2019 3:20, And Beyond (Read 444 times)

Running Problem


Problem Child

     

    Understood! And agree wholeheartedly!

     

    I feel the need to update y'all on my travails as I don't want it to seem like I just blew off the great people on this thread.  I might not be posting much for a while.  To make a long (and boring) story short - I suffered a heart attack on Saturday a week ago.  Was on a mountain bike coming down a very steep trail when it happened.  Put me over the bars and slammed my pelvis very hard onto a rock.  Nothing broken but I was in the hospital for 5 days.  Had an angioplasty and two stents put into my heart.  Three blocked arteries (one was too small to do anything about).  99% on one and 85% on the other.  Big shock as I've never had any warning signs and I lead and have always led a healthy lifestyle.  5"9" 160, run daily or close to it for the past 30 years, no smoking, no drinking other than an occasional beer, very minimal fast food, blah blah blah.  I guess I inherited propensity to heart disease from my Mom's side of the family  they all passed in their 30's, 40's and 50's from HD.  My mom lived to 61 and she was the longest living person in her family.  Docs said that sometimes it doesn't matter how healthy your lifestyle is, genetics can catch up to you.

    So, for now, I'm sidelined to just walking.  Couldn't run even if I tried because my pelvis was so messed up from the crash.  Probably a good thing because if I could run I'd be itching to get out and see what I could run a mile in with my newly opened coronary arteries!

    Cardiologist said I could resume running and training but not until things settle out with all the new medications I'm taking.  I'll just walk until I see him next and then get the OK to run again.  My dropoff in racing times, which has been severe and much faster than can be attributed to aging, may have been due to this problem.  That might have been the only warning sign I had.  A good friend of mine commented on my decline more than once saying there had to be something more than just aging.  However, again, I had no chest pains or shortness of breath, dizziness etc.  

     

    Keep training and racing.

     

    This is why I get my annual physicals. I know I have high cholesterol but NOTHING will tell you a 99% blockage exists. You'll find out when it's 100 though. All that exercise and "healthy lifestyle" stuff doesn't always mean what people thing. Glad you're okay KCAM.

    Did you notice the heart rate was higher than usual for runs or anything? I wonder if it will be lower when you get back at it with everything cleared up.  I bet the rest of your age group is going to think you're doping when you come back strong.

    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

    VDOT 53.37 

    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

    kcam


      Thanks, Brew!  No, my HR was nothing out of the ordinary and I do track it on most of my runs.  Even on that bike ride I had it on and looking at the data nothing jumps out at me except that on the toughest part of the ride my HR didn't climb much like it normally does.  That was odd, but it was only then.  FYI, my cholesterol levels have never been a problem.  LDL of about 95-100.

      BTW, this is the bike ride I did that day.  It was a toughie and I crashed around mile 9.9 miles.  I then had another 6 miles to ride back to my car being so messed up.  Then to the ER.  Was not a fun 6 miles.  Forgot my cell phone that day too!

      https://www.strava.com/activities/2491237461/analysis

        kcam - sorry to hear of your medical troubles.  A mountain bike accident with a heart attack is certainly unique combo!   I hope your heart attack wasn't a big one?  If not, I think you might see improved running (cardiac output) with your stents.  Did they give you any indication of a cardiac rehab schedule?  I hope you'll post it as your "weekly"!

         

        I think I'm about your age (1961)?  My race times were diving unexpectedly rapidly also, and I found out I have mitral regurge ("mild to moderate").   Nothing to be done for it though, and I doubt that is a legit excuse....

        CommanderKeen


        Cobra Commander Keen

          Trying to catch up after a week away.

           

          Katia - Craziness!


          Brew - I loved the pacing report.

           

          Crazy/sad stuff about Meza. I've bounced through a fair bit of the LRC thread and in general it seemed that they were focusing on the cheating, rather than his life outside of it. Yes, some brought up work, etc., but it looked to me that most wanted that left out of things. I saw the photos DWave referenced, and that seemed to me more like it was being presented as evidence regarding the physique very fast 70+ runners (and honestly, all faster runners I know) share, which Meza lacked - something that by itself would make it quite difficult for anyone short of national-class ability to run sub-3. Sad stuff from beginning to end, but his actions were his own.


          Ace - Noisy Danger Noodles abound, apparently! See below... I'd much rather come across a black bear than a venomous snake.


          KCam - Duuuuude! I sure hope you recover quickly and fully. Scary stuff. I wonder if your active lifestyle may have saved your life there. How bad would that have been had you been a couch potato?

           


          Copy Pasta from sub-90:

          Kind of a low mileage week for me last week, and definitely a low on this week as well! I got 12.5mi in Monday before the family and I packed up to go on a bit of a vacation and haven't been able to run since. We spent some time in a state park to the south, then visited my parents for a bit.

          While the trip to the state park was fun, it also kinda wasn't. The first day we were there I was scouting out a "trail" loop for a run the next morning. It turned out it was partial single track, but mostly no track with very technical / unrunable sections (requiring using hands to climb over large boulders). That wouldn't have deterred me from making a loop the next day, but what did was having run-ins with two diamondback rattlesnakes - within maybe 10 minutes of each other.

