New Heart Rate Monitor and some planning

Duration = 23:52
Distance = 1.25
Calories = 136

I may need to change the template now that I have way too much data available.

Boring stuff first, I did a fitness test associated with the software that came with the new HRM. This took long enough that I decided to call it today's exercise.

The UKK Walk Test is, as you would expect, a walking fitness test. You walk at a brisk and steady rate for 2km. You record the ending heart rate and the time for the 2km. This generates a score that is an indication of fitness. The software barked at me for not walking fast enough and another site provided a form that generated a negative number (-3).

I've posted details about the new HRM on my LJ.

Using the Fitness Test option resulted in a value called OwnIndex, documented as similar to VO₂ max. Currently, mine is 36. This is moderate for my age. The HRM also estimated a HRmax of 178 which matches one of the general ballpark estimates, 220 - age, so it may only have just used that. Time will tell. Now we have a measured starting point for aerobic fitness.

I plan to rerun this test in the morning every Monday until December, then the first Monday thereafter. There is a training effectiveness test that I will be running on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday mornings as long as it seems useful.

Immediate planning

My most immediate goal is passing the USAF Fitness Assessment (Fit-to-Fight). The part of this I am having issues with is the run. My current effort as described in this blog is targeted at this element. (The longer term goals build on this for improved fitness.) With no other improvement on the rest of the assessment, I need a time of 13:12 for the 1.5 miles (8:48/mile) to meet the minimum for my age. 12:00 will give a nice round 8:00/mile. 10:24 will max this section for my age at 6:56/mile (in line with another of my stated goals). Finally, 9:36 is max for any age group. This leaves the last goal at 6:24/mile. Definitely long term but worth monitoring.

The plan for now is three 30 minute sessions (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) with a one hour slow run on Saturday. This will be done until the peak pace is 8:00/mile. Then we will either go for speed or distance. I expect that by the time I get here, the full assessment will be passed quite comfortably.