HRMs and the science of HR running.

[Colby]

I may be a little late/new to running and especially when it comes to technology that can help in your efforts and goals. So, I finally decided to buy a HRM to train for my first Marathon next March in Rome. After running with it the first day, I looked at my heart rate (176BPM) and realized that I have no idea what that means . I have been trying to read what I can online about HR training, but I was curious if any of you have a simple way of putting it. What can monitoring my HR do for my runs? How should/can I do it? What am I looking for in my HR? Etc.
Thanks for your time and answers!

[Jeff Linger]

You need to find your max heart rate (http://www.howtobefit.com/determine-maximum-heart-rate.htm) and then your runs will be done at varying percentages of that max depending on what sort of workout your doing (http://www.brianmac.co.uk/hrm1.htm).

[Colby]

Thanks for info, good reading. What is practical application of this stuff though? And do you have a suggestion of the the best/ a good method of finding your Max HR?

[Jeff Linger]

I believe the first article I listed indicates various methods for finding your max heart rate. Probably the best one is the partner test, although you can do it yourself. Do a short warm-up (4-5 minutes) to get your heart rate around 120 beats/minute (this is an estimated 60% of most people's max HR). Then begin to increase the pace so that your heart rate climbs about 5 beats/minute every 15 seconds, its ok to actually take a little bit more time to let it climb so that you get a good measurement. You're going to continue to increase the pace until you get to a point where you simply cannot go faster (you may very well be nearing a full sprint given your aroebic capacity) or your heart rate will not climb. The bottom line is, you're going to be moving and probably near out of breath. This is your Max HR. Once you have your maximum heart rate you can now calculate training zones. Essentially, the following is a base for your training zones:

Recovery Pace: 60-70% of MHR
Aerobic Base or Endurance: 71-75% of MHR
Aerobic Threshhold/Lactate Threshold: 76-80% of MHR
VO2Max: 81-90%
(A more detailed list of the zones can be found here: http://www.3-fitness.com/tarticles/zones.htm)

There are always differing ideas when it comes to training zones and some would say that your Threshold zones and VO2Max zones could be elevated slightly. Once you know your various zones you can develop a training program that encorporates the zones. Generally speaking you want to probably hit an AT/LT workout about once every 8-10 days, a Long Run workout (nearing the top of your Recovery Pace) about once every 7 days, a VO2Max workout about once every 7-10 days, and have the rest of your workouts in the Aerobic Base zone with Recovery runs inserted when you get tired and need a bit of rest, which is usually after a hard workout. As you can see over time your workouts will start to overlap and you'll find yourself running a lot of quality workouts in short proximity to each other. Generally when this occurs you need to know how to combine workouts into a single workout so that you're not overtraining. If you're really not sure what you're doing you need to be careful or you can run yourself into a position where you're susceptible to injury.

Essentially any plan like this should be preceded by a period of Endurance building that can last anywhere from 3-4 weeks to many months. If you haven't been training very long you'll most likely want to take a solid 6 months to a year to simply build up your aerobic capacity.

[Colby]

Jeff-
  So, i tried to figure out my Max HR today. I have no idea if I did it right, but this is how it went. I ran a 5k at about an 8:30 pace or so, I am at 7,300ft elevation, on a treadmill, and it was uncomfortably warm inside. My average HR for the 5k was about 163 or so...if I remember correctly. At the 5k mark, I tuned the treadmill way up and ran for 1 min. I was on a metric treadmill, so I don't exactly how fast I was going...something like 3:27 per kilometer pace. Then I slowed back down for about 3 minutes or so, maybe four, then kicked the treadmill back up for 1 min and finished the rest of my run at a slow jog. When I looked at my watch it said that my max HR was 187.
  Do you think I got it? Two things I am thinking. 1) I should have gone longer than 1 min. and 2) I cooled down for too long in between sprints. Any other observations? I don't feel comfortable with a 187 because it seems so off from what I seen with formulas and what not. Obviously they don't take into effect the human element. Any ideas or thoughts?

[Jeff Linger]

No, I don't think you did it right. If you're going to do it on a treadmill you will need 2 things. First, you will need a treadmill that can accomodate fast speeds. Most treadmills max out around 10-12 mph. At 12 mph you would be running a 5 minute mile. The problem is that you're not trying to run a mile here, you're simply trying to run increments at faster and faster speeds. The second thing you probably should have is someone to bump the speed up for you. Are you using the HR monitor on the treadmill or do you have your own monitor? The problem with the TM monitor is that you really need to jump off the TM and measure your HR. You really don't want to do that because its a stopping point each time. An optimal test will be one where you just run and let someone else do the rest of the work, reading you out HR, increasing speed on a TM, that sort of thing. The test should be done such that you do a warm-up to where your HR gets around 120 and then you begin a continual speeding up process where you are increasing your beats/minute about every 20 seconds by 5 bpm until you reach a point where your HR stops climbing. When you reach this point you should be going nearly all out. There is probably a center nearby somewhere if you live in a larger town, or one is nearby, where they might test such things for you as well as your Aerobic Threshold and your Lactate Threshold along with your VO2Max. All this being said, I have to say that HR training is fairly useless if you don't have monitor to use on all your runs. Additionally, things like hydration and temperature (effecting body cooling mechanisms) can influence HR in a way that is somewhat counterproductive to HR training. I'm much more in favor, and I don't think I'm alone in this blog, with a more pace/effort oriented training system. Feel free to contact me via email or using the personal message function on this blog if you want to talk about this method in more detail.

[Sasha Pachev]

You can max out your HR on a treadmill that can only do 10 mph if it has a grade.