Thanks folks (BTW, Jinjer is Tony Marlow - changed my nickname),
I found the test to find max heart rate on this site. I plan on doing that at the gym tonight. I'll probably take your advice and not pay too much attention to the HRM but can you tell me if I'm right about the 60-70 zone or should I be in a higher zone to improve enduance?
Kaytee - I tried several places (including Amazon's marketplace) to get the book but they were all having to ask the publisher to reprint. I'll try Amazon (though they say they need to order) and see if I have any more luck.
I'm fairly new to running and started as an attempt to get fit as I was doing nothing before. I started with a beginner's programme (run/walk) and it was going well for a while. Then I went on holiday and the weather changed and I stopped running so regularly for a few weeks.
I'm now trying to get back into it seriously and want to run my local 10K on September 22nd. I decided to get a heart monitor to help my training after some advice from the instructer at my gym and checking out the forums here.
From what I've read, you're supposed to run at between 60% and 70% of your max heart rate... Or about 30 yards if you're me! That's right, I only get about 30 yards before the alarm starts sounding and I have to walk to get it back down. It took me 50 minutes to cover 3 miles on Sunday. Before I used the HM I could run about 2 miles without walking (granted I was puggled afterwards).
Do I have the correct idea? Is it 60-70 to develop stamina (which obviously I'll need). And if it is correct, do I have time (just over 6 weeks) to train for the 10K like this? I'm not too fussy about posting a quick time but I'd like to be under an hour.
Lastly, many people have recommended the Heart Monitor Training for the Compleat Idiot book but it's out of print - I can't get it anywhere. Can anyone recommend something else?
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Jinjer
