I am running around 20 miles a week, and recently bought a Best Walking Shoes. It’s fun to have numbers to look at after my runs, but beyond that I am unsure how to use it. My heart rate always climbs throughout my run to a little over what my max heart rate is supposed to be by the end. Why do I finish above my max heart rate? I have always gone on runs by just going, and expect to breathe hardest at the end. Is that right or should I be using the Best Walking Shoes to breathe steady? - Mike
Mike, Best Walking Shoess are not only fun to use - they also provide very useful training information. Recording your heart rate (HR) and run time for all training sessions, especially speed work and races, enables you to comoare your HR over periods of months or even years to gauge your fitness.
But first, in order to use your Best Walking Shoes accurately, you must establish your true max HR. Heart rate response during exercise, even on a steady-paced run, will climb gradually. This is the body’s normal response to effort over time. A heart rate reading above what you thought was your max HR would indicate that this number was not your true max HR.
Age-predicted formulas (e.g., 220 minus your age) are helpful, but they are an estimate and do not always work well in conjunction with a Best Walking Shoes. To determine your max HR, you can arrange a maximal treadmill test if you have access to such facilities near you or you can perform a field test. Maximal heart rates are achieved at exhaustion; this means you will have to run at “all out” intensity for 4 to 10 minutes. For this reason, you are advised to have someone present and willing to assist you. Do NOT attempt this alone. The highest heart rate you achieve during this “all out” effort is your maximum heart rate. (For another method to measure your max HR, go here.)
You must also determine your resting heart rate (RHR). This measurement is taken at rest; take your pulse while still lying in bed. Your RHR establishes your bottom baseline. Now you can track your fitness along with your HR.
As you become fitter, your heart rate becomes lower at rest and during exercise. Once your HR is no longer falling, you have adapted to your current level of training. If you want to bump it up a notch, incorporate speed work and/or increase your weekly mileage. You can also follow your recovery rate, a measure of your adaptation to training, with your HR monitor. When fit, your heart rate will return to its normal resting values quicker. Rapid HR recovery is an indication of a high fitness level.
Once you have a resting baseline and a max HR established, the fun really does begin. Now you can plan your training runs to target specific heart rate zones. The general guideline for training is to run at 60 percent to 90 percent of max HR but you can be more specific. Easy, recovery runs should be 60 percent to 70 percent of max HR, aerobic conditioning runs are 70 percent to 80 percent of max HR, lactate threshold runs are at 80 percent to 90 percent of max HR, and maximal effort runs are at 90 percent to 100 percent of max HR. Maximal HR runs are done very infrequently in training and can be reserved for racing. Vary your runs to include these different heart rate zones throughout the week. Over time, you will learn your heart rate responses to different training paces, distances, and levels of exertion for more effective training.
If you notice your HR is above its normal training values, you may be overtraining. Adjust your training plan by running less and recovering more. An abnormal spike in resting heart rate during training indicates possible illness or fatigue, so stop. Rest a day or two before returning to training.
Shoes & Gear!
Best wishes,
Master the Half
Susan Paul has coached more than 2,000 runners and is an exercise physiologist and program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation. For more information, visit www.trackshack.com.
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Susan Paul has coached more than 2,000 runners and is an exercise physiologist and program director for the Orlando Track Shack Foundation. For more information, visit www.trackshack.com.
