Testing HRV with iThlete

The Finger Sensor (uses the headphone jack)

At the behest of one of the athletes I coach who works for Inside Tracker (I will soon be trying this as well), I started testing heart rate variability (HRV) on a daily basis. My athlete had been sending me a daily HRV update. He is a data guy, loves knowing his numbers, especially the finer, more secret points. Thus he had been testing his body daily using a finger sensor (pictured), and asking for adjustments based upon his current HRV. Naturally, the test sparked an HRV conversation, and since I am natural curious and am also looking to understand another tool of the trade, he convinced me to try it and now I too use HRV.

HRV measures the variability of your heart rate while breathing at a slow, even pace. While I am not clear on each factor in the measurement, essentially by using a finger sensor or chest strap and breathing at a selected pace for around a minute, HRV is established as the sensor looks for changes in beat to beat timing. A number is established and after around a week a baseline is established. The best time to collect data is when you wake up, thus you have a consistent measurement.

My HRV

So why is this factor important and why can be garnered from this number? First, when you are rested your number goes up, meaning your body has recovered and might therefore be ready to spring into action. When you are not rested—say after a hard workout—your number drops. I raced a 15k and my HRV dropped 15 data points the next day. My legs felt much the same, but it is nice to have an indicator. Thus the HRV allows you to tweak your week and alter things here and there based upon the active information given by your body. This is more than just heavy legs feeling, this data gives one a more informed feeling, one where you feel more confident altering your plan or alerting your coach.

Testing Screenshot

So what is the cost? While more than one place exists, I use iThlete. You will have to make two purchases in the matter, the app which costs around $8.00, and your choice of a sensor, which will set you back $60-$70. Either way, the data collection is immense, especially as you rate the various factors in your life that contributed to the rise and fall of your HRV, from training load to sleep to mood to diet to stress. While it may not be for everyone, it can lead to a healthier training pattern. If you have questions, ask away.

Book Review: Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian

The ultimate text in Rick Riordan’s Olympians series, Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian brings the much awaited war of the gods to the forefront. After hearing Percy’s internal psychobabble for four books, we final get to see the end result of his final prophecy as the Titians fight the gods for a second time. As noted in the previous incarnations, Percy, upon his sixteenth birthday, has a choice to make: preserve Western Civilization or send it plummeting to the ground. So will Percy survive or will he fall victim to the trappings of power and end civilization as we know it? While Riordan attempts to shield the reader and prevent the answer, we all know that Percy will stick with the status quo and opt for the current state of things in this battle of good versus evil. His father and the 

Olympians in toe stand for good, even if they are somewhat stubborn at times.

Thus Jackson lands in nearly every mythological realm—from a visit to his father’s undersea castle, where his brother has become a valued warrior, to a brief imprisonment in Hades before a dip in the river Styx to become a modern age Achilles, to frequent conversations with the only Olympian holding down the fort, Hestia goddess of the hearth (home fire/hearty of the home), Jackson sees it all. He is a machine here and once he takes his baptism of invincibility, Jackson mows through foes with reckless abandon. Yet, like the ancient Greek warrior, he too has a vulnerability, his lady love Annabeth. Predictably, their relationship plays out over time as well.

In effect Riordan uses his limited space, taking place during yet another short expanse of time over a summer, to tie up loose ends. New York is besieged by monsters, but the city sleeps through the affair (mostly) and does not need to rely on the proverbial mist to keep them ignorant. We see allusions to the Trojan War, especially when Clarisse arrives in a flying chariot to save the day. Much like when Patroclus wears Achilles armor, we discover that the hero was not Clarisse and that the triumphant call to glory is in fact a lie. All of the events build to the final show down where Luke and Percy stand toe-to-toe on top of the legendary mountain. It is here redemption is offered, and resolution comes out as Riordan closes the loop in his final book of this particular story arc.

Book Review: Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth is the penultimate text in the Olympians series. Much like in the previous installment, Percy Jackson and the Titian’s Curse, the world is lurching every forward toward the end of times. Kronos is assembling his army of monsters and the end of days nears, yet this end rests in Percy’s hands, for as stated at the onset of the series, when Percy turns 16, a date just a year away, he will be responsible for the fate of humanity and the gods of Olympus.

In a rich young adult adventure, Jackson once again transverses the country, heading out on quest to find Daedalus, at the center on the ancient maze. Daedalus, the maze’s creator, offers the band of heroes a chance, one that will allow them to deflect the advances of Kronos’ army and defend Camp Half-Blood from their attack. This attack, one that seeks to end the campers and thus bring Olympus to its heels, would come through the famed maze, avoiding the camp’s protective barrier against monsters by entering the camp through secret passage.

Jackson really comes into his own here, meeting Calypso, Daedalus, and helping Grover end his quest and endure the final requests of the ancient Pan. With each page, the tension rises, the journey grows richer, and Riordan inputs more depth to the Greek cultural perspective in a modern arena.

While the text encompasses more time, we fail to fill in the gaps. For whatever reason, summer and therefore camp, stands as the time Jackson enters our lives. War rages around him, yet he is largely absent from the battle until summer comes. This fact can seem artificial as the texts stand upon one another, yet as the series continues to grow, the mythology plays out and brings the reader into the depths of the battle, constantly wondering when and how it will end.