Cardiac Drift

Last night's class, in the words of my coach was "the toughest workout we'll be doing this month." Indeed. We did 2 intervals at 10/10 RPE, one interval at 9/10 and two lengthy intervals at 8/10 with a push of the last 30 seconds at 9/10. It was difficult, especially given the fact that I've been off the saddle for just about 3 weeks now and haven't run in about a month. And I've been stressed. And I've been drinking a lot of coffee and not enough H20.

We tracked our heart rates throughout the session and I noticed something odd - after each interval, my HR would increase a handful of beats before it would drop. So, I ask after class, is it normal that I would see an increase in HR after my interval is finished? No...in fact, I know of only a few athletes that have experienced this on a handful of occasions in their training...it is called cardiac drift, he says to me. I laughed nervously. He continued to give me some information about it and told me not to worry, it was probably due to stress or caffeine. Interesting, I think to myself. I'll have to do some research on this tomorrow. Not too concerned as I am still getting used to all this tracking and monitoring of my body's reaction to consistent exercise...

Today, this is what I found: http://www.serotta.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2499

Good information to keep in mind for next time...