<p>mapesey, we do the river and creek trails too (beautiful) but the hilly 5 mile loop is great for getting the heart rate up…and although it’s short…is quite a challenge on the bike. Mount Misery is fun too…and there’s a link to the Horseshoe trail…very hilly and remote…not a trail I would feel comfortable doing myself. My dog used to do that with me but now he’s too old and creaky :(</p>
<p>toneranger, We’re lucky that there are plenty of steep hills to walk/run around our neighborhood. My friend and I used to run them with our dogs every day, but we’re both suffering from nagging injuries that forced us to walk instead. We walk fast, though, and we do five miles every morning. Several of our neighbors have tried joining us, but they can’t keep up. You’re so right–walking fast on hills is GREAT at getting the heart rate up. </p>
<p>When H and and I walk in Valley Forge, it’s usually for the benefit of the dogs. It’s just been too hot this summer to walk them anywhere that doesn’t have water nearby! I’ll look forward to checking out Mount Misery and the Horseshoe Trail as soon as we get some cooler weather.</p>
<p>Sorry about your dog. It’s so hard to watch them get old. :(</p>
<p>I have the WSJ but haven’t read it yet. Anxious to read about the trail running. I do NOT do trail running (unless it is a very smooth trail). I run with my feet too low to the ground and I tend to fall. I fell twice in my Wisconsin marathon last October and seriously bruised my ribs on the 2nd fall. (split my lip on the first fall). And THAT was on a relatively smooth rail trail. I get a little nervous on the unpaved parts of Perkiomen Trail, especially after the thaw in spring when it is sort of rutted up. </p>
<p>HR Monitor- I swear by Garmin, but if you don’t want the GPS function, most everything by Polar is good, too. It really depends what all you want it to do. I think at a minimum you want to be able to set zones and have it record your average and max HR for a workout. Some of the very basic monitors just give you a readout (like taking your pulse) and don’t record any data or let you set zones.</p>
<p>nminn:</p>
<p>I went cheap on the heart rate monitor and bought the second from the bottom of the line Timex:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Timex T5G971 Unisex Sports Personal Heart Rate Monitor Watch: Timex: Watches](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1282061375&sr=1-1-fkmr0]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1282061375&sr=1-1-fkmr0)</p>
<p>A couple of points to consider. These things all take watch batteries in both wrist watch monitor and the strap that goes around your chest. I went with the Timex over the industry-standard Polar brand because the Timex batteries are user replaceable in both the watch and the chest strap. The Polars required replacing the chest strap, which costs nearly as much as the entire Timex package.</p>
<p>A Polar-compatible analog unencrypted data transmitter in the chest strap will allow you to read your heart rate on Polar-compatible exercise machines, such as my Airdyne bike or almost any cardio machine at the gym. This means that you can see your heart rate on the machine or on the watch. The downside of this is that your data might show up on the machine next to you, so the more expensive monitors now use encryption or digital signals. Only the two cheapest Timexes are “analog” and compatible with the Polar readouts. Everything above this model is a “digtital” heart rate monitor and will not transmit to exercise machines.</p>
<p>I did not get the absolute cheapest Timex:</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> Timex T5G971 Unisex Sports Personal Heart Rate Monitor Watch: Timex: Watches](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1282061375&sr=1-1-fkmr0]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Timex-T5G971-Unisex-Personal-Monitor/dp/B000P8VWQS/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1282061375&sr=1-1-fkmr0)</p>
<p>This one lacks the memory features, only displaying your current heart rate and the timer for your workout. The one I bought has simple memory features. At the end of your workout, you can look at total time, total time in specified heart zone, average heart rate, peak heart rate, and a very optimistic estimate of calories burned base on the weight you’ve programmed and your heart rate. This is all the data I need. I don’t need the fancy models that store the last ten workouts. This watch also has a handy “recover” feature. During your workout, press the recover button and it counts down 60 seconds and tells you how many beats your heartrate has fallen. </p>
