Heartrate isn't just a measure of the cardiac output required for a given power output, but also responds to stress in lots of other ways. And racing is stressful. I'm just a pure bike racer, and use HR as a cue when doing training intervals, but I pretty much ignore the HR data on race day (except for forensic analysis after the fact). Figure out your power goals from training, and use those.

Also, maybe the swim.

I'll bet almost certainly swim effort on race day.

I do 2-3 hr training rides routinely at what feels like a pretty stiff but sustainable pace and my average HR for those rides is like 127 once the ride is all done and over with.

I'll ride the same watts on race day, but if I push the swim (not even crazy hard, just at a solid z3 pace), those same watts will push me to a 140-145HR.

And even more to the point, I routinely do 2000-3000yd swims before my 2-3hr bikes for training, almost every week, so it's like I'm not swim unconditioned. But I don't do those swims at race pace the whole way. At most, I'll be doing 1500 yds z3, and more realistically 500-1000 of z3+ swim yards during that workout.

From my experience of monitoring HR on race day, I have found that HR on the start line is elevated, goes higher on the swim and stays high regardless of how you ease off during the bike and run. Trying to keep your HR similar to that during training means you have to back off too much so you just have to learn to cope with a higher HR during a race.

Yea so I guess I’m unsure of how could possibly hold the watts I “should” be able to hold during a race and still run well. Guess that’s what training is for 😂

My heart rate is almost always around 178 bpm when training or racing.

I don't have a watt meter on my bike, but I know that my FTP is 315 from my inside bike trainer with the speed sensors. I also know what gearing I have to be at to hit my planned Race pace on the bike trainer and what what my HR is at that intensity. When I get out doors the HR is never the same. Even on runs from training to racing my HR is higher. I think the difference is for training I go from sitting all day at work or from sleeping all night to running. When I start my HR is about 52-58 BPM and to get to my planned race pace is 145-152 BPM. When I race I am on my feel walking from the parking lot to the race start and then am on my feet in the race start, warming up, etc. Until the races starts. I start out with my HR at 76-82 BPM and go figure my HR is jumps up to 151-157 at the beginning of the race. It is even worst in a Duathlon or Triathlon where I am running or swimming before I get on the bike . I might be at 135 BPM when I start the bike and with a goal of riding at 133 BPM I may just up to 145-151 BPM. It used to bother me so I would slow way down for the first 6 miles of the bike so that my HR would drop to where it should be before building up to speed. It doesn't bother me any more. I know that I can ride and run just as week doing 275 watts at 151 BPM as I can holding 275 watts at 133 BPM. 275watts is 275 watts. That is one of the advantages of owning a watt meter you don't have to guess about were you are in terms of you intensity level and effort. If you can hold 275W you can hold 275W if you paced the swim right then you don't need to slow your bike down for you HR to slow down (at least not any more that you have practiced your transition a dozen times in training). If you have a power meter use that to pace your bike leg and to pay too much too the HR monitor. The HR will be higher or lower depending on the weather, your effort in the swim, etc. The Power meter is better way to measure your effort level.

For 3-4 hr bikes vs Vo2max intervals?!

When I was younger, I could keep my heart rate at 188 bpm during six hour bike rides.

Tapered athlete vs stress training athlete
Swim effort,
Early bike power surge.
Aero position stress
caffeine intake.

Do you breath harder then in training or is the HR just higher with same breathing rate

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Technique will always last longer then energy production. Improve biomechanics, improve performance.
http://Www.anthonytoth.ca, triathletetoth@twitter

I still call inaccurate HR monitor if you have the same HR for 1-2 minute intervals vs 6 hour bike rides. Even if your 6-hr bike rate is 188.

No the bike effort felt very easy. Which made the 150 HR frustrating because if I go over that HR I typically suffer greatly on the run.

My HR is always higher when I'm rested.

I can train myself into HR suppression, maybe you can too. I have to be really careful with that issue, it took me nearly 6 months to dig myself out of that hole a few years ago.

