Thursday, June 26, 2008

Heartbeat

I'm really interested in monitoring my heart rate at various points in my day and while working out. I need to get one of those groovy Polar heart rate monitors.

At the beginning of January when I restarted my weight loss effort, my resting heart rate was about 65. Last night it was 47. Last week it was 48. A couple of weeks ago it was 53. I love that I can measurably see my heart getting more fit.

Jason asked in response to 47, "At what point do you have to be worried about your heart stopping?"

This morning I was swimming fast sets and at the end, I took my heart rate: 144. One minute later: 102. I read that if your heart rate decreases by 20-30 beats within a minute of finishing a fast workout, you're in pretty good shape. So I'm pleased with that.

And yes, I'm a little OCD about the numbers. Heart rate, calories, lap count, etc. Don't even get me started on how I count strokes while I'm swimming and have certain set patterns that I rotate. I argue that it helps me keep track of how many laps I've swum, but in reality I think the counting helps me zone out a little. Like repeating a mantra when you're meditating.

2 comments:

Amazon Alanna said...

What can I say...numbers are fun to play with!

I hope you get your hands on a Polar very, very soon because it will totally support your need for numbers!

Sassy said...

Just found you from Bad girl's page...
When I walk I count my steps. I don't mean to, I just realize suddenly that I am at 98 (or whatever). It's a little weird. Anyway...