Heart Rate Monitor use / Stress

In a past post, I wrote about wearing a heart rate monitor every time I run. There was a correlation between life stresses and the impact on the heart rate. Some suffer heart attacks and other issues as we age. As we lose the ability to understand, our internal organs may not be willing to keep up with our demands, and they crash.

I had a tough weekend. Last week was over a 75-hour work week, much of which was very high stress over the weekend. Although the excitement is I ran and enjoyed 5 runs totaling 20 miles in a week for the first time this year… My running miles per week to date:

3 miles

13.6 miles

15.9 miles

0 miles

15 miles

17.8 miles

4.9 miles

0 miles

14,4 miles

and last week 20.2 miles -- YIPEE

So, last week was filled with limited sleep, increased workouts, and a weekend from hell. So, at lunch today, I laced up, put on my heart rate monitor, and prepared to go for a 4-mile run. I felt good. Then, less than 3 minutes into the run, I looked at my watch… 158 BPM. I was doing just over a 10-minute mile. I stopped. Within a minute, it dropped to 130. I started again. My heart rate rose fast to the high 150 BPM. Again, I stopped, it dropped quickly. I used my watch to check my pulse. I counted, and it was within the range of what the monitor stated. I felt like I was not even working out. My muscles felt fine, but my heart was not…

So I ran again, doing whatever it took to keep my heart rate no more than 145. I slowed to a 12-minute mile to accomplish this goal. Last week, I started the week with just under a 10-minute mile and an average HR of 136 BPM. So why the increased heart rate? The stress in my job and the very stressful 30-hour weekend officiating tennis took a toll on my internal organs. They need to recover.

Many say I am crazy for having such a theory mentioning this situation. However, this is not the first time my heart rate monitor has given me reason to be concerned. In the heat of the Afton 50 K in 2007, at about 20 miles, my HR went to 170 BPM, and I was walking. I took some ice, iced me down, and walked. Slowly, my HR reached the 120s, and I could run the last 7 miles. I believed my heart was stressed due to the increased body temperature from the heat?

So I do not run without the HR monitor, and some think I rely too much on an electronic device. My question to many of you is, is using an HR monitor an excellent way to monitor potential issues during high-stress times? I really think so, and when people ask why I have this belief… My response is, “I want to live…”

Carry on…