A beginners question re heart rate

Can you talk out loud... while you're running... like this then... you're fine.

The talk test is a decent way for novices to make sure they aren't running too fast. Don't be alarmed by a HR of 200. The formula 220-age=Max heart rate is way off for a lot of people.

When you first start running or you run after a layoff of many months, your HR will be high for a while until you get into shape.

If you run and your HR gets to 200 and you feel okay, then you can handle 200.

Unless you have underlying heart problems, running really hard (that is, at a very high heart rate) isn't dangerous. It just means that you will be too tired the next day to run hard again.

Once you have a few months of running in the books, look up the Joe Friel Lactate Threshold Heart Rate training method and use it for your training. It won't help you right now because you lack the fitness to determine your LTHR. Besides, your LTHR will improve rapidly for the first few weeks of your training.

Good luck. Welcome to running!!!

Wrist based HR monitors can be really off since they use infrared.

What are you calling "HRV"?

Just go by how you feel.

Hi James,

my tip is that you go out walking for 30 minutes (not running!) and measure your heart rate. To be honest i have the feeling that your level of fitness is not there at the moment.

Come back when this is done.

Hi, apologies - HRV is heart rate variability.

Hi, I regularly walk - my average heart rate on walks tends to be between 110 and 120.

Sorry, I don't know how to reply to multiple posts at once! Thanks for your post, I really appreciate the advice.

Ok, this is what i have expected. This is a relatively high heart rate for walking, so at the moment running only is too much for you.

The next step is to walk - run - walk -run . You warm up 10 minutes (minimum) with walking -than run 5 minutes (slow of course) - walk 5 minutes - and so on.

If you do this regulary your fitness level improves until you can run continuously with a lower heart rate and you do not need to walk anymore. Be patient, good luck.

Since you've only been running for 3 weeks, I'd suggest that you do the following.

Continue to run every other day. The rest day will help you improve faster.

Gradually increase the distance (or the time) that you run. This will help you build a base of endurance.

At this very early stage, you can use the Galloway Method. Run for a set period of time, then walk, then run, then walk, and continue to repeat this run/walk method. Novices might start at 30 seconds running followed by 30 seconds of brisk walking. There are many benefits of the Galloway Method. It lets you run farther. It lets your HR come down during the walking phase so you can run a little faster in the running phase. (This trains your muscles to handle the faster pace.) It reduces the risk of injury.

Look up the Galloway Method. You can adjust it based on how you feel. For example, you might start at 30/30 in seconds. Then, go to 1/1 in minutes, then 2/1, then 3/1, 4/1, and 5/1.

For me personally, I found that walking for longer than 1 minute wasn't productive. Once I couldn't recover enough to run after a 1 minute walk break, I'd just walk the rest of the way.

You're at the 3 week point now. It takes about 3 weeks for the muscles to adapt to running so you should begin to see improvements soon. It takes about 3-6 months for the ligaments and tendons to strengthen so you need to be alert for unusual pain. Novices don't know the difference between normal soreness and an injury so if you have a pain that starts suddenly on a run... stop and walk back.

Eventually, say in another month or so, your HR will be lower at the pace you are running today.

Thanks all, I really appreciate all the advice and encouragement!

I agree 100% This guy just needs to work on fitness by running and walking as needed.