Jan 28, 2016

I've developed a new theory about running -

I think it's important to monitor your heart rate while running. I think you should have a running window. Not too fast and not too slow.

There is a "calculated maximum heart rate". It's supposedly the maximum you should allow your heart to beat. It's (220 - age). There are some problems with this. I think for people in their twenties it give too high of a number and if you are over 60 it gives too low of a number. At 74 my number is 146. I feel this is too low. I find I work out around 155. This may be because I've been running for 25+ years and am in pretty good shape. So my running window is 150 to 165. It takes me about a half mile or more to get up to 150 I then try to keep my heart rate below 165. Sometimes it goes higher if I sprint or run up hill. No big problem but I do try to stay in the window.

I also think you should run at least 35 minutes and not much over 40 minutes. I think this gives you a pretty good cardio workout with few injuries or burn out.