Heart Rate Levels

mjth2004

Any advice welcomed – cheers for taking the time to read!

Yesterday I did the half-ironman in Groomsport & spent most of my day looking at my HRM, mumbling the words ‘for funk sake, will you ever drop down’! This is my third year in the world of triathlon, & after TriAthlone this year I decided to step up the distance! Reasons for stepping up this year is that all races to date have been disappointing, I felt I only had one gear to race in & felt flat for majority of the distance! Probably the wrong thing to do but I have been using free generic plans from trinewbies website, with my first A-Race of the season was HoW & then I dropped in on the half-ironman program once I signed up for Groomsport! With the tri-newbie programs they promote the maffetone method to set your limits for heart rate motoring. Mine where:

Swim / Run – 140 to 150bpm
Bike – 135 to 145bpm

I have stuck to these limits religiously best part of all this year! Yesterday I stood at the start line at 5’ 9’ & weighing in at 68kgs!

Groomsport:

Standing in Transition my HR was ranging between 88 – 110, but this down to nerves! 15 mins before the off I took a High5 plus gel, washed down with water.

The swim – felt good, not pushed & my honest perceived effort in my mind was very low! Out of the water in 30.46, felt good only issue was fell awkward lapping the beach to re-enter the water for the second lap, bruised toe & locked my right knee for my troubles! Looked down at HRM, surprised to see 174 – I knew I have to get this down asap!

The bike – first 10km didn’t push in an effort to get HR down but the best I managed was 159! After this I still felt it was a low perceived effort so I turned something of a blind eye to my HRM! Glancing at it every so often but not to become a slave to it! Nutrition was a High5 gel every 20 mins & the third gel been a High5 plus, aero water bottle popped of the frame, which was a disaster, so my total water intake was about 1500mls. Off the bike in 2.59.16 with an HR average of 176.

The run – I sort of knew this is where I would suffer for not having been able to control my HR! Felt good heading out on the run but was very conservative, the course is a little cross-country in areas & my knee was beginning to pain some what but hey I had to be over that end line under 6 so just sucked it up! Again my perceived effort throughout the run was comfortable, ran the full distance only to stop somewhat at aid stations to drink water from the cups & not spill it all over myself (maybe 5 or 6 steps then back moving)! Nutrition was four gels with the final one being a High5 plus, water at aid stations with coke at the final one to get me home! Got in under the finish bunting on 5.26, goals achieved – stepped up the distance & home under 6! Run time was a poor 1.55 which i was somewhat disappointed with! My HRM (Suunto T6c) read HR average 176, min 156, max 189 & total calories burned 4624. So much for my maffetone limits!


If you are still with me here after my above saga – thanks! Now my question to those in the know is what steps should I take to rectify this or is it time to ditch the Maffetone method?

Cheers in advance for any advice!

tunney

Age
Sex
Maximum Heart rate
Lactate Threshold (OBLA) heart rate

mjth2004

Apologies – should of included that info from the get-go!

31
Male
MHR – 191 (Suunto T6c)
Lactate Threshold (OBLA) heart rate – 159 only tested myself once before I changed to the maffetone method. It was done in early season in February, done as described in the Training Bible but on a turbo!

mjth2004

Any takers?

tunney

Your target heart rates seem a little low. However that is neither here nor there.

From the sounds of things I'd say it was one of three things:
* Your HRM wasn't working or reading high. Was it a Garmin?
* That you were sick
* You smacked the swim and pushed too hard on the bike
* You were terrified on the bike course of dying and this elevated your HR

mjth2004

Cheers for the reply Tunney!

Watch is a suunto t6c, have it the last two years & have only recently replaced batteries in watch & chest strap!

Funny you should ask was I sick, was sick the Monday & tuesday but put it down to being anxious!

Swim was what I thought was nice & relaxed but HRM disagreed with that!

I knew the bike was the crucial leg of it all, so was activly trying to get HR down so not to completely die on the run!

Having had a couple of days thinking & further researching the Maffetone method I think my base training isn't long enough for it to work the way it can! Going forward I think it's time to do more research & maybe get me a coach!

tunney

mjth2004 wrote: »

Cheers for the reply Tunney!

Watch is a suunto t6c, have it the last two years & have only recently replaced batteries in watch & chest strap!

Funny you should ask was I sick, was sick the Monday & tuesday but put it down to being anxious!

Swim was what I thought was nice & relaxed but HRM disagreed with that!

I knew the bike was the crucial leg of it all, so was activly trying to get HR down so not to completely die on the run!

Having had a couple of days thinking & further researching the Maffetone method I think my base training isn't long enough for it to work the way it can! Going forward I think it's time to do more research & maybe get me a coach!

Just be careful with the coach. In triathlon these days, as some boardsies have found out, there are plenty of people calling themselves a coach that will be more than happy to separate you from your money but not really provide a service. There are some good coaches too though.

shotgunmcos

tunney wrote: »

Just be careful with the coach. In triathlon these days, as some boardsies have found out, there are plenty of people calling themselves a coach that will be more than happy to separate you from your money but not really provide a service. There are some good coaches too though.

+1

Sound like the HRM was acting up there man. If the target zone for the bike was 140 ish (assuming it was based on what you have been training at etc...) and it came out 176 that would make sense. If you were that sick you wouldn't have made it much further than the swim!

Abhainn

How do you find the Suunto T6c in general? I'm thinking of getting one. Is it a good triathletes' watch? i.e. for all 3 disciplines?

From Suunto website on HRM issues:
There are a number of reasons you might not be seeing HR data. Because you have already used the belt and watch together, most likely the issue is that the belt has not been properly paired to the watch. Improper battery installation on the belt could also be the culprit, however it is possible that this is a warranty issue. And finally to turn the belt off just unplug one end of the strap from the center transmitter.

mjth2004

I hear you Tunney! Might PM you at a later date if you don't mind to see if you might have any recommendations! But first I would like to analysis my own year on paper, compare to the previous year & put together what I want to achieve for coming year – if that makes sense!

Shotgunmcos – the more I think about it my genuine feeling/effort on the bike was no more than a normal training ride, so I think I will have to pass the blame to technology!

Abhainn – okay the quote up above about blaming technology doesn’t stand well with the Suunto but it has been the first time in three years it has let me down! Only one thing that did annoy me when I first bought it – had to buy foot pod for running distance, bike cadence pod, & bike speedo pod which all add up nicely onto an already expensive piece of kit! Now in saying this it could be the same with all other HRM on the market, as I’ve only ever had this one.

mrbungle

High5 Plus X 3 = Caffeine x 3 = Increased Heart Rate ?

Might have been a factor.

mjth2004

morning mrbungle - nutrition has been tried & tested on training days, the caffeine never kicked off my HR before!