Heart Rate Monitor Racing

by Eric
(Texas, U.S.A.)

I have been looking over your website for training using a heart rate monitor.
There is a lot of great information on the site!

The one thing I can't seem to find is in what zone I should run my goal race. I'm not really looking for a time goal (yet anyway) and am just looking to finish. Is there a certain zone in which I should run the race?


Answer by Dom:


Eric,
Thanks for the kind comments and thanks for your great question which I am sure many heart rate monitor training fanatics are battling with.

I do cover something on best-running-tips.com about using your heart rate monitor in racing.
It is on the heart rate monitor training basics page.

It basically says that my experience is that your heart rate is too unreliable in racing. So I advise against using a goal heart rate in running races.

The big problem is that the excitement of the race influences your heart rate. Your blood will be pumping, the adrenalin rushing and with those factors influencing your heart rate, it becomes tricky to rely on it.



A better guide is to use the race conversion calculator or running pace calculator to determine what pace your running race should be at, then run at that pace.

Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Dom

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