I've had some unusual readings. Ages ago, a doctor thought I had mitral valve prolapse but didn't seem to think the HMO would approve a test for it. This was about 20 years ago and I was young and silly enough not to insist. Sometimes it felt like my heart would skip a beat, also.

This past spring, I got a physical after many years of not getting one. My primary care physician works in a sports medicine place and I mentioned that I would like to train for a marathon. I told him about my history. He found some unusual readings and my bloodwork showed inflammation. He did a stress test and it was inconclusive so he sent me to a cardiologist. The cardiologist I went to is (so I hear) the best one up here and works a lot with athletes.

The cardiologist gave me a stress test and it was inconclusive so he arranged for a stress test/echocardiogram.

During all this time, I was very nervous.

Turns out that after all the testing, it came back that I am fine. I am very healthy and he said he'll see me in 60 years or so and to have fun at the marathon.

My running HR can average from about 148 (which is about the zone they said) to higher if I'm pushing it. My upper ranges are 170-183. For cycling, it depends on the ride.

When I thought I might have problems, I did a lot of reading on mytral valve prolapse. While it depends on the severity of the "leakage" (icky word!), I got the impression that exercise was still a good thing. In between tests, before I knew what was going on, I still exercised. Nobody said I couldn't.

So...I'd say to continue what you're doing unless they say you can't. You never know, too, there might be nothing wrong. My cardiologist said that people are all different and some person's normal might include heartbeat variations.

One last thing re HRM's (and somebody correct me if I'm wrong) but I believe they don't register every beat. If my heart speeds up, it takes my HRM a bit to catch up to it, same goes for slowing. I've had cases where it'll go up to 174 and I KNOW it isn't still up there and it invariably goes back down. It could just be my make/model too.

Be straightforward with your training when you talk to your doctors, question things if you aren't sure what they mean or what your diagnosis is, and remember it might not be as bad as it seems.