The thing I hate most about aging is that my maximum heart rate is decreasing. The formula for determining one's maximum heart rate is 220 minus one's age (in years). In the early 1990s, when I was racing in the lead pack at bike rallies, I saw "190" a few times on my bike computer, which was a little higher than it should have been (about 184). I got it up there while running as well, usually in the final sprint of a long training run. I'm now 51, so my maximum heart rate is 169. The highest I've actually gotten it in the past year is 162. I suppose that shows that I wasn't working as hard as I could have been.
Lance Armstrong is 37. According to the formula (which is admittedly rough), his maximum heart rate is 183 (220 minus 37). While being interviewed yesterday before the first stage of the Tour of California, Lance said that his actual maximum heart rate is 197. He added, smiling: "Not bad for an old guy." I'll say! The man is a physical freak, or what used to be called, quaintly, a "sport of nature."
Addendum: I just checked my logs. On 30 July 1994, in the Cleburne bike rally, my actual maximum heart rate was 190. I was 37 years old, so I exceeded my formulaic maximum by seven beats per minute. Lance exceeds his by 14! On 15 February 1994, when I was 36, I hit 192 at the end of a training run. My formulaic maximum was 184.
