Sunday, April 16, 2006

Humble Pie

Today Total: 23k
Week Total: 49k
Month Total: 127k
Year Total: 839k

I sure hope this heart rate training thing works because this morning was downright embarrassing. I wanted to put a sign on my front and back that said "Heart Rate Training In Progress - Honk If You Are Sympathetic".

The Garmin almost used all of its battery in the first 2k as the alert (set for 143bpm - 4bpm over 75% MHR) was going off so often - people were coming out of their houses thinking the paper boy had traded in his whistle.

I finally got the hang of running at 75% but it was very slow - over the first 10k some of my splits were exceeding 7 mins!!! From about the 10k (67 and a bit mins) mark my body seemed to understand what was expected of it and got more efficient and my splits came down considerably but were still slow at around 6.30.

To add insult to injury the only flattish course I could identify for a long run was my Canada Bay and The Bay Run combo - not like there is many people out there on a Sunday morning - NOT!

I eventually ground out 23k in 2.32.57 (av 6.39) @ av 139bpm (bang on 75%). And except for the times the HR alert went off I also got a sleep in ;-)

9 comments:

Jen said...

It WILL pay off. In the meantime, I'll make you a sign if you like

;-)

Hilda said...

Whay is it so hard to keep the HR low? Now I've moved to the rate of percived exertion.

I kept thinking about low HR while cycling, that will work!

Horrie said...

I'm glad you eventually got the hang of it 2p. Now to get plenty of practice and teach your body to run more efficiently. You will definitely feel the benefits soon. I am after doing it for a month.

Katie said...

*** HONK***

LOL... you crack me up :-) I hope it pays off for you! I have never really gotten into the hear rate thing. I go by if I can chat or sing comfortably as a bit of a guide.... not quite as accurate!

Don Juan said...

You might be able to sell icecreams on the side.
It sounds hilarious.
Maybe you can up the HR without blowing the whole plan out of the water.
There must be room for a guest pass between 6.30 min/km and sub-4 min/km.

Rachel said...

Interesting bunch of posts over the weekend 2P. I can't keep up with everyone's posting over Easter. Doesn't anyone have anything better to do with 4 days off?!
Anyway, I'm liking this HR stuff. I just need to get another HR watch.

Tesso said...

How did you figure out your max HR? I don't know much about this stuff but I recall Steve L or Robert Song telling me about how to test it. Maybe your max is higher than you think.

Oh, and by the way, its worse when one is just walking the regular running route and every runner and their dog are out there.

Steve's Stuff said...

I'm with Tesso. I think you might have to re-assess your max heart rate. I beleive at the end of the day it's far easier to run to how you feel and not to what a gadget says. Don't get me wrong, I love gadgets and I record all my hr readings.

TA and the Gnome said...

I remember the first time that tiger angel and I tried to run in heart-rate-limited mode. We had to walk to the hills just to shutup the watch. However, as you noticed, you do get more efficient, and it is a great antidote to testosterone-fueled faster-is-better training :-) :-)

Having said all that, I've also discovered that my max HR is quite a bit higher than the simple formulae suggest - don't know whether that is good or bad though :-)

Gnome