I believe wasoxygen is currently in the midst of a running experience (?) and may find this interesting. I'm curious -- everyone's body is a little different, so did you ask a doctor about your heart rate? I wonder if you came to the right conclusion. Maybe you're an edge case.
I haven't asked my doctor yet. I usually do an annual checkup mid-year, and I'll bring it up then. I should have more observations, too, which might help the discussion. My resting heart rate seems to be lower since I've been checking it, and my active rate might come down, too. I agree I might be an edge case. The articles I've read say things like "220 - your age _but everyone is different_." So yeah, I might be right on the money despite being 10% above typical. For now, the HRM is helping me gauge how I feel against a number. Feeling pretty exhausted? Yep, look, I'm up at 182 bpm. I need to slow down if I want to keep going. Four miles from the car. Should I keep going? I feel good, and yep, I'm at 168 bpm. I'll push on another mile. I'll see how it goes through the spring. I've thought about looking for a running coach, someone who can help me understand numbers and train better. There is so much I'm still learning, but eventually I'm going to hit my ability to understand how to do better.
I was merely running in the rat race: squeezing a first-ever visit to a financial advisor in between the kid's guitar lesson and finishing the #evox cW sent about Debt: The First 5000 Years. I mentioned the idea of debt forgiveness in the Jubiliee year to the banker, and he smiled indulgently. My best time out of five 5Ks was set last November, and I intentionally did not pay attention to my watch after reading about Kenyan runners who use watches in training but often go by feel in competition. I wonder if I might have pushed a little harder had I seen 11:48 on the clock at the halfway point, but ended up finishing with a negative split in 22:05 and a heart rate at the finish of 193. I am pretty uncomfortable pushing beyond 180. Resting heart rate is easy to track, and I have seen some reduction, to below 60. Nothing like the Ice Man, Björn Borg, whose heart is said to rouse itself to pump just once every two seconds. WanderingEng, do you have RHR numbers you can share?
I didn't have any RHR numbers but just recorded a couple. I should have been doing this for a while. Anecdotally, I feel like I often saw mid to upper 70s. I'd check it but not record it. I saw your question at work and counted 60 bpm (measuring over 30 seconds and doubling). Just now, after dinner but again idle, I counted 68. In my iPhone I apparently measured it 11/8/2014 in the morning at 69 bpm and 11/9/2014 late morning at 81 bpm. I do think I've been improving lately, both based on numbers and how I feel. I went by feel for my Saturday run. I didn't check my heart rate more than a few times, such as deciding if I should make a longer detour and at the top of a notable hill. I even ignored the mile times. Opposite to you, that may have ended with me going slower, but speed wasn't so much my goal as distance, and I do think ignoring helped me go further. Instead of getting wrapped up in running numbers through my head like how far I had to go or how long it would take, I just thought about how I felt. Websites I've read suggest doing intervals on hills can improve your cardiovascular strength (to a point), and I started those last week with sets two days. I think it's already helped, but I still took today off. My knees feel just a little off from the weekend, and I'm being careful about not overdoing it. I should be fine tomorrow.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bj%C3%B6rn_Borg#cite_note-37 Gotta get snopes on the case. EDIT: why the fuck did I just read that entire article. I'm a busy man. I think my brain is trying to sabotage me.