Heart Rate and Guardrails

Saturday, May 10, 2025 · Mike Davis

Good morning,

This week I read an article about the success of using heart rate for successful training for runners. At the risk of sounding boastful, my thoughts, as I read, were less than impressive. Not because I do not agree, I absolutely agree and have used heart rate to train all our runners at No Finish Line Fitness for the past ten years. Okay, maybe I am being a bit too critical, as it is never a bad thing to reiterate the value of a training method.

Why heart rate will benefit all levels of runners, to include those just getting started.

I am not going to share the link to the article but instead talk about why utilizing heart rate has been a staple in training all our runners.

What heart rate tells us

Our heart is an organ which pumps blood through our body and to our muscles, moving blood and oxygen (circulatory system). For runners, this is a critical component in our comfort and performance. All of us have a resting heart rate and a maximum heart rate. The less conditioned we are, the harder our heart must work to supply the necessary nutrients and oxygen (the quicker our heart rate gets to our max) . Through proper training we can improve the efficiency of the heart (aerobic training). Our ability to run and maintain our heart rate at a comfortable level is critical toward running comfortably, or for an increased duration of time. For distance runners (5K and up), this is called aerobic training.

How we (No Finish Line Fitness) use heart rate.

Guardrails

Conversational Rate Guardrail

The term “Conversational pace” is often used in the world of running. The concept of conversational pace is for a runner to gage their running pace by their capability to run while being able to carry a conversation. The runners’ ventilatory system can maintain a duration of running by maintaining a pace which enables them to maintain a conversation. This is an affective “guardrail”. While “conversational pace” running is a great tool, it is limited by many factors, but for me, it really is best used when running with a partner, not for someone who is training solo.

Heart Rate Guardrail

Whether we are helping someone who wants to begin running or are running an ultramarathon, we utilize heart rate to ensure each run is executed specifically to the intended goal. Every run we assign during an individual training session has a specific goal and assigning heart rate guidelines keeps our runners aligned with the intended training goal. So, whether your goal is to start running or run a marathon, using a guardrail is a successful way to meet a goal.

Conclusion

Many runners have different methods of training or just running, and I do not necessarily disagree with them, we just find heart rate to be the best method for us to help our runners be successful.

The above is only a brief understanding of how and why we utilize heart rate for our runners. I will dive into other reasons and values of heart rate, in future chats. I for sure do not want to kill you with physiology 101, so I rather give you insight into our training methods and why.

Side note

A little while back I was interviewed by a writer for Yankee Magazine about training for the Mount Washington Road Race (every June). I thought it was weird, as Yankee Magazine is not exactly a publication you would see a running article. This week a couple people gave me copies of “RUNNH”, a magazine published by Yankee Magazine, and in it was the article I was interviewed for. Pretty cool!

Now I am off to run on the treadmill!

Have a great weekend and God Bless!

Mike