I have been training for my first sprint tri. I had been neglecting my running, so I decided to enter a few 5ks to get myself motivated to train harder. It worked, and I entered my first one last Saturday.

I am 31 y/o, 6'2", and 215 pounds. I started at a good pace, and was at the turn around ahead of my target at 12:13. I ran good for the next half mile, and noticed I was soaked. I looked down and my heart rate was 206, way above what I thought was my 189 max. I paniced and backed way off. It took nearly a minute and a half for it to drop below 195, and I didn't return to stride until it was below 189 again. I finished in 26 minutes, and lost about three minutes "cooling down" my heart rate.

My question is my max heart rate is obviously above 189 as I ended up averaging 195 bpm for the run with a high of 206. I need to train above 80% of my max, so is my new max 206? I wasn't in distress breathing wise, and my legs didn't fail me or anything, my mind is what paniced. Thanks for the help.

Don't use the 220-age formula for your max heart rate as everybody is different. Your max heart rate is probably a little bit higher than 206. Next time, keep sprinting until you're about to keel over and take a look at your HR monitor right before passing out.

I'll try that.

Is there a test I can do to find my max heart rate.

Start running up a hill and keep going faster and faster until the spots before your eyes are about the size of dimes. Whatever your HR is at that time is your max.

Note: You may need to wipe the vomit off your HRM to see the display.

I had the same thing happen to me recently in my first mtb race. I had thought my max was 189, but during the race it went up to 199 (I'm 34 years old) and I freaked out just like you did. I slowed down to let my HR recover and I ended up losing major time in the race.

I don't think that your racing HR is a good measurement of effort though, because my perceived effort during the race was not as high as my HR indicated. I think the extra adrenaline running through my body boosted my HR by at least 10 beats. I could never keep my HR that high during training.

So for the next race, I decided to go by perceived effort and I turned the HR display off on my Garmin. After the race, I downloaded my Garmin and was surprised to found out that my HR had hit 201 and I averaged 180 for 1:40! I was fatigued, but did not overdo it. From now on, I am going to leave the HR monitor off for my races and focus on perceived effort.

+1 I have read this many times and believe it to be good advice--your body will tell you when to quit far better and more efficiently then a HR monitor.

...that said, it is still useful for training--but in timed events it is distracting.

Holy cow! In this day and age with all the research and experts that have produced excellent volumes of
heart rate training advice, it is sad to find someone seriously intent on improving their athletic ability
by using a heart rate monitor and not having done some real study. There. Now I feel better. Here is what you need to do. Go to a doctor and get a physical. Find a doctor that is also an athlete and understands what you are talking about. While you are with the doctor get a referral for a stress echo test. This is the only safe way to get your maximum heart rate, and enough other data to save your life. At your age you only need it once. I just cannot emphasize the importance of this test enough. If you are single, no responsibilities, and don't care if you drop over dead while exercising, then try any method you want. But YOU cannot in any way shape fashion or form determine your cardio health, period. I know the money spent could buy a lot of trick and fancy gear, but if you have an undiagnosed weakness in your hearts physiology, then stressing it at high levels is just inexcusable. Too many would be athletes are afraid of what the test may find. So was I. My wife made me go. I had no problems, but the doc found I had an aortic aneurysm and limited me to 80% of my max hr. That just sucks.
I get up to that rate and am not even sweating, but I know what will happen if I over pressure that weak bulging arterial vessel. Instant death. I'm sorry I rattled on so long, but I've had to learn so much about cardiophysiology and heart rate monitors that I want to pass it along. Now, there is some good news to all this. By knowing your exact maximum heart rate you can train in the zones and get the real performance gains without wasting effort. The only way to avoid zone 4 is to have your personal heart rate number in hand. No formula or test will ever be accurate enough. I would be glad to email you a list of the best books. Sigh - Now I can sleep. Dale in Seattle.

Dale......

Decaf.

If you are well trained you may find the HR monitor is more a distraction in a sprint, but in an Olympic length you might find it more helpful to attend to, as it can help you avoid severe lactic acid buildup.