Heart rate spikes at start of Workout App run

[TxWatch]

I recently bought the HeartWatch App and have been tracking my heart rate during the day, at night and during my 60 min Workout App runs. I have been running for more than 20 years, so I am in excellent shape and do not have any heart related issues.

I noticed on my Workout App outdoor run today, the HR reading on the Watch showed my heart rate between 190-200 for the first 10 minutes of my run. At almost exactly 10 minutes, my heart rate drops down to a more normal 150 and then slowly climbs to a peak of 165, as expected. The temperature this morning was 36 degrees, which is unusually cold for Texas.

For my other two runs this week, I also saw unusual spikes at the start of my runs, but they were not as extreme and did not last as long before returning to normal.

Is this a known problem with the AW HR sensor when running? Today was the first really cold day, so maybe it is also temperature related?

 

[Long Run Nick]

I recently bought the HeartWatch App and have been tracking my heart rate during the day, at night and during my 60 min Workout App runs. I have been running for more than 20 years, so I am in excellent shape and do not have any heart related issues.

I noticed on my Workout App outdoor run today, the HR reading on the Watch showed my heart rate between 190-200 for the first 10 minutes of my run. At almost exactly 10 minutes, my heart rate drops down to a more normal 150 and then slowly climbs to a peak of 165, as expected. The temperature this morning was 36 degrees, which is unusually cold for Texas.

For my other two runs this week, I also saw unusual spikes at the start of my runs, but they were not as extreme and did not last as long before returning to normal.

Is this a known problem with the AW HR sensor when running? Today was the first really cold day, so maybe it is also temperature related?

I have no experience with the app you refer to. Wrist HR sensors, as well as HR straps can be a little temperamental when it is cold. I found making sure the contacts were wet with the strap, not a great feeling when you head outside. As far as wrist HR, you may need to tighten it a little more. If you notice your fingers turning blue the watch strap may be too tight or your fingers are getting frost bite

 

[TxWatch]

It is not related to the HeartWatch App because I see the same HR readings on my phone. The App reads the health data recorded from the Watch and presents it to you in a very usable format. I am not sure how they were able to pack so much health information from my Watch and Phone into an App that only costs $2.99. It really looks like Apple wrote the App themselves. (Maybe Apple will decide to get serious about heart and sleep reporting someday)

On your point about the Watch tightness, I have been running with my Nike knock-off band one hole tighter than normal. The band leaves little hole indentations on my wrist, but they go away shortly after my run. My fingers do not turn blue.

Have you ever noticed your heart rate spike up at the beginning of your many runs?

I ran with my AW S0 for a year, but I did not use the HR monitoring because I wanted to save my battery. I have nothing to compare these latest HR readings since I do not like the feeling of HR chest straps when I am running. I guess it is possible my heart is racing up to my Max Heart Rate (195) for ten minutes, but I did not feel overly tired during the run. Also, I did not really feel anything change when my Watch suddenly said my heart rate dropped by 40 bpm. It was just a normal 7 mile run and since it was cold, I had one of my best split times in many, many months.

 

[Long Run Nick]

It is not related to the HeartWatch App because I see the same HR readings on my phone. The App reads the health data recorded from the Watch and presents it to you in a very usable format. I am not sure how they were able to pack so much health information from my Watch and Phone into an App that only costs $2.99. It really looks like Apple wrote the App themselves. (Maybe Apple will decide to get serious about heart and sleep reporting someday)

On your point about the Watch tightness, I have been running with my Nike knock-off band one hole tighter than normal. The band leaves little hole indentations on my wrist, but they go away shortly after my run. My fingers do not turn blue.

Have you ever noticed your heart rate spike up at the beginning of your many runs?

I ran with my AW S0 for a year, but I did not use the HR monitoring because I wanted to save my battery. I have nothing to compare these latest HR readings since I do not like the feeling of HR chest straps when I am running. I guess it is possible my heart is racing up to my Max Heart Rate (195) for ten minutes, but I did not feel overly tired during the run. Also, I did not really feel anything change when my Watch suddenly said my heart rate dropped by 40 bpm. It was just a normal 7 mile run and since it was cold, I had one of my best split times in many, many months.

I have used HR monitors since Polar introduced them- I don't even remember when- late 80's early 90's. Anyways, they have their quirks. Ususally they can sky rocket at the begining of a run, also the older versions would react to interference from various sources. In the old days if I ran with others who used HR straps that could screw up all our HR. I have had autos go by me and it caused the HR to jump.
Believe me if you see a 195 HR reading starting off that normally is one of the quirks- unless your Max HR is near 300
Like a lot of things HR not always 100% accurate- even with a strap. Overtime and experience you will be able to guess your HR as you run. I have gotten pretty good at guessing my HR on the run based on perceived effort. It is amazing that running over 85,000 miles has resulted in me getting a better fix on my body metrics. Nick

 

[TxWatch]

I knew from using a HR chest strap on my first treadmill more than 20 years ago that my heart rate would go all the way up to 165 at the end of a run. (I was running a lot slower back then...) This is consistent with what I see today from my Watch, so I know I my max heart rate is around 190-195. I do not recall seeing spikes at the beginning of my treadmill runs, so I attributed it to the Apple HR wrist sensor.

I will keep an eye on it and see if the HR readings stay closer to "normal" when the weather warms up.