Torbjorn had us doing a max heart rate test as one of the "quality" workout sessions in May. Knowing your max heart rate allows you to calculate various training zones using any number of methods (see Different Ways to Determine Training Zones for a discussion). We've been doing running sessions over the past month or so, slowly building to this session.

The instructions for doing the max heart rate test are simple:

• Find a long hill and run three 3-minute intervals up it. 
  

• The first interval should be at 35 beats less than your estimated maximum heart rate.
  

• The second interval is at 25 beats less than max. 
  

• The third interval is a bit different: The first minute-an-a-half is run at 15 beats under max; during the second half, gradually increase the effort for one minute, then go all out for the last 30 seconds.
  

• Repeat the third interval if you feel you didn't go hard enough the first time.

Let's do a reality check...

A three-minute hill? In the Lower Peninsula?
The first problem was finding a long enough hill. Out in Utah where Torbjorn lives, they have mountains to run up. In Michigan where I live, there aren't that many long hills. 

Kensington Metropark (near Brighton) has a long hill along the main road through the park that I though might be long enough. It starts at the bottom of the entrance into the Possum Hollow parking area, goes up past the soccer area to the toboggan run parking lot, then down past the Maple Beach entrance to the boat rental parking lot. I thought I'd run up one side, "rest" going down the other side, then turn around and start the next interval.

(Don't have a long enough hill? Start on a flat and end the interval on a hill. Or simply use the flat. "No hill" is not a sufficient excuse....)

On the first and second intervals, I had just enough hill. On the third interval, I ran out of hill and had to turn into toboggan parking lot (a flat area at the top of the hill) so I wouldn't be running down the hill as part of the interval. On the fourth interval, I decide to start further back from the base of the hill on the flat leading to the hill. Good decision: I finished my three minutes at the very crest of the hill.

Finding my Max Heart Rate requires knowing my max heart rate? Isn't that circular thinking?
Guess at your max heart rate. Or use the time-tested method of subtracting your age from 220 to get an estimated max heart rate. I knew mine from the previous year from using a heart rate monitor...

Why not just go like hell on the first interval?
Typical American - always in a hurry. The two easier intervals get your body well warmed for the big one.

Why would anyone do the fourth interval?
I discovered why. I only reached a heart rate of 171 on the third interval. From the previous year, I knew I should hit at least 173. I realized I hadn't run hard enough. It's pretty simple to understand why: you're not chasing anyone, and no one's chasing you! In a race situation, there's built in motivation to work harder than normal. During training - especially when you're training alone - all the motivation has to come from within yourself.

When I did the fourth interval, I had to consciously tell myself to "Go harder". I even pretended I was sprinting a competitor to the finish line. By playing these mind games, my heart rate reached 174.

Recommendation to you:
Don't know you're max heart rate? Then how do you determine how hard to train? Do a max heart rate test. Do it running, do it biking. Make sure you've run or bike a few times first to get the muscles and joints used to the effort. And warm up first!