Run Seventeen: What Happens at Max HR?

At least the app has me on the right continent now. :D 

I had a good time with today's run though my heart rate was occasionally alarming. One reading was one beat shy of my theoretical maximum (220-less-my-age). My husband asked the other day what happens if you reach your maximum and I realized I have no idea. Fortunately, I don't really believe that reading -- the readings seemed to be going up and down with only a modest correlation to my perceived effort. All I can figure is that I'm doing something different in how I hold the sensors to make the reading change. I'll see if I can get more information from the folks who work there on Monday when I go back. 

I did push the speed a bit more this time and made my goal! Today's plan was 5 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 8 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 5 minutes of running. My goal was to run at 3.5 miles an hour at least and to do the last minute of each running interval at 3.7 miles an hour. This I did. :: happy dance ;:

I one whole interval at 3.6 or more and some extra minutes at 3.7 in one.

I did not make my stretch goal of one whole interval at 3.7 miles an hour.

I did notice that I was occasionally over-running the treadmill -- bumping into the bar at the front -- then having to regulate my self back down. But I didn't want to speed up because I wanted to make my goal of "all running intervals at 3.5 miles per hour and the last minute of each at 3.7". I have a plan on how to deal with that.

I'm now a few hours post-run -- I helped my husband make dinner and we've eaten and cleaned up -- and I am pooped. That one took a lot out of me. Maybe I really was one beat below my maximum heart rate and it wore me out. I'm not sure. I'm just pooped.

My next run is scheduled for Monday. The Week Six, Day Two program is 10 minutes of running, 3 minutes of walking, 10 minutes of running. My goal for the run is to run all of both of those intervals. Beyond that, what I intend is to start each of the running intervals at 3.5 miles per hour -- if I bump the front, I'll raise the speed by a tenth of an mph. If I can't keep up, I'll slow the speed down by a tenth. I just want to see what happens if I let myself run without pacing myself. My hope is that I'll wind out averaging faster than 3.5 mph.