Heart rates

[Dbbd]

Hi, I graduated 5K about 5 wks ago and now I’m trying to improve my time. My heart rate is always about 175- is this too high? My hubby seems a bit worried..,

[telford_mike Graduate]

That's about the same as mine. I think it depends on your age. I'm 59.

[Dbbd Graduate in reply to telford_mike]

I’m 46 . Think it’s 220 minus ur age for maximum heart rate u should stay within but could be wrong?

[telford_mike Graduate in reply to Dbbd]

Yes I think that's right. Which means you are pretty much ok and I am about to keel over 😂

[Dbbd Graduate in reply to telford_mike]

😂😂😂😂just burst out laughin..,

[GoGo_JoJo Graduate]

Try not to get hung up on the numbers. I did a lot of reading about heart rates but everyone is so different.

Basically so long as you feel OK, no pain, no real discomfort (apart from normal effort) you're fine.

Of course it's different if you have a pacemaker or a known heart condition.

The easy table is 220 less your age and that is supposed to be a guideline of your max heart rate but it's not very accurate. Mine is often much higher than my calculation but I know I'm fine and not even really pushing truly hard.

[MarkyD Graduate]

Nothing to worry about... If you had your heart-rate measured under medical supervision and the practitioner was worried, then worry. If your heart-rate was measured with an optical sensor on a running watch, or a chest-worn sensor, then completely disregard the exact number that it measured. These things are good for measuring a trend, or showing you relative exertion (zone 1-5 for example) not not especially trust-worthy.

The old formula of 220-your age is just a rough approximation. Only way to measure your max heart-rate it under medical supervision (you can google for funny videos of people on treadmills with harnesses to stop them falling over, and oxygen masks measuring their O2 and CO2).

If you feel dizzy during a run, then stop, or slow down. If your watch tells you that you have passed out, then you probably haven't.

[Richard7 Graduate]

When you say always, are you always having "hard" runs. If so you might want to consider trying to mix things up. I am only just finding/starting this after graduating 9 months back. I am now trying to do an easy run, an interval run and a hard run per week. The easy run is low heat rate because I am not pushing. The interval is medium because you have rests between hard running that brings the heat rate back down. The hard run will be high heat rate for a good percentage of the run depending upon hard you run.

Apparently having this sort of mixture of running is better for you than having all hard runs.

I presume you have a running watch with heart rate monitor built in fun your comment. If so you can often get statistics that site you percentage of time in different great rate zones which is a good guide. But the 220-age is a guide and whilst I do peak quite high still I try to slow it down a bit when I peak to not stress my weary soul too much.

[Dbbd Graduate in reply to Richard7]

Thanks Richard, good advice will try this .

[quirkybee Graduate in reply to Richard7]

Thanks for that info Richard, very interesting and worth trying too. I couldn't do hard runs every run and every has their reasons for doing so. I completed C25K nearly a year ago and gave been practicing 5ks only and following the stamina podcast. So many things to try.

[MadDave]

175 is ok when you’re running at your fastest pace, but you should do some much longer slower runs at about 130-145 if you want to improve your speed. Getting more miles under your belt is the way to improve speed. 🏃‍♂️

[Dbbd Graduate in reply to MadDave]

This running malarkey is confusing at times. Thanks gon slow things down a bit & see how I go, think I’ve forgot how to enjoy a run been so caught up with stats. Cheers Dave x

[quirkybee Graduate]

Have no idea what my max heart rate is. But we'll done on completing the C25K. It's your choice if you're ready for 10k, but enjoy each run and build up your stamina slowly, which will encourage further distance in time. 👍

[chrisc25k Graduate]

Do you have naturally high blood pressure?

[Beachcomber66 Graduate]

Lots of good advice on this already Dbbd. My take, at 66 years old, is that as long as I feel ok then that's good enough for me. I have noticed an overall downward trend on my average heart beat, which I think is about my getting fitter. My average rates are lower than some others who have responded. 139bpm for a really slow long run up to 150 for a quicker one (say 8k in just over an hour). All sorts of things can distort it though..a virus..flu jab did it for me this year, so there are many factors in play. My resting heart beat is about 54 and my blood pressure is on the low end of the normal spectrum. So, back to where I started....if the overall trend is good and you feel ok and have no heart worries, that would be good enough for me😊🐌