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.

Check out a condition called POTS. It has been seen a lot in people who have had Covid or a virus. I had it last year and was in exactly the same position as you with my heart rate when running. The GP can get you to do some blood pressure tests which will suggest whether you have it. I was advised to drink much more water, use a lot of electrolytes before running, put salt on food and wear compression tights (I found 2XU nice ones so didn't feel ridiculous) and it got better within about 6 weeks.

inguildford I think I’m a very weird, specific sort of fit that means I can run fast yet slowly climbing a flight of stairs can floor me and just sitting on an office chair for a few hours exhausts me so much that I have to fall asleep afterwards for hours. It is very off indeed, this long covid.

grey12 ah, that’s interesting - my blood pressure has always been on the low side too. I wonder if the two go hand in hand?

Pleasegotosleep01 I have wondered about POTS. I did a test for it at home where you monitor your heart rate lying down and then when you stand up but I think it returned to normal too fast for it to be a probability. But I won’t rule it out.