September 16th, 2009 -- Posted in Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary |
One thing I didn’t mention in my previous diary articles was what I drink during my training. The simple answer is water. Plain water – nothing fancy. There is no need for Gatorade, Isotonic Drinks, Carbo Gels or any other other aids during runs of this length. I’ll cover how and when I do use these as my training progresses.
Also, I tend to drink more when I am treadmill training. I have a bottle of water to hand and take regular sips throughout the run. On average, I take a mouthful or two of water at approximately mile intervals during these runs. However, I find that on outdoor runs of less than an hour, I seldom feel the need for any liquid refreshment at all (assuming I’m adequately hydrated before setting out on the run).
I started the second week with a three mile run on a flat treadmill (0.0 incline), sticking to the principles of heart monitor training outlined in week one. I began at a slightly higher pace of 5.5mph and made reductions when necessary, finishing the run at 4.4mph. My split times for each mile were 11:03, 22:54 and 35:48, which was an improvement.
The following day I ran four miles, following the same pattern. My split times were 10:56, 22:24, 34:55, and 48:23. I was holding my pace well during the first three miles, but had to reduce speed a bit faster in the final mile. However, I still finished at 4.3mph and was nearly a minute-and-a-half faster than my previous four mile run. While the improvements are being made at this rate, I am happy to stick to the program and continue with straightforward recovery runs.
Day three will be a rest day, so I’ll report back in two or three days with more updates on the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog.
Technorati Tags: Heart Rate Monitor, heart rate monitor running, Running Diary, Running Plan, Running Program, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
September 14th, 2009 -- Posted in Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary |
As planned, day five was a rest day.
Day six was my final training day in this first week and my longest run so far – four miles. Please remember that this is a comeback week after a lay-off. It is not a schedule I would recommend to someone who is just starting out with running. I intend to write some more beginner’s articles for the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog in the near future.
I started the run a little faster at 5.3mph. I maintained above 5mph throughout the first mile and clocked-in at 11:29. The temperature was much the same as on my previous run, so now I was getting a more direct comparison of my efforts.
I’m quite pleased with progress in this first week – following the initial dissapointment of the first run. The split times for each mile were 11:29, 23:26, 36:07, 49:47 and I finished the run at 4.3mph. My average heart rate was 150bpm. In a matter of only five days, my times have improved nicely throughout the run. I’m now running faster at the end of four miles than I was at the end of two miles earlier in the week.
Can you see how motivating this style of training can be? I am running with exactly the same amount of effort, and my speed has increased measurably. This has to be better than just turning up and going through the motions of running a fixed time or distance without really knowing whether fitness is improving, doesn’t it? Of course, you may personally experience slower or faster gains, but the point is that you will know that you are improving and that the effort is worthwhile. This is exactly what turned me into a person that enjoys running.
Day seven was another rest day, so here’s a summary of the first week of training.
Weekly Summary
| Date |
Detail |
Incline |
Time |
Miles |
Peak H/R |
Avg. H/R |
| Sept-07 |
2m < 70% |
0.0 |
00:26:44 |
2.00 |
153 |
151 |
| Mile Splits: 1m 12:17; 2m 26:44 |
| Sept-08 |
3m < 70% |
0.0 |
00:40:37 |
3.00 |
153 |
151 |
| Mile Splits: 1m 12:04; 2m 25:09; 3m 40:36 |
| Sept-09 |
OFF |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| - |
| Sept-10 |
3m < 70% |
0.0 |
00:37:27 |
3.00 |
153 |
151 |
| Mile Splits: 1m 12:00; 2m 24:16; 3m 37:27 |
| Sept-11 |
OFF |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| - |
| Sept-12 |
4m < 70% |
0.0 |
00:49:47 |
4.00 |
153 |
150 |
| Mile Splits: 1m 11:29; 2m 23:26; 3m 36:07; 4m 49:47 |
| Sept-13 |
OFF |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| - |
Technorati Tags: Heart Rate Monitor, heart rate monitor running, Running Diary, Running Plan, Running Program, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
September 13th, 2009 -- Posted in Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary |
I planned a three mile run for my second day of training.
After having established my true (un)fitness level the previous day, I started the treadmill at a more realistic 5mph and allowed my heart rate to more gradually climb to my recovery ceiling. I started to drop the speed from around 0.75 miles into the run, but at a less dramatic rate than before.
