Hr question wrote:
I was curious to know about how close I 'should' be getting. The honest truth how many of really truly know what our maximum HR is? I think if someone performed a max HR test 3 times they would probably get 3 different values. Of those values i would probably just average it.
My known MHR i would imagine is not my true max HR. It was just the highest I ever got it that day so I just claimed that as my reference point.
Even during a 5km race I've worn the monitor to look at how it changed over time. In my race I about nearly got to my LT HR zone in about the first 800m. After that it got up to about 85% of my known max up until about the 4.5km mark. I began my kick and it would get up to about 95-97% of my known max by the 5km mark. I guess this is about normal? Granted I felt lactate early in the first mile and was dealing with it throughout the rest of the race.
I'm asking since i have this HR info and trying to see if I can do better or if my central governor is limiting me than I think it does.
Assuming you've got all the facts straight...it seems to me you are running much easier than your potential for the 1st 4.5K of the 5K race. You should be able to hold much higher than 85% for the majority of the race...like maybe 92-97%...just approximating. But 85% should be nothing more that an upbeat training run...an EFFORT you could hold for 2+ hours if fit.
What kind of times and heart rates are we talking about? The difference between 85% and...let's say....93%...may be ~15 bpm. That's a big difference in effort. It would have meant at least 45-60 secs per mile for me...in the day.
Are you well-trained? Are you warming up? Are you've got the accurate info?
Are you racing by heart rate or by feel?
Based on the HR info, you can go faster.