[db]

I’m M/39 training for general fitness, and specifically to get my mile time back down to 5:00. Right now I’m probably around 5:30.

I’ve spent the last 4-5 months building an aerobic base. Peaking around 35 miles per week, with long runs of 10-15 miles.

I recently took a week or two light/off and am now transitioning into a more specific phase, trying to get back into hard track work. Yesterday when I was trying to run 175m repeats at around 85% effort (RPE ~7-8), my heart rate was shockingly high — hitting about 200bpm each rep. When I sleep it’s typically below 50bpm, closer to 40 when I’m in good shape, and my AET is somewhere around 140bpm.

It was pretty unpleasant and I definitely didn’t feel strong. Is this a common occurrence after a long base-building phase? I’d chalk it up to being just a weird off-day for my body, but even max efforts haven’t gone above 190bpm for me in a very long time.

Topic

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on March 23, 2024 at 3:24 am #85745

db — That is not common. I’d recommend getting a medical check.
Jane

[bback]

bback on March 25, 2024 at 9:42 am #85760

Odd question… What altitude do you live/train

[Bhh21]

Bhh21 on March 25, 2024 at 3:08 pm #85763

Did your perceived effort match that high heart rate? If not, I’d question whether your heart rate monitor was providing accurate data during that session.

[db]

db on March 25, 2024 at 3:15 pm #85764

Thanks for the replies, everybody. I live/train in Chicago, so low altitude and everything flat. RPE didn’t match heart rate at all, but I checked my HR with a stopwatch and got the same numbers.

All of that said, I got a pretty bad cold over the days following the workout I mentioned (still trying to get over it), so I suspect this was all just a consequence of being sick and not knowing it yet.

Thanks again for engaging, though.

[db]

db on April 4, 2024 at 8:46 am #86215

Turns out it was covid! Ha! All better now, though.

[Jane Mackay]

Jane Mackay on April 5, 2024 at 1:25 am #86227

Well, that’ll do it! Glad you’re recovered now. Remember to ease back into training.