<p>I have not ended up using the workout machine compatible feature because I don’t go to the gym and the Airdyne heart rate display lags the watch display and I’m wearing the watch anyway to monitor my workout. If I were going to drop a ton of money, I might look at one of the fancy models that has a computer uplink to store actual graphs from every workout. That would be cool, but you are also looking at $100+ units. If I were a runner, I’d look at the fancy stuff that measured running stuff like GPS distance, stride, and so forth. MOWC can help with that. I only know about old fat guy sweatin’ up a hill heart rate monitors!</p>
<p>I’ve been extremely pleased with this Timex. For under $50, it does everything I want ans works like a charm. The only trick is that you need a little mositure between the chest strap and your skin. Doesn’t take much with a plastic sensor against skin. In the summer, that’s no problem. In cool weather, you either have to wait a minute or two to sweat a little at the beginning of your workout or just moisten the inside of the sensor with a drop or two of tap water on your finger.</p>
<p>Oh, I forgot to mention the best feature. The watch allows you to display your heart rate in either beats per minute or as a percentage of your maximum heart rate (that you program into the watch). I use the percentage display, so I don’t have to remember what heart rate is what. I just see 72% or 85% or whatever. Very handy.</p>
<p>The watch has one programmable zone. You program the low end of the zone and the high end of the zone. It displays arrows when you fall below the zone or go above it. You can also have it beep when you go out of the zone, but that is super-annoying, so I turn the beep off. Frankly, if you use the percentage display, you instantly know what zone you are in anyway.</p>
<p>60% to 70%: OK, I’m exercising a little bit.
70% to 80%: OK, this is good. Let’s keep this up.
80% to 90%: Now, I’m starting to work it out. Where’s that towel?
90%+: good lord, this is brutal, pass the oxygen bottle!</p>
<p>Any of you gym rats have an Expresso bike at your gym? It’s a stationary bike with a video screen that displays different routes–kind of like Wii. You see your handlebars in the foreground and you “steer” around the course. The graphics aren’t anything special, but I kind of enjoy it.</p>
<p>My Airdyne just comes with a black n’ white photo of a rock pile at a Russian gulag that you can tape to the wall …</p>
<hr>
<p>Went for a nice 4.5 mile walk in the state park today, revisiting the scene of my face plant on Saturday. No wonder I tripped. That little stretch has huge tree roots and rocks embedded in the trail, sticking up. I hit that trail after nearly 2 miles of pavement, so I’m in full stride “in the zone” mode. I realized today that I need to gear down and shorten up the stride and pay attention when I hit the trails in the woods. It’s not like it’s hard hiking, but it’s not just booking along on pavement, either.</p>
<p>What a difference a few months make. I checked my heart rate on my original “heartbreak” hill. The first time I walked my 1.5 mile hilly route, I was stopped, bent over, gasping for air at a particular tree at the top of the hill. My heart rate was 96% of max. Today, after already walking 4 miles on a 91 degree day, I sailed past my tree at full stride with a heart rate of 76% of max. That’s what I had to keep in mind as a struggling newbie on my first walks. Just keep going out, walking those hills, and the progress would come.</p>
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<p>I thought of something different when I saw this question.</p>
<p>Six miles + 50 minutes of tennis. I had cramps (calf) in between and an electrolyte pack took care of that. I improved on my running time but am still slower than 10 minutes/mile. I don’t expect to get there for a while.</p>
<p>BC:</p>
<p>You are flat putting the screws to this exercise stuff. Running and tennis is pretty hard core.</p>
<p>Nice day here in New England. Suprisingly cool considering temperatures in the 90s. Low humidity is a good thing.</p>
<p>I spoke to the guy that used to weigh over 300 pounds that ran a 7.5 mile pace 5K. I asked him when he got so fast and he said a few years ago. I then asked him how long it took to get fast and he said a few years. That seems fairly reasonable. Getting faster with distance is hard.</p>
<p>You kind of have to let the speed come to you, right? Keep training and you’ll get stronger and faster.</p>
<p>I’m taking it easy on my walks, using them as active recovery days from iPod workouts that are leaving me sore (in a good way) after each one. I woke up this morning feeling it in my thighs, butt, lower back, abs, sides, shoulders, and arms. All in all, a pretty comprehensive soreness! Starting to go a little heavier on the weights has been a good thing.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info on the HR monitors!
