My !@&^% heart rate!

[ima_bleeder]

I've seen 200+ while mountain biking, and I'm guessing my max is probably in the 200 - 205 range ... but 220 - 39 = 181. Off much??!! So I know that the 220-Age formula is way, way, waaaay off for me. I use my HR monitor almost all the time. But it really isn't useful if you don't understand what the numbers mean. In my case, I have a tendency to be in sprint mode all the time, and I burn myself out on longer rides. The HRM tells me when I need to back off. I'm learning to do that a little better now without the HRM, but if I'm going with a fast group or doing a long ride I ALWAYS wear it.

(See the "High Heartrates and HR Zone training" thread in the Health Issues forum for a lot more info on HR)

But also, as Tahoe mentioned, mountain biking is NOT spinning, and is NOT road biking. If you mountain bike anywhere with real elevation changes you're going to experience a lot of anaerobic effort ... sometimes very, very high heart rates. The first summer that I was out riding I couldn't keep up with anybody, I couldn't make it up a lot of the climbs, and my HR was regular up in the 190+ range. Too high, even for me, and I didn't know well enough to know that I wasn't riding at my own pace. (I really didn't know what "my own pace" was, because I didn't know the first thing about what my MHR or HR zones were). And from what I've seen with other women the fitness required, and the commitment to saddle time to improve mountain bike fitness, is high on the list of reasons that they burn out and give up on mountain biking.

Don't let that happen to you!! Mountain biking is fun, if you can find your own pace and stick with it. Take it slower if you need to. If you need to stop for a moment to recover, DO IT. Over the last 3 or 4 seasons I've increased my average speed by almost 3 mph, and I'm finally making it up all our hills. I'm still one of the slower people in the groups I ride with, but I couldn't ride with them at all when I started, so it's an improvement.

The most significant gains I made were in the last year, because I made a specific goal with a time limit ... a local race. In my case it was a 50 mile mountain bike race. If you're just beginning, maybe select a particular group ride or section of local trails that you think would be fun if only you were in better mountain biking shape. Or a local race. And don't let the word "race" intimidate you ... if you ask around you'll find that there's at least one nearby that's a "true beginner" course, and you'll also find that the other racers are usually very supportive of the beginners. Whatever your goal, it can help you stay motivated and seriouos about sticking with a training plan. If you want to go it on your own, pick up the Training Bible or the Mountain Bikers Training Bible.

It sounds like you really want to improve your fitness. Hold on to that motivation, don't burn yourself out because you want to see improvements tomorrow. You will absolutely start to see improvements over time!