Saturday, December 31, 2016

Bowral Parkrun ~~~ Last & Slowest Run for 2016!

Could hardly have been any slower to finish off parkrun for 2016!

42:02 Official.
(PB is 33:43!)

AHR 120 bpm;  MHR 133 bpm
83% - 92% of max.

TE  Maintaining...maintaining what exactly?  Getting slower?  For sure!

Feeling very disappointed with where my running is at the close of 2016.





Friday, December 30, 2016

At the Movies ~~~~~

A rest day and a good day to have off .... awfully hot and humid again!

To the movies in Bowral with Jo instead of a run.  Saw "Allied" and liked it very much; good cast and story line set in World War 2.

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Hot & Humid! ~~~~~

Even with cloud cover it was hot and the air thick.  A shorter jog/walk than previous days this week.  Tomorrow, I will probably not run but do a set of Magill drills/strides in the school soccer field in the shade.

Today:  38 minutes
(4km)

AHR 98 bpm;  MHR 102bpm
68% - 76% of max.

TE   1.3  ~~~  Minor!

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Another Easy Jog/Walk ~~~~~

I went longer than intended and it was hot out there this morning!

68 minutes
(7:14km)

AHR 103 bpm
MHR 116 bpm (Garmin spike 126 bpm)

AHR 72% of max.

TE  1.8 Minor!  (I think I should be 'Improving' by now! )



Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Watching heart rate ~~~~~

Thick, humid air!  Still have some bronchitis; breathing difficult on this sort of day but enjoyed being out jogging/walking with more jogging than walking now.




53 minutes
(5.4km)

AHR 100bpm;  MHR 114 bpm
69% - 79% of max.

TE 1.5 ... again, minor!

Monday, December 26, 2016

More of the Same! ~~

I'm really enjoying this getting out and just keeping time on my feet easy!  The morning was quite warm but with some breeze and, once I got to Scarlet Street, I had shade. I made sure I was well hydrated before leaving and left water in the car for after. No more risk taking with that!



53 minutes with low heart rate.

AHR 103bpm; MHR 114bpm
72% - 79% of MHR

5.36km

TE  1.4  =  Minor!!  What the....!

Sunday, December 25, 2016

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Bowral Parkrun ~~~~~ My 70th!

With one thing and another I've missed the last 2 of our parkruns, but this morning I was back!  Not having done much running at all for 3 weeks, coupled with the fact that I still have bronchitis and on 2nd course of antibiotics, I wasn't expecting anything amazing to happen .... and it didn't!



Started off downhill slowly and took it easy on the cycle path.  On the way back after the turnaround, I ran clear out of breath and even with help from a puffer and lovely fellow runner, Ian, I had to take walk breaks all the way to the hill on which, happy to say, I didn't stop! Looked at the Garmin and thought I saw 49 minutes; about right and what I disappointingly expected!  However, looking more closely at home I saw my time was 40 minutes...not 49 at all!  Bloody stoked I was!

Official times have just been published now at 4pm (3 missing barcodes held up results).

5km in 40:40 (how neat is that!)

AHR 126bpm;  MHR 135 bpm
88% - 94% of max.

Avg. cadence 163spm

TE 2.5  Maintaining

and .....

82.50% age graded!

In the coming weeks I'll stay with low heart rate training; seems to be working and takes the pressure off during the summer months.  Also, I can do that every day without having to take alternate days off.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Short & easy ~~~~

Tired this morning; bronchitis cough troubling me still; cut jog/walk short.  Bowral Parkrun tomorrow might be a slower than usual one!

25 minutes jog/walk
AHR 101bpm;  MHR 111bpm
70% - 77% of max.

TE   1.3  =  Minor!  ..to be expected.



Thursday, December 22, 2016

Returning to the Scene of the Crime! ~~~




Back to Bowral Parkrun course this morning where, three weeks ago today, I collapsed and finished the day in emergency Bowral Hospital!  Tests and a bout of bronchitis since then, I wanted to try myself out on the course before Saturday when I intend to return to Bowral parkrun. I needed to chase some negative thoughts away!




A delightfully cool morning after overnight rain; the grass either side of the hilly path is every bit "as high as an elephant's eye"!  Happy to say nothing untoward occurred and I finished the 5km course feeling fine helped, no doubt, by eating a banana and drinking electrolytes before starting!


Walk/Jog low HR 98-108bpm

45 minutes
AHR 106bpm;  MHR 141bpm
74% - 98% of Max.

TE  2.2  =  Maintaining!





Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Another Easy One ~~~~~ and echo test done!



Another walk/jog keeping HR low.  Started earlier, kept to shady streets and really enjoyed my run!

45 minutes with low heart rate between 98 and 108bpm

AHR 101bpm = 70% of max.

4.56km

TE 2.6    =   Maintaining!  This I like!



Tuesday, December 20, 2016

WooHoo! An easy walk/Jog! ~~~~~

At last a return to low heart rate training!  11/12 blacked out after run; hospital/emergency. Myocardial Perfusion stress test...all clear!  Echo test tomorrow.. and that should be the end of all that nonsense!  Not to be outdone by the heart, the lungs decided it was their turn for attention by way of bronchitis for the past week/ antibiotics clearing that!  What next? 

