Whacky heart rate

[Learsport8500]

Hey guys,

What do you think of this?

I'm a 30 year old male. Having started cycling 2 months ago and averaging 150km a week since, I recently did my first 20km race in "E" grade (low grade - young girls, old ladies old men etc). I though the pace would be nice and easy and that my 2 months of cycling would at least allow me to have a comfortable ride (especially if I could suck someon'e wheel) but after the first 200m knew I was going to struggle when my heart rate rocketed up to 190. Anyway, I battled hard and more than once felt like quitting, but in the end I managed to hang onto the pack the whole way, but was positively shocked to see that my average heart rate for over 35min of cycling was 188, with a maximum of 195 (which is my max heart rate, based on experience).

Anyone had a similar experience? Is this dangerous/unhealthy/unusual? Is 2 months too little time to prepare for any sort of race? Should I be taking up table tennis instead?

By the way, next few days were VERY tough sleeping and concentrating, with a "weak" feeling in the chest, but no heart attack.

Cheers.

 

[Eilert Pilarm]

you mentioned young girls...

soooo--that might explain the high heart rate eh?


ok, seriously, i'm not a doctor but i did stay at a holiday inn express last nite, so my diagnosis would be the increase in adrenaline explaining a lot of it.

i'm 45 and hit a pulse rate of 195 on the lifecycle yesterday--ja, it's a little too snowy in alaska to hit the roads any longer--so nothing to worry about for you youngsters.

and yes, i am so bragging about hitting 195 at my advanced age.

 

[JohnO]

I just turned 49... uh oh, this age thing is starting to get serious...

Anyway, I tend to average around 170-175 on a ride, if I kick it up to 188-190, I'm going to get tired soon. Saw 205 in a sprint once. Doc said that if I can do that at my age and live to tell about it, I'm good to go. Still, 190 is pretty high for the start of a casual race. Sounds like a stricter training regimen is in order.

2 months isn't very long to be cycling, especially if it is just casual solo rides. I got back into cycling when I was 44, and was pretty pitiful the first few months. 15-20 mile rides on flat roads were all I could do at first, average of around 13-14 mph. I didn't really start to see improvement until I took up with a bunch of riders who were quite a bit better than I am, and sought out the steepest grades for their rides. Performance took a big leap that summer, there's nothing like slipping off the back of the pack to get you to crank out that last 10%. Personal best last summer was a 65 mile ride, average of 20mph, over a lot of hills. And I got whipped badly on that ride by a 54 year old woman with legs of steel.

Funny feeling in the chest for a couple of days afterward... you might want to visit a doctor just to be sure. I remember coming back from one of my first MTB rides just gasping for breath, heart pounding, but I felt great within an hour, even better the next day.