Originally Posted by DRLski
I was looking over some training logs from last year and notice that most of my rides and races from this year my avg HR is quite a bit lower than it was last year, I've also noticed that my max HR can get a few beats higher during races than last year. Is this a sign that I'm improving as my perceived effort is definitely higher this year.
Lower HR can mean that you are overtrained and are having a hard time getting your HR up....but in your case it probably means that your fitness has increased and it takes more of a workout to get a higher average HR.