Originally Posted by pshaw
My HR is dropping into 150's but my pain level is high indicating i'm trying hard, but should I push harder to work respiratory system and get HR back up?
My HR is staying high (160/170s) but my legs feel strong, indicating I'm trying hard, but should I push harder to work legs?
The reason I ask is I intend to start training using intervals and trying to work it all out.
Sometimes it feels easy to sustain 170bpm and have strong legs on an undulation, other times it feels hard to sustain 155+ and speed and cadence (whole rythm) gets shot but legs are on fire!
Am I overthinking all this crap and should just ride my bike and smile?
Sorry Jocko, looks like I'm gunna say something different.
I've had a HR monitor since 1992, and I've used one on every ride in the last 5 years, even on my commutes, so I've made similar observations a gazillion times.
As long as your fitness level is consistent and you're 'normally' hydrated, these HR flucuations are usaullly an indication of how fresh your legs are. If the HR seems high, relative to perceived effort (when the legs feel good) this is an indication that the legs are fresh and you SHOULD HAMMER!!!! Doesn't it make sense? When the legs feel good, and you're due for a hard day, hammer? When I feel like this I can sustain HRs in the low 190s for over 30mins (my max is about 203), and I'm usually going pretty fast. On crap leg days it's almost impossible for me to exceed 185bpm
The 2nd scenario: on crap days, when you haven't recovered enough, you can feel like you're pounding along, with legs hurting a bit, but the HR is only 150/160!! Therefore, the HR is low, relative to perceived effort. This means your legs probably need a rest. When this happens to me, I either have a "tempo" day, keeping the HR at ~%70, or spin along at %55HR (~110/115), keep the ride short, and save the hard day for the next day or the day after.