My first two miles were 12:04 and 25:09 respectively, meaning that I was just over a minute-and-a-half faster to the two mile mark. My body was starting to adapt to training again. During the third mile I had to reduce my speed more frequently (using the technique I described in my previous article) and ended the run slowly at 3.8mph. My time for three miles was 40:36.
Day three was a rest day.
Day four was scheduled for another three mile run at recovery pace, following exactly the same principles as my earlier runs and starting at 5mph. I didn’t have to reduce my speed at all in the first mile, so it took 12:00 minutes exactly. I will increase my starting speed for my next run by a few tenths, since I am happy to reach my recovery ceiling sooner.
My times at the end of each mile split were 12:00, 24:16 and 37:27. So my three mile time was a full three minutes faster than on my previous run. If only progress was always that easy! I should point out that the weather was somewhat cooler today, so that will account for part of the improvement. My experience is that the heart works harder and does impact the timings on hot days. I’ll get a better idea how I’m progressing when the temperature settles down.
I’m planning a rest day for day five, followed by a four mile run on day six.
You can follow my progress on the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog.
Technorati Tags: Heart Rate Monitor, heart rate monitor running, Running Diary, Running Plan, Running Program, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
September 11th, 2009 -- Posted in Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary |
Recovery Run – Method
I’ve previously determined my heart rate recovery ceiling to be 153bpm (beats per minute). I monitor my heart rate throughout the run and when it reaches 154bpm, I immediately reduce my speed by 0.1mph. If it does not reduce to 153 or lower within ten seconds, then I reduce by another 0.1mph. In the early stage of the run, this process may be required in fairly rapid successions – particularly if I have started out too fast, like I did today. I may find that my heart rate still climbs after reducing my speed by 0.1mph, so I will drop it 0.2mph or more to quickly get back below my recovery ceiling. Sometimes my heart rate may drop to 151bpm or lower, in which case I’ll increase speed by 0.1mph increments to get back up to 152/153bpm. So as you can see, I’m looking to be training as near as possible to my recovery ceiling without going over. This process is easier to carry out on a treadmill, but the principle is the same when running outside. As the run progresses and as fitness improves, the process of reducing the speed becomes less frequent.
The First (comeback) Run
To kick-off my new training routine I decided to limit myself to two miles. This was a recovery run on a treadmill with no incline. The idea was simply to assess my current level of fitness (or lack thereof) and help me to set my level of training for the forthcoming week.
As I mentioned in my previous article, the brain is more ready for returning to training than the body. I started off at what I thought was a conservative pace of 6mph. However, I reached my heart rate recovery ceiling within just a couple of minutes and had to reduce the pace quite rapidly to 5mph and then gradually lower during the remainder of the run. I dragged my sorry ass in at 3.9mph at the end of the run. It was a humbling reminder that a heart rate monitor accurately measures how the heart responds to exercise, and the heart does not lie about the fitness level. Heart monitor training has no place for ego.
Today, my first mile was completed in 12:17, and my time for two miles was 26:44. My peak heart rate was 153bpm and averaged 151bpm. To put this in perspective, the final two miles of my marathon were completed more than three minutes faster than this!
After my target distance was completed I cooled-down by walking for five minutes, allowing my heart rate to slow down gradually. My lower back had ached during the run, so I did a post-run back stretch that I had been shown by a physiotherapist. This is performed by laying on the floor, then drawing the knees up to the chest into the foetal position. A gentle rocking motion aids the stretch.
It would be easy to dwell on the negative, but this is where keeping records can help the motivation. I could see a previous time in my training diary where I had missed training for two months, and I had a similar dramatic drop in fitness. Knowing that I successfully recovered from a very similar set-back in the past means that I am easily able to look beyond my current situation to where I will be in the coming months, as long as I follow structured training and remain patient.
Day One training was now complete, and I’m happy to say I was immediately looking forward to the next session. That’s exactly how it should be.
You can follow my progress on the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog.
Technorati Tags: Heart Rate Monitor, heart rate monitor running, Running Diary, Running Plan, Running Program, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
August 16th, 2009 -- Posted in Womens Heart Rate Monitor |
At this point I probably should explain some basics about what a heart rate monitor actually is, plus a little about how it works.
A heart rate monitor is really two devices. One is the transmitter, which is generally (though not always – as we shall later discuss) worn around the chest. Commonly, the actual transmitter area is made of flexible plastic, to which is attached an elasticated strap that passes around your back to hold the device in place just below the bust. When putting on the chest strap, it is often a good idea to wet the electrode areas that are in contact with the chest. This ensures that the best signal is picked-up from the outset. As you workout, the sweat will do the job nicely for you The chest strap feels a little uncomfortable to start with, though it becomes less noticeable in time. There are a couple of accessories that can help women in this respect.
