Monday 30 August 2010

WOO HOO!

As the days perceptibly shorten, as condensation appears on your car windscreen in the morning, as the sycamore leaves in the hedgerows become dusted with the silver of mildew and the blackberries hang in juicy profusion, something strange is spotted in the fields along the River Kent. 'Tis a strange, shuffling creature with a big grin on its face. Yes! it's a Hayfella, bimbling along in the great wide open for the first time in months.

Following strict instructions from Mrs HF, I walked briskly for 10 minutes to warm up, then entered the fields where I ran gently for 30s followed by 30s-1min walk. This was repeated for 20minutes and then I walked home. And the good news is, that I had no ill effects in the nether regions at all. (Perhaps I should point out that surgery has left me with two 4 inch long scars, one on each side of my groin, right where your knicker elastic goes!).

The running was simultaneously brilliant and awful. Brilliant that I should be doing it at all. Awful in that I've got such a long way to go before I can run anywhere as I would want to run.  But today, in the most beautiful conditions imagineable for running, the brilliant won out.

Swim tomorrow. Then run again on Wednesday. Maybe I'll run for a whole minute. Double woo hoo :)

Smileyrating for this run: How could it be anything other than a 10!

Wednesday 11 August 2010

HR Sorted

Thanks to the genius of Mrs HF, my HR queries are solved and I now have three numbers to guide my training from as soon as I can start running again.
Here's the method she used:
Assume HRmax = 180 and HRrest = 48.
180 - 48 = 132. This is the heart rate range.  To work out the training zones you take the required percentage of the range and then add back in the HRrest. So...

Long slow steady training at 65%      = (65% of 132) + 48 = 134
Cardio/aerobic training at 75%          = (75% of 132) + 48 = 147
Interval/anaerobic at 85% or above   = (85% of 132) + 48 = 160

Simples!

Now all I've got to do is to get healed enough to actually run. I've had a bit of a set back while turning over inadvisedly in bed, so it might be a week or so yet.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

On heart rates

Took my resting pulse in bed this morning. 48bpm. It might have been lower, but I had to get out of bed to get the heart monitor and strap it on!
Still,I'll settle for 48.

What I'm uncertain about is my max HR.  As I rapidly approach my 54th birthday then the '220 minus your age' rule of thumb (or should that be rule of ventricle?) gives me a max of 166. But on my bike ride the day before yesterday I had an average of 152, or 92% of my theoretical max. Now I'm pretty sure no-one can exercise at 92% of their max for 44 minutes, so I think my own max HR must be higher.

Until I can get out and do a maxHR test, I'm going to use 180 as my max. This is a figure from my last maxHR test, performed at least 10 years ago. Even this higher figure means that I was biking along at 84% of max, and, when walking yesterday (I went to post a letter in the village and took the longer way home, walking briskly all the while [isn't 'briskly' a fabulous word?]) my average was 95, or 53% of max.

I think I need to find the more sophisticated rule of ventricle for working these things out. Can anybody help?  It seems the height of conceit to imagine I'm doing my stuff with the heart of a 40 year old.