Originally Posted by
Tony Sisco
Cardiologist said everything was good. EKG was normal and examination was perfect. She said she would have been worried if it was still over 100 the next day. Said normal can range between 70-100, athlete's even lower. So according to her I was still in the normal range, especially considering I've been slacking off for three or four months. She suspects dehydration, being a little out of shape and pushing at what was probably close to my max heart rate for a prolong period was the issue. I have order the Polar heart rate sensor for future rides to avoid riding over my max HR. So all is good, just have to remember to drink lots of water and keep an eye on the monitor, and let the youngsters cruise on by. Don't think I mentioned this before but this was only my third ride on the new Allez, and the first time I really put the pedal to the metal. Silly how I sometimes forget I'm not a kid anymore. But when I'm on a bike I sure do feel like one! Thanks again for all the thoughtful comments!!!
You can't ride over your max HR. That's why it's max. It's very difficult to find one's max HR. There's no formula, but there is a method. After riding hard for an hour or two, start up a long hill, watching your HR. Don't start fast. Just gradually increase your speed. If your HR stops going up, go harder. Keep it going up. When you eyes start to pop from your head and blood seems like it'll start from your eyesockets, keep going harder. Eventually everything kinda goes black and you almost fall over. Note that HR. I used to have a system for it, don't bother anymore.
The simpler thing is to find your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR). There are many ways to do it. The easiest for the not-in-great shape is to use the CTS method:
https://trainright.com/cts-field-tes...-calculations/
Having that HR, you can calculate your training zones. A good way to check on that is to gradually increase intensity on a long climb until you begin to pant uncontrollably. Than back if off until you can breathe deeply again and increase to panting again. Note your HR just below where you start to pant. That's about LTHR. I do a lot of riding at ~90% of my LTHR on long hard rides and usually average about that on such rides. I also do rides at lower efforts.