The second device is the receiver which is built into specialist wrist watches, or into some gym cardio machines – such as treadmills, cross-trainers and stationary cycles.
The advantage on the cardio machines is that it is easy to keep an eye on the current heart rate reading on the machines LED display. Some cardio machines cycle the displayed information with other data such as calorie count, unless you “lock” the display.
My experience is that people who have a magazine sitting on their display panel are
a) not measuring their heart rate, and
b) probably not working hard enough!
Though I do have a sneaking admiration for anybody who’s eyesight is good enough to be able to focus on a magazine article while running, it’s probably no coincidence that they are nowhere to be seen in the gym within a few months of starting their program.
There are a good number of heart rate monitor watches to choose from. I was not aware of any at the time I began training, but I am certainly now aware that there are an increasing number of women’s heart rate monitor watches available.
One thing to be aware of is that heart rate monitor’s are subject to interference, which can lead to occasionally inaccurate readings. If you see your heart rate jump fifty beats a minute while running through a field of microwave towers, this is probably not cause for concern (though I would question your choice of running route). On a cardio machine, a more likely source of interference may be the person on the machine next to yours. They may also be wearing a transmitter and may be within range of your equipments receiver.
Some watches may be “paired” with your transmitter, which prevents interference from others using transmitters near to you. The “pairing” is only usually necessary when you use the watch and monitor strap combination for the first time, and it is a trivial task.
The more expensive watches are mini-computers that can keep a whole raft of data during and after your workout. More on this in a future article.
In my next articles I’ll describe how my mentor found my “resting heart rate” and how he used this information to calculate my initial workout plan.
Technorati Tags: exercise heart rate monitor, fitness heart rate monitor, heart monitor watches, heart rate monitor running, heart rate training, heartrate monitor, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
August 13th, 2009 -- Posted in Heart Rate Chart, Womens Heart Rate Monitor |
The next time I reluctantly met my new mentor he sat down with me to explain some things before we started the training.
“You may have seen some information about heart rate monitor training printed in leaflets, or on the treadmill itself. Perhaps you’ve looked at the pretty graph of heart rate training zones. For example, they say you can check your heart rate to ensure that you are training in the fat burning zone, or the aerobic zone. Well, I want you to forget all that nonsense!”
“The heart rate monitor training method I’m going to show you is simple and effective.”
He had my attention. Simple and effective is good.
“The first thing we need to do is establish some numbers to work to. I’m afraid I’m going to have to be indelicate and ask your age, because I can then estimate your maximum heart rate. Unless you would prefer to start with a stress-test to get a more accurate number and keep your age secret?”.
Stress Test? Two of the worst words in the English language! I gave him my age.
“Right. Now I’m going to apply a quick and dirty formula to estimate some very important figures. Namely your Maximum Heart Rate, your Recovery Ceiling and your Threshold Floor.”
He wrote the calculations down for me. This was how he did the first one:
Estimated Maximum Heart Rate
Start with 205
Subtract half your age
Add 5 for women (0 for men)
If you are following along with this, 40 year old men would have an estimated maximum heart rate of
205 – (40 / 2) + 0 = 185
Whereas 40 year old women’s heart rate monitor maximum would be estimated as
205 – (40 / 2) + 5 = 190
[Note: This is the first number that will be entered into your personal heart rate chart when calculating your own heart rate training program.]
Clearly, not all 40 year old men or 40 year old women will actually have maximum heart rates to match those numbers. In fact, I’ll warrant that statistically, the majority will not match those numbers. They are nonetheless a useful starting point, and far better than anything that I had used up to that point – which was zilch.
“I’d now like you to put this Heart Rate Monitor strap on, so that I can reasonably calculate the next number.”
He could see that I was looking a little worried about what was coming up next.
“Don’t worry.” he said “In fact, it’s very important that you are very chilled-out and relaxed for the next step. Now, before you go to put this on I should point something out…..”
“The heart rate monitor strap has some electrodes at the front and we want to make sure that we get a good reading – even though you haven’t started exercising yet. So please remember to wet the sensor’s that are in contact with your chest.”
Technorati Tags: exercise heart rate, exercise heart rate monitor, heart moniter, Heart Rate Chart, heart rate monitor running, heart rate monitor women, heart rate training, heart rate zones, heartrate monitor, normal heart rate, Womens Heart Rate Monitor
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