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RE: It's getting better
Heart rate running then.
Starting on a positive note, it is quite apparent that I do have a heart. At times (lots of times) it beats very fast. Even when I’m not moving very fast.
With all the strange talk on here of heart rate running and the peculiarities of the Maffetone Method, I decided to do some exploration of my own and try running to my heart rate – in other words running to effort rather than pace.
The bugger with this latest fad of mine, is that I was on the cusp of leaving behind running technology all together, and now I have even more stuff strapped to my being. A watch and a heart rate strap.
A little bit of reading around the subject made it clear that I needed to know both my resting and flat-out, I’m gonna die, heart rate. I already knew my resting rate, which sits around 45bpm (I know), and the Twittens seemed to be a perfect way in which to find out my maximum heart rate. Or so I thought.
I stupidly assumed that being a reasonably fit person that this heart rate running malarkey would be quite a comfortable experience. All I had to do was to work out a good heartrate zone and then run into the metaphorical sunset. The reality was somewhat different. I cannot believe how quickly my heartrate rises. Having planned to run around 140bpm mile after mile over the hills, I was somewhat surprised to find my rate heading north of 100bpm before I’d even got to the top of the steps opposite Chez Cats.
But this is nothing when compared to the Twittens which were a really odd experience. OALR, Radar and I planned a pre-twitten warm-up run – a slightly modified Sweder’s circuit. Weirdly, the highest heart rate achieved over the whole run, including the Twittens, was on the long downhill leg from the Downs to the bottom of town. OALR set a pretty robust pace, but still. How could I be hitting such a heartrate when I had gravity firmly on my side?
Last week, with my heartrate settings dialled into the Garmin I headed out the door for a five-mile early morning run. It started well… a nice warm up under 140bpm. But as soon as I reached any incline I was up around 160bpm. To keep below this involved a brisk walk… and I don’t do brisk walking when I’m meant to be running. My average over the distance was 158.
This week, we’re in Cornwall enjoying the Cornish air (torrential rain). On Tuesday morning, I set off for a little exploration of the local paths. Down the road, across the footpath to the coastal path into Tintagel, before heading back to our sleepy holiday house. It was hilly, very hilly. But once again I really struggled to keep my heartrate down. In fact, the last sprint up the hill to the house blew my previous maximum heartrate out the water. I discovered a new PB (or PHA (personal heart attack)).
So, as I sit here looking out across the Atlantic Ocean, reflecting on this experience, I am buggered if I know what it’s telling me. Other than I’m not as fit as I thought I was. Oh well, I need to pop out now anyway to re-stock the beer fridge.
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