Thursday, September 5, 2013

Gathering speed with monitoring HR.. or not?

65°, W 6, 77% H, DP 58


1M < 65 %
8 x 100m @ 85 % w/200m jog recovery
1M  < 65 %

These are all rough numbers. And although I believe I need a coach, I know I can't afford one, so that's not on the table at this point. But, like the same way I can't limit my consumption to 1 serving of Breyer's mint chocolate chip ice cream when it's in the house - when given the permission to run fast with the caveat that I stay under 165 bpm, it ain't happening.

I did read in the book that it is normal for your heart rate to continue to rise up to 10 bpm after a burst of exertion, like hills or strides. I'm wondering if this is what I'm experiencing. I should have looked at my numbers on the phone instead of waiting for Runmeter to tell me what my rate was. I think it reports every 10 seconds, and the number it reports was always 5 seconds ago. If you consider it takes me about 21-24 seconds to run 100m, if I wait for runmeter to announce my rate, the interval is almost over. I may have to bring out the magellan again, and see if that serves me better. It will vibrate to alert. And it's immediate.

It's all getting a little discouraging. Maybe I haven't been at it long enough. Maybe switching back and forth between devices will make it worse. Maybe I'm taking it all too seriously.  I've read recently that Runmeter is not very accurate (and also because of the cell phone limitations) when it comes to pacing. I've seen that when my sister races. Her finish times are sometimes way off the chip times.



Ignore the 4x400 description, they are really 100m. Also, subtract about 5-8 secs from each time elapsed, I think that's about right from when RM starts the clock to ends in between announcements. If that's not the case, then I actually got SLOWER with my 100's than I had been running them back in August. I guess I have to get back to the track and use the lap button again.


*sigh*
</ thinking too much>

3 comments:

  1. Runkeeper and smart phones are limited technologies and it's important to keep in mind that a GPS system will always operate with a margin of error. It's important to consider that when evaluating your speed.

    Perhaps you should reduce the variability by running a series of intervals using just a stopwatch on a measured track. I'd also suggest trying a different HR monitor or changing the batteries in your HRM. There's always a possibility that you're getting incorrect data from it.

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  2. I use a garmin 610 and swear by it. I would never use any phone or other gps for running stuff..they just aren't optimized for that, and in the case of phones, the GPS chips are cheapo and not as good as the ones they use in the garmin.

    But for stuff like you are doing here, you can't beat using a watch and a track! That's what I do for short intervals when I really care.

    If you don't have a track, you can just do your intervals in the same places each time (that pole to that rock, etc) and then the comparisons are as good as a track even if the actual distance is a bit off.

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I appreciate you taking the time to read my musings! Thanks for commenting!