Women's Heart Rate Monitor

Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary – Week Two (Part 3)

It didn’t take too long before I found out the reason why I had to run slower during my last run.  That same evening I could feel that I was coming down with a cold.  This is the price I have to pay for having two toddlers that bring home a cocktail selection of the latest bugs that are doing the rounds.

So, the good news is that the poor performance did have a good reason after all.  The bad news will be if the cold gets bad enough to stop my training in its tracks, though hopefully it won’t come to that.

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Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary – Week Two (Part 2)

I started the run on day four at 5.8mph. I reached my recovery ceiling before I had covered a half-mile, so I will not be increasing the starting speed again next time. I never increase my starting speed unless I can cover at least 0.5 miles without having to drop the speed. It’s a personal thing – not science.

My first mile was completed in 10:47, which was a little faster than on day two, but this was a hollow victory. All of the subsequent miles were slower and I finished at only 4.2mph. The split times were 10:47, 22:29, 35:18 and 49:18. Ultimately this was almost a minute slower, which was disappointing.

I don’t believe that the overall result was due to starting too fast. Four miles is far enough not to be affected by a short burst during the early run. I know from experience that anomalies happen in any training program, and this may be one of those anomalies. Or perhaps it was my previous run that was the “blip”. You can send yourself mad trying to analyze what went “wrong” sometimes, so there’s little point in trying to figure it out unless it’s part of a broader trend.

All being well, my next run will be five miles and will also commence at 5.8mph.

You can follow my progress in the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog.

I am also planning some more articles, so feel free to let me know if there are any related subjects you would like to see covered.

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Heart Rate Monitor Running Diary – Week Two (Part 1)

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.

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Heart Monitor Running Diary – Week One (Days 6 and 7) with summary

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.

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Heart Monitor Running Diary – Week One (Days 2 to 5)

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.

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Women’s Heart Rate Monitor – No Place For Ego

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.

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Women’s Heart Rate Monitor – Restarting training after a lay-off

I’ve been harbouring a little secret since starting the Women’s Heart Rate Monitor blog – I have not been actively training for the last couple of months. After initially suffering a recurrence of a lower back injury, I had to stop because the running appeared to be aggravating the problem. To be honest, though, this only really prevented me from being able to run for a couple of weeks. The rest of the time has been procrastination!

I think, part of my reason for starting this blog was to get back my enthusiasm that frankly did wane. I ran my first marathon this year and my training has just not quite felt the same since. Post-marathon blues? Maybe. Lack of a new challenge following the marathon? Probably. Other priorities that had been put on ice while training for the marathon? Check.

Anyway, thanks to starting this blog I’m all fired up and ready to go again. Which is a perfect opportunity to discuss how to use the Heart Rate Monitor to re-start training after an extended lay-off (say, more than a month or two without training).

The point of training at this point in time is to get ready for training. The brain may be ready for hard training, but the body is not! Rather than dive-in to a twelve week schedule to run a race, for example, it makes sense to add on several more weeks to build-up to a reasonable base mileage. Temper the enthusiasm a bit to avoid unnecessary illness or injury through over-training.

Anybody that has returned to training with a heart rate monitor after a lay-off will know that it can be quite shocking how much cardio fitness is lost over a relatively short period of times. According to Bob Glover in The Runner’s Handbook:

“In general, your body builds fitness slowly and loses it rapidly: It takes three times as long to gain aerobic endurance as it does to lose it. With complete inactivity, aerobic fitness may decline almost 10 percent per week.”

Thus, I would suggest that it’s prudent to restart with no more than half the amount of mileage that was regularly performed before the lay-off, and possibly even less.

My weekly mileage was 35 to 45 miles in the run-up to the marathon, but then fell back to a more manageable 25 to 28 miles in the next couple of months. So my plan will be to run around 12 to 14 miles in the first week, then build-up from there.

My typical week consisted of six days of running: one or two “hard” sessions, with four recovery sessions and one complete day of rest. I’ll work up to this level again, but will start my first week with three complete rest days.

So, for this week, my plan is to run on four days for two to four miles, with three rest days. All of the runs will be at recovery rate Needless to say I will be using my Heart Rate Monitor to ensure that I stay below my seventy per-cent recovery ceiling.

