Hi there,
I recently graduated from a Forerunner 305 to 35 after years off of running. I'm fairly active and had been doing a lot of cross-training (Strong, xumba strength training, walking and other cross-training regularly) and consider myself pretty fit. But when I set out for my first run in a while and saw that my VO2 max was in the bottom 25% for my age, and that my HRM monitor was recording almost maximum heart rate for my age and gender, despite feeling like I could hold a conversation while running, I started freaking out a bit. I'd have to be almost walking in order to keep my heart rate in zone 4.
I've continued to train over the last month and have seen my resting heart rate start to decline, and my average heart rate in runs is declining. But it still spikes super high even though I don't feel sick, super out of breath or dizzy. And VO2 max still hasn't changed. I know I'm much slower than I was in peak training, but I'm seeing my pace and cadence start to improve.
I've done lots of reading about how inaccurate wrist-based HRMs can be, and understand that calculating VO2 max without a proper test (running on a treadmill and actually measuring oxygen levels) is inaccurate. But this is getting increasingly frustrating and concerning. I've actually stopped looking at heart rate during runs and shut off heart rate alerts.
As for VO2 max, it's telling me I'm "poor" at 30, but then other websites say poor is "good" for women of my age (46). Why the difference in rating between Garmin and other reputable health websites?
All that to say, what the heck is going on? Like I said, I'm finding it super frustrating. But is it possible that my watch is reading my heart rate inaccurately because I have small bones and the HRM is getting light under it? I also know I have a slightly abnormal "female heart rhythm," according to a cardiologist from a few years ago. Could that be skewing everything?
Sorry for the long post but I consider myself pretty fit and my Garmin is calling all that into question, to the point where I'm wondering whether this watch isn't a dud...
TIA
