Heart rate 💜

[hells_bells2207]

Please can someone advise where I look to see the ideal heart rate for running?

I also see people talk about their pulse & ‘zone’.

Any information is incredibly helpful.

So much I don’t know 🤷‍♀️!

[roseabi]

Fear not! We have loads of information in our Heart Rate FAQ post - follow this link: healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to roseabi]

Thank you so very much. I will have a good look later today.

[Instructor57 Graduate]

There really is no Ideal !It would depend on so many things , there is no 'One number fits all'It would depend on your age, fitness level and what you are actually trying to achieve .

Have a look at the post linked by roseabi

I'm sure that will answer many questions about HR

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Instructor57]

Thank you for your reply. I’ll look at roseabi link later on.

[2alive Graduate]

Hi mine was220 - your age

[roseabi in reply to 2alive]

That is your maximum heart rate xxx

[Cmoi Graduate in reply to 2alive]

According to the 220 minus age maximum heart rate formula I'm dead! I prefer to run by feel.

[Kirst13 Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Me too. Even a very slow kjog has me over my "maximum", but I feel ok🤣

[Hidden in reply to Cmoi]

🤣🤣🤣🤣

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

Cmoi i still can’t find you to follow you on Strava. Maybe you look for me. Mine is

Hells_Bells2207. Helen Lymbery

[John_W Graduate]

Have you graduated yet? HR stuff tends be pretty much irrelevant when doing C25K tbh.

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to John_W]

Thank you for your reply. No I haven’t graduated.

My next run is W8R1.

[John_W Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

Why do you want to know about heart rate stuff?

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to John_W]

Only because I’ve seen posts with people saying what there’s was & what ‘zone’ or something they are in. 🤷‍♀️

[Roxdog Graduate]

I've been running for ages and ignore heart rate completely. I have no idea about some of the terminology used with some of the apps. I just use strava to track my runs. I just go by 'feel' and I still seem to be alive and kicking. I'm not at all cynical about it, I don't mean to sound critical or anything, I just don't want to monitor what's going on in my body.

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Roxdog]

Thank you, that’s a great help. You do not sound critical in the slightest.

You’ve been really reassuring.

I’ll look for you on Strava!

[Roxdog Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

If you choose to get into it later on, then that's all good too!

[Cmoi Graduate]

It's great to find stuff out hells_bells2207 . What you then choose to do with it is up to you. Some people find running by heart rate zone really helpful. I've never tried it as I detest running by numbers!

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Cmoi]

I only asked as I saw a number of times about these ‘zones’!! I am going to be the same as you & not worry about it.

I think I was interested after seeing posts about it & being a nurse 👩‍⚕️!!

[Hidden in reply to hells_bells2207]

The "zones" i believe are different levels of heart rates. The ones I usually look at are the ones determined by my Garmin watch.

The zones are something like:

1 - Warm up

2 - Easy

3 - aerobic

4 - Threshold

5 - Max

Each has a range of beats per minute assigned. Obviously subject to variation, accuracy etc

An easy way to look at it is - if you feel knackered you are probably in zone 4 or 5 🤣🤣.

If you feel comfortable then - thats the place to be 😊

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for explaining it. I understand it now!

I looked at my Apple Watch & my HR was 165. I knew it was high but I was unsure if that was ok.

I’m not going to look at numbers & zones & all anymore.

If I do see my HR on my watch, I’ll just let it go.

[Irish-John Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

It's of huge importance to some, none to others and probably the majority don't really bother with it.In my cycling days I used to obsess over the "right" cadence, position, saddle type etc etc I could have saved myself a lot of bother because a lot of that stuff really was only of advantage to top-tier competitors. I could have had a lot more fun if I had just focused on enjoying rather than competing. A lot more pain too - five to eight hundred miles before a rock hard leather saddle breaks in is not something miss lol.

