Heart rate and run times

weight loss is strictly calories in and calories out. if you run 3 miles in 20 mins or in 30 mins it doesnt really make a difference, or even if you walk it in 45. if youre running near your max heart rate then youre anaerobic for 24 mins which really isnt good for you (lactic acid is acid and therefore its not really great for you to produce it all the time and maxing your hr stresses your hear). it also doesnt help your training - and if youre heart rate does not go below 175 then you know your hr monitor is lying to you bc most elite athletes can only be "lactic" for 25 mins. you prob ramp up your hr at the start of the run and it appears to stay up there. you should be trying to run just below your lactate threshold which is prob somewhere around 160 but you wld need to have it tested to know for sure. as you lose more weight and build your aerobic system by traning below your lactate threshold you will notice an improvement in your run times over the 3 miles at a given heart rate. instead of running 3 miles faster and faster you cld try to increase you mileage by a mile a week - ie - 3 to 4, 4 to 5, 5 to 6, etc. congratulations on dropping 35 lbs in a year, thats awesome!!!!!!!

Put a 25-pound plate (weight) in a backpack and run 3 miles with it. Compare that time to your regular time. Now, ask yourself, "What effect does carrying around 25 extra pounds have on your running time?". You can answer your own question. :-)

dropping weight will make it easier to run, but you need to slow your heart rate down on your training runs. My HR doesn't hit max on speedword intervals. By running that hard all the time, you also risk injury and burn out. Slow down and have some enjoyable runs! Mix things up. Some easy runs, some speedwork or tempo runs and long slow runs.

I used to run like that when I was younger, and I hated running. It was painful, and I never seemed to improve as much as I thought I should. This time around I've been running a lot slower on most of my runs, keeping aerobic and at a pace where I can talk easily. I've found that by doing this I actually really enjoy running, I can run much farther, and my endurance and fitness are improving at a much quicker rate. If I really want to hurt, I'll do an interval session. Anyway, try some longer slow runs, you'll burn a higher percentage of fat. Also if you burn say 500 calories on a 30 minute fast run, and 750 calories on an hour slow run, you'll lose weight faster and improve your endurance.

Another thing is don't be afraid to take walk breaks. On runs 5m and longer, I will walk 1 minute each mile and when 10m or longer, I started out at 4min running to 1 min walking. It really helped me increase the distance I could run and not feel like I'm dying. See Jeff Galloway's book on running. He is a big proponent of walk breaks even at the higher levels of runners.

Thanks for all the feedback. I rechecked my HR in listing mode and after 2:25 my heart rate went to 174 and only dropped to 173 at its lowest point during the remainder of the 24:48 run. The avg was 178 and the high was 191 (ouch!). I should mention that this route is full of climbs and you never really get a break. I'm going to slow it down a little and find a flatter area to train in. I can always hit the hills for intervals! I've spent most of this week cycling and I just started swimming again. My short term goal is to drop down to 175 and do a sprint this summer. Thanks to all that replied and Happy Holidays to all!

-Mike