For some time, I've been intrigued, at a distance, of the concept of heart rate training. The concept sure made sense...our physiological self-regulating system, links heart, lungs, blood, brain, conditioning, effort, weather, fatigue and the orbit of Pluto into a single parameter, the rate of the beating heart. And it seems to make sense that factor could help guide training.
So, about three weeks ago, I popped for a simple HR monitor, the Polar FS2c, an entry-level device. It finally arrived in the mail and I diddled with the chest strap to figure how tight to make it work but still allowing me to breathe. The bigger issue, however, turned out to be resolving what on earth my Zone 2 rate range was. As I dug into it, I found a lot of harping back and forth by various proponents. All heat but little light, it seemed. It was so confusing, I almost bagged it...people, please!!!
But then I found a triathlete who compared five different methods of measuring Z2, showing the final results just were not all that different from each other, ideologies notwithstanding. Long story short, I settled on my Z2 at 113-123 bpm.
So, I'm starting to use this routine somewhat, mostly to guide me to stay in that spot where I can keep going for a long time, allowing this remarkably efficient computer system to guide me to the pace that is right. A lot to learn but I may write more about it as I move into the fall marathons.
Next Saturday is a fun shakedown for these marathons, at an unusual distance. The Labor Day 30K will let me test a number of modified systems for the fall. See the race report next weekend.
Persevere. And be grateful for your heart.
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6 comments:
Heart rate monitor training is really necessary for runners to be sure of a good health condition. I been doing this training also. Indeed it help a lot.
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--Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. ~Soren Kierkegaad
Seems like a lot of folks use this little gadget. You'll have fun figuring it all out.
You need to take the sub-maximal test. If any of those ways you calculated your zones did not involve actual running, then they are suspect at best :-) My Zone 2 is 156-168. I realize that you are 3 years or so older than me (ha!) but I would be surprised if that was your actual zone 2.
Here is a good PDF for you to peruse...
sorry... that's a doc. There's a PDF floating around too...
Interested to read how the HRM works for you. I have one that someone gave to me, but have never tried it. Some people swear by them.
I use the howeyefeel monitor. It's easy to use and really cheap. It doesn't pop out any numbers though.
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