Pulse up at 200 bpm after ~8 min of running

ColdDawning

What can cause that? Before that it's lingering at about 175 bpm, and then it just goes up and stays around 200. I have a healing injury (can't feel in in my day to day life unless I do something stupid) in an intercostal muscle that I usually start sensing after running for 11 minutes, can it be that I'm anticipating it happening and then adding that "fear" to the pulse? (does it even work that way?) or am I doing something else wrong?

I stop running after I sense that muscle too much since it's uncomfortable, considering going back to running intervals just to not ever sense it, but that's another story (I believe?), why does my pulse go up to 200?


Edit to add: I've only been running for some months and don't run particularly fast, about 6m30s/km

Justin_7272

How are you measuring your heart rate?

ColdDawning

I have a pulse watch from garmin that seems to be accurate. I've not checked at the 200 point since that's when I'm running and I see that first afterwards in the app, but I've checked at other points in time just to check if it was measuring right and I don't feel any reason to distrust it.

ColdDawning

here is how it looks in the app:

ColdDawning

I just read on garmins site that this is a common problem, that it becomes locked to the running cadence. Guess the watch was wrong, I feel rather dumb now, haha, should've googled before I made this thread

Terytha

It's all good. But generally speaking, take a wristwatch HR with a huge grain of salt. They are not as accurate as the chest ones.

Justin_7272

Above 200, even if only for short periods, is still high, which makes me seriously doubt the accuracy.

HRMs are a decent gauge for steady state cardio in terms of caloric burn, otherwise they have limited value. Having a low resting heart rate is typically considered a sign of good health, for example.

lporter229

I have had trouble with my Garmin optical HRM and cadence lock. Wearing it tighter on my wrist has helped eliminate the problem.

I am curious if that is actually what you are dealing with here. When you HR goes that high, does it feel like it has increased? Are you finding it difficult to breathe? It is natural for your heart rate to steadily increase over time as you exert yourself. While 200 bpm does seem excessive, this may be where your heart rate is at that point in your workout. How old are you? Younger people tend to have a higher heart rate. It may also be related to your injury. Have you spoken to your doctor about it?

NorthCascades

ColdDawning wrote: »

I just read on garmins site that this is a common problem, that it becomes locked to the running cadence. Guess the watch was wrong, I feel rather dumb now, haha, should've googled before I made this thread

CooSpo on Amazon names a very inexpensive chest strap, I use it with my Garmin watch. The wrist sensor shines a light into your skin and "looks for" a pattern indicating blood flow though your wrist, there's a lot that can go wrong. Chest strap uses electrodes to pick up the electrical activity that causes your heart to beat. Much simpler and more reliable, just wet the contacts if it's cold and dry.

Also, consider another form of exercise if you're trying to recovery from surgery injury and running inflames it. Cycling, rowing, and swimming can all be done at a very high intensity, but tend to be gentler on the body. I'm not saying don't ever run again, just heal fully first.

ColdDawning

I will try to tighten the watch around the wrist next time, but if it doesn't work I might invest in a chest strap in the future.

I am running with my brother, and I don't think he's interested in those other activities, but I could check. We've discussed going back to running intervals, like run 5 min walk 2 min for ~ 30 min, I'm not sure if that would work, but it's worth a try.

I can't say that I feel any different 5 min into the run than I do 10 min into the run, other than being more aware about that the muscle might start to ache soon (sometimes it doesn't, though). I do pant quite a bit after a while when we run in that speed (even if it might sound slow to others, I'm still quite weak). I don't feel dizzy and I still get air easily, though.

I am 27, female, I started running with my brother about 5 months ago, but we've had breaks due to me having two colds with coughs + this injury happening. We were both very sedentary people before getting into this, never did any sports or other physical activities except walking. We spent most of our awake hours in front of computers, so we're in pretty bad shape, but we CAN run 3-4 km now, depending on speed... and when my muscle start to ache.


Adding: Thank you all for your replies, really, they help

Jthanmyfitnesspal

My experience has been that they read low if they are not in good contact. It helps to cinch it up your arm a bit if you have thin wrists. It doesn't need to be tight, just snug enough to stay in contact.

Don't forget that you can do a quick manual check of your HR any time you want. I find it easiest to put your finger on your neck. Counting for 6 seconds and multiplying by 10 gives a really quick and dirty check.

If it checks out at 200BPM (or anything over 180, even), especially if there are any other symptoms (dizziness or pain) it's time to talk to the doc. An office EKG is a pretty low-tech thing (i'm surprised we can't do it at home yet). A "stress EKG" is only slightly more complicated.

But: you are young and the likelihood of anything dire is low. It just pays to be careful!

mburgess458

Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »

My experience has been that they read low if they are not in good contact. It helps to cinch it up your arm a bit if you have thin wrists. It doesn't need to be tight, just snug enough to stay in contact.

Don't forget that you can do a quick manual check of your HR any time you want. I find it easiest to put your finger on your neck. Counting for 6 seconds and multiplying by 10 gives a really quick and dirty check.

If it checks out at 200BPM (or anything over 180, even), especially if there are any other symptoms (dizziness or pain) it's time to talk to the doc. An office EKG is a pretty low-tech thing (i'm surprised we can't do it at home yet). A "stress EKG" is only slightly more complicated.

But: you are young and the likelihood of anything dire is low. It just pays to be careful!

My experience is the opposite when running. Just sitting/standing it will sometimes read low if it is too loose, but not when running. If my garmin is at all loose (meaning if it can move at all) it will at some point start reading my cadence as my heart rate. My garmin is a little over a year old and seems to loosen up after I get warmed up so you might need to double check its fit after you start running.