I tried out my new HR monitor on Friday night (friends at the gym were laughing as I walked around the track w/ monitor in one hand and the manual in the other)

I tried the preset HR for my age and the Ownzone feature.
I also had the perceived rate of exertion chart (PRE)

I am going to a sports medicine Dr. on Th for something else, that is no longer bothering me BTW but now I am glad I have the appointment

Now here is the dilemma - when I stay in the HR zone recommended I was only walking about 3 mph, even if I did a brisk walk my HR jumped up too high, slow running was out of the question.
My PRE was about at get up from the couch to get a beer level

I bumped the parameters up to HIGH and then could do a sloooooow run. but now the HR was at 145-150. I decided to keep running the track and see how long I could go. I was doing a 12 min mile and ran for an hour, barely broke a sweat and could carry on an easy conversation. But my HR was steady at 145-50 which is the supposedly 80% rate for me where I should only be speaking in short sentances, passed lactate threshold, and breathing heavily

I wore it to spinning class yesterday and set it on manual. my HR went up to 173 and I could still speak short phrases - I hadn't hit the no talk zone. when we lessened the pressure and sat down spinning at about 85 -90 my HR
dropped to 134 in about 30 secs.

My best guess based on limited research is my asthma or asthma meds are affecting my HR. If not enough Oxygen is getting to the muscles the HR can jump

At least I have some numbers now to throw out to the Dr.