High heart rate when running

[Runningquestion]

My heart rate has always run a bit on the high side, but I am a bit shocked having looked at the stats on my Garmin watch and wanted to pick some brains:

I went for a run today - only 4 miles and a little slower than I usually like to run. About 9 minute miles. My heart rate has tracked at being 30bpm OVER the threshold for training zone 5, which is the give at zone and is described as maximum effort, a fast sprint that cannot be sustained for long. It was in this zone for the e tire run apart from around 90 seconds split between the other zones.

As I say, this was a slightly slower pace than usual for me and not a long run.

Should I be concerned? So as not to drip feed, I have had long covid for around a year so am not in the best of health. I get chest pain because of it. I had a 24 hour ecg 3 months ago and it was clear, but I had my first vaccination 2 months ago which brought on a high resting heart rate (which has now settled) and chest pain when tired.

Should I bother my GP (who already thinks I’m a pain in the arse hypochondriac) with this? Or do some people just have extremely fast hearts? I do remember it was pretty fast when I used to run on treadmills way back in my 20s and I was very fit back then.

-*zone 5 is the highest zone. (My typo doesn’t make sense)

What is your pulse rate going too?
What was classed as a high resting heart rate?
I can't make sense with all these zones.

Sorry, my resting heart rate was a pretty normal 65bpm until my vaccination. A week afterwards it was all over the place and didn’t drop below 80 for weeks. Now it’s a steady 70.

When I ran today it peaked at 203bpm and my average heart rate throughout the run was 188bpm. The recovery looks like it dropped back to 70 fairly quickly after I finished the run.

I am mainly concerned because I usually run faster which suggests that my heart is probably going to around 220bpm during those runs. Which is...not ideal.

To reassure slightly - I do a lot of exercise (Les mills grit/combat etc) and a run (a slow run!) is the only thing to put my heart rate in the red (and above) zone for almost the whole run. I’ve also had full cardio check on a treadmill etc so I know I’m okay. So it isn’t unprecedented. BUT 203 is high. Especially with your history. I’d suggest ringing GP and seeing what they say.

These devices are not entirely accurate especially at high heart rates. Your earthy heart rate is normal. As long as you are well with no chest pain, palpations at rest or other symptoms there’s no need to contact your GP. Ease up a little until you’re over COVID. We get lots of people contacting us about things they’ve found with wearable tech. Your recent 24hr ECG was reassuring.

I have also had long covid and was ill for a good year including with chest pain which was excruciating initially but now is negligible. I only started running again about five weeks ago and I don’t push myself til my chest hurts. When I run my heart rate goes up to 160 or 170. My resting heart rate is 70; it was over 80 last summer when I got my FitBit and I was still quite ill.

Resting heart rate.

I’ve also been like this since my COVID vaccination and so have a couple of other runner friends. While I feel fine day-to-day, my running has taken a massive hit. Just hoping it slowly returns to normal!

My resting heart rate increases after ovulation and then drops again when I get my period. I had a recent bereavement and my resting heart rate increased for a couple of weeks. The highest my heart rate goes to is around 165-170bpm during high intensity.
I agree with pp to speak with your GP especially with your history.

When I started running again after having Covid, my heartbeat was also ludicrously high but I suspect it was because I was unfit as much as anything else (amazing how quickly fitness goes). I'm also asthmatic and my heart rate goes higher when I forget to take ventolin before I run. If long Covid affected your breathing, could that be a factor?

It's also good that your heartbeat returns to normal levels quickly.

Thank you for the responses. I fell asleep so didn’t see them until now.

Interesting that some of you have also had this problem after Covid/the vaccination. It does seem to affect heart rate quite a lot doesn’t it?

I think I’m going to do a couple more runs this week and see how my heart is during those then see my GP if it’s as bad. I suspect it will be though as I knew my heart rate was high when running due to using the sensor on the treadmills at the gym, but that’s a lot less accurate than a fitness tracker so I told myself that it didn’t mean anything. Hate phoning to doctor though - they’ve been useless re: long covid and I feel like they think I’m a paranoid hypochondriac. I’m not. It’s just difficult to live with so many things that have gone wrong with my body and aren’t getting better when nobody seems to be able to help.

That's funny, my resting heart rate used to be about 65 too. It's now 85. I had the pfizer 3 weeks ago. Also my neck is so painful. I did injure it two months ago but the pain was going away, till two weeks ago and nows it's back with a swelling too.

There's a known problem with wrist heart monitors getting confused by running cadence, particularly if worn too loosely. Can you borrow a chest strap monitor or stop and take your pulse manually?