Just back from the gym. Only had an hr and half today so just biked using the random feature for 65 minutes and then lifted weights. Was pleasantly surprised to see another drop in weight! If this keeps up for the next week and a half I will reach a big goal by the end of the month. I am so focused on achieving it that I am nervous about going out of town to visit friends in Chicago this weekend. There will be lots of wine and snacks so I hope I can stay strong!
I am loving my egg white omelets in the morning. They are filling and I actually love the flavor when I add Emeril’s Bayou Blast seasoning to it. What a surprise!</p>
<p>What it takes to get faster at running is a topic of much discussion and debate. Some runners will add a little (or a lot) of speedwork. Intervals on the track, pickups (fartlek) during a longer run, or short races (5K-10K for marathon training). At my age I have decided that track work is not a good idea for me, although I have done it in the past. It increases the risk of injury. I run a lot of hills and that gives me strength and if I get up to a 10 mile long run (longer, of course, if in marathon training) I get some good endurance. Racing a couple of times a month in spring/fall seasons usually gives me an increase in speed. Everyone hits plateaus, and, of course, the point where you simply aren’t going to get faster due to age.</p>
<p>I survived the 2nd epidural steroid. Ran 4 miles in the horrible humidity (rained at the end) before I went for the procedure.</p>
<p>Chintzy! You are just amazing!</p>
<p>You may downplay your success, but you have demonstrated that you can change how you do things at any age. Wow. </p>
<p>TR - it sounds like you have some really beautiful places to ride and walk. Now if we can just get some non-humid wether around these parts!!!</p>
<p>MoWC. Getting faster - that’s my goal. I am doing some track work to prepare for the race in October, but I am careful to do repeats that only slightly faster than race pace. I am doing 500’s and then walking around the track at an easier pace and then repeating. I agree about getting injured. I don’t want to go much faster or I fear pulling something. </p>
<p>IDad - I read your post about falling over your ankle and I was envisioning the Master Card (?) ad with the fellow falling over the cliff with his camera. You are one dedicated or stubborn guy that’s for sure.</p>
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<p>What made it so classic was that the thought in my mind was literally, “Wow, this feels great today, I can’t believe how strong I feel walking fast along this trail” and the next instant I’m lurching down the hill trying to get my balance and finally doing a face plant in the dirt!</p>
<p>I never would have thought twice about falling, but I watched my wife go through the ordeal of surgery for plate and screws and rehab from a broken wrist after slipping on ice in a parking lot two years ago. It made me realize that, as we get older, we have to start paying a little more attention to falling and injuries.</p>
<p>Balance! That’s what I need to work on! I have terrible balance and I fear getting older because it will get worse unless I do something about it. Has anyone tried to balance with the Wii Fit yoga? It was really hard for me. Did make us all laugh though!</p>
<p>I got a TERRIBLE score on the wi fit balance board…lol. I couldn’t figure out the video game thingy and how to stay in the boundaries. Told my husband to sell the darn thing cause I like to do real vs. virtual things! </p>
<p>Anyway, I do well in my regular yoga class with one leg poses…so I think I’m OK. I DID trip a couple of years back on a rocky trail while hiking…and it was very humbling. Twisted my ankle…nothing serious though. I have a friend who won’t hike because she fears falling and is always looking at the ground. I won’t go that far…but I think I’ll avoid the rock scrambles…getting TOO old for that.</p>
<p>Interesting tidbit on balance. My PT had me working on balance last night as part of my rehab. He had me stand on one leg (then the other) for a minute and see how many times I lost my balance. I aced that test- he had me focus on a spot on the wall. I puffed up with pride at my great skill. THEN he had me close my eyes and balance on one leg at a time. I touched down 12/10 times respectively in a minute. It was SO difficult. He said I rely heavily on visual help for balance. He wants me to practice the eyes closed stuff. Try it.</p>
<p>North Minn:</p>
<p>I think balance is probably most dependent on leg strength. iPod nazi has stepped up the exercises that isolate one leg at a time and require lifting or pushing or balancing body with one leg in isolation. Lunge walking is so difficult because it primarily works one leg at a time. The one legged stability ball exercises are brutal.</p>
<p>mowc…needed a break from writing so tried the closed eyes balancing. Didn’t do too well!! I always use a focal point in yoga with my one leg stands. So I’ll practice some with my eyes closed but it’s frustrating. I like visual cues!</p>