Resting heart rate, a good indicator.

[Chris--B]

I am embarrassed to say I lost my motivation for running again. It started with busy weeks at work and not getting the time for regular runs, then a couple of weeks holiday and before I knew it I had stopped running. I still kept up a brisk dog walk every day but that was it. My resting heart rate was normally about 55 but when running was dropping to about 53. Since my lapse it went back to 55.

I have always noticed a slight increase in my RHR if I was ill and it would go up to about 58/59 if I had a bad cold.

Unfortunately at the end of November I contracted Covid which is not at all pleasant to say the least. Fortunately I am now on the mend. I have attached a screen shot of my resting heart rate for the last month and it hit 70 when I was at my worst. The interesting thing is, I can see that my RHR started to climb before I had any symptoms so would appear to be a good indicator of my state of health.

Now that I am almost back to normal my plan is to start th C25k again (for the 3rd or 4th time) and hopefully keep it going. I will have to see if my RHR goes down again once I start running.

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

Our bodies are amazing and adaptable and you are quite correct to pay more attention to trends over time than any single specific reading. In general you might expect your resting heart rate to reduce as you get fitter, but I note that you are 60 and that age all sorts of other changes can be taking place in our bodies, which can alter long term trends.

While I would not normally direct someone about to start C25k to the FAQ Posts, to avoid overloading with information, since this is not your first attempt, I would suggest a browse through healthunlocked.com/couchto5... and the posts about Aging and Heart rate may be of interest.

Have fun and don't get too hung up on statistics.

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate in reply to IannodaTruffe]

I agree with this. Thanks for reminding me of that link to the Aging and Heart rate bit.. because I have never bothered with info on HR, 9 ( as long as I felt fine and no issues with recovery, etc), I had not read that bit of your post; sorry. I have read it now and it was really interesting!