Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Long Runs & Heart Beats per Minute (BPM)


On Sunday July 26th I went for a long run about town which lasted for about one hour and totaled a tad over 6 miles. As I typically do, I uploaded the data from my Garmin Foreunner 305 watch to my PC immediately after the run. I always wear my heart rate monitor chest strap to get data on how my heart is responding to my training.

As you can see from the graph above, at some point between 30 and 36 minutes of running my heart's BPM rate fell from the 140's to the mid 110's. (click on the graph to see a larger picture.) There were several readings of 100 BPM's and below.

Another trend I am concerned with is the first part of the run consisted of a relatively smooth 140 BPM rate with not too much deviation from this rate. The second part of the run had a tremendous amount of fluctuation. I am positive that the second part of my run was not markedly different from the first part in terms of the roads and hills traveled.

I did not feel any difference personally between the first and second parts of this run. The only rational basis for this behavior I can arrive at now is that my body is capable of running thirty minutes in a relatively comfortable and stable fashion. After the thirty minute mark my body begins to become distressed and begins a series of sine-wave'esque BPM cycles to adapt to my body's distress signals.

I am scheduled to run seven miles on Sunday. I will analyze the heart BPM data again to determine if this pattern surfaces again. I wonder if I need to consult a cardiologist for confirmation of my hypothesis ? I want to die as an old man in my sleep and not as a broken down runner in the streets of Toronto during the half marathon.

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