Resting Heart Rate; year three...

[shipo]

Hey Gang, prior to last year my company issued old school digital pedometers for folks to use to get a discount on their health care costs; last year they began a service which can link to a Fitbit to automatically log steps.  I bought a Fitbit Surge in April of 2015 for my 58th birthday, which as it turns out, was on about the two year anniversary of me starting to run again on a regular basis.  The following image shows what has happened to my Resting Heart Rate over year three of running:

A few comments:

• The "bump" in the middle of the graph corresponds to when I was forced to reduce my mileage last fall due to a torn group of abdominal muscles (non-running related injury), and finally to take a solid two month off between mid December and mid February.
• I am surprised to see an overall decline in my RHR after so many miles (well over 5,000 since April 2013).
• Assuming no other injuries I plan on running pretty much for the rest of my life, and once again, assuming I can, I wonder if my RHR will continue to drop.
• My Sleeping Heart Rate (SHR?) typically hovers a point or two either side of 35; I wonder if it will continue to drop as well.
• Conclusion; I guess you're never too old to get back into great shape.

[FitBeforeFifty]

I would expect your resting heart rate to plateau at some point just like your running fitness improvements will plateau ... although the resting heart rate might plateau sooner.

I've never monitored my resting heart rate real time until the last few months but I did spot check it occasionally. At my peak, plateaued fitness it was fairly stable at around 43 and didn't change for over a year -- just like my PRs hardly changed during that time.

[shipo]

As I kind of alluded to in my post, I'm rather surprised my RHR and SHR haven't long since plateaued; clearly the decline cannot go on forever, errr, until I'm parked on the wrong side of the grass that is.  😛

As for my times, they were pretty consistent between 2014 and 2015; in the annual hilly 10-Miler I run at the end of August every year I only improved my year over year time about 20 seconds, if that (don't remember exactly).  The thing is, while I'm happy with my current weight and build, at 5' 8" and 200 pounds, I'm rather heavier than most competitive runners my height, I'm considering an attempt to cut my weight by early next year when I'll be able to race as a 60 year old.  As a general rule of thumb, most "experts" in the running community say for every loss of 10 pounds there will be a corresponding cut in per mile times of about 20 seconds.  While I'm pretty darn sure the next time I'll have a "normal" BMI is when I'm rotting in my grave (yeesh, two references to that in one post), I *think* getting down to say, 170 pounds is possible if I really try.

So, assuming the 10 pounds equals 20 seconds per mile thing is even remotely true, based on last year's times (haven't raced yet this year), if I can work my way down to 170, I should be able to do a 5K in the low to mid 19 minute range, and a half marathon right bang on 90 minutes.  Lots of "ifs" I know, but hey, something to shoot for.  🙂

[Colinm39]

@shipo Well done..

I have a similar experience and my hip replacement was July last year (2015) and this is my progress back to my 50 ave RHR. My RHR was around 50 before the operation.and it has taken nearly 9 months to resemble normality.  I'm 77 in a few months so my doctor is happy with my overall health.

The hip replacement was caused by a genetic slightly longer leg and the specialist thought it had been that way for about 20 years going by the amount of osteoarthritis holding the hip in place.  There was no cartilage. Just worn out and masked by sciatic pain. No pain now...

[kevinology]

Wow a resting heart rate of ~41 at 59 is really inspiring. Keep it up!

[FitBeforeFifty]

@shipo, I agree you could make some big improvements by slimming down and probably help mitigate future injury as well. With your current running volume you would have no trouble losing weight if you tried even a little. I'm not sure about that 20 seconds rule either ... as you know there are a lot of rules of thumbs in running that are simply made up ... but it has to help. If you dropped 30 lbs your times should increase pretty dramatically. 

[shipo]

@Colinm39, fantastic progress; keep it up!

With your hip replacement are limited in which exercises you can do or are you pretty much unrestricted?

[shipo]

@kevinology, thanks!  🙂

[shipo]

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@FitBeforeFifty wrote:

@shipo, I agree you could make some big improvements by slimming down and probably help mitigate future injury as well. With your current running volume you would have no trouble losing weight if you tried even a little. I'm not sure about that 20 seconds rule either ... as you know there are a lot of rules of thumbs in running that are simply made up ... but it has to help. If you dropped 30 lbs your times should increase pretty dramatically. 

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As you well know from some of my posts in other threads, I really dislike one size fits all generalizations; that said 10 lbs. = 20 seconds per mile seems to at least have some scientific basis.  Of course it might mean 5 seconds per mile or 30 seconds per mile, all else being equal, which of course it never is.

Regarding losing 30 pounds, doing so would require me to shed a pretty fair amount of muscle, maybe as much as 15 to 20 of those pounds.  Back when I was racing in my early 30s I was able to walk into a haberdashery and fit a 38 regular suit coat with only a minor tuck in the waist, now most 42 regular jackets fit me pretty well (some are a bit tight in the shoulders).  I have definitely bulked up a bit since moving to the horse farm.

[Colinm39]

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@shipo wrote:

@Colinm39, fantastic progress; keep it up!

