Different HR question

Assuming that you are healthy, cleared for training by your Dr etc...
Going hard in races and training is not "abusing your heart". (However, if you go too hard, too early there is an increased risk of injury to other body parts.)

A heart rate monitor is a tool to provide an indication of effort and help you follow a training plan. It's not a safety device for keeping you from crossing into some unsafe red-zone. There are reasons for running in zone 2 but there are also reasons for running at higher intensity. Your own training will depend on (among other things) your level of experience, your goals and the plan that you are following.

Information on how to use a heart rate monitor for training can be found in books and on web sites. I don't really feel qualified to provide much in the way of recommendations.
Don

X2 on what Tom stated.  The Q&A link on that page takes you to this huge thread on HR.

LTHR field testing has proven reliable for me in the past when I was using a HRM.  My run LT Threshold as been in the range of 174-176 every time I did a test. What you may see change is the pace for the 20' test duration depending on your fitness at the time of the test.  BT has a HR zone calculator where you can select different types of HR zone calc methods and compare them.  LTHR is one of them.

Thanks to everyone for your input. I apologize, I should have provided better info on how I arrived at the 167 max. I actually got this number last Fall. I tried to base it on LT. You all are right in that it may not be accurate. I had borrowed my co-workers HR monitor and used it for a 10K race. Based on reading, I triggered the HR monitor to run during the last approx. 20 minutes of the race, and I gave it everything I had to simulate a field test. The 167 was the average for that specific time period. I'm sure it was higher, and also lower. But I can say it was a really really hard 20 minutes. Does this shed any light on the topic? I wasn't even planning on using that info until I got the monitor for Christmas.
Barry

If that is your Max, it's not uncommon for your z2 to feel super slow to you. Some new runners have a hard time keeping it in Z2 running at all and need to walk to get it back down. When you were using RPE you were more than likely going too fast. I would use Z2 as mostly a guideline. It's ok if you peak up into z2 a little, especially near the end of your runs, but try to stay in Z2 as much as possible if that's what your plan/coach calls for

input your 10k race time in the McMillan run calculator then after you click the calculate button, select 'Training Paces' on the left side and see how the paces lines up with your LT HR zones.  For me things happened to line up very well.

167 isn't your max HR but it probably is close to your running Lactate Threshold (LT). One way to find your Max HR is to run so hard during that 20 minutes that part way through you fall to the ground dry heaving and can't run another step, your HR at that moment is close to your max. There is no good reason to test for your max. Knowing your LT is much more valuable and will help you set your HR training zones properly. Running lots of easy miles will not make you a slow runner but will improve your aerobic fitness while minimizing your risk for injury.

167 was your max during the 10k but also your average HR for the last 20 minutes of the 10k?

The beauty of your 10k lasting nearly an hour is that you can take your average HR for the entir e10k and use that as your threshold HR. Teh final 20 minutes is only if you are doing a shortened version of the test.

A Max HR probably won't be achieved after 40 minutes of aerobic exercise followed by even 20 minutes hard effort. You'd need to look for a collection of your historical max HRs on a variety of short hard efforts like uphill sprints ... likely data you havn't collected yet.

Like others have suggested you don' tneed your max HR in order to determine training zones.

When you calculated your training zones, what did you use to do it with? ie did you use 167 and plug it in as your max? Or as your final 20 min avg? or are you letting the watch tell you what your zones are?

id suggest you do a quick recalibration like this:
1) Us the BT HR tool and put 167 in as your threshold HR and see what the training zones look like
2) use mcMillan calculator and put your 10k time in and see what your training paces look like

Do a quick comparision and see if the two sets of zones line up. IE is your endurance traiing pace from mcmillan similar to your zone 2 HR based on a threshold HR of 167?

This is just a way to start calibrating your paces. It certainly IS possible you have been training above Zone 2 for a long time, but that doesn't mean you have been training incorrectly or abusing your heart. You just havnt been training in Zone 2, and may see benefits if you change up your training.

OR

Your zones are way off and you need to retest

OR

Just do your routine trianing and collect HR data for awhile and look at a large collection of the HR data in a a few weeks, look for areas where time spent at different heart rate groupings of 5 beats or so drops off quickly...meaning you don't spend mucjh time there...that's probaby close to your threshold as well.

Lots of right answers. Not many wrong answers...just gaining more knowledge and education about training & how your body responds.

Great feedback. I will do these steps as you suggested. Thanks!

Understand and great point. Figuring out the Max doesn't sound very fun! Thanks for helping me.

How far are you running when your doing you Zone 2 work out.  If you are going 3-5 miles then yea it will feel painfully slow.  If you are going 16+ miles then if feels about right.  Running slow develops energy sources that running fast doesn't.  All plans work slow runs (zone 2), Medium runs (steady state), and fast runs (speed work) into the week to help you get fire on all cylinders on race day.

Edited by BlueBoy26 2016-01-14 2:36 PM