How Fast Should I Run Without Putting My Heart in Danger?

I'm a beginner runner. How do I know (based on my heart rate) if I'm over doing
it and possibly putting my 47 year old heart in danger?

Also, are these heart rate monitor watches really accurate?

Thank You

Ed




Answer by Dominique:
Hi Ed,
Thanks for your running question. Apologies for taking a little longer with providing you with an answer. After having been on holidays I have a little bit of a backlog to clear.

First of all, yes, generally heart rate monitors are accurate. If you use one of the bigger brands like Timex, Garmin or Polar you get accurate heart rate monitors full of great features.

To know how fast to run, based on your heart rate, you will need to know your maximum heart rate. Not knowing how fit you are, but knowing you are over forty, I would advise you to get your max heart rate measured by a professional.

When you know your maximum heart rate you can go to one of my heart rate monitor training pages to work out what your heart rate monitor training zones are.

Doing Zone 1 and Zone 2 type running (long, slow running and easy running) should, under normal circumstances, be safe for your heart.

If you don't have a heart rate monitor yet, you can also go "by feel". Your easy running pace is the pace at which you would still be able to have a conversation if you were to run with somebody else. That pace is considered to be safe (provided there are no complicating factors).


Hope this helps.
Enjoy your running!
Kind regards,
Dominique