For one minute, I used to be able to get my heart rate up to 211 bpm.

My hr is the same way.

Ride to the pool: 140 hr, 220 watts. Ride from the pool: 155 hr. 220 watts.

It's maddening.

In my late teens I could hit 211-212 at the end of bike races, and I held 192-193 for an 50-60 minutes in crits a couple of times.

But 188 for 6 hours? I mean, that just can't be right.

My heart rate has always been high and I have used a bunch of different monitors with chest straps.

I trained with Chris Hinshaw and he would keep the pace at a ballistic level all day.

This^^^^ + heat/hydration/fueling/air temperature on race day.

I have the same experiences. In an all out 20 min FTP test my avg HR is 171. A couple weeks later I did an Olympic bike (64 mins) at 183 avg HR, and had a best ever run off of it. For me it is all due to the excitement/adrenaline from racing. It only took one race for me to realize I should never use HR to guide my race. Now I only go on RPE or power. Even during the warm up before the race my heart rate is 10 beats higher than it normally would be on my own.

It’s no biggie. The solution is don’t slow down because HR is high. Only slow down if RPE is too high.

That statement seemingly contradicts itself. If the bike effort were actually easy, then the 150 HR wouldn't make you suffer greatly on the run.

For you to achieve the HR you said in your training you make 200w at, you would have had to reduce your race day power to something really super low versus ftp. Like probably way down at 150w to get to 120 bpm instead of 148 bpm.

I think others hit the nail on the head that perhaps you ran into some really depressed HR numbers in training from some "over-reaching", which is normal. Then maybe you considered that depressed HR to be what you expect to see.

I'm willing to bet it's a combo of a depressed HR at lower zones in training due to over-reaching combined with an inflated ftp.

So I should expect to pretty easily hold 275w in training for long intervals and race at under 200?

Paralysis by analysis. You raced a 70.3 bike at 60% of FTP because your HR was higher than expected. Did you feel like you were riding way too hard when your HR was at that level? or did the power feel manageable for 56 miles?

If your FTP is 330 then do some longer intervals (3x20-30 mins) in training, start around 80% (260w) and see how that feels. Ask yourself if you feel like you can run a great half marathon after riding at that intensity for that long. Adjust accordingly to how you feel and what you've learned from races in the past.

Training vs. performing are inherently different. Performance anxiety (not assuming you have it) can lead to an increased heart rate. I wrote a recently blog article on the concepts of cognitive and somatic anxiety and how they can lead to increases in heart rate. Excitement for a race is inline with anxiety. I know several people that show up on race day with a higher heart rate at the start line than during some low intensity training sessions.

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Jon Thornham
Co-Founder FLO Cycling

I'm all about data or proofs. What is the equipment used in training versus racing: power and HR measurement. Trainer used. Indoor/outdoor. Etc.....

Did the 200w race ride speed match with it being 200w? Or was the speed faster or slower than what a 200w ride largely should look like?

75w is out of the realm of race day stress or even reducing a % of threshold for a multisport race. A 70.3 isn't "short" but it isn't that long either. It's far enough out that's why I'm asking about the equipment, as maybe there's a failure there somewhere.

I've seen folks pop on the forum that train a lot indoors on a smart trainer then outdoors have a meter on-bike read up to 25 or 30w high or low. Not everyone likes using the bike meter paired versus the smart trainer as I've had more dropout issues that way. But, it introduces risk to consistency of measuring. Then there's folks who make a lot less power on a tri bike than a road bike. Was your ftp test in aero and for an hour? Road bike? 20min instead and using a %?

It's a long way from 330w ftp for an hour down to only 200w for a 1/2 IM bike leg.

No it felt like 200 watts should feel, I was just paranoid about going any harder due to the HR. I’ve been doing long intervals at 270-280w in training no problem. After talking to my coach, I’m gonna more or less ignore the HR number next time and use watts and feel much more.