I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will range
from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.

Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone about my age doing that
sort of run?

Thanks!

-RS-

RS wrote:

> I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
> to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
> track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
> average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will
> range from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.
>
> Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone about my age doing that
> sort of run?

There are no standards vs age. So much of this has to do with genetics and what you did physically,
or more specifically cardio, for your first 55 years. The good news, it will improve over time. If
your work-out three times a week does not work your heart your running three times a week will be
minimal to make improvements. Following a 5% mileage increase policy, try to increase the distance
and/or the number of runs per week. How far to take this depends on what your goals(strickly health,
weight control, running races,

I'm 58 and the number of 50 year olds that compete in this age group is amazingly yet
delightfully large.

--
Doug Freese dfreeseNOBS@hvc.rr.com

In article <dtcbb.4498$SU5.2286@edtnps84>, RS wrote:
> I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
> to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
> track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
> average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will
> range from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.
>
> Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone about my age doing that
> sort of run?

It's hard to say unless we know your maximum heart rate (age based charts are too unreliable)

As a general rule, a training run should be much easier than an all-out effort. The pace you're
running at seems pretty leisurely, and your heart rate is sufficiently high, and you don't appear to
be overexerting yourself. So it looks OK to me.

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

RS wrote in message ...
>I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
>to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
>track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
>average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will
>range from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.
>
>Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone
about
>my age doing that sort of run?
>
>Thanks!
>
>-RS-

That sounds very low to me. I'm 46 and today on a training run I ran the first 3 miles with splits
of 7:30, 7:15 and 6:55. Halfway through the 3rd mile, before I started my final surge, I was seeing
194 on my HRM. At the end of the 3rd mile my HR was 199.

It wasn't even a race, yet those numbers are about the same as I saw on a
20:18 5k back in July. I guess I'm further out of shape than I thought.

RS wrote:
> I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
> to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
> track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
> average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will
> range from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.
>
> Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone about my age doing that
> sort of run?
>
> Thanks!
>
> -RS-
>

Let's see, 3 replies so far, 3 different answers. Let's make it 4

Seriously, if you're just running for fun or fitness or just taking first steps toward something
more, run at a conversational pace, if you aren't already, and see how that compares. Younger people
like Roger 2k might be expected to have higher heart rates, but not always trues. FWIW, I'm 56
female and your heart rate is about where I do aerobic speed (talking is difficult), rather than an
easy or long run.

Dot

--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope

Everyone's heart has a predetermined amount of beats, before quitting. What's your hurry?

It seems to me I heard somewhere that RS wrote in article <dtcbb.4498$SU5.2286@edtnps84>:

>I am a 56, almost 57 y.o. male who has been learning to run since Spring of 2003. Currently I (try
>to) work-out 3 mornings a week and jog 3 mornings a week. My running consists of going around a
>track in the park twice. That works out to about 4.4km or 2.75miles. Currently it takes me on
>average a bit more than about 28 minutes ... to a bit more than 29 minutes. My heart-rate will
>range from the mid-150's to low 160's ... maybe 165. I feel OK.

>Does that sound "normal" ? Or what is a normal heart rate for someone about my age doing that
>sort of run?

As Doug says, there is no one-size-fits-all normal heart rate. You will learn what is normal for
you, if you don't already have a good idea, by correlating your fitness level and training routine
[i.e., pace, distance, terrain] with the way your heart responds. If you ever have a concern about
it consult a doctor, not a chart. :-)

I'm a lot older than you, with a 25-year history of recreational and mid-pack running, and I can't
push beyond about 165bpm even if I go all out--and that's stayed constant on treadmills and bikes
and road runs over about 15 years. I'd be running at an almost-uncomfortable pace at 155bpm. At your
~10 min/mile pace I'd be around 130bpm.
--
Don donkirk@covad.net