Before anything else could start acting up, I got out this morning to do an easy walk/jog with low HR between 98 and 108bpm.  A hot morning and should to start earlier than approx. 10:30am. Shady road, Scarlet Street, other side of Renwick.

40 minutes
AHR 102bpm;  MHR 129bpm
71%-90% of MHR

TE ... Maintaining!  I'll take that, thank you very much!

I don't want to speak too soon (1more test tomorrow) but...... I think it's safe to say, "I'm back! Back where I belong!"

Monday, December 19, 2016

Making a Start ~~~~~

While waiting to have an echo test on Wednesday to put an end to this heart scenario, I got out and just walked this morning for about 20 minutes around the streets in Renwick.  I felt it safer to walk there so that, if the blackout thing happened again, there'd be people who would find me, unlike on the grass hill at parkrun where it first occurred!

No monitor, just easy walking; all OK; nothing happened; still have bronchitis which I've had all week.  Antibiotics.  Tomorrow, I'll wear my Garmin and see what low heart rates I'm keeping to.

A long way to go to regain fitness......

Saturday, December 03, 2016

On the Mend? I Hope so! With Add-ons ~~~~ 1,2, 3, 4, 5 .... and the results are in!

Unexpected misadventure on Thursday; this is what happened to me:

Set off from the Briars as I do on most Tuesdays and Thursdays for another low heart rate un/walk.  Though it was hot at around 10:30am, there was a good breeze and the session was light n'easy.  Finished feeling fine walking up the grassy hill but the minute I stopped I began to feel terribly nauseous and dizzy.  Intending to rest, I managed to get myself to one of the sets of table and chairs in the shade, just a few metres further on but feeling more and more ill with every step.

I sat down and then I don't know what happened or how long after sitting but I came to, to find myself on the ground; it happened in a flash; no warning, nothing until I regained consciousness!  No idea how long I was out to it, but I think only a few seconds.  I realized this was serious stuff going on so got myself into the Briars, wobbled across the dining room where guests were having lunch and asked one of the staff to call the ambulance!

Into emergency at Bowral Hospital where I was hooked up to all sorts of contraptions and blood samples taken several times during the day.  Seems that the blood tests showed low sugar levels, dehydration and some enzyme that's released into the blood stream when there's been  some heart damage.  Allowed home later.

Next week I'm to have a stress test, called a Myocardial Perfusion Scan, at the Nuclear Medicine Centre, Bowral.  I hope to know more about what happened then and will post here any results I get.  Oh, what a day it was!  And, mistakenly, I deleted that run from my Garmin and I'm so cross with myself, because that's the one run I'd have liked to check my heart rate!!  Anyhow, I know I was keeping at 98 to 108 bpm so I'm certain I wasn't pushing myself at all; quite the opposite, I was taking it easy.  You never know what's ahead....around the corner or, in this case, at the top of the hill!!

Add-on :  5/12/16...Found out that Thursday's test will take from 4 to 5  hours! Wondering if lunch is included?

Add-on : 6/12/16...GP this morning; episode at Briars Inn after running, heart related.  No running till results are back from this Thursday's stress test.  I suppose walking is OK; forgot to ask; not the same thing!

Add-on :  7/12/16... 10:45am and no more coffee, tea, chocolate or anything with caffeine until after tomorrow's stress test! Sheesh!  Call from the place where I have to go tomorrow reminding me no coffee, tea etc. and filled me in on what to expect.

Add-on : 91/12/16... Well!  What a day yesterday!  Rotated for 5 hours with 5 others  through the various stages of a Myocardial Perfusion!  Stage one : an injection of a radio active tracer; Stage 2 :  Wait 45 minutes;  Stage 3 :Pictures taken of heart resting; Stage 4 : dismissed for 45 minutes to roam the main street of Bowral, got as far as Quirkee Birds fashions!; Stage 5 : back at headquarters, Dr gives injection through cannula of drug that puts the heart under stress as if having exercised .. what a break... no treadmill or bike needed! Felt hot, flushed, headache, just like after a hard run! More pictures taken of heart under stress and..... free to go home!  It was all OK except for the long waits in between each stage and no tea or coffee for 24 hours.  Results to come!

Add-on 15/12/16... 
  The news is good!  Everything normal!

Quote from results : "Normal myocardial perfusion study....tolerated the vasodilator infusion and there were no ischaemic changes in the ECG.  There is no scan evidence for reduced coronary perfusion reserve.  There is normal ventricular systolic function. Good left ventricular wall motion....etc.."

However, a cardio echo test is to come to rule out valve obstruction.  So why did I faint after a run?  No one is sure yet and I might never know, but my guess is dehydration and not having eaten anything before the run.   What am I going to do about it?  First, wait for echo test and if that's OK resume the run/walk training I was doing prior to the collapse 2 weeks ago today but start earlier, find a shaded course, drink plenty, use electrolytes, eat something before running eg. half a banana, cut down to 45 mins. max. over summer months and...... trust it never happens again!






Bowral Parkrun Christmas Lunch at Zen Oasis, Medway.