As for running - take it slow and steady and keep it enjoyable on at least some level. That's what gets us to graduation After all - if we had thought before we could run we wouldn't feel the need of a programme so believe me, everyone here had there doubts about all this running lark for quite a while as they progressed But - you progress and you learn and find out things such as less than ten percent graduate "on time/with 5k", and that "Speed" is a concept rather than a hard fact, that it's actually harder to run really slow tjan faster than really slow, that after the first "toxic ten minutes" it's amazing how your nody adjusts to running etc etc

And most of all - you find it's a lot more than just "running", it opens a whole new petspective on life and the world around you that is pretty awesome

Hope this is of some use to you and wishing you many happy miles in your future

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Wow! That surely is so much use to me; valuable in fact!

Please can you explain the ‘toxic ten’.

I’m guessing at what it is; I don’t want to go on thinking my guess for years, if it is something different 🤔!

[nowster Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

The Toxic Ten is the typical reaction of the body to the start of a run when not completely warmed up.

You don't feel coordinated. Your muscles might feel a little tight. You may have little niggle feelings in your legs. You may not have the energy you expect.

And then after a few minutes, you loosen up, your metabolism adapts, and things start to feel right.

The other end of this is the Tomato Ten at the end of a run where the metabolism is still running at a higher level and you feel very hot because you're no longer moving.

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to nowster]

Ah brilliant. Thank you, that ps a great help.

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Irish-John]

Following; hope that’s ok.

[Over60sRunner Graduate]

I agree with Hidden and that's exactly what I do - I run for joy. My Fitbit and my heart monitor strap (on the odd occasion I actually wear that!) tell me I max out at about 152bpm and my average is around 138bpm, so I'm well within the range of 220 - 62 = 158.

I'm not the youngest, and certainly not the fittest runner, so I tend to just go on how comfortably I can breathe and if I start huffing and puffing too much I either slow down or even do a little jeffing and then speed up again, which works a treat for me.

I'm never going to be fast (5k on the odd occasion I actually manage it is around 48/50 minutes) and I don't have a competitive bone in my aging body so I don't really hang myself up on numbers. I just go out and run until I'm knackered, then I stop 😀

I think what you do with heart rate and zone figures, if you use them at all, is entirely an individual thing. We are all running our own race, as it were, and if it gets you to your goals then all power to you but if, like me, you just want to jog along and try to keep you aging body as fit as you can then I don't see the point of them.

My Fitbit always tells me at the end of a run and I always respond "meh". I think the only time I would pay attention is if the largely stable numbers I have suddenly went totally hyawire, then I'd see the GP just to be sure all was OK - as the years advance one has to be a tad more mindful!

Enjoy your running and don't overthink it, unless that's what floats your boat. You are nearly at that finish line and I look forward to seeing you "I did it, I graduated" post on......woohoo!!!

😀🏃‍♀️💪🏅

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Over60sRunner]

Thank you so incredibly much.That was a great help & a really good read.

Thanks,

Helen

[Over60sRunner Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

My pleasure 🙏 Of note, I've just done a full 30 minutes run, which I haven't been able to manage for a couple of months and covered 3.06k. I maxed at 155bpm and averaged 145bpm. Now to many that's pretty poor, but to me I feel like Rocky having just run the steps........ rock and roll 🏃‍♀️💪🏃‍♀️

A perfect example of make your runs your own and enjoy that sense of achievement - I sure have this morning 😁😁😁

[hells_bells2207 Graduate in reply to Over60sRunner]

Another really helpful. Especially as I was worrying about C 3K in 30 mins & that you did & enjoyed it & made it your own.

I must learn to do the same.

I’m going out soon.

And just this second the postman came & delivered my brand new funky cropped leggings.

I put them straight on a second ago!!

They will help!

[Over60sRunner Graduate in reply to hells_bells2207]

Yes, yes, YES 😁🏃‍♀️💪🏃‍♀️😁

[johnm12 Graduate]

The article which roseabi linked too is really good. I too had difficulty with the formula. I was according to this frequently at max when I felt fine and dandy. As a starter I'd suggest run at a pace where you can hold a chat conversation. Might feel slow, but that really does not matter at all. Good luck with your running journey.