bobthib

So at the ripe old age of 64 I've signed up for a sprint Tri. I've been cycling for about 3 years now, doing 150 - 200 mi per week. Just had a check up and my cardiologist gave me a go-ahead. So I've started swimming and running. The swimming is going well, and feeling ok about the 400 meter swim. The 12 mi bike ride will be a snap. But then there is that 5K run....

My problem is my heart rate. I can keep it down on the swim and the bike, but when I run (or more correctly, jog) my HR goes up to 90% or higher, so I slow to a fast walk until it gets down to about 65% or so.

I've been running/swimming now for about 2.5 weeks. I can only run about 200 yds before my hr goes up. Will it get better? I usually run after a ride. Should I stagger days?

Any advice for an old dog would be appreciated.

StanSeven

How do you know your max HR? Are you using the formula 220-age? If so, that's notoriously inaccurate.

Chaco

If your doc gave you an OK, why are you worried if your HR goes up to 90%? I'm 64, and routinely spend 35% of my ride in zone 4 or above.

If you're not having any symptoms when your HR goes up, and your doc is OK with it, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.

bobthib

My Cardiologist and my Personal Trainer both said to keep my HR at 85% or less, and there is other references that advise against exercising above 85%.

Trish

Slow down, if that means fast walking for now then that's what you should do. Your fitness will quickly increase, especially if you're not having any problems with the swimming. Relax into whatever pace you're running and try to enjoy the scenery.

You could also try a couch to 5k program which is a walking/running interval training program.

nickpoz

Why are you trying to keep it down below 65%? My recovery runs are run at that rate. Race pace goes up to 90-95%

DataJunkie

Running HRZ <> Cycling HRZ. Load bearing sports result in a higher HR at the same PE in my experience.
My running zones are a bit higher than cycling. Heck I run 5ks above LT without any issues.

Chaco

I'm really wondering what those references are. Maybe they apply to people with heart problems. But for people with healthy hearts, even at my age (64), I've never seen anything that says you should stay away from zone 4 and never think about going into zone 5.

ericm979

How are you determining your MHR?

I agree with the other posters who say that there's nothing wrong with high heart rates unless you have a heart problem. If you feel like you're going to pass out, slow down. But there's a lot of fail-safes to keep people from exercising too hard. If there wern't, our species would not have survived long enough to invent the heart rate monitor.

The people who croak while running either have just started and over-exert an untrained body or they had unknown heart defects.... in which case doing 85% of MHR isn't going to save you.

unterhausen

I merged the cross posted thread from triathlons into this one

squirtdad

My experience is that right now running is "harder" than biking or swimming and pushes my heart rate up a lot faster. I am a clyde (269 and mid figties). If you are at all like me, as you get in better shape (both aerobically and the leg muscles) you will find that running wont push of the rate as fast and you can run longer. I will say it is bit of a pain that my 5k time is similar to by 10k time of 25 years and 80 pounds ago

gregf83 

Presumably, if you have a cardiologist you have some CV issues. Normally, with a healthy heart there isn't any reason to limit your HR.

As others have suggested I would try and verify what your current MaxHR is for running. Perhaps this is not possible if you aren't supposed to stress your heart. Ideally you would find a hill and run up until your HR was at it's threshold level (i.e. the rate you would run a 10k at) and then sprint as hard as you can for 30 Secs. This should provide your MaxHR. Maybe you've already done this as part of a stress test?

If you're bumping into the 85% threshold so easily it sounds like your MaxHR is higher than you think.

zorrw

bobthib, stanseven asked you a question

bobthib

I'm using 162 as a max as that is my max. And my PT told me years ago to keep the HR below 85%. I have no know CV problems, and I just got a clean bill from my Cardiologist. My GP says the same. His feeling is the heart only has a maximum X number of beats. Don't go using them up too soon.

There are studies showing that athletes who develop a strong CV system while young can keep it if they maintain a steady workout, but those who take a long break or start late in life (me) can never achieve that same potential. You will find supporting info in Joel Friel's "Cycling over 50"

I won't say I never exceed 85%, indeed sometimes it gets up to 95% on a sprint or climb, but I don't hold it there.

vesteroid

My max hr observed is a lot higher than any formula. Actually I am shocked how much difference there is.