I’ll post more details in the blog as I progress. So, if you are considering returning to running – why not join me (in the virtual sense)? Perhaps we can inspire each other to reach new heights!

In this new series of articles and updates for Women’s Heart Rate Monitor, I’ll show you how I apply the principles of Heart Monitor Training to plan and implement a structured training schedule. You will see first-hand how I progress over time.

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Running Program Part Three – Basic Record Keeping

In part two of my series of articles for Women’s Heart Rate Monitor, I explained my reasoning behind the importance of keeping records. Now I will expand a little on the key records that I keep.

To start with, I like to keep a record of factual data that can be measured and easily quantified. The reason for this is simply that I am never in doubt that I am comparing like-for-like. The facts are indisputable. Perhaps one year ago I ran three miles in forty minutes at my recovery pace heart rate, and now I can run three miles in thirty minutes at the same heart rate. The progress is measured and can be compared directly.

I like to do measured runs on a treadmill for the most direct comparison, because this eliminates variables such as the weather and different running terrain. Typical figures I like to keep as a minimum are:

• Date of the run 
• Brief Description – e.g. 3 mile @ 70% MHR (recovery heart rate), 1.5% treadmill incline  
• Total Distance  
• Total Time Taken  
• Average Heart Rate  
• Peak Heart Rate

For longer runs, I also like to note my heart rate at each mile split. Very often there is a linear progression of improvement which relates to the quality of the training I have done. I can compare my progress in my current training cycle and adjust my goals accordingly.

I try not to include too much detail, as this would not benefit making comparisons. However, I do make extra notes in exceptional circumstances, such as a sub-par performance due to extenuating factors. The more factual the records, the more meaningful it is when making plans based on past performance.

Depending on your own goals, you may think of other things that you want to record. If you have a goal to lose weight, then clearly it makes sense to occasionally check your weight and/or body fat percentage. Whatever it takes to motivate and inspire when the inevitable “flat” periods arise.

When choosing a Heart Rate Monitor, it is a very good idea to go for a model that includes a “lap” counter. This helps to ensure that heart rate and times are accurately recorded for each split. Although not necessary when you are starting out and perhaps only run one or two miles, the feature becomes much more useful as mileage increases.

On a final note, I should mention that some heart rate monitors, such as the Garmin FR60 Women’s Heart Rate Monitor that I recently reviewed, have the ability to store data about the run and transfer it to a PC (or Mac) for analysis and review. This can make record keeping a snap and can provide a more thorough analysis of the run. However, I tend to refer to my own records that I keep on a simple spreadsheet. However you prefer to keep records, be it computerised or using a good old-fashioned notebook, start sooner rather than later. You will be glad you did!

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Running Program Part Two – The importance of keeping records

In part one of “My first running program” article for Women’s Heart Rate Monitor, I described my very first experience of training below my heart rate recovery ceiling. This was to form the basis of my training program for the next few months and beyond.

The following tip was given to me and I’m dedicating this article to explaining why I consider it to be one of the most important pieces of advice ever given to me. It not only applies to heart monitor training, but any kind of training and many other areas of life.

The tip was simple: Keep a record of your training – and start it now! In my opinion, the importance cannot be understated.

When starting out, you may feel unfit, overweight, and have generally low self-esteem when it comes to your body image. The last thing you feel like doing is recording these “facts” for posterity! It doesn’t matter that nobody else will see these records, it is just embarrassing to admit to yourself how bad things have become. However, this is the ideal time to start the record.

Make no mistake, it takes time to progress with any worthwhile activity. Progress is slow. Sometimes you may plateau in your training, or suffer a set-back through illness, injury or other factors beyond your control. No long-term training program will ever be plain sailing. You’ve heard of Olympian athletes who spend four years preparing for an event, only to suffer an injury that means that competing is out of the question. Imagine how it must feel to know that the next chance is four years away – if indeed there is another chance.

There are a myriad of problems that can demotivate us. It may feel as if it is not worthwhile continuing with the activity. It takes such a long time to make improvements, and set-backs make the process seem interminable. This is the time to review those records.

