After much anticipation, my first run back was a success! No pain, only slight discomfort in my knee - I think I can live with that. I did a super easy 5km with a minor hill thrown in for fun.
My biggest problem was my heart rate. I've decided to try training using my heart rate zones after doing a lot of reading about it. I used an online calculator, which based the zones off my LT (calculated to be about 190bpm, using a 20min TT). Now, for today's easy run, I decided to set my Garmin to alert me if I exceeded Zone 2, whose upper limit is 172. I normally have a rather high heart rate, resting at about 90 and while running, it often climbs to over 210 (and I don't feel like I'm about to have a heart attack). However, in order for me to stay under 172, I basically have to be walking. Like I was doing 8min/km (1:45/km slower than normal) and my Garmin was still beeping at me. After a km or so, I just turned the alerts off, ran slower than normal and still averaged 192bpm.
Any suggestions on how I can modify the heart rate zone concept to make it work for me and my overly enthusiastic heart?
Great job! First run back is alwasys a great thing! My max heart rate is 184 and I'm 6' 4" and 190 lbs so I think it's all individual. I usually run between 90-92% of max heart rate but I've been trying to stay between 80-85% of max on everything other than 'speed' day. It hasn't been easy. We're runners, we like run. Go figure.
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I always wonder if maybe I'm training too hard and I don't even realize it.
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