Hi everyone! New to the forums, well I’ve been lurking periodically, but this is my first time posting. I have a question for you distance/endurance athletes. I ran a 10 mile training run today and since then I have had an elevated heart rate. And by elevated I mean that about 20-30 minutes after my run it was 129 (NOT normal for me). And since then it has stayed around 90 the rest of the day. My normal heart rate is typically in the 60s. I’m thinking its an electrolyte issue but I’ve had at least a tsp of salt (Real Salt brand), 1/2 a tsp of Lite Salt, a zippfizz directly post run, and also some trace mineral drops. It’s still not getting back to normal. I’ve never had this happen before. I’ve been keto since Jan and have been running fasted. I am training for a half-marathon, my 3rd so I am not new to this, but my previous halfs I used carbs. Any advice as to what could be the cause is appreciated! I am currently over 6 hours post-run and it is still in the high 80s.
Keto/Long Run/Elevated Heartrate
Be careful with electrolytes. I believe that 1/2 teaspoon of lite salt is a fair amount of potassium. Here is the Ketoade recipe thread:KetoAide homemade
I’ve noticed many threads about Keto and blood pressure/heart rate/electrolytes so be careful. Some say don’t worry but I wouldn’t be so sure. It may not be the best diet for endurance athletes IMO. I think it’s great for weightlifting and the average sedentary person.
I have experience this as well. I am not sure what the solution is yet for me but one thing that I do know that works is to aim for 8 to 10 hours of sleep/rest. I think that for me it is basically weather keto or not, I am simply asking too much from my body at a given moment. I have noticed that as an endurance athlete implementing a ketogenic diet, that I can pass through a threshold where my body has so much compounded fatigue that it is no longer processing the nutrition that I give it in an optimal way. I think that elevated heart rate is a result of compounded fatigue in the absence of true true recovery, deep sleep, rest and muscular repair. My only recommendation is not to over hydrate or under hydrate, not to over eat or under eat, not to seek out external solutions for this but rather, less is more, rest Is king.
I would never take 1/2 teaspoon of lite salt all at once as this provides nearly 700 mg of pure potassium. Check with your doctor before supplementing potassium.
Thanks for the replies, y’all!
@Brenda and @grinch734. Noted about the potassium. I didn’t take potassium initially, it was several hours after I got home and my heart rate still hadn’t come down. I am a heavy sweater and I am a salt producer big time. I took in extra salt during my run and after. I thought my elevated heart rate was either A)I drank too much water and diluted everything too much and need to replenish ALL electrolytes, not just sodium or B)I took too much sodium and it wasn’t balanced with potassium. This has never happened before so I wasn’t sure which way to go with it. After several hours of heart rate not getting back to what is normal for me, I decided to take potassium. Daily requirement is around 4700 mg and I don’t eat many foods that are high in potassium so didn’t think it would be an issue (in terms of taking extra). I appreciate you guys pointing out the amount of potassium I consumed and I’ll be more cognizant of that in the future, but honestly don’t think it was my problem either way.
@Nathan_Toben. Thank you so much for your reply. I’m really starting to think this is the problem. I have not had good sleep this entire past week. And then today slept until 8:30 and could have slept longer if my dog hadn’t woke me up. That may not seem very late to some of you but this is unheard of for me. I’m up by 6-6:30 on the weekends and many times earlier than that. I’m really leaning towards this being a rest/recovery issue since that makes the most sense given my sleep this past week.
Now my dilemma is do I keep training for this half, which is mid-Oct? Or try for one later down the road? I’m almost scared to run long this coming Saturday as I’m afraid the same thing will happen.
See your physician and have a discussion. You might be referred to a heart specialist and that would be good too if your physician thinks it is necessary. I haven’t heard of this happening to anyone but one thing you certainly could do at your primary physician is have some lab work done and see if there’s anything amiss.
@Brenda why is that an issue? I’ve been taking tea spoon low salt and a half teaspoon pink salt to increase electrolytes. 
Lite Salt contains potassium.
Overuse can cause heart issues.
Always consult a physician before supplementing potassium. People have ended up in the emergency room from overdoing Lite Salt.
Besides, if your sodium is on point, your potassium will be also.
My HR is definitely elevated +15bpm or so - but only during exercise. After it gets entirely normal.
jono
Update from my original post: Well, it wasn’t the potassium but I appreciate the concern of the admin. I did end up going to the doctor over my symptoms about a week later as I kept having my heart rate go up over simple things, especially first thing in the morning. Had blood work, a stress test, and holter monitor for 24 hours. Everything came back normal. It seems it is more anxiety and caffeine related after a long conversation with the cardiologist. I think it was all exacerbated by the level of exercise I did the day these symptoms appeared, along with dehydration and caffeine intake.
Still working out and running with no problems, I just have a very low caffeine intake and am trying to control my stress levels.