my various running routes to calculate my pace. For example, if I'm doing a 6 mile out and back run, I know where the 1 mile, 2 mile, and 3 mile (turn around) points are, and I can check my pace against my watch at each point. I have regular 1 mile, 2 mile, 3 mile, 5 mile, 6 mile and 8 mile out and back routes starting at my back door, so pretty much any run I'm on, I know where I am and what my pace is throughout. Having to do some quick calculating and working for definite landmarks helps me with concentration and interest during a long run.

It takes a while to find your golden pace, but that is more reason to get out there and put some miles on. For years I was obsessed with keeping every run sub 8.00/mile, and that lead to a lot of injury and burn-out when I would be in a base-building phase. It took a while to gain the humility for me to slow my pace down, i.e., I had to get over seeing how many power walkers I could pass on the running path, and instead focus on getting the right kind of work in. 8.45-9.00 is really natural to me, and I just sort of fall into it; very rarely do I need to correct my pace very much on a base run.

[Tym87]

I was living in Atlanta during my long-ago running phase, so I feel your pain!

I went running in Atlanta for the first and last time this week. Ended being hit by a car.

[RugbyGuy]

The wife got me a Garmin running watch a few years ago. I had only really used it sporadically, mostly to pace myself for PFT runs and such.

I've been doing the SE circuits 3x per week with my old powerlifting buddy. Then doing something inside the gym (row, bike, whatever) until he finishes his lifting. Then we'd do a pick up game of basketball or racketball. So the other 3x a week I've been running with the watch and HR monitor when I had a break in the day.

Guess all the gizmos and stuff had me feeling like a space cadet. Worrying about HR zones and cadence and such when I just need to go out wnd just put miles in. Thanks for all the advice and getting me back to the basics. Run long, not too hard and often for a while.

[Canterbury]

P.S.:

Remember:

The goal of LSS during Base is to strengthen your cardiovascular system, not to run.

Your heart and lungs don't give a rip how they get stressed.

Well put! Nailed it.

That being said, it's a good idea to add specificity for whatever your long term goal is. If you're training to ultimately get in the military, then run and ruck. Specificity is icing on your base building cake. If you're a fighter then mix it up with Triples, pads, and roadwork. If you're a swimmer, swim....and so on.

[Canterbury]

The wife got me a Garmin running watch a few years ago. I had only really used it sporadically, mostly to pace myself for PFT runs and such.

I've been doing the SE circuits 3x per week with my old powerlifting buddy. Then doing something inside the gym (row, bike, whatever) until he finishes his lifting. Then we'd do a pick up game of basketball or racketball. So the other 3x a week I've been running with the watch and HR monitor when I had a break in the day.

Guess all the gizmos and stuff had me feeling like a space cadet. Worrying about HR zones and cadence and such when I just need to go out wnd just put miles in. Thanks for all the advice and getting me back to the basics. Run long, not too hard and often for a while.

As someone coming to TB with an endurance background, yeah it's easy to get carried away with the minutiae! I don't think KB's throwing out the baby with the bathwater, use the monitor, just don't worry about being a few beats over or under. If it's forcing you to walk or run at an extremely awkward pace that might mean you're just above or below the mean used to calculate these generic max aerobic HR formulas. Just go for a nice easy pace, if you can carry on a conversation without having to take huge breathes before every sentence you're doing it right. You should also be on the cusp of being able to breath out of your nose for most of the run too (Don't do that, just sayin').

C

[Canterbury]

This might be a bit off the topic, but we are in the general vicinity of how to pace base runs. I've never used a heart rate monitor, and I like the talk test a lot. For a beginner, that is probably the best way to go. Once you are more experienced you might also just pace yourself by your min/mile ratio. I find that once I'm in a 8.45 - 9.00/mile groove, I'm working but I can go on almost indefinitely. That's definitely my "first gear." Much slower, and I'm really not working very much, but much faster and I'm going to start working too hard for base build (60 min of that and I won't be able to do this again tomorrow!). 8.45-9.00 and I'm golden (for LSS). I don't use any tech but a stop watch and known landmarks on my various running routes to calculate my pace. For example, if I'm doing a 6 mile out and back run, I know where the 1 mile, 2 mile, and 3 mile (turn around) points are, and I can check my pace against my watch at each point. I have regular 1 mile, 2 mile, 3 mile, 5 mile, 6 mile and 8 mile out and back routes starting at my back door, so pretty much any run I'm on, I know where I am and what my pace is throughout. Having to do some quick calculating and working for definite landmarks helps me with concentration and interest during a long run.

It takes a while to find your golden pace, but that is more reason to get out there and put some miles on. For years I was obsessed with keeping every run sub 8.00/mile, and that lead to a lot of injury and burn-out when I would be in a base-building phase. It took a while to gain the humility for me to slow my pace down, i.e., I had to get over seeing how many power walkers I could pass on the running path, and instead focus on getting the right kind of work in. 8.45-9.00 is really natural to me, and I just sort of fall into it; very rarely do I need to correct my pace very much on a base run.

Goldmine of useful information here.... Pacing and the talk-test are both tried, tested and true.