Beginning Runner Question

[markwel]

I've just started the The Couch-to-5K Running Plan from www.coolrunning.com. I'm into the fourth week and doing OK, but I have a couple questions.

First a little background. My AVR surgery was in January 2005. I have a 29mm Medtronic Freestyle valve. I was born with a bicuspid aortic valve. The surgery went very well with no complications. My cariologist said I wasn't restricted in any way. I'm 52 now. The last echo I had done was in September 2006 and he said if he hadn't known before hand that I had AVR surgery he wouldn't have been able to tell from the echo. He commented it looked just like a normal functioning valve.

So, I've been on a walking program everyday since May 2006. I walk 4.3 miles per day, everyday, rain or shine. I wear a Polar monitor when walking. I wanted to start a running program the first of the year, which I did. My wife did the Couch Potato to 5K and was very successful with it. As I mentioned above I'm into the fourth week. I startout jogging for 3 minutes then walking for 90 seconds then jogging for 5 minutes then walking for 2.5 minutes then starting back over again. This is a 20 minute schedule with 5 minutes warmup before and after. I do this 3 days per week.

My question is: My heart rate goes from my resting rate of 50s-60s immediately to about 100 pretty quickly. Then when I jog it will go to 150s-160s. I don't feel bad or anything when this happens. I'm just worried about the heart rate going so high when I'm jogging. I've lost around 75 pounds since last May and feel the best I've felt in years. Is it dangerous for me to continue on this plan? The purpose is to run 5K in 10 weeks, doing a walking/jogging routine.

Thanks so much for a great site and for any info on this.

 

[Philip]

At two years post-op, and 52 I think your heart response is normal and think your plan of attack is very reasonable. There are many here that are more knowledge about heart rate training that probably reply soon; we love to discuss running and training.
Congratulations on your recovery and weight loss.
Philip

 

[Kate]

I'm also preparing to run a 5k following a similar plan and was concerned that my heart rate was going above the "target" for my age shown on the treadmill. However, when I checked with the head of the cardiac rehab program here in town, he said not to worry about it - that I wouldn't be able to keep up at that heart rate for a long time but that it was necessary to push to that level for short bursts to make progress. Of course, neither he nor I am a cardiologist, so you might want to check with yours just to be sure. Hope this is helpful! Kate

 

[kodi]

Congratulations on becoming a runner. I think the program you're on is a good one to follow and it seems to be working. Based on what you're saying I don't think getting your HR that high especially for short periods of time is a problem, in fact that is a good way to lower your RHR (Resting HR). I use a formula to determine my Max HR. It is 205 - 1/2 age. For you that would be 205 - 26 = 179. Your 150-160 puts you between 85 and 90% max. There are other ways to calculate the percentages. What I use is ((Max HR - RHR) * percentage) + RHR. This is useful if you want to run at say 80% max. FOr you it would be ((179-50) *.80) + 50 = 153.
A lot of people into aerobic exercise use the 220-age for calculating max. In your case that would be 168 which would produce much low HRs for your runs.
Hope this isn't too confusing and helps you out.
Good luck in your training and keep us posted on your results.

 

[Stan925]

I like to run

I like to run

Hi,

I have been running for a few years after my surgery and I also have a very high heart rate.

My heart rate can soar from 80 (slow walk) to 150 in 2 minutes (running) and then it raises slowly as high as 190. I usually do not let it go beyond 180, at that point I slow down. The fitter I am the longer it takes to reach 180. When I am lazy and not very fit then it can take 15 to 20 minutes to get to 180 but when I am training for a race and am fit it can take an hour of non stop running to get to 180.

My cardiologist was not concerned about it at all but he said not to let it stay at such a high rate for too long (without quantifying how long).

I also use a Polar monitor and watch it closely - can't be too careful !! Interestingly, when my heart rate is so high I still feel good, often feel great but that could be the endorphins kicking in.

Good luck in your training but check with your doc to make sure.

Regards,
Stan

 

[inlaguna]

I had my surgery in December of 2004 and I really started to run about 5 to 6 weeks after surgery.

I have communicated several times with a few different cardiologists as well as an arrhythmia specialist and none seemed very surprised or concerned that my heart rate went into the 160 to mid-170 range when I ran.

I typically am doing 3-7 mile runs about 4 times a week. I bike or do some other lower impact aerobic 1-2 times a week.

I never quite understood what they meant by listening to your body, but there have been times when I knew it wasn't good to run through the pain or exhaustion and just let up.

I really feel that staying in the best shape I possibly can helped me to recover not only from AVR, but the other more minor ailments that have presented themselves in the past several years. Good luck.

 

[tommy]

Hey Mark, I'm thrilled for you.

My history is similar
Bicuspid aortic valve
AVR at 46, now 52
29 mm St Jude
Off the couch 30 months post AVR
Waled first, then added jogging.

Unfortunately, I didn't pay much attention to heart rate early on, but do so now. I walked for a few months and then started jogging. The first jog was 100 yards. A couple of days later, I went a little farther. Within a few weeks I could job a mile without stopping.

I recall that my initial jog speed of about 12-13 minutes per mile was not much faster than I can walk. Hang in there!

Although I use Kodi's HR calculations, for an early runner such as yourself, I'd use the standard method. 220-age for max HR. For you and me, that's 168 BPM. But you want to spend most of your running in the 60%-70% range, especially when building distance (endurance). For us 52 year-olds, that's about 100-120 BPM. In that range (absent joint problems), you should not have much stiffness or soreness. Limit your building increments to about 10% for your longest effort and your total miles for the week.

Use the higher HR ranges in short bursts to build speed as you desire. If you are in the 80% and up range, I'll bet you are breathing heavy, get tired fast and may have some stiffness. Try going slower and then longer. Jog at a pace that you can have a conversation.

At the beginning of a run, I often find my HR spikes in response to the abrupt change. It settles down in a few minutes.

Also, the max HR calculations are all theoretical but a good starting point. It's not rocket science, but certainly can be down the road (pun intended). A few months ago I reached 174 BPM at the end of a 10k.

Hope this helps!