Heart Rate question

IMO heart rate monitors are unnecessary. Your HR every session is going to depend on many things as well as your effort level - hydration status, mental fatigue, the temperature, humidity will affect your HR.

Eg. you might run 8k in 30mins at a steady pace at 155bpm. Next week you do the same run, same pace, but if it is 15C (sorry I'm an Aussie & don't know Farenheit) warmer then your HR will be higher.

The formulas for working out maximum HR are completely arbitrary and shouldn't be relied upon as absolute measures. It's also likely that as you get more aerobically fit your MHR will decrease - your HR will be lower at rest and lower at medium-hard paces compared to previous, and lower at max effort as well.

I probably haven't really answered your question but I wouldn't worry too much. Personally I think the time HR monitoring is useful is checking RHR in the morning, and maybe in easy runs to make sure they are truly being easy runs.

Tassie makes some good points, but I do believe in using a HR monitor. You are correct that there are a lot of factors that can influence HR. I don't rely on the monitor on an individual workout basis, but as a means to chart my avaerages over a long period of time. I download each workouts HR information and like being able to see trends.

As for the original poster, it would seem that your RHR and your WHR don't jive. You WHR seems a little high for the effort. It your numbers were a one time sample then forget it. If you are consistantly running such a high HR for a low effort workout, you might want to have a check up. It most likely is nothing to worry about, but when it comes to the heart it never hurts to check. Good Luck!

According to your max test your max HR is 189, which is pretty typical and probably more accurate than using some formula derived from a group of subjects. If yuo do have a 189 max then your threshold HR is very typical -- about 89-92% of max HR. As for the repeat 400s it is possible that your HR is still increasing as you finish each run and the recoveries between runs allow it to go down enough that it still is not getting any higher with the next run -- recovery time between relatively short repeat runs will certainly have an effect on HR reached in the next run.

jtupper - if you are still checking this thread, i wanted to ask youit is not necessarily true that everyone has a lactate threshold at 89-92% max HR... I tried tempos at 170-175 (my max HR is 190) and they did not feel like tempo runs, felt too hard and I wasn't improving. It seems to me I need to work up to 170 and start lower - like at 160 for hour long runs in base... any advice?Thanks!does this make sense to you

jtupper wrote:

According to your max test your max HR is 189, which is pretty typical and probably more accurate than using some formula derived from a group of subjects. If yuo do have a 189 max then your threshold HR is very typical -- about 89-92% of max HR. As for the repeat 400s it is possible that your HR is still increasing as you finish each run and the recoveries between runs allow it to go down enough that it still is not getting any higher with the next run -- recovery time between relatively short repeat runs will certainly have an effect on HR reached in the next run.

sorry jtupper - i know you are an expert on this stuff, the below was meant to be a question

anEconomist wrote:

it is not necessarily true that everyone has a lactate threshold at 89-92% max HR... I tried tempos at 170-175 (my max HR is 190) and they did not feel like tempo runs, felt too hard and I wasn't improving.

quote]

do you think 175bpm on a tempo is too high? I generally feel comfortable at that sort of pace and can hold sub 5 min miles for quite a while, whereas when I do track work my heart rate doesnt seem to go over 175 either!

The figures im quoting are an average over the last few months, not based on one run and one session

But strangly enough, i've just finished a session of 1k reps at 60 second pace and my heart rate hit 180. I guess im just not working hard enough round the track!!

looks like jtupper could be right in that my HR is still going up come the end of a 400m rep.

cheers for the info anyway

The answer is easy. I know it. Just check out my coaching / consulting site.

polar runner wrote:

do you think 175bpm on a tempo is too high? cheers for the info anyway

Your 175 bpm is 93% of max which is at the low end of a zone usually reserved for Interval/speed work. Admittedly, I don't know what your race pace is, but I would think your tempo run is a little fast for right now. Based on your HR's I think I would recommend more runs in the 70-80% range. Good luck with your progress.

...or you could explain it here if it is so easy.

I dont have time. I have important clients waiting.

polar runner wrote:

when I come to do a session on the track, eg. 10 400s off 1min, My heart rate will also be hitting the 170-175bpm mark, but no higher?

I did a vo2 max test and my heart rate reached 189bpm in that just as I stepped off the treadmill, that means it can go higher, so why isn't it?

I ran into something very similar when I monitored my HR during 400s a few years ago. I was expecting to see a nice 98% max HR at the end, but I was 15-20 beats slow. Had to run at least 600m at my mile race pace to get to 98%.

It was actually that exact workout that changed my philosophy about interval workouts to emphasize faster pace, longer duration, and less reps. Didn't want to face reality at the time, but effective interval work is a lot tougher than I had allowed myself to believe.

The fitter you get the higher the fraction of max you will get to during your threshold runs, but I would imagine if in fairly good shape (fit for your ability level), you would be at 85% or higher when at true threshold pace.

i think you're spot on there. when i do the 10x400\'s my heart rate is the 175 area and then tonight when i did 3x1k at the same pace as those 400s my heart rate is higher

and also on the tempo\'s i think im in pretty good shape, but i always tend to work my tempo\'s as close to race pace as i can which is why the hr is quite high for that sort of workout