With your hip replacement are limited in which exercises you can do or are you pretty much unrestricted?

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@shipo Thanks for asking and my op was the small incision near the top of the groin and no muscle cutting....

I was walking on day 2, home on day 6 and driving on day 17, fortunately RH drive here and a LH hip op...

I have just noticed in the last 2 months I have better movement, walking isn't an issue. I just need to be careful on slippery wet pavement. The last few days we have had a months rainfall.. no outside walking

I still have age related degeneration in the lower back and upper spine. The original hip problem showed up with atrophy in my LH thigh muscle... about 2" in circumference...

But, it's wonderful,..... no sciatic pain.  That was the hip resting on the nerve.  No pain killers for months and currently experimenting with Theracurmin (Nano size Tumeric) and that is working, fighting any internal infection. It's winter here and I have noticed my sun damage (keratosis) on my cheeks and head has disappeared. That is also one of the claims. with this product.  My better movement I put down to this product. The jury is still out but it has been a month now and I have never felt better....

I can now climb ladders and be careful on the roof etc. I have had no reaction to the operation but my 48 year old daughter broke her hip and after a couple of operations needed a hip replacement because she picked up one of these hospital bugs (not golden staph) and that damaged the hip joint, hence the hip replacement. nearly 18 months of antibiotics... Always the risk of course..

Both of us now have to have antibiotics before any teeth work as a precaution.

Off to bed now 12-30am here....

[FitBeforeFifty]

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@shipo wrote:

Regarding losing 30 pounds, doing so would require me to shed a pretty fair amount of muscle, maybe as much as 15 to 20 of those pounds.  Back when I was racing in my early 30s I was able to walk into a haberdashery and fit a 38 regular suit coat with only a minor tuck in the waist, now most 42 regular jackets fit me pretty well (some are a bit tight in the shoulders).  I have definitely bulked up a bit since moving to the horse farm.

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As long as you continue using those muscles, you should be able to lose fat without losing much muscle if you lose weight at a fairly slow rate -- 1 lb per week. While it's hard to gain muscle while eating at a deficit, it's pretty easy to maintain muscle while losing weight if you are active and include resistance training. In your case, you don't necessarily need resistance training because you are getting that from farm work.

Cole Beasley who plays for the Dallas Cowboys is 5'8" and 180, so you can probably get to 180 without losing much if any muscle.

[shipo]

@Colinm39, thanks for the response; I was diagnosed with OA in my right hip about six years ago and will probably be facing a hip replacement some time in the future.  The good news is, since I started running again, my hip pain is diminished to the point where I hardly ever feel it.  Clearly it isn't "healed", but at least the running seems to be delaying the inevitable.

Theracurmin, never heard of it, but my wife and I believe in the effects of adding Tumeric to our diet; we'll have to have a look-see (hopefully we can buy it  here in the States).

Regarding your father/daughter hip operations, mutual support can be great when it comes to recovery.  My mother and I both developed cataracts at about the same time, but because she had insurance she had her surgery first; we shared lots of stories about the process.  That said, our recovery was a matter of weeks not months/years like you're going through.  Keep up the good work.  🙂

[shipo]

@FitBeforeFifty, here's hoping you're right!  🙂

[kevinology]

@shipo what would you say your fastest mile time is currently?

[shipo]

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@kevinology wrote:

@shipo what would you say your fastest mile time is currently?

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The last mile of one of my recent 8-mile trail runs was in the 7:50 range; I suspect I can run a 5K in the low sevens.  The next open mile I'm planning on running is 01-Jan-2017.  🙂

FWIW, I ran the 01-Jan-2014 open mile race and logged a 5:50; don't be too impressed, it was a hilly road course with a net downhill.

[bcalvanese]

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@shipo wrote:

Hey Gang, prior to last year my company issued old school digital pedometers for folks to use to get a discount on their health care costs; last year they began a service which can link to a Fitbit to automatically log steps.  I bought a Fitbit Surge in April of 2015 for my 58th birthday, which as it turns out, was on about the two year anniversary of me starting to run again on a regular basis.  The following image shows what has happened to my Resting Heart Rate over year three of running:

A few comments:

• The "bump" in the middle of the graph corresponds to when I was forced to reduce my mileage last fall due to a torn group of abdominal muscles (non-running related injury), and finally to take a solid two month off between mid December and mid February.
• I am surprised to see an overall decline in my RHR after so many miles (well over 5,000 since April 2013).
• Assuming no other injuries I plan on running pretty much for the rest of my life, and once again, assuming I can, I wonder if my RHR will continue to drop.
• My Sleeping Heart Rate (SHR?) typically hovers a point or two either side of 35; I wonder if it will continue to drop as well.
• Conclusion; I guess you're never too old to get back into great shape.

---

Very impressive.

mine has gone from the 80's to the 60's over the past year or so. Accourding to my Garmin fenix 3 HR, my VO2max is now 37 (fair) and a year or so ago it was 33 (poor).

One of my goals is to get my VO2max to 40 and my resting heart rate to the 50's over the next year.