          I swear I just "sensed" the first one and jumped back before looking down to see the non-threatening half of the snake slithering underneath a rock. This was at about the halfway point of the "loop", and I couldn't see any definite way down, so I decided to return the way I came after looking around and taking some pictures. The next one I heard rattle, and I IMMEDIATELY jumped back without regard for where I might land. I ended up landing on a rock about 2 feet from a drop-off. The snake was coiled up right in the middle of the trail (he was NOT there when I had passed that way earlier), and I had stepped within a foot or so of him - well within striking range. After waiting for my heart to stop pounding (yes, I checked my HR and it was only 78, no different than it was just scrambling over the rocks) I took a picture of the guy (I was safely about 10' off at this point) and then figured out a way to safely bypass him by scrambling up/down some nearby rocks and get down the "mountain". In the process I also swore off ever hiking in such a place again without full-on snake gaiters.

           

          I can't get the image to embed, but here's the picture of the Noisy Danger Noodle.


          Adding actual "injury" to near injury, I somehow managed to mess my neck up while sleeping that night, so I may be heading to the chiropractor Monday if things haven't cleared up by then.

          5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

           

          Upcoming Races:

           

           

          ilanarama


          Pace Prophet

            Hply sjot, kcam!  That sounds like an utterly miserable experience - I can't imagine having to ride 6 miles with a bruised pelvis and whatever else messed up things a freakin' HEART ATTACK causes in your body.  Ugh ugh ugh, heal up soon.

            darkwave


            Mother of Cats

              Kcam - I am very sorry to hear this, and I'm glad, as awful as it was, that it wasn't even worse and we still have you.  This is truly scary stuff.  And what awful timing.  I'm relieved that at least your pelvis wasn't broken (I'm looking for some sunshine).  Really tough cards to be dealt.

               

              Brew - a clean physical is no guarantee.  About 9 years ago, my partner had some symptoms indicating a cardiac issue (fatigue and chest pain).  Spent the night in the ER, including all sorts of testing before being dismissed with a clean bill of health.

               

              About 6 months later, he had another bout of heavy fatigue, combined with heartburn.  He was given some nitroglycerin by his primary care, which seemed to help things, so he went in for an angiogram.

               

              As it turned out, he was 95% blocked everywhere (apparently previous tests didn't catch this because they measure differences in flow - if you're equally blocked everywhere, they can miss it!)  So...he went in for an angiogram and ended up with a multi-day wait and then a quadruple bypass....

               

              Moral of the story is - don't rely on past examinations - if you feel the symptoms of heart disease, ALWAYS GET THEM CHECKED.

              Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.

               

              And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.

              darkwave


              Mother of Cats

                Should add - KCAM - I hope you'll still participate on the thread as much as you care to - you are very welcome even if not running.

                Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.

                 

                And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.

                kcam


                  Again, thanks to all of you for your well-wishes and concern.  The running community is the best group of folks bar none!

                  pepperjack


                  pie man

                    Sorry to read that kcam.  Take care of yourself.

                     

                    Thinking about jumping in something next month. I’m currently below my pr weight and figure I could maybe muscle out a bq.  Eureka and Santa Rosa are both August.  Eureka should be cooler and maybe flatter.

                     

                    i got chicked by the 5th fastest US miler of all time (as of yesterday).  Pretty proud of that one. I also once passed a girl back who passed me on the promenade because she had some keys jangling and it was annoying me.  There is probably some tweet or blog post about the dude who couldn’t stand to be passed by a girl, but really I just wanted some quiet on my easy run.

                    11:11 3,000 (recent)

                    rlk_117


                    Resident Millennial

                      kcam- holy crap. i am so, so sorry to hear that. so many factors in life are lottery and that really sucks - but it does sound like all the great things you do for yourself have helped thus far. keep on keeping on! hoping recovery is as smooth as can be. If there's anything I can do to make life a little easier for you, please let me know! Not too far away.

                       

                      PJ- and i have cooled down with the 5th fastest US miler Wink so so cool. love to see this progression. also, not to focus on appearance, but just out of being impressed - she is SO muscular. more than emma?

                       

                      i will never forget many things about my first notsob marathon,  and one of them is that i was right behind a european man who had his metal hotel (or airbnb) keys clipped onto the waistband of his shorts. it jingled with every step. i actually asked him to tuck it into his shorts so it wouldn't make noise. he seemed super confused (wasn't he annoyed by the sound too??) and I think tried to do it? but it didn't mitigate the jingling. so at mile 8 i put in a surge to drop the guy with the really annoying, jingling keys. so it goes!

