Heart rates during training.

(Chris Jones) said:

I am 53yrs old and have just bought a Heart Monitor, my resting HR is 38 and calculated that my
Max. HR is approx. 176.

I regularly train for 15 miles on a Sunday and average 1hr.50mins on a hilly road circuit.

The following HR results are from the 15 Mile run.

During the first half mile my heart rate was averaging 170, the pace was easy and I was comfortable
at breathing. The heart rate then slowed to about 160, although my pace did not change from the
first half mile, except for hills, when it went to a max of 176, but dropped back to 160 on the
down hill section.

The interesting bit is after approx 10 miles, when my energy levels were slowly depleting my heart
rate dropped to between 120 - 130 although my pace did not change. This heart rate remained
unchanged even when climbing hills.

It seemed that it was not pace or effort that was controlling my heart rate but my energy level.

My question is, what other factors effect your heart rate during running.

I would suggest that your HR monitor is malfunctioning. A drop from 170 to 130 is a significant drop
and would be noticeable via percieved effort. Another factor is that for most individuals HR
increases as the run progresses, cardiac drift.

Also I'd shy away from using a formula for setting your zones for HR. Find one of any number of
tests and do one or two of them for a better idea of where your zones truly are.

~Matt

drift , loss of water , fatigue ,loss of electrolytes , temp , BTW do you graph your HR during
a run? over the same course? this would help in determining if this is a fluke or a reg.
occurance plodzilla

Chris Jones said:

I am 53yrs old and have just bought a Heart Monitor, my resting HR is 38 and calculated that my
Max. HR is approx. 176.

I regularly train for 15 miles on a Sunday and average 1hr.50mins on a hilly road circuit.

The following HR results are from the 15 Mile run.

During the first half mile my heart rate was averaging 170, the pace was easy and I was
comfortable at breathing. The heart rate then slowed to about 160, although my pace did not change
from the first half mile, except for hills, when it went to a max of 176, but dropped back to 160
on the down hill section.

The interesting bit is after approx 10 miles, when my energy levels were slowly depleting my heart
rate dropped to between 120 - 130 although my pace did not change. This heart rate remained
unchanged even when climbing hills.

It seemed that it was not pace or effort that was controlling my heart rate but my energy level.

My question is, what other factors effect your heart rate during running.

[email hidden] (Chris Jones) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

The interesting bit is after approx 10 miles, when my energy levels were slowly depleting my heart
rate dropped to between 120 - 130 although my pace did not change. This heart rate remained
unchanged even when climbing hills.

My first big bike ride with a heart rate monitor was an experience. it was the first long and hard
ride of the spring, after a winter of doing almost nothing. I bonked hard. I saw my heart rate drop
from 160-180 down to a solid 123-126 or so. Unlike your experience, the pace was dramatically
slower. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go faster. It hurt my legs to "try" to go faster, and
my heart rate wasn't going anywhere. After about 15 minutes of this we finally made it to a
conveniece store and I ate a milky way and a bottle of gatorade. We were back on the bikes within 3
minutes and over the next 5 minutes as the sugar made it into my bloodsream my pace picked up and my
heart rate was back up to 160+. It was a neat thing to see.

Thanks all for your responses. I followed up the long Sunday run with a short flat 6.5 mile on the
following Tuesday having rested on the Monday. I wore the heart rate Monitor for one hour prior to
the run to make sure that it was giving a constant reading and made sure the chest strap extra
tight. The readings during the run were very similar to the Sunday run. First half mile at 169 -170
then slowly reducing to around 160 - 163 for the majority of the distance, never dipping below 159.
I felt very good and as able to run to my best speed. At the last 500yds I gave everything hitting
176 on the monitor. I suspect that the heart rate readings are accurate. So far this year my PB for
10k is 38mins 20sec and this run which was slightly longer took 41mins 40secs. I agree with the
comments made by [email hidden] and I am convinced that when the bodies energy reserves are
depleted that Heart rates drop accordingly.

Chris

[email hidden] (jim gravity) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Chris Jones) wrote in message
news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

The interesting bit is after approx 10 miles, when my energy levels were slowly depleting my
heart rate dropped to between 120 - 130 although my pace did not change. This heart rate
remained unchanged even when climbing hills.

My first big bike ride with a heart rate monitor was an experience. it was the first long and hard
ride of the spring, after a winter of doing almost nothing. I bonked hard. I saw my heart rate
drop from 160-180 down to a solid 123-126 or so. Unlike your experience, the pace was dramatically
slower. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't go faster. It hurt my legs to "try" to go faster,
and my heart rate wasn't going anywhere. After about 15 minutes of this we finally made it to a
conveniece store and I ate a milky way and a bottle of gatorade. We were back on the bikes within
3 minutes and over the next 5 minutes as the sugar made it into my bloodsream my pace picked up
and my heart rate was back up to 160+. It was a neat thing to see.

Chris Jones said:

Thanks all for your responses. I followed up the long Sunday run with a short flat 6.5 mile on the
following Tuesday having rested on the Monday. I wore the heart rate Monitor for one hour prior to
the run to make sure that it was giving a constant reading and made sure the chest strap extra
tight. The readings during the run were very similar to the Sunday run. First half mile at 169 -
170 then slowly reducing to around 160 - 163 for the majority of the distance, never dipping below
159. I felt very good and as able to run to my best speed. At the last 500yds I gave everything
hitting 176 on the monitor. I suspect that the heart rate readings are accurate.

Would you mind sharing what model HRM you purchased?
--
jmk in NC

The HRM is a Nike Triax C6 and is only one week old. I have been wearing it around the house when
not training to monitor different values. It seems to give varied readings according to which of the
below is being done. Resting approx. 40 Eating " 60 Caffiene " 50 Toiletry " 70

jmk <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Chris Jones said:

Thanks all for your responses. I followed up the long Sunday run with a short flat 6.5 mile on
the following Tuesday having rested on the Monday. I wore the heart rate Monitor for one hour
prior to the run to make sure that it was giving a constant reading and made sure the chest
strap extra tight. The readings during the run were very similar to the Sunday run. First half
mile at 169 -170 then slowly reducing to around 160 - 163 for the majority of the distance,
never dipping below 159. I felt very good and as able to run to my best speed. At the last
500yds I gave everything hitting 176 on the monitor. I suspect that the heart rate readings are
accurate.

Would you mind sharing what model HRM you purchased?