What the cardiologist said about my atrial flutter...

This post is more than 2 months late as my last cardiologist appointment was before the Mpumalanga bike ride in April, but it was written already, not sure why I didn't put it up, so here it is for posterity sake. The "about the atrial flutter" thing is actually to get more hits so if you're reading this as a link to find out more about atrial flutter, I do have it, read more about my cardiac history to see what I'm doing about it.

I was a little apprehensive going back to the cardiologist, it was 6 months down the line and when we parted last time he had hinted at a possible implanted device. I'm up for most things but I don't want to be THAT dependent on technology. So if he did suggest surgery I was gonna go running back to my old doctor and ask him for a second opinion.

Mildly paranoid as I am, I also had visions of him telling me that I've been abusing my body... I must stop exercising... I have deteriorated etc. But those weren't to be the results I would receive from him.

As per usual I went for an ECG where I still found it strange to sit while she stuck the, not so sticky, electrodes all over my chest. I watched as my heart rate fluctuated between 60 and 75. Somehow she picked a set of waves somewhere in the middle and I was done.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, considering the fortune my medical aid is paying for this appointment, I finally got to see the doctor. He was incessantly answering the phone, but after umming and ahing and taking what seemed like an awful amount of time doing the hands on physical examination...checking the pulse, and, I assume, water retention in my ankles, then listening to my heart from all sorts of positions, then listening to my breathing, again I assume for water on the lungs. Finally he tapped my on my back, which I assume has something to do with my kidneys... need to read more about why.

Then he did the echo cardiogram... it continually surprises me that he does it himself... anyway the good news is that he found my ejection fraction(EF) to be between 44 and 46%. I'm not sure how accurate the measurement techniques are but he seemed quite confident that there was an improvement. The thing is that I can't say that I FEEL an improvement. Sure I go about my day much like I assume any other "normal" person does. I work a full day, go for a run and then go to bed between 9 and 11 without being completely exhausted. But I've felt this way for ages... what does a 10% increase in heart function (previous EF was 36%) do, or feel like.

So I'm going to continue being an eternal pessimist and assume that the last EF of 36% was under measured and this EF of 44% was over measured, and assume that I'm somewhere in between at about 40%. I wish I knew exactly what my EF was when I was first diagnosed 9yrs ago, but considering climbing a flight of stairs was a problem I'm sure there is a huge improvement. And then if I look at my exercise log book, last May I started out doing very short runs, now I do 5km three times a week... I sometimes find the run itself tough, but I recover fine. So maybe there is a definite improvement... I will convince my self when I do my first half marathon.

First I need to survive next week's 400km bicycle tour...

Ok ok!! I know I must be more consistent!

So I haven't posted for more than a month, terrible I know, but in all honesty I have been REALLY busy. I try to blog on weekends and I honestly haven't managed to get to a PC on the weekend for ages!

The good news is that I have been pretty consistent with my running. Except for a week in the Western Cape when I went to visit my sister and her new baby... oh and a week where I did the cycle ride mentioned in my previous post... IT WAS TORTURE by the way... otherwise I have been consistently exercising three times a week, recently more.

So here's what I've been up to in brief:
Cardiologist visit
I actually wrote a post which I must put up later this week. But the jist was that my echo indicated a significant improvement in Ejection Fraction. I'm always a little sceptical because I know that you can have errors in measurement, but it was good news.

Great Mpumalanga bike ride
Scenery: Fantastic!
People: Awesome!
Route: Hell
The route advertised and mentioned in my last post was SO not the route followed! Because there were so few entrants the organisers had to use smaller venues and so the route had to change. I wish they had told me because I probably would not have gone. I completed day 1, 6 and 7, for the rest I took the sag wagon at some point as the hills and the distance were just too great. My body was saying "dude, you're pushing too hard" by the last day I had a bit of a cold and I decided not to ride.

Do I regret going? No.
Would I do the same route again? No.
Would I go on another cycling holiday? Very likely yes.

Western Cape visit
Managed to get in one 15km ride and a 2,5hr hike up table mountain. It's always cool to come back and appreciate what you've left behind. But I should have done more and I felt it for a week or two when I got back.

Since then
Somewhere along the line I realised that I have less than a year left to get to my goal of a 21km, so I kindof decided I need to commit to some longer runs than just doing a 5km 3 times a week. So I've decided with my training partner that we will do atleast 1 10km run a month, and as those get easier or quicker we will start to do some slightly longer runs aswell.

I also decided that I would like to lose a bit of my belly so I'm following a mild weight training regime. So far I am down to my long time minimum weight of 74kg's I hope to get to about 70, I'll be happy with that.

So we did the first 10km yesterday and I thought I wasn't ready for it. It seemed like an easy route and as I got to the finish I realised I had lots left over. I completed it in 1hr16 which is fine for me although under 70mins would be much better, but I'm not looking for a time, my first priority is always just to finish. Time will look after itself.

I feel like perhaps the extra strength in my legs... and perhaps the rest of my body... helped me out yesterday, so I'm going to continue with the weights as long as it's helping me to do so.

I also looked online for info about "alternative" treatments for heart conditions. I've seen Carnitine and Co-Enzyme Q10 mentioned regularly so I will try a small dose of this for the next two months. Hopefully I feel more energetic and these items will help my heart get stronger aswell.

Summary
Basically if you thought I had gotten lazy you are wrong, I've been working hard, sometimes feeling like I'm getting nowhere, but whether I'm going through an optimistic or pessimistic phase (I know I do!! LOTS) I'm still keeping active and getting slowly closer to my goal. Watch this space :)

Cycling is still easier... I think.

Because I'm going to do this big cycle ride I've been riding twice a week, more to get my butt used to the saddle more than anything else. But what has become quite clear to me again is that I find cycling a lot easier than running. I don't know why but I suspect that it's because while running you are continually lifting your body of the ground, energy that is expended which doesn't move you forward. Perhaps I run badly. With cycling all your effort goes into forward motion, so perhaps thats why it seems easier to me.

About the Great Mpumalanga Bike Ride that I'm doing early next month, I thought I'd give an over view for those of you who think I'm mad. I know the ride will be quite hilly, but considering we have an entire day to get to the next camp site, I hope I can take it slow enough not to be entirely exhausted at the end of every day. I'm sure the scenery will make up for the effort required to get from site to site. I'm going to try to keep a diary, which I might post when I get back.

The route is as follows:
Day 1 Saturday 5 April - Nelspruