Saturday, March 8, 2008

Working at it

I ran 2 miles Wednesday but hit the wrong button when I started the Garmin, so no heart rate info for the first mile. And even though I wently slowly the second mile, the heart rate numbers were no better. How frustrating.

We've had 14-plus inches of snow since Friday morning along with blizzard conditions. It's finally stopped and thank goodness it's March, so we know the snow won't stay long. I am SO glad this happened in early March rather than January.

Today (Saturday), I opted to ride the spinner at home -- everyplace else was closed and there was no running obviously. I did 50 minutes and worked up a nice sweat.

Here's the thing: My heart rate never got higher than 130 -- even after 50 minutes of spinning at 85 to 90 cadence. Yet when I run, my heart rate jumps to 155 in the first 2 minutes even if I run an 11:30 or 12-minute mile. This is crazy. I returned to running -- after an 8-year absence -- two years ago, so I know it's not about waiting for my body to adjust to running. The cardiologist offers no explanation (all the tests are normal), so I keep trying to work it out on my own.

I realize I might have a higher heart rate than the average (even though my RHR is usually 60), but my max would have to be like 200 for me to stay within my training zones. And I'm all but sure that isn't happening.


Well, I'll just keep working at it and trying to go slowly to slow my heart rate. And I'll keep riding the bike at a really low heart rate to build more aerobic capacity.


Anyone else have any suggestions?

2 comments:

Nitmos said...

Thanks for stopping by. I have already received some benefits from Chi Running. There are some excellent tips to the technique! I'm continuing to work on them. Through-out each run I remind myself of various things. Right now, I'm concentrating on relaxing the leg muscles and keeping the correct posture. This has already helped with some of the nagging muscle soreness! Later.

Unknown said...

I also have a high heart rate while running. When I hop on the bike it is really low (120). But as soon as I start running, within a few minutes, it shoots up to 170.
After a few miles, it can max out and or stay around 185. I feel really lethargic at that point.

What I have been doing:
I have been trying to warm up on the bike first and or do jump rope. When I start running, I run really slow and breath through my nose and out my mouth. This seems to help a lot.