training and now know all the heart rates I need to train and race at," says Gardener. "For instance I know that if I run a marathon at 145bpm, I won't be slowing down at the end or that 156 will result in a decent 10K." Julie-Anne Ryan is another runner

with an HRM, in 4:05. One year later she'd improved to 3:47, now boasts a best of 3:31 and is aiming to run under 3:15 at the Abingdon Marathon in Oxfordshire this October. "I've graduated from base training and now know all the heart rates I need to train

should be focused on heart rate," says VO2 Max. "But honestly how many people do you hear lined up for an event saying 'I want to run this at 150 bpm'? None. Those of us who train for races/events train to run at certain speed (eg 'I want to do the 10K

-marathon race pace. Sample session: 1.5 miles at 60%, then 15-20 mins at exactly 85%, then 1.5 miles at 60%.85-90% Approx 5K-10K pace. Sample sessions: 6 x 800m peaking at 90% in each rep; 5 x 2000m peaking at 85% in each rep. 95% Peak heart rate at 400m rep

, because it's hard to raise your heart rate early on in a session using reps of just a minute, your readings would be quite low to start with. As a result, aiming to reach, say, 170 for each rep, you would probably start working too hard too early

, but your new training paces might come as a surprise too. Before you get started, work out the right benchmarks to work towards by finding your maximum heart rate. If you're a complete beginner, start off with this very approximate formula: 214 - (0.8 x

cent in cyclists. If you don’t have access to a sports laboratory, your best bet is either to train at 85-90 per cent of MHR, or to select the heart rate that is associated with a pace 10 seconds per mile below 10K race pace.Next you need to decide how

the activity regularly. If you're only cross-training occasionally, use heart rates 10-15bpm below your usual levels as a starting guide and adapt them as necessary. If, however, it's going to be a more regular feature on your schedule, you should start to use

When you go on holiday, you'll no doubt want to take your training with you. After all, you are off to enjoy yourself. However, this will often mean running in conditions that can affect your heart rate quite dramatically, both at rest

for cardiovascular fitness development. For example, if you are 40, your estimated MHR would be 180 (ie 220-40). You can then calculate training heart rates from this, using a formula such as 70 per cent MHR (which would be 126).Its quite simple, but unfortunately