u/MarburgMind

TL;DR: After an unexpectedly hard 10K race 4 days ago, my watch-reported resting heart rate has trended lower than usual, down from the high 50s/around 60 bpm to 48 bpm this morning. I’m wondering whether this can be a normal post-race/recovery pattern or whether it is something I should take more seriously.

Background:
I’m a relatively new runner. In 2025, I ran two half-marathons with essentially no structured training. In January 2026, I started light training and improved my half-marathon time by about 30 minutes in April 2026. I’m now training for a sub-2-hour half-marathon in October 2026.

Recent event:
Four days ago, I ran a 10K race. My plan was to treat it like an easy long-run effort around 11:30/mi, but I got caught up in the race environment and ended up running a PR at 9:56/mi. It was also a high-output day overall, according to my watch.

Resting HR trend:
My watch-reported resting heart rate has been:

• Race morning: 57 bpm
• Day after: 60 bpm
• 2 days after: 53 bpm
• 3 days after: 55 bpm
• 4 days after: 48 bpm

I have also noticed that my heart rate seems lower than usual while sitting/resting.

Symptoms/context:
I do not have fainting, chest pain, or severe shortness of breath. I do occasionally notice palpitations and brief moments of disequilibrium/lightheaded-feeling, but no passing out, stumbling, or actual loss of balance.

Question:
Can a lower-than-usual resting heart rate for several days after a hard race happen as part of normal recovery/adaptation, especially in someone increasing running fitness? Or does the combination of lower RHR + occasional palpitations/brief disequilibrium make this something I should dive deeper into with my doctor about (something I am already in conversation with him about)?

I understand Reddit is not a substitute for medical care. I’m mainly trying to understand whether this pattern sounds like a common benign training/recovery thing or a “don’t ignore this” thing.

I’m a relatively new runner trying to understand how runners interpret post-race recovery metrics, especially resting heart rate trends.

Context: I ran two half-marathons in 2025 with basically no structured training. I started light training in January 2026, dropped my half-marathon time by about 30 minutes in April 2026, and I’m currently training toward a sub-2-hour half-marathon in October 2026.

Four days ago, I ran a 10K race. My plan called for treating it like an easy effort around 11:30/mi, but I got caught up in the start-line energy and ended up running a 10K PR at 9:56/mi. That same day was also a high-output day overall, with roughly 5,500 total calories burned according to my watch.

Since then, my watch-reported resting heart rate has been lower than usual:

• Race morning: 57 bpm
• Day after: 60 bpm
• Two days after: 53 bpm
• Three days after: 55 bpm
• Today: 48 bpm

I’m not looking for medical advice or a diagnosis. I’m trying to understand how other runners think about interpreting RHR changes after an unexpectedly hard race effort.

For those who track RHR/HRV after races:

• How much weight do you give a short-term RHR drop during recovery?
• Do you treat it as meaningful, or mostly as watch noise unless paired with fatigue, poor sleep, elevated soreness, or bad workouts?
• What other recovery indicators do you usually look at before deciding whether to resume normal training?