Running and Heart Rate question

kuechletwins

I'm new to running and have a question about my heart rate. Is there an optimum heart rate I should try to stay UNDER so that I improve my overall performance? I'm 38 and my heart rate gets up to 172-178 sometimes while running. My Polar FT4 says that I'm out of my zone above like 165. Should I slow down in an attempt to bring my heart rate down? Am I pushing it too hard? I'm getting frustrated that I'm taking longer to get through the C25K program than I anticipated - but I want running to be something I stick with long term - so I want to do it right and take the time needed. Thanks in advance for your help!

sarahs440

good question....bump

Mollydolly10

I'm new to running and have a question about my heart rate. Is there an optimum heart rate I should try to stay UNDER so that I improve my overall performance? I'm 38 and my heart rate gets up to 172-178 sometimes while running. My Polar FT4 says that I'm out of my zone above like 165. Should I slow down in an attempt to bring my heart rate down? Am I pushing it too hard? I'm getting frustrated that I'm taking longer to get through the C25K program than I anticipated - but I want running to be something I stick with long term - so I want to do it right and take the time needed. Thanks in advance for your help!

What "zone" are you referring to? Fat burning vs. Fitness zone? If so, then the higher your heart rate, the more calories you are going to burn. But also, the longer you sustain a workout, the more you will burn, so it is about finding a balance and mixing up workouts that are short, high intensity, and much longer with less intensity. The Polar "zones" are a myth. If you are burning calories, some of those calories burned are going to be from fat (assuming you are fueling your body enough), therefore there is not point in trying to FORCE yourself to stay under a certain heart rate (unless you have a condition where your doctor tells you otherwise of course!)

I have a Polar and the only time I'm in my "fat burning zone" is during some strength training, yoga, and some of my running cooldowns. Believe me, I would not even be able to RUN in my fat burning zone, I'd be forcing myself to go so slow!

So no worries, just focus on how your body FEELS. For running, a good idea to build endurance is to get to a pace where you can hold a comfortable conversation with someone, and hold that pace for an extended period of time (this will be your long run). For other workouts like sprints, you shouldn't be able to form complete sentences while running :-P I would say improving your performance is running is a lot about being able to sustain yourself. Obviously you are trying to work up distance by doing C25K, so you need to work up the amount of time you can run without stopping to walk. Just follow what I said above about finding the right comfort level during your runs (being able to hold a conversation) and you will find that over time your body will be able to handle more!

**EDIT: I'm only 23, but my heart rate is usually around 165 for my long, "easy" (easier, not easy haha) runs and will get up to 172 and even 175 for the really fast sprints.

Hova1914

you're not working too hard. your settings are just set too low. when I got my hrm, the factory settings were too low and constantly said I was above my target range too. So I read this website

http://walking.about.com/cs/fitnesswalking/a/hearttraining.htm

and used their heart rate zone calculator to find my maximum heart rate and the zone I should try to stay in at a minimum for effective fat burn.

as you work and get better at running, remember this: the heart is a muscle and like any other muscle, it gets stronger the more you work it. This means that while your heart rate might be 165 when you run a mile now, 2 months from now it could be 140 because it's gotten stronger. So you have to work harder/run faster to get the same burn. I use my hrm to help get my speed and distance up in addition to monitor my calories burned. When I'm running my brain will say "I'm so TIRED! We should slow down." but then I look at my hrm (which tells me what's REALLY going on with my body) and it's well below or within my range, so I maintain that speed or run faster because I know my body can handle it. It's helped me shave MINUTES off my times.

edit: she posted right before i did, so my comment pretty much mirrors what mollydolly said, and I 100% agree with everything she says. If I'm running 4 miles or less my heart rate is high (180ish) and I'm hauling butt. If I'm doing 6 miles and up, it's a little lower (170ish) and I'm just cruising and building endurance.

jhmomofmany

I'm 34 and pretty new to running, too. It sounds like maybe you are trying to go too fast. Right now my "conversational pace" is as slow as 4.5 to 5 mph; at that pace my HRM is reading around 130-135. That's a pace I can comfortably keep up for a long time. If I speed up to, say, 6 mph (10 minute/mile) my HRM will read more like 155-160 and I know at that rate I can't keep that up for more than a mile or so. Faster than that, I can only keep it up maybe 30 seconds, LOL! I'm almost embarrassed to share that info b/c I know I'm going too slow.... I've been told that if you focus on endurance, speed will eventually come on its own. I hope that's right!

So, one newbie to another, I'd suggest maybe slowing down and see if you can go further with less frustration and discomfort.

kuechletwins

Thanks so much for the info! This was helpful! I just did W4D3 of C25K and my max HR was 175 and the average was 140.