                       

                      it's not often i make stupid, absentminded mistakes, so i get upset with myself when i do ... we're celebrating BF's birthday this weekend (he turned 29 on thurs) and we did so by going to a fancy place for dinner last night (in kcam's neck of the woods), stayed at an airbnb in the santa cruz mountains (it's as beautiful as it sounds), and brought our bikes because there is some really nice riding down here that we've only done once or twice since it's a long way to ride from home. i somehow realized 15min before dinner last night that i forgot to bring my bike shoes. i didn't even bring running shoes or other sneakers because we are heading home later today, and the plan was to go for a ride in the mountains/down to santa cruz for lunch and back up; if i'd had sneakers i could've suffered through using those on my bike-cleat-outfitted pedals. no store anywhere rents bike shoes (but they all rent bikes). the store i popped into in the 10min before our reservation last night has a pretty strict return policy (no buying shoes, "trying them to see if they fit", and then returning them). so i feel like an idiot for forgetting that one minor detail (there are SO many things to remember with bikes), and now BF is crafting himself a scenic route to ride home (or to a train station that'll lead to home) while i drive home alone because I forgot shoes.

                      /pityparty

                      _________________________________________________
                      mile, 5:26 /5k, 19:34 /10k, 41:00 /13.1, 1:31:49 /26.2, 3:12:58

                        The week in review:

                         

                        M: rd

                        T: 6 with track intervals (1600,1200,1000,800,400) with 400 recoveries at ~6:08ish

                        W: 8 easy + weights

                        Th: 12 easy

                        F: 6 easy

                        S: 8 with 4 "OMRs": 1/2mi TM hill repeatsSad6%,7.5mph) + weights

                        S: 10 easy

                        total = 50

                         

                        Slow progress. Nothing to whine about...

                        kcam


                          My week - got in 18.5 miles of walking.  My wife was photographing the Folsom Triathlon so I put in two sessions of power walking for 7 miles and averaged about 13min/mile.  My hip is feeling much, much better and I was able to break into a jog a couple times to test it out.  Felt good but not good enough to continue.  Will keep walking until I get the green light to run.

                          PS - The M55-59 2nd place award winner of the Olympic distance Tri was Mike Pigg.  When they announced his name I knew immediately who he is even though I'm not a triathlete.  Former National Champion a few times over at the Olympic distance and second place at the Hawaii Ironman Championships back in the late 80's.  Very cool to see someone who was at the top of a sport continue to compete for fun.

                          darkwave


                          Mother of Cats

                            RLK - it's a good thing we're on opposite coasts, because I'm notorious for running with my housekeys on me.  My teammates will sometimes leave their keys on the side of the track, but I've seen that one go wrong too many times.

                             

                            Rovatti - that Tuesday workout looks solid - you're on your way back.

                             

                            KCam - neat about Mike Pigg (I've heard of him, though I wasn't familiar with his competitive record).  I agree that it's great to see people like that continue in the sport.

                             

                            My week:

                            57 miles, 16 "miles" of pool-running, and 3000 yards of swimming
                            M: Yoga and 5 "miles" of pool-running in the morning; 3 "miles" of pool-running in afternoon
                            T: 12 miles, including a workout of 2x2.5 miles at aerobic effort (16:09 and 16:33) with half mile jogged recovery; followed by 2 short hill repeats of 60-70 seconds. Then did leg strengthwork and 1000 yards recovery swimming.
                            W: 8 miles very easy (8:56), drills, strides, yoga, and 4 miles very easy (8:49)
                            Th: Upper body weights, core, and 8 "miles" pool-running
                            F: 12 miles, including 7 long hill repeats (~2:00 up, ~1:30 jog, ~30 second stride, ~60 second jog); followed with leg strengthwork and 1000 yards recovery swimming.
                            Sa: 10 miles easy (8:54) plus drills, strides, upper body strength/core, DIY yoga
                            Su: 10.5 miles, including alternating two 60-70 second hill reps with 2:30 recovery and 10 minutes at tempo effort with 1:30 recovery. Did 2 hill reps, 10:00 tempo (6:26 pace), 2 hill reps, 10:00 tempo (6:25 pace), 2 hill reps. Followed with leg strengthwork and 1000 yards recovery swimming.

                            Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.

                             

                            And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.

                            OMR


                              kcam:  I will add my "Holy crap!" to the list.  Good to hear you made it back OK and are power-walking.  Hope you get the green light soon.

                              rlk:  I would like to believe there was a time when I didn't make a lot of absent-minded mistakes.  Then I turned 50...

                              rovatti:  Another nice week, and I vaguely remember the day when those treadmill repeats were a thing.

                               

                              Officially signed up for the DCF50, so here's week 1 of 16:

                               

                              M:  8.2 easy, plus core work

                              T:  6.6 w/4 x 0.15M @ 6% hard, then 3 x 0.5M @ -2% easy/moderate

                              W:  8.2 easy, plus core work

                              T:  Rest

                              F:  15 with a slight progression, plus drills and yoga

                              S:  10 easy

                              S:  5.1 easy

                               

                              Total:  53.1

                              kcam


                                RLK - I have done that exact same thing!  Get to cool place to ride and realize I didn't bring my shoes!  I always have several pairs of running shoes in my car so Ive been able to use those.  I do only mountain biking and Ive been riding clipped in for decades.  I feel VERY uncomfortable and scared coming down a technical section not clipped in so I'm not a fan of that.  I've been kniwn to just blow off the ride and run instead.