Gradually increasing time and distance

I wasn't tired so I kept going. I'm actually enjoying running so much more since graduation and being able to do my own thing. Any advice on whether this is pushing things would be appreciated. I don't want to go silly, but it seemed comfortable to keep going for those extra minutes. Should I do a shorter run next time or just go on like this?

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

A lot really depends on you - provided you understand that we need rest after exercise and you can personally determine (honestly!) how much rest you need after each effort, you can follow recommendations such as to not increase your weekly total distance by more than 10%. But that is just a guide - only you can determine how you are feeling and reacting to exercise. I notice that you are doing a slowish 9:11 pace - this pace is what I am currently doing as I restart my running journey and is about 1 minute per klm faster than my brisk walk. You should be able to continue doing this pace for as far as you want. I did 150 minutes of this pace last week and 36 minutes of 7:12 pace at parkrun

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

Hi, yes, i always rest for the recovery time indicated by my Garmin. DC Rainmaker says he thinks it over estimates, but that's fine by me. As for pace, yes, I've deliberately slowed it down so that I can tackle the hills and slopes without getting out of breath. i think i would run faster if i lived in a flatter area. I'm assuming pace will pick up naturally as my fitness increases. I'm not desperate to push it.

Thanks very much for your response

[pinkaardvark Graduate10]

I think your pace will evolve naturally as you build strength through continuing to run. I don't think you need to push it, if it then means you don't enjoy the running. The c25k+ podcasts are really good but seem to have differing results for people, ie they have me running at sub 30min 5k pace, but other people report much slower pace with them, so I guess that may be down to stride length. It may be worth trying one of them and I'd suggest the stepping stones one to start with but if they mean you get ahead of your breathing and don't enjoy the run then I wouldn't bother.

When I look at my own runs with the garmin I see that the faster I go the sooner I get into the heart/breathing range where I start to huff and my heart rate is high, ie it's a natural path upwards over time and correlates with pace. Slower I go then the further I can tackle. What that says, is if you want to try increasing pace try some shorter runs?

Sadly my mind tells me I want my basket full of roses, so I will have to put up with a lot of pricks while in the bush to fill it.

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Thanks, that's really helpful. I have to really watch heart rate and breathing as it's hilly here so easy to spend too long in the red hr zone. I did run a little faster today, as you can see from the 5.47 min/km fastest pace, and I was in the red zone more, as opposed to the other day when I didn't go into maximum heart rate zone at all. But I still felt fine after.

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

I think that hitting the max zone for a small amount of time would be ok and almost something to aim for ie if your doing 4.5k then the last 0.5k is a push. But you don't want to be hitting that level 2k in. Thta's what I have seen in my runs and helps me know that I need to plan to go slower to get the longer distances. Will be trying 7k on thrusday so figure I will be going really slow

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Thanks. Unfortunately my ageing eyes aren't good enough to read statistics when I run, only elapsed time, and I can't run in glasses, so it's a matter of reading the stats after and trying to judge where I am from my breathing when running. Though I run slower on the treadmill and don't get out if breath at all but am in max zone almost the whole time, a fact I'm still trying to figure out.

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

The only thing I look at on the watch when running is the split time and typically I often only look at the first 1 or 2 to see if i'm slow enough as I quite often totally misjudge speed. Mine is on the default settings and gives you a performance reading in the range of under zero is degrading and above is good. It only seems to blip with this just before the first 1k split but if I see -2 etc then I slow down a bit.

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

I'm still learning what some of the readings mean. I do know my cadence needs to be higher.

[Bazza1234 Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Don't believe what your watch is telling you - it probably uses the discredited formula which the medical world uses to calculate your maximum heart rate HRmax =220-age. This formula says that my HRmax should be 149 - but I can run 5kms at an average of 149 and I peak at 165. So I have to tell the treadmill at the gym that I am only 55 otherwise it thinks I am running conversationally in the RED zone!!

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

Yes I realise that. I use itas a guideline. My max should be 150 and I go quite a bit over that sometimes. As Im not dead, I assume my max heart rate is actually higher and right for me. Which makes sense as Ive always been active.

