Sunday, June 19, 2011

Test Run on 6-19-2011

It's been a long time since I did a test run on the treadmill.  I used to do these every week or two, but my last one was back in December.  Here's that post (12-27-2010).  Today I did my standard warm-up, 3 miles at 8:00 pace, then a cool down.  I measure my heart rate during that 3-mile test run and hope that it gets lower when running the same pace.  Here are basic stats for today's run:

3 miles @ 8:00 pace
Heart Rate Avg = 135
Heart Rate Peak = 144

These numbers will serve as my "new baseline" to judge the effectiveness of my summer training.

In the past I also tracked resting HR, weight, and recovery HR (how quickly my heart rate drops).  I don't care about my weight.  Recovery HR is a good measure of fitness, but it depends on me doing the same thing right after a run (walk at the same pace, jog lightly, stop completely, etc).  I want more latitude in my training.  Once the 3-mile test run is done, I can track that as a "lap" completed and then do whatever I want.  I do plan on recording my waking resting HR, but I didn't do it today.  A low resting HR is a good sign of fitness and a rising resting rate is an indicator of over training or illness. 

2 comments:

jeff said...

You're fitter than last winter by at least 5% based on heartrate test. interesting to see what it is in 1 month.

Chris Ⓥ said...

That's a good start...but I want a 100% increase...would that mean my HR was zero for the run?! Anyway, I want my HR to be as low as possible for each run. I'm pretty sure I can run an 8:00 pace (on a treadmill) with an average HR under 130.