And it felt GREAT! After Tuesdays rubbish run I was a wee bit apprehensive, but I have to say I think this was my best run so far and I'm still feeling good. I ran it quite quickly for me and I actually felt like I was 'running' instead of shuffling, it was hard work on my breathing but my legs felt really good. So pleased.
My only worry is my heart rate, now from what I've read at 54 my max HR should be 166? Should I be concerned that my average HR is 134 but my max during a run can be as high as 170 - am hoping someone can assure me that this isn't going to finish me off.
Written by
giddyaunts
Graduate
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
It is something, maybe wrongly I do not overly worry about, with regular well Woman checks for heart health etc.. I generally do a personal check of BP and heart rate about once a month..
But, I am sure loads of the more experienced folk on here can answer your question...
Something I've always had, a low resting HR, Im not nor have I ever been anywhere near an 'athlete' lol never mind a top one! Thanks Oldfloss for the reply tough
According to my check ups..My heart rate resting is so good for someone of my age !!!😃 and Blood pressure like that of a30 yr old apparently too..Hmmm I wonder why I feel like a ninety year old this week xxx
I am 55 and used to worry like you as my heart rate seemed too high for my age. then I noticed that if I slowed down a bit my heart rate stayed within range. I kept slower for a while then started to increase speed again slowly and now I can go a bit faster and stay within range. I can only say what I have experience, others may have some proper knowledge about this and I suspect what is right for me wan't be for you, but you could try slowing a bit to see if it makes a difference. Though if you are worried a visit to your doctor may be advisable.
Thank you for taking the time to reply I guess I'll phone the docs, can't help thinking that my HR monitor is somehow miscalculating as from my understanding if I was pushing my heart to its max rate I'd be on the floor by the end of a run, maybe I should just ditch my garmin and forget about it.
Heart rates are very personal and vary vastly from one to another while training depending on a lot of different factors. I heart rate train because mine has a habit of going quite high "for me". I have had it checked out and the doctors are fine with the way I train, if your in any doubt I would have a conversation with a nurse or doctor, but saying that you are doing a new exercise and your body will still be adjusting, the levels that it's going to could be very normal for you. As it stands at the moment you will probably not know you max heart rate because you shouldn't be pushing yourself to exhaustion or any where near that yet, and you wouldn't want to find that out as your body is not ready for it yet. The average charts for heart rates are just that, there can be quite a lot of variation for each individual. For example my max HR is 188 which is a lot higher that the charts say but it is a fact. If your worried or you are feeling exhausted after the runs rather than tired take the pace and the heart rate down for a while and see if that feels better, after graduation you can go on to working within your heart rate zones to give different training sessions so it is a good skill to learn and it is actually quite hard to do, so well worth putting in the effort now. Good luck.
Thank you. Thing is other than breathing a bit harder than I would normally, I'm not exhausted, I'm not even especially tired after a run, I can tell I've done the run, sure, but I certainly wouldn't say I'm pushing myself too hard
Forget 220-age and the other more recent calculators. Max heart rate is exactly that, what an individual heart is capable of and it varies from individual to individual.
As an example, I'm 51 years of age, my resting heart rate is 52 and I can easily exceed 180 bpm (I've been over 200 on a few occasions). So much for formulas!
A heart is not like a car engine where you can over rev beyond the manufacturers recommendations and do some damage. All you can do is push you heart to the max and maintain it for a certain amount of time, depending on various physiological factors.
If you're not experiencing symptoms related to heat problems then don't worry about overdoing it. Huffing and puffing is par for the course but palpitations, dizziness etc might need looking at.
On the other hand, if you're interested to find out your own max heart rate then you'll need to perform a stress test and that isn't (excuse the pun) for the faint-hearted! It hurts, a lot. You can do this kind of test yourself and there are plenty of online guides to assist. Basically it involves running uphill as fast as you possibly can. For the most accurate results though, you'll need to attend a sports lab, give them heaps of money and then be wired up to lots of expensive machines. Stress tests aren't necessary of course, unless you're intending to train using heart rate zones. Then there's the world of VO2max, lactate thresholds and all the rest of it.
Anyhow, main thing I wanted to get across is not to worry about your heart. Other parts of your body will be the limiting factor in how fast/long you can run.
Thank you so much Michael, I ditched the Hr monitor last night, did my W6R3, ran steady, managed a quick dash for the last 60 seconds and felt just fine.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
W6R2 completed
W6R2 completed!
W6R2 - Much better today!
Heart rate whilst running
W6R2 - Phew!