What pace do you run at?
I run at about 10 minute miles but my heart rate rarely goes above 130bpm

Interesting that some of you are finding execrcise harder after having your jab. I had my 2nd jab two weeks ago and have been wiped out since

una yes, I can borrow a chest strap. I’ll do that later this week.

beeloubee you too? It’s so weird isn’t it? It’s really confusing my body - I’m exhausted constantly because my body seems to believe that I’m charging about all over the place because my heart rate has been so high (although it’s settled back to only 5-10bpm more than usual when resting over the past week thank goodness).

• depending on distance I run at between just below 8 minute miles and 8.5 minute miles usually. However, I did a super slow (for me) few kilometres with my son the other day (got to be around 10-10.5 min miles) and my heart was still up at 185. I wasn’t even slightly out of breath - we were chatting the whole time and it felt very easy, so I wouldn’t have expected my heart rate to be that high. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I wouldn't worry about it unless you see the same with a chest strap. My 'heart rate' is sky high when running with a wrist based monitor. It's not accurate.

and my heart was still up at 185. I wasn’t even slightly out of breath - we were chatting the whole time and it felt very easy, so I wouldn’t have expected my heart rate to be that high

This supports the theory that it's the tracker at fault. Please don't waste a GPs time with this unless it's a chest based measurement and you feel unwell when running.

Borrow a chest strap from someone and try that. I've had similar problems with the Garmin when rowing, something to do with a combination of the fit (can't remember now if it was too tight or too loose) and the cadence of the rowing action. Chest strap will show whether there is a medical issue or a technical one & you can go from there.

I've also had chest problems since covid which had eased off but AZ vaccination brought them back

I should be able to borrow a chest strap later this week. I do think it is still going to show it’s very high though - I took to taking a heart rate reading with my oximeter straight after running a few weeks ago and it was up at around 190 those few times. We’ll see though.

my average heart rate throughout the run was 188bpm. The recovery looks like it dropped back to 70 fairly quickly after I finished the run

According to my FitBit my HR averages around 160 in my PT training sessions which are a mix of heavy weight lifts, and MetCon exercises - both cardio & agility eg jumping up onto a plyobox, medicine ball wall slams, weighted sled pushes/pulls).

But it gets back to around 80 pretty quickly and my resting HR is around 57 to 60. Im in my early 60s.

I'm pretty fit - above average I think.

I've always understood that it's the recovery speed that is important - how quickly your HR recovers from the maximum.

Update: I used the chest strap this morning and it registered a higher heartrate than the Garmin. Peaked at 220 and was generally 185-190 for most of the run. Again, I didn’t push it with speed, I was by no means slow but not as fast as I like to run. Recovery was ok though - it dropped back to around 85 quite quickly.

did you say how old you are?

I just looked up a 9 minute mile and that's a 5 mins 35 seconds kilometre. That's incredibly quick in my mind.

my asthma is bad at the moment, and I cannot run faster than an 8 mins km which is a 12 mins 52 seconds mile. If I run faster than that, my heart rate goes through the roof

what happens if you run slowly? does it go up that high? because I suspect you might just be pushing yourself a bit hard?

if you've been ill, then as you get older, it does take longer to get fitness back I find and given you've had long covid, your body may just not be ready to run 5 mins km. I certainly know, even if my asthma is mild, there is no way on earth I could run that fast without the ambulance and nebuliser being needed!

but if you're worried, you should go to the GP.

@strongarm I’m 44. My preferred pace is usually just under 5 minutes per Km but I haven’t done less than around 5 mins 10 secs per kilometre since I had Covid and am more like 5 mins 25 secs on a good day since the first jab. It took me two months to build back up to that.

I sometimes go on slow runs with my 12 yr old or my partner - they both run around 7 min kilometres. I find it a bit frustrating to run that slowly but I do it once a week for variety. I’m not even slightly out of breath or sweaty at that pace but my heart rate still hits around 180-190 🤷🏻‍♀️ It’s up at 160 during a brisk walk.

Sounds like you are fit and fast! I may get in trouble and obviously go to GP if you are really worried but it sounds okay. Sometimes fit people can run high heart rates naturally, as someone else says as long as you recover it should be fine. I often do distance at 180bpm plus when running. My pulse also jumps quite high when I start running, especially if I can get into a rhythm. Some have high heart rates when exercising, some low - we are all a bit different!

I have always had, what I call, a very responsive heartrate. the same happens to me as it does to you

I'm quite healthy actually so no problems there.

How is your blood pressure? Mine is a bit on the low side like 100/60.