Heart Rate Running

[El Gordo]

I've dabbled.

I bought a HRM (Polar S410) when I first started running. Religiously logged my average and max heart rates for every run for, I dunno, a year or more. Then I got fed up with it and sold it, partly because I never did any analysis of the figures.

But.

But I keep thinking I should give it another go, and have a pencilled-in plan to upgrade to the (rumoured) new Garmin 305, due out in a couple of months that combines HRM and distance measurement.

The other reason I got fed up with it originally was that I couldn't find anywhere to properly measure my max heart rate. Without this, it's impossible to calculate how you're doing. I know you mentioned a formula, and there are various formulas but these can only be estimates, and I think that for something like this you need to get an accurate measurement. It usually involves going to a sports clinic and going through a series of supervised tests.

A lot of people swear by heart rate training, and it's hard to argue otherwise. It should make sense. So my plan, such as it is, is to try again, on the strong caveat that I make a better effort to find somewhere to get my max HR.

There are often threads on this subject on the RW forum, ususally under either Training or Gear. From what I read, you can get serviceable HRMs for as little as £20 from Tesco and Aldi et al.

One minor word of warning -- you have to wear a chest strap which some people find uncomfortable, though I found you get used to it and forget it's there a few minutes into each run.

So in conclusion, yes, I think they are worth a go. There are 2 or 3 books on Amazon on the subject.