Heart rate - Health + Injury

Peter Hazlett

30/05/2006 at 09:44

I've just come back from running the Plymouth half marathon and for the first time I thought I'd keep a check on my heart rate for the duration of the race.

Imagine my horror to notice that for the full 1 hour 40 mins my heart rate bounced off 195 BPM... it dropped no lover than 188 BPM, is this normal?

I know that on the treadmill during a sprint finish I've had my heart rate as high as 213 BPM which again I find pretty astonishing...

Is there anything I should be worried about?

I'm 31, and reasonably fit (I believe)...

Thoughts?

GymAddict

30/05/2006 at 12:20

While I have never bounced off 213 - i have raced consistently in the 190's and I am 35. If you are worried you could always go see your GP. But i was recently subjected to a battery of test for an insurance policy and this included an ecg. In the discussion with the doctor afterwards i asked why my max heart rate was so much higher than the formula (200-age thing) gives and he was amazed that i actually cared what My max heart rate was.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'But you're not an athlete' - says fat, florid, probably high blood pressured doctor,

'I thought amateurs just went out and ran for a bit.'

Says it all really.

cougie

pirate

30/05/2006 at 12:34

Peter - everyone has different MHRs. Yours could easily be normal for you - especially as you've seen a 213bpm on your hrm.

You probably averaged 90% of your MHR, which is about right for a flat out half.

Do you use it at all in training - you should have an idea of what HR you'll be running at ?

Peter Hazlett

30/05/2006 at 12:58

Generally when I'm training (treadmill) I try to keep it around 140-150 BPM, but that's a seriously slow pace, around 10 KPH, much faster than that and I struggle to keep it down... sat here at my desk it hovers around 60 BPM

Dustboy

pirate

31/05/2006 at 22:53

90% MHR is blooming hard going. Max I have hit is 88% for a 10K. And that is topping out at 214.

Max I can hold, for shortish distances, say a mile, is 193 to 194 on a good day, so yours is not far out in the higher end, based upon what people report here.

56 RHR, age 45. about a stone overweight for a runner.

Bargoed Backmarker

27/09/2009 at 17:30

Today in the Swansea Bay 10k I seemed to be averaging around 177 (which if you go off one of the age calculations should be my maximum), though I hit a max of 217 going slightly uphill (highest before that in training was 195 ... I'm 43 and 14 stone 11. Training since Feb this year, and run 3 10k races now ... only recently started using HRM.

Is any of that a concern???

fingerz

29/09/2009 at 13:39

age 40 (just). max is supposed to be around 180. have got to 183 but thats really hard going, cannot keep it going for more than 2 mins or so. generally stay around 165, going to 175 if im running faster than normal. but everyones different ...

David Williams 108

05/10/2011 at 00:01

I did my first 10k on Sunday (The Run 11 in Northampton), and my average was 181bpm, peaking at 203. I wouldn't mind, but I was taking it slowly because I have a bad knee, and at no point did I feel even slightly stressed or need to slow down. Average speed was only 11kph. Quite frankly, my heart rate hits 70% of max if I go for a walk! And no it's not because I'm unfit. I've been cycling on my exercise bike for an average of an hour a day for over a year now. Interesting to note, I can't get my heart rate above 170 when I'm cycling.

M...eldy

pirate

05/10/2011 at 00:14

Quite normal to be about 5-10 beats lower in the zones cycling to running

Dustboy

pirate

05/10/2011 at 00:26

God, I was only 45 when I posted that last one! And I still talked a load of bollox!

On the other hand, Meldy will always be a babe!

M...eldy

pirate

05/10/2011 at 00:37

Yep

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