High heart rate when running slowly

[Yogijojo]

Hi - I've just completed wk6 r3, very slowly around 10 min per k pace. Deliberately kept slow so I could complete the run. Breathing was fine though legs were protesting by the end. I'm 54, female and a couple of stone overweight with resting heart rate mid to late 50s. My concern is that according to my watch my heart rate was averaging 154 bpm putting me into zone 5 for almost the whole 25 minutes. This seems really high to me and I don't think I could really run much more slowly.

I am hoping that as I progress my heart rate should reduce. For context when walking briskly (11.5 min per km) my heart rate stays in zone 2).

Any insights/advice would be great.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Your watch is more than likely telling you that you are not average.

Think about it.........most of us are not average.

This FAQ Post about hear rate was written to address your question healthunlocked.com/couchto5...

Relax and keep slow.

[Yogijojo in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thank you-I feel reassured after reading through this information.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

Thanks you x

[Instructor57 Graduate]

I wouldnt pay too much attention to the numbers from your watch .

They are not always that accurate, and even if it is then it will most likely be using the default calculation of 220-age to set the zones .

This is not an accurate method for everyone.

If you feel ok then you probably are ok.

Percieved effort is the best way know your HR is ok

And if you are running at a conversational pace then your HR will be around 75 to 80% of your max HR

Have a read of the post linked to by IannodaTruffe

[Yogijojo in reply to Instructor57]

Thank you.

[-Alchemist-]

mine hits 177 and that concerned me but when posting about it here, the advice was to ignore it and so I just don’t focus on it anymore. I managed to do week 5 run 3 without stopping so I figure it must be ok.

Interestingly my resting heart rate has dropped since the start of the program, it’s now in the low fifties and at night low forties.

[Yogijojo in reply to -Alchemist-]

Thank you

[Freecloud Graduate]

I was terrified at my watch readings when I started last year 😱 but read the advice here and felt a lot better about it.

[Yogijojo in reply to Freecloud]

Thank you.