I’ve done a few posts about athletes and their hearts.  I am lucky to have been able to go to Kansas City to see Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist that was interviewed for a piece for the Wall Street Journal and did a Ted Talk about aging athletes and their hearts.  Obviously, I’m a aging athlete and have concerns about the studies.

So, I’ve been wearing a heart rate strap this year, recording my heart rate on a daily basis.  I didn’t wear one too much over the years, so don’t have a ton of data to compare myself to myself.  But the numbers are really screwy.

Here’s what I’ve found.  My max heart rate is lower generally.  I haven’t been able to use one running, since I can’t really run, but riding, it seems like my max is close to 20 beats lower than it was when I was in my 20’s.  I think that is normal.

But the weird thing is the lower number has dropped too.  Just about the same, actually more.

Yesterday I went on the evening club ride.  I am pretty tweaked from MTB racing on Sunday and wanted to rest some.  I still ended up pulling the first half of the ride, but then started sitting on. I was watching my heart rate and couldn’t believe how low it was.  How low it was while I was riding normally, and especially going downhill.

It was sitting in the mid 80’s most of the time and when I was going easier, sometimes dropped into the upper 40’s.  That was the normal number of my heart rate when I woke up when I was living at the Olympic Training Center.  I would never have thought that I would have that number while exercising.

The weird thing is when we stopped for a pee stop, my heart rate was pretty steady in the lower 60’s.  Then when we started rolling along, it dropped again to the lower 50’s, even the 40’s. What is up with that?

My max heart rate is sort of depressing.  I don’t think I’ve seen it higher than the lower 170’s this year racing.  On a trainer, I saw 181, but normally, it sits the max number is in the upper 160’s.  That is pretty low compared to historical numbers.  But it can sit super close to my max the whole race.

On Sunday, I was going pretty hard racing mountain bikes.  My max heart rate for the race was 169.  But my average heart rate was 161.  And I think it would have been a couple beats higher if I would have been going full tilt the last 20 minutes.  That is crazy, having an average heart rate just a few beats less than the max.

Early in the race, when my heart rate was 165, I was hurting.  After about 1 1/2 hours, 165 seemed easy.  So I rode with my heart rate close to 96% of my maximum and it seemed pretty easy, not an extreme effort.   This might not be so abnormal for athletes as the low numbers.

The ride I did yesterday, I was tired.  Like I said, I pulled for the first 25 miles and then sat on the rest.  The battery in my power meter died last Friday, and I forgot, so don’t have the power numbers, but I’m sure it was under 200 watts average.  But our average speed was 19 mph and it was a little hilly with some wind.  I had an average heart rate for the ride of 85 bpm.

How can I got out and do a training ride with an heart rate average of 85 bpm?  That seems silly. I don’t get it.  I don’t understand how my low number can drop into the 40’s when that used to be the numbers I had when I woke up.  My morning number is in the upper 30’s/lower 40’s now.

I don’t think I have any heart issues. I have no history in my family of anyone with heart problems.  Like I said above, I went to see James O’Keefe a couple years ago and I was good to go.

But these numbers, compared to my younger self have changed so much I don’t get it.  I’m not so worried about the situation, I’m just interested in it.  I’m wondering if it is normal?

Garmin screen from yesterday’s evening ride.

I had some extra apples sitting around, so made a pie that turned out to be lunch.

Tucker got the extra pie crust.

I thought the interview that Velonews did with Jørg Jaksche was pretty good.  I think it is good to hear the impressions of ex-pros that have no stake in the game.  They are few and far between. Most guys that retire have something to protect.  Their current cycling job, their results, or maybe just their self-esteem. Jørg seems to be in a situation that he feels comfortable commenting publicly on the current situation in cycling.

I pretty much agree with just about everything he says.  This question/answer is the important one –

VN: So you insist that it’s naïve to believe that today’s winners are clean?
JJ: I often hope that things are as good and perfect as they tell us, but to be honest, the guys are racing faster today than when everyone was on EPO. Genetics doesn’t change in 10 years. Should we believe it that they are suddenly as fast as when EPO was widespread? You have to make up your own mind.

That is kind of just guilt by intellect. It is the same thought process that the French press were using pertaining to Lance.  You are beating a bunch of guys that are doping, so how can you not be doping.  They were right, as it turned out.

I like the line “genetics doesn’t change in 10 years”.  He could have gone a step further and said that the same guys that were winning ten years ago are still at the top level now.  A few of the riders named in Operation Pûerto have retired, but look at Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) win a couple days ago at the Giro.  He had to serve a timeout because of Puerto. Now he is sitting 3rd overall in the Giro, with just a few days to go.

It is naïve to believe that the same riders that were the best when they were taking drugs could or would be the best riders that aren’t taking drugs.  Just as naïve thinking that the speeds and recovery in the races are faster and better because of technology or nutrition.  Show me what these guys are eating that the rest of us aren’t.  Even if they are eating the freshest organic food in existence, I’ve seen many a great athlete chow on McDonald’s hamburgers and then kick ass.

When I went to see the Garmin team pre-Tour testing, Tommy D. was telling me that I needed to eat a ton of coconut oil and then take saunas after my ride to build up more red cells.  And look what Tommy D. was really doing, taking synthetic testosterone.   Video below of what Tommy is doing currently.

Everyone is trying to persuade us all that everything is hunky dorky.  Paul Sherwin, announcing, for the Tour of California, was talking about Bradley Wiggins and how he lost 7 or 8 kilograms to transform from an Olympic Pursuit Champion to a Tour de France champion.  That is such bullshit.  It was more closer to 15 kilograms or over 30 pounds.  I’m not going with his 71 kg weight at the Tour, he was much lighter.  By his own account, he has gained over 11 kilograms back since winning the Tour of California in 2014.  That is going from 156 to 183.  It is much easier to put that weight on than just spot remove it.   (And yes, I know, Bradley Wiggins has never tested positive.)

The point is that if our announcers are still minimizing the amazing facts about what historically happened, then the sport is ultimately screwed.  It would be like the Major League Baseball announcers talking about Mark McGwire’s 70 home run season .

Okay, enough.  Click on the link above and read Jørg’s Velonews interview.  It mirrors pretty much my current views on most aspects of the sport.  Or maybe more accurately,  sports in general.

Tucker doing his creepy walk approaching a butterfly.