Running question

[ctyguy]

OK to all you runners out there. I've worked my way up to 5 miles and am completely jazzed with the progress I've made. My surgery was 4 1/2 months ago and things are great for me thus far. I wear a heart monitor and when I run Im trying to keep my heart between 140 and 145 bpm. My question is how long does it take after a run for your heart to return to your resting rate ? I haven't really paid much attention to post run heart rate till today. Normally my resting rate is about 75, it took 10 minutes to get down to 100 today but it was still at 90 at 45 minutes later. Is that normal ? Should my heart return to a resting rate quicker than that ?

 

[tprice54]

Congratulations on your achievement! Running at 4 1/2 months is great! It is not unusual to have your heart rate stay up awhile at this point...your far from completely recovered, believe it or not! If you have an appointment with your cardio soon, ask him his thoughts.

 

[perrypiratesdad]

CTguy, at 4 1/2 months post-op, you are doing FANTASTIC! With the sound of your pulse, I'm assuming no beta blockers for you. That is great.

I think you are right where you want to be at this stage, and I would not be too concerned. It would be fun for you in about a years time to ask your cardio if you could get an exercise stress test to see what all your numbers are. In that test, they will measure your recovery interval. For now though, I think you are fine, but, as always, ask your doctor if you have questions.

Just curious, what heart rate monitor are you using? I have the S725 with the foot pod and love it.

 

[ctyguy]

I have a POLAR T31. Also I am on Toporol, 100mg daily. I've asked if/when I can go to a lower dose and both my PCP and Cardiologist have said that we can look at that at some point down the road.

 

[dtread]

Ctyguy, at 4 1/2 months your HR sounds about right to me, and being able to do 5 miles is great! Your resting HR of 75 sounds a little high for a runner though, and with 100 mg Toprol on top of that (Beta Blockers usually lower the resting HR). I guess the question is what was your resting HR prior to the surgery? There can be a lot of factors here, such as age, fitness level prior to surgery, cholesterol level, etc. But I think what you're describing for return to lower HR after exercise is pretty typical. But at only 4 1/2 months post op you've still got some time to go before you're fully recovered. Keep up the exercise; it will get better, and I would expect that as time passes you'll see lower resting HR and quicker return to lower HR.

 

[perrypiratesdad]

I am on Toporol, 100mg daily.

Wow... when I was on my beta blocker, I could hardly exercise. My max heart rate was 119bpm.

I hate to say this, but it almost doesn't sound like the Toprol is doing its job if you can maintain 140 - 145 and resting is 75. When I was on mine, my resting was about 55, but then again, that was me and we are all different.

 

[MikeHeim]

ctguy-
I have a similar "issue" (in quotes because I'm not sure it's a problem) and I'm 2.5 years post-op. My HR will get up to about 160-165 while running, and like yours will take up to about 10 minutes to get down to the 100-range. However, it seems to get down to about 90 and then holds there for a couple hours. I asked my Cardiologist about it, and he isn't concerned at all. From his standpoint, as long as you get down to 100 within a reasonable time frame, there isn't anything to worry about. Keep working and conditioning and it should get better.

 

[Tom Walski]

It's summer now and I've found that my heart rate recovers much slower when it is hot. I understand it has something to do with the need for circulation for cooling, even after you've satisfied your need for oxygen. On cool days, your pulse should drop quicker.

 

[Guest]

The heat effects my heart rate, it has been a little higher during my runs. I ran 3.25 miles yesterday, checked my heart rate to see how long it takes to get back to normal.

Temperature was 97 with high humidity at 6:00 p.m. Heart rate averaged 169, a high of 180 on my heartbreak hill going home. Ten minutes after stopping, my heart rate was 105, still at 90 an hour later. The important thing is that I keep moving (walking/stretching) for about 15 to 20 minutes, drink 16 ozs of gatoraide/water after my runs. During the run, I told my husband "I can't wait until it gets cold again." Otherwise my runs are going well.