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

Hehe yes, the machines at my gym quite often tell me to get off when I haven't even broken a sweat as they think my max HR is 160 when it is more like 185. It's quite annoying and tend to mean I just won't put my hands on the sensors as I don't want flashing red klaxons

[VictoriaRuns in reply to pinkaardvark]

Mine do that too! Very off putting, and got me all worried and posting about it on here, when if I stopped to think about it, I felt fine?

[Hidden in reply to VictoriaRuns]

I remember your post a out it. I mentioned mine to my GP (who I think may be a runner herself as she said what wonderful exercise it is) and she just looked amused 😊

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Thwy must oresumably be set to an average. Or do you have to put your age in? My home treadmill isnt that sophisticated.

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

My gym gives you a keyfob that you put in each machine to track your results/progress. As part of that profile it has your age so I guess they use the same old formula of 220 - age. Which in my case would be 178 then they reckon you should train at less than 85% but as said that formula doesn't hold water, and what if I want to do a Hiit sessions. Most of my cardio work in the gym is short duration ie I row for 6 mins, cycle for 6 mins, use stepper for 6 mins and so on as I like to mix it up to prevent boredom.

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Ooh, now I know your age- you young stripling!

I run up and downhill all the time here, which I guess puts the readings high.

Is there a more up to date method of measuring max hr (obviously allowing for variations from person to person)?

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

No secret i'm 42 :). I think the 211 - .64xage is a better formula and seems right for my figures.

Here's a handy calculator on that basis and it uses weight and height but I susepct that's just for the bmi.

ntnu.edu/cerg/hrmax

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Cheers 😊

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

Oh, that’s much better, 166. Im well within that most of the time. I wonder if it can be changed on the Garmin. Must take a look.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Changed it!

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

Have done the test pinkaardvark suggested. Actually it is only slightly highwr than the Garmin says it should be. Garmin says max hr should be 162 and we site says 166. Anyway, have altered it in te settings.

[SlowLoris]

One size fits all formulas are only ever going to be accurate for that elusive person who sits exactly on the median average.

Your max heart rate is as high as it will go. As a start I would reset it to whatever has been your highest recorded rate. Polar (the HRM makers) recommend running flat out up a hill a couple of times after a suitable warm up, whilst Runners World basically suggest building up to flat out on a track. I'm not suggesting any of us relative novices go for that much stress on the system, but it does suggest you can safely assume your max is somewhere above anything you've ever measured.

[Hidden in reply to SlowLoris]

Thank you, that's interesting. Yes, as I said in a response further up the thread, it is, of course, only a guideline. I have pushed it quite hard, up into the high 170s, not to deliberately push, but because I cant avoid hills where I live, and the early days of c25k really challenged me. Perhaps I should set it for 179, which I think is my highest.

[Rignold]

It is a very large nonsense. I regularly push my heart rate over 200. When I was having a heart incident a yer or two back it went over 340. That was obviously an abnormal situation but the idea that we hit max heart rate while

Jogging is just piffle.

[SlowLoris in reply to Rignold]

Right. I'm going out to see if I can hit 341.

[Hidden in reply to SlowLoris]

😂😂😂

[Bazza1234 Graduate10 in reply to Rignold]

Hmm - I am not sure about that Hearts do funny things when they go into atrial fibrillation. Anyway - for a practical viewpoint, I have read that any human , even an elite runner, can only run at their maximum HR for a minute or so. Don't know if that is strictly true or not - but my own experience says it is At that point everything in your body is screaming at you to STOP!!

[Bazza1234 Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

and you then throw up!!

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

In which case i havent run at my maximum pace, because my Garmin says my last run was 76% in te maximum zone. In which case what SlowLoris and pinkaardvark said makes perfect sense.

[pinkaardvark Graduate10 in reply to Rignold]

Setting my Garmin to phone My mum if it hits 342

[Hidden in reply to pinkaardvark]

That made me chortle. Ive set my max heartrate to 179, because that’s the highest Ive reached. I spent 76% of my last run in the max/red zone, so am assuming if that were really max I would have snuffed it.

[Rignold]

Maximum heart rate is achieved by maximum exertion. Not by steady state cardio. None of us are likely to be anywhere near max hr while out jogging. And if you are then you need to stop asap.