Heart rate

A month in and the tablets

A month in and the tablets are finished. Certain now it’s the GORD/GERD thing. I wouldn’t have believed it at the start, but nearly 5 weeks on after starting the tabs, I’m sure now. It’s a relief, as I can almost discount heart problems. I’m glad I saw this post.

Thank you, Blakiegray. Just

Thank you, Blakiegray. Just had my tea, curry, with a beer, three good strong ‘real’ coffees during the day. Put this next to a history of physical sport/abuse.  I’ve just looked up the GORD thing. Very interesting. I think that’s what my tablets are for. I’ve still got 2 weeks worth before I make a judgement. I’m going to take the advice suggested.

Hey,  just to chip in and

Hey,  just to chip in and echo some of the other comments as this has been a focus of me recently.  I’ll try and keep it short…

A few months ago I developed a heart defect in the sense that I was randomly dropping beats (not in the good way) and heart was beating from 40bpm to 120bpm within a few seconds, my normal resting heart rate was 60bpm and max was 190bpm so although it was irregular and “not normal” it was in a “nothing to really worry about” zone (these were quotes from the cardiologist).  I’m normally a fit and healthy cyclist, 40 years old, non smoker, very occassional drinker, 5′ 9″ 70kg.

Anyway… I was given beta blockers which I found gave me a new max heart rate of 158bpm and what I do is ease off whenever I get close to that max, 150 is fine, when I see it go to 155 then I ease off for a few seconds and find a new rhythm that I can keep at about 150.  I’ll continue to do this until I can get back to my doc and get the heart issue properly sorted.

The other advice I can offer is that like you I was getting chest pains, and due to the ongoing heart issue, I was, as Rabbie Burns said “shiteing myself”, however I worked out that I had GORD/GERD, which is basically acid reflux, which is really symptomatic and feels weird as shit, and if you’re prone to anxiety, which I’m not – but this had me worried, it can exacerbate the problem.  I now take Omeprazole in the morning and at night, and what really helps, although only for a short time, is Peptac (or Gaviscon, but just get Boots own, exactly the same), that sorts it out but only lasts a few hours.  Oh, and cut out caffeine or at least limit it to a morning cup.

Of course, don’t take mine or anyone elses advice if you’re worried, but if the doc has given you the all clear with all those scans, then fingers crossed it’s maybe a bit of acid reflux and anxiety.  Long story short, set yourself a new max heart rate that you’re happy with and try not to go above that until you’re confident that the issues are under control.

Go a bit slower and end up a

Go a bit slower and end up a lot less tired… makes sense when you think about the exponential increase in wattage necessary to increase your speed the higher it goes.  Conversely, if you are going like the clappers, back off quite a lot and your speed won’t actually drop as much as you expect. 

I looked into this recently
I looked into this recently because at this time of year with hayfever I get what I think is sports induced asthma as it’s so hard to prove haven’t seen a doctor as I’m not a pro and am certainly not applying for a TUE. When I get to around my max heart rate I really struggle and can’t sustain for more than a few seconds because my chest tightens any other time of year I’m fine.
The other thing I think related to a relative high heart rate is fatigue if I do a ride at 160 average Vs 150 funnily enough I’m shagged for the rest of the day for very little gain in speed do that day after day and something’s got to give. My conclusion is I’m try to hard for my relative fitness.
You can lower your heart rate for the same effort but it takes time (months) and means riding to a much lower heart rate and hence much slower but the body will adapt and the speed will come back.
I did a fun experiment last week for one of my common routes (40 miles) I checked my last average heart rate set that as my max heart rate (@157 start soft pedaling basically) and then set my average target as 147 and stick to it. My average speed was lower but only .3mph and I felt amazing after the ride far less fatigued. It was fun because you had the mental capacity to think about where you could gain free speed eg brake later, more aero etc. I want to do it again because I can gain even more.
I don’t want to ride like this for the rest of the summer but will mix it in for 1 or 2 rides a week and then really work on it over the off season. I guess this is essentially traditional base training

Thanks for the response,

Thanks for the response, Bigmarlow and kil0ran. How long have you been on the drug? I can’t say I’ve noticed anything in the two weeks I’ve been taking it. My ‘discomfort’ is to the left of the sternum, which is why what kil0ran says is interesting about costochondritis. The way things are at the moment makes us all think about our mortality.

It does worry me sometimes –

It does worry me sometimes – I’m 38 but have hit 193 when pushing as hard as I can up a steep climb, which is way above my theoretical max.

Most of the time a hard ride will see me averaging around 160bpm and a gentler recovery ride around 125. My resting heart rate is around 60.