Battle of the devices !!

[Juliet202]

First - I just love making these pretty patterns !! Stride repeats today - had to revert to walking between 20 second bursts after the first few ! Need to keep that heart rate recovering to dupe my Garmin into thinking I’m fit for my age !!

So this was my first run having adjusted upwards my max HR on my device from 170 to 185 to be a closer match to my actual max HR instead of the age algorithm. And hurrah !! This run I spent much more time in zone 4 than usual (previously I was running over 80% of the time in zone 5, even on easy runs). I was also actively trying to slow down, breathe more deeply, less quickly, etc. And I have been rewarded well. 😇 My fitness age dropped 2 years - still 4 years ‘older’ than a month ago (and 1 year older than reality !) but at least the decline has been halted ! And I’d like to think it’s not all down to the algorithm. I don’t feel I’ve cheated. No no. Not at all.... (am I protesting too much ?!) 😜

[Beatlesforever Graduate10]

Yay that's great news! I might need to adjust my max HR too, my recorded vo2max has been dropping steadily as my fitness has improved (at least I feel fitter than before!), which surely cannot be right 🤷‍♀️

[Juliet202 Graduate10 in reply to Beatlesforever]

Well it worked for me !! And i think i might push it up a notch more because today my heart rate peaked at 187 (worrying ?) - it was a 20 second fast-as-you-can spurt up a slope, after having warmed up and done a couple of fast spurts on the flat prior to that..... My watch actually buzzed at me and flashed '195' at me a couple of time, but i couldn't see what that was meant to signify - now looking at the data, it must have been cadence which maxed at 198 ! I certainly can't keep that up more than 20 seconds !

[Beatlesforever Graduate10 in reply to Juliet202]

Wow that is some serious cadence! 🥵I've been on the Garmin forums and there seems to be an issue with the way Garmin calculates vo2 max. I think I'll just forget about vo2 and instead concentrate on the running and keeping within my target HR zones during each run 🙂

[damienair Administrator]

I don't pay too much attention to HR when I'm running. However over the last 3 years my resting heart rate has dropped from 85 bpm to 55 bpm. My Sp02 and Blood Pressure are exactly where they should be and I'm healthier and fitter. Running, any running regularly has amazing health benefits. Fast walking too would have very similar results. Well done.

Damien

[Juliet202 Graduate10]

Yes I certainly feel fitter ! Which was why I was a bit peeved when my shiny new toy told me I was getting less fit ! Someone on this forum posted about low HR training and it all went (uphill!) from there !!

[nowster Graduate10 in reply to Juliet202]

I've found the same. I've been doing short intervals running to get me back off the injury couch. The Garmin has cranked up the VO2Max twice since I started doing that. I'm now back at where I was when I first got the watch.

[Juliet202 Graduate10 in reply to nowster]

Basically we’re our fittest when we don’t move fast !! 🤣

[UnfitNoMore Graduate10]

You can’t con the Garmin... you must be fit for your age! Nothing wrong with a walk in between the strides, I’m following a coach Greg plan too and he kicks my butt good and proper with these! The ability to recover and give 100% again is what they’re looking for and looks like you nailed it to me. Great job.