I am on week 4, I am running as slow as possible. 5 km/h. Which is a little less than my walking speed. In 5 minute run my. HR races to 141, which is more than 80% of max heart rate for my age. (58 yr old).
What should I do? Would appreciate any guidance or sharing similar experience.
(1) What device are you using?
(2) How old are you?
58 years. I have an oximeter that gives out HR and O2 saturation levels
141 is nothing to get too excited about to be honest.
Were you out of breath?
When was the last time you did a cardio exercise program?
What was your HR for the Week 3 running bits?
I think that's in your cardio zone, the more exercise you do your hr during exercise will slow down. I'm a similar age, did a 55 minute run today. My average hr was 132, max was 157. Forty minutes was in the cardio zone, 10 minutes peak. My cardio zone goes up to 144.Wrist hr monitors aren't totally accurate, nor is the 220 minus age calculation, how you feel is probably a better way to gauge things, and also how quickly your hr settles after exercise. Try not to worry, and well done for getting off the couch!
I take all those readings with a pinch of salt. When I started C25K I had a basic tracker watch, I ran as I felt comfortable (I still do) ....all I’ve ever wanted is evidence I have completed a run.....I now have a fancy watch that measures goodness knows what....(that’s how they come these days)
These fancy watches pick up your stats from your wrist, they are not medical devices, (I’m an ex nurse)
They are made on averages - I’ve never met anyone ‘average’, plus to be if any significance, a whole combination of things are needed, not just one measurement.
If it is troubling you and you feel unwell, maybe see your GP
If you feel well, listen to your body, that’s much better than all these fancy gizmos, by the way, mine always records that I’m in the highest zone for my heart rate, I feel fine, I run as I feel
Hope this is helpful
Mx
Say this sentence out loud to yourself "Am I going slow enough to enable me to speak this sentence in one out breath?" If you cannot, you are going too fast.
No need for tech................a little knowledge can be very confusing, if you don't understand the implications.
I can speak that sentence till 3 minute end after that I push myself to finish the 5 minutes. I think by stretching myself I am building up capacity for longer runs.
Don't 'push' yourself. The program is designed to be easily done by almost anyone. Simply do it at a nice easy comfortable pace. The capacity for the longer runs will come naturally. Week 1 prepares you for Week 2. Weeks 1 & 2 prepare you for Week 3. Week 4 is achieved by the fitness gained in W1, 2 & 3. Going quicker and pushing yourself isn't going to help as much as you think.
Relax and just jog nice and slowly. That's all there is to it.
As John_W says, you should not be pushing. As a new runner you need to build stamina, strength and injury resistance before pushing hard. Please read the guide to the plan to get an understanding of how C25K works.
Ok. Will try to run even slower. I don’t know if one can run slower than 5km/h
I've constantly worried about heart rate. I'm 56 and on a short run (3 or 4k)I average about 152, on a longer run (7 to 10k) about 157. This has dropped after 6 months of running. Can peak at about 168. I always feel ok and can speak so I am trying not to stress. I am now worrying that my resting heart rate has dropped too low at 52. Is that normal? 🤔
Sure that's fine mines around 45-49!
My max HR is higher than the formula would suggest. Should be 165 by formula, but is actually about 185 (if watch is to be believed). My resting HR is now routinely 54, and typically high 40s overnight. Cardiologist says that is healthy.
Hi there,Unless your doc has said you have a heart problem, I would forget the tech stuff. It's a modern fad as far as I'm concerned.
At nearly 65, I had never ever run before C25K and I nevertheless started and completed it during the first lockdown. The only tech I used was the podcasts with Laura.
I felt awful some of the time, especially in the first 10 minutes (the toxic 10), but really awful at the 1 or 2-minute mark when you feel breathless the heart starts to run faster.
Apart from those nasty bits, try and make sure you feel more or less confortable and keep the amazing IannodaTruffe's advice in mind.
If you are worried, see a doctor and a cardiologist and, if they say you are OK, just fortet thetech rubbish 
PS - I still find running very unpleasant ^^. Why do we punish ourselves? Because we feel better, in general.
I am just starting again after a 6-week pause due to an injury.
On my last run my heart rate climbed to around 156 after 10 minutes and then stayed there for the rest of my 30 min jog.
At no point did I feel I was unwell or feel I was pushing myself beyond what I could do.
As others have said, as long as you feel well and are not out of breath you should be absolutely fine.
Keep at it, you've got this!
I'm 53 so my theoretical max HR should be 167, and 80% would be 134. On all the interval runs I tended to find that, after the first 5 mins or so, I was in the cardio range during the walking bits and peak range whilst running (at a very moderate 5km/h or so - edited: sorry I was doing myself down as I meant 8km/h, or 5mph!).
Now I'm in week 7 so doing continuous runs. I'm finding my HR climbs steadily during the first km and then stays at around 165. I've seen peaks of over 170 in previous weeks but the average is starting to come down.
I've never felt unwell nor been gasping for air. I'm sure my body would make me slow down or stop if I did. So, like others here, I'm not paying too much attention to these figures and just running at a pace I find sustainable.
I'm 52 now. During my first time through C25K, my HR was peaking at 188bpm towards the end of the longer runs.
If you're not feeling as if you're about to keel over if you don't stop, you're probably not hitting the top end of your HR. Few of us fit the formula, which errs on the low side.
However, nowadays I'm now considering my HR venturing higher than 170bpm as a bad thing, even though I've reset my watch to have a max HR of 190.
The best measure is the one given by others: can you speak a sentence out loud without gasping?
On my last long run, for some reason Coleridge's Kubla Khan popped into my head, and I spoke the first two lines, and then realised I'd forgotten the rest... (and that was before someone arrived from Porlock).
HR Max
Parkrun in 21:47!!! Back on form!
Running in the Rain
Week 7 Run 1 (In the bag)
There’s slow, there’s slower then there’s me
