I'm re-upping this thread because I just got my HRM back with a new battery. Last year, when I was training for the marathon, I was so discouraged about my HR that I just stopped monitoring it at all. Over the winter, the battery died, so that was that. I kept running over the winter, but not a lot. Only 6-8 miles a week, sometimes less.

The past two weeks I've been running more, and feeling awful on my runs. Weak, slow, mentally un-tough. I know some of it was emotional, which changes, but it's so discouraging when I had built up some mileage last fall.

So today I used the HRM for the first time in probably 6 months. No wonder I feel like crud. My HR goes up above 160 very quickly. According to Polar, I shouldn't be above 150. I feel fine until about 155, so that's what I've used as my cut off. When I hit 160, I walked until it was back in the 140s. Using the "180 method" that Nanci referrenced above, my max HR should be 130! At that rate, it would be all walking! Sigh.

I'm going to give it a shot though, and go out for longer distances at a slower pace. If that means walking a lot, then I walk a lot. I really, really want to be able to run 5 miles without stopping. I ran 8K a few weeks ago, with only a walk through the water station. Heaven knows what my HR was. But I know that if I go slowly now, it will pay off with speed and endurance over the summer. Or, at least, that's what I tell myself!