In PE in middle and high school, I always remember taking my pulse and having a very high resting heart rate relative to others.  I forget the exact number, but it might have reached 80 beats per minute or higher.  I always thought I counted incorrectly or double-counted.

I’ve started running and walking almost daily recently.  I feel better and more energized, especially after a run.  I would like to know if my overall health improved since I started about 4-6 weeks ago.  The first days, I could barely go around the block.  I would come back into the house and gulp down a gallon of water in between deep panting heaves.  After a couple of weeks I could run/walk a mile or two without gasping for breath by the end.  Yesterday, I estimate I ran/walked 5 miles (I know that I walk 4 miles an hour) without a problem.

So, in terms of endurance, my fitness improved.  But what about my heart rate?  I check yesterday and today.  It’s down to about 63 beats per minute.  I made a graph using a short Python script, pygooglechart, and the Google Chart API.  I will be plotting more data points every day:

Lance Armstrong has a resting heart rate of 32 beats per minute!  On the other hand, some quick research online tells me that resting heart rate poorly correlates to fitness, although recovery rate would be a better measure.  I’ll start charting my recovery rate once I figure out how to measure it easily.