What heart rate do you run your tempos?

This is a good take. I ran a 4-mile tempo by feel but Strava says it was 137 with a peak of 165. It's a good baseline to start from. I don't want to get too hung up on heart rates, as I just got my smart watch a few months ago, and have run by feel with my trusty Timex for years. But it's a good thing to check once in a while.

IF YOU CAN SAY THIS WHILE "RUNNING" YOUR T PACE...W/O GASPING...you're good to go: "I feel good, I feel great, I just want to communicate".

OAS legend wrote:

I've heard that you don't gain anything by running faster than 90% of lactate threshold other than it hurting. I started incorporating heart rate into my running. Today I did an easy 6 in the morning up and down hills and I tried to keep it in between 140-150. It hit about 150-155 up the hills and sank to 140 or just below on the downhills. Think I averaged 8:50-9:10 which is very slow for me and it was tough not to speed up. Going to do another 4 this evening. Is this heart rate too high for that pace? I have always been told 150 is really working. For reference, I run a 17:45 5k and am looking to break 17. I've always been an aerobic runner but this just seems strange.

You run a 17:45 5k, and you call 8:50-9:10 a tempo pace? You've got to be joking, right?

Yuri wrote:

And I forgot to mention, my HR migrates from 150-170 by the time my tempos are done.

+1

I've tried to run tempos by HR but HR creep is real. i would have to have big positive splits to stay at the same HR.

Same as my easy runs, high 170s.

Scandinavian 1 wrote:

It`s normal that heartrate is a little bit higher in the morning compared to evening.

Don`t complicate things

No, it's not. That's why resting heart rate is taken first thing in the morning. The core temperature is colder and heart rate is lower in the morning.

moanswers wrote:

Yuri wrote:

And I forgot to mention, my HR migrates from 150-170 by the time my tempos are done.

+1

I've tried to run tempos by HR but HR creep is real. i would have to have big positive splits to stay at the same HR.

One reason is the increase in core temperature typically due to outside temperatures (Cardiac drift). I have a steady HR unless the temp is above approx 20 deg C outside. Actually the max VO2 uptake to the muscles decreases with rising temperature. If you run hard, you need almost the max VO2 and then performance will be limited. We know that from racing in hot conditions. If the tempo is comfortably hard and fast, we are a longer margin away from our max VO2. Then we can cope with more cardiac drift and hotter conditions than racing harder until the performance is compromized. I think we can feel this balance ourselves. I think tempos can be run on feel and pace and not looking too much towards HR, especially when the conditions are hotter and cardiac drift is noticable enough.

Cardiac drift happens on any pace so at an easy pace I would again look to feel of effort and pace, rather than limiting a max HR, but again the benefits from a long run run at 145 vs 150 HR is basically the same in adaptations.

I used HR as the only indication (along with feel of effort) due to running in the terrain and off trail. I now run much more on road and can use pace. I can see the HR is stable during one run (I live in a colder climate) but can vary btw morning and evening or from day to day, so much that it is not an accurate and useful intensity measurement. Feel is actually the best since it adapts to how recovered the body and legs are, but I get often feedback from pace which calibrates my feel, sort of

I never got that deep into training. Track and xc in h.s. and decades of road running and racing but never came up out of the "sheer joy of running" mode long enough to do the business of cardio monitoring.

Maybe why I never made the front ranks. That and lack of talent.

OAS legend wrote:

Jimmy21 wrote:

Why don't you do a couple proper tempo workouts and track your heart rate?

How do I know if it's 90% of my max heart rate? And don't say get your max heart rate tested because that's stupid. I want to know what other people do for their tempo runs.

Dont train by heart rate if you do not know your HRmax.

That is subpar and not so clever.

Pretzel Man wrote:

Just Run !!!!!

^^^ Yeah man - just run comfortably hard on them and let the pace tell you what the HR should be. Definitely not the other way around. In fact, I would ditch the watch and HR monitor for 1 or 2 and just run on feel. Of if you're disciplined enough, ignore the watch and break down the data after.

Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger has great information about using heart rate in training, determining max heart rate, and heart rate reserve.

Pfitzinger says the most accurate formula for determining maximal heart rate is: 207 minus.7 times your age, ie, 177 [207 – (.7 × [your age])].

Alternatively, he notes that it can be determined through the following workout:

Warm up thoroughly. Next, run three high-intensity 600-meter repeats up a moderate hill, jogging back down right away after each one. If you run these 600s all out, your heart rate should be within two or three beats of maximum by the end of the third repeat.

Heart rate is a great training tool, but perceived effort and pace are also important.