Fooled by Garmin

The Fat Runner was running around a park in Paris this morning in the drizzle.

There is something about Paris that simply doesn't exist in any other city I've been to - it's hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.

There is a sense of style almost everywhere you look - in the buildings, the parks, the way people dress. But above all, there is a sense of harmony, and of calm purposefulness. Something I only really feel in London very early in the morning before about 6am...

So Paris was a very nice place for TFR to run - he managed to fit in 30 minutes between his morning meeting and the cab to take him back to Gare du Nord to catch the Eurostar.

For those who have read this blog a few times, you'll know that TFR's pace is around the 9-10 mins a mile area. So when his garmin forerunner (set to autolap every half mile - I recommend this strongly) started showing I was getting through half miles in around 4 mins he was feeling rather chuffed!

Until he got back and looked at the map on the garmin. It was very spikey and not like the clean ovals he ran in the park, so it was clearly over-counting the distance he ran...

Oh well, at least he ran twice this week!!

Win some, lose some

As you know, The Fat Runner had a surprise last week - that his heart rate when running was able to get up to 196bpm - much higher than predicted by the many maximum heart rate formulae. This appears to prove one thing - that the maximum heart rate formulae are entirely useless when trying to understand the level at which you should be exercising.

So armed with this new information, as well as a quick look at the Runners World website to understand the ranges he should be working in, TFR headed out for the weekly Wimbledon Common Time Trial.

The Runners World website suggested that someone with a resting heart rate of 60bpm, and a maximum of 196bpm, should be running a 10k at 176-182bpm.

This seemed rather rapid, so TFR backed off a little from these figures, aiming for a heart rate of around 170-175bpm on the first lap and 175-180bpm on the second lap.

Well it seems to have gone rather well! He ran what felt like a very comfortable first lap and then was able to push a bit harder in the second lap (instead of hanging on desperately which is what he normally does).

He'll definitely be following these heart rate guides into his next race.

Now, the final sprint....

Again, his heart rate peaked in the mid 190s (so proving that the result last week was not spurious), but unfortunately when he tried to put in a second kick for the line, one of the muscles in his hamstring gave way (an obvious rip) so we'll have to see if he turns out next week or not.

Next time you hear from TFR, he'll tell you all about hamstring strain repair!!!

Maximum heart rate research

I've oone a little research into maximum heart rates (given TFR's recent run), but the overall conclusion is that these maximum heart rate calculators are entirely useless.

So let's go through them:

Basic formula: 200-age
Londeree and Moeschberger (1982): 206.3-(0.711 x age)
Miller et al (1993): 217-(0.85 x age)
USA researchers (2007): 206.9-(0.67 x age)
UK reseachers (2007): 202-(0.55 x age) for male athletes

Now applying each of these formulae for maximum heart rate to TFR's age gives a maximum heart rate of 182 (Londeree and Moeschberger) to 188 (Miller et al). Nothing like the 196 that TFR recorded on his latest run.

By the way, TFR has downloaded his heart rate from his Garmin Forerunner 305 to check whether this was a spike reading or not. The sad reading is that it wasn't a spike - his heart rate gradually crept up to this level as he sprinted for the finish...

In some ways, however, this is good news!

Now that TFR knows that his maximum heart rate is very different to that predicted by a formula, he can work out what his real heart rate training areas should be! More on that in the next post

Can his heart rate really be so high?

TFR ran again last Saturday for the ever-excellent Wimbledon Common time trial.

He also took a friend along with him - a friend who is much fitter than TFR and runs marathons in 3hrs 15, so he wanted to put on a good show, and hopefully beat his previous record of 29mins 40 seconds.

He had been running relatively hard throughout most of the race - running between 170 and 180 beats per minute, which is rather high against most of the normal criteria using the calculated maximum heart rate for a 34 year old of 186 beats per minute (the normal calculation is 220 minus age).

For the last 200-300 metres, however, TFR sprinted as hard as he could. When he got to look at his Garmin Forerunner after the race, he was surprised to see that his heart rate had reached 196bpm - way above his theoretical maximum.

This is going to have implications on how he trains - more on this in the next post!

The Fat Runner breaks records!

Yes, the Fat Runner has broken a record! Well a personal one only, but PB's are better than no PB's.