I am 47 and in mediocre shape and I routinely run in the mid 170's with max's in the mid 180's.

I max out my breathing on a bike around 177 but on hard standing climbs I have hit 182 or more before my breathing makes me slow down.

All I am saying is you may want to find your max hr by observation.

And I can tell you, look for a couch to 5k program and follow it. If you feel you are fitter than the starting point try jumping to week 3 and start from there. Remeber you are training more than your cardio fitness, but also your joints and ligaments...so never push too far too fast, regardless of your fitness level

velocycling

"My GP says the same. His feeling is the heart only has a maximum X number of beats"

Really?

jim p

This is what I do. I decide what HR that I want. Then after I am warmed up I push hard until I hit the HR that I want and then I back off until the HR comes back down a little and then I start putting more speed on slowly and watch the HR. When I get back to the HR that I want, then I just maintain the effort and adjust it slightly if needed.

This seems to work well for me because my HR does not jump around much. I guess if your HR is bouncing back and forth quickly my method might not work.

Speed walking instead of jogging will get you about the same speed with about the same effort. Speed walking might be a little easier because one foot is in contact with the earth at all times.

gregf83 

Sounds like you need a new GP who relies on science rather than feeling.

Ludkeh

I'm in the same situation as you!! I'm 64 and have been training for my first sprint triathalon this coming spring. My 34 year old son has been doing HIM ( half iron man) for the past two years and has been egging me on to try it!

I've been cycling for 20+ years so the bike part is a piece of cake. The swim, with some concentrated pool time this winter will be fine. I've been swimming all summer at our cottage on the lake. It got much easier and more relaxed when my son brought me a triathlon wet suit to try. The wet suit helped keep my skinny butt up near the surface of the water. This made me much more streamlined resulting in easier and faster swim times. Can you say bobber!

Now, the running is a different story!!! I've never run in my life so trying to run was a disaster!! I felt like my hips were being pounded into the pavement!! I couldn't run for more than 30 seconds without gasping for air!!!
Obviously I had no technique or any clue as to how to run. I realized that I needed to find a running method that would be kind to my 64 year old body!!! After lots of Google searches and reading I realized the benefits of mid-foot striking vs heel striking while running. I purchased shoes that promote mid-foot striking and am trying develop this running skill. Newton running shoe website has some great training videos on U-tube.

The next thing I realized is that my body muscles/ligaments and tendons need to adapt themselves to the riggers of running over an extended time frame without incurring injuries. I've adopted Jeff Galloway's walk/run training regiment. His method has you run for a specified number of seconds and than walk for a specific time frame. You repeat the process for the whole run. I started out by running 30 seconds and than walking 1 minute. As I got stronger and my body felt like running longer I increased the running interval and decreased the walk interval.The Galloway method with run/walk let's your heart rate return to normal rate. For me, being able to recover between running intervals allows be to better concentrate on form. I've been running 1 hour 3 times a week. At this point I'm not worried about distance, just concentrating on running time.

To help better monitor my intervals, I purchased a Timex Ironman 50 lap watch for $40. It has 2 interval timers. I can set the number of seconds for each interval and it will beep at me when the next interval starts. It will repeat the interval until you tell it to stop. For this springs sprint tri, my goal is to be able to run for 4 minutes and walk 1 min. Hopefully running a 9 minute mile!

I also found that if I iced down my knees for about 10-15 minutes right after the run, I had much less tendon soreness.

Hope the adventures of a fellow 50+ er helps. And good luck on your first triathlon!!

bobthib

Ludkeh, I could have written that post myself! My son is 33, and while he has not gotten into cycling, he's very fit, and has done some events w/o bikes. He said we would do a sprint soon, when his schedule permits.

BTW, were are you in central NY? We're from Albany, but now living in FLA.

Ludkeh

About 30 miles south of Syracuse.