Whatever the set-back, the chances are that you are still fitter and leaner than you were on your first training session. This may have been forgotten, but the evidence is there in writing. Without it, you would have forgotten that your heart rate sky-rocketed on a jog (which, back then, you would have described as “sprinting”). You will also notice that you now recover more quickly from problems and it doesn’t take as long to make progress back towards your peak fitness. These are powerful motivators that can make the difference between quitting or continuing with training.

Another reason for recording each training session is that it helps immensely with planning a future running program. You will begin to see what works and what doesn’t work for you. I am constantly amazed at the number of people that do exactly the same routine at the gym every time they train. Set the treadmill for ten minutes at five miles per hour, every session. How can they possibly expect to make progress with their fitness over the long-term?

Heart rate monitor training helps a great deal, because our speed will adapt naturally as we become fitter. That is to say, we can gradually run faster at the same heart rate as we become fitter. We simply need to keep a note of how far we have run to see how we improve from session-to-session, week-to-week and so on.

Okay, so hopefully you realise that you only stand to gain from starting a record. Now you may be wondering what you should keep in the record. I’ll cover some suggestions in my next article.

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Running Program – Part One

My previous idea of a running program plan was to run on the treadmill for ten minutes each time I worked out.  This seemed okay to me, until boredom with the routine set in and I turned my attention to a different workout gadget.  Well, any workout gadget other than the treadmill, if I’m honest.

“We’ll get to the specifics later” my mentor told me.  “For now, I just want you to make a start on the treadmill to see how you get on based on these numbers”.

Oh, hell.  Now I was going to have to do some work.

Once I was ready to start, my mentor bashed in a quick-start on the treadmill console.  I was off – but only at walking speed.

“We’ll get you warmed-up gradually”.

Over the next few minutes my speed was gradually increased to faster walking until I was at my “I’m going to be late for [work / the bus / X-Factor]” pace.

For the first time, though, I was watching my Heart Rate Monitor reading on the LED display.  I was quite amazed at how fast it appeared to be rising – though I hadn’t even started running yet!

My mentor explained that, if my heart rate went over my 70% Recovery Ceiling for more than a few seconds, then I had to slow down a little, until it fell back below the ceiling.  I still had some way to go at this point.

Now I was slow-jogging and moving up the pace.  At no point did my mentor increase the incline of the treadmill for this session.  “There’s no need for that yet” he told me.

By about seven minutes I was jogging along reasonably comfortably, when my heart rate hit my recovery ceiling.  In less than one more minute it went over the limit so I was instructed to reduce my speed by 0.1mph.

What was surprising was that I was not running as fast as I did in the past when I ran on the treadmill.  I expected to be running significantly faster, so I was feeling a bit disappointed by this discovery.  Perhaps it meant that we had calculated the recovery ceiling incorrectly?

Anyway, having reduced my speed by 0.1mph my Heart Rate Monitor reading dropped down, as if by magic, and was again just below my recovery ceiling.  Then within a minute I had to reduce the speed again, then again, then again.

We continued the process and I quite quickly got to the point where I was practically walking!  I was mortified by this, and felt not just a little embarrassed.  My mentor instructed me to reduce my speed still further to bring my heart rate right back down in a cool-down period.

At the end of the process he asked me how I felt.  “Embarrassed!” was my honest reply.

“Let’s look at what just happened” he said.  “You continued on the treadmill for more than twenty minutes on your first session – even though you admitted to me that you never used a treadmill for longer than ten minutes in the past.”

“Further, you stuck to the plan.  You didn’t allow your preconceived ideas get in the way of a very informative session.  Ideas such as no pain no gain have been very damaging, in my opinion.  How did you feel physically during the workout?”.

I told him that I felt like I wasn’t working hard enough. Although I had clearly worked up a sweat and was breathing more heavily, I felt like I should have been running faster.

“That’s brilliant.  That’s how I wanted you to feel.”

He went on “The fact is that you worked-out for more than twice as long as you ever did before, with a plan in mind – and that is a great starting point!”

“Now, before we construct your running program, I want to give you one of my top tips to get the most out of your future training…..”

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