He decided not to run in the Wimbledon Common Time Trial this weekend. It has been raining heavily in London, and the tracks which the race are held on would surely be water-logged.

So instead, after a lie-in to let the sun warm the parks up a little, TFR headed out to run his standard Kensington Gardens route. The fastest that TFR has ever run this route is 28:57. The last time he ran this route, however, he was almost two minutes slower at 30:52. And only two weeks separated the two runs - it was rather deflating to say the least.

So anyway, the time that TFR posted today was......... (wait for it) ............. 28:43 - a full 16 seconds off his PB!!

So, again, TFR being a novice (and fat) runner, is learning a lot about how this running lark works. The only thing he can think about why the previous run was so slow (and his last run in the Wimbledon Common Time Trial too) is that he had a cold. What was surprising to him was that it could have such an obvious negative impact on his running speed.

Of course, one always hears stories of top end professional athletes who decide not to compete because they've got a cold. I never really understood it until now - it would simply knock too much off their performance and even with the best will in the world they would end up dead last.

Anyway, TFR's spirits are back up with his PB!

Even after he read one of the articles in the last issue of Runner's World which stated that it was impossible to improve by only running once a week. Take a quick look on the right hand side at TFR's latest runs section, and you'll see that that is all he has been able to do. Work has been hectic. Monday - 8am to 2am. Tuesday - 8am to 10pm. Wednesday - 8am to 9pm. Thursday - 8am to 11pm. Friday - 8am to 8pm. And he's about to start work again on Saturday afternoon for at least a few hours.

So when most running magazines say "you can always find time for more running" then perhaps they don't work the same hours as TFR. Running, while enjoyable, will always come second to his wife, and will mostly come second to work too.

That said, you might see him out tomorrow morning doing one of those "Long Slow Runs" you hear are the bedrock of training....

Anyway, TFR would love to hear from you about your experiences of running while ill. Perhaps with a cold or flu, or an upset stomach or something similar. How has it affected your performance?

The Fat Runner has High Cholesterol

Yes, the Fat Runner has high cholesterol.

Under pressure from his wife, he had a full blood screen just after Christmas. Apparently everything was fine (the doctor has promised to put the results into the post) other than Cholesterol, with a reading of 5.7.

Now the healthy level is, I'm told, 5.0. So there is a gap which TFR will need to make up. But TFR has done a little web research on cholesterol levels.

Firstly, the average UK cholesterol level is 5.5-5.7 (depending who you believe) meaning that the average man or woman in the street has unhealthy cholesterol levels. Equally, two thirds of UK adults have cholesterol levels over 5.0.

So the Fat Runner is a little less concerned than he was when he first found out. Although that doesn't mean he won't be doing anything about it.

So, he will be running more (how many times have we heard that) which increases the amount of 'good' cholesterol (HDL) and decreases the amount of 'bad' cholesterol (LDL).

Also, he will be paying more attention to his diet than he has over the last few months. Far more fruit, vegetables and nuts, as well as oat bran, which are apparently full of plant sterols and are key to reducing cholesterol.

We'll see!

Cross country running in Wimbledon

The Fat Runner has completed his first 5k race of the year - once again, the very well organised Wimbledon Common Time Trial.

I really do urge all of you who run in London to try one of these events - they are very friendly and low key races, but so well organised! Within a few hours of finishing, you can log onto the WCTT website to get your 5k time, the time of everyone else, your age-graded performance and also photos of you and the other runners. And this is all for free! I have no idea how they manage to do this - of course they rely on some runners deciding to volunteer now and again, but that doesn't account for some of the basics like web-hosting charges etc. Anyway, TFR for one, is extremely grateful!

TFR was rather disappointed with his performance on Saturday though. He was about 1:30 slower than he was last time he did this event. And he can't put it down to the amount of mud on the course either. There is a reasonably clear 3 minute gap between him and the people he really should be running against. The only runners to finish anywhere near him were either young teenagers, or people almost (or in some cases over) twice TFR's age.

So what caused this poor performance? Perhaps it was the fact that he is still getting over a cold which has lasted for 3 weeks. Or it could be that he has only run a few times in the last month (mostly down to him having a cold). One thing is for certain. If he doesn't start training more regularly, then he will always be at the very back of the pack.

He's hoping that his cold is fixed, so (work permitting) he'll try to run a few mornings next week and then have another go at WCTT.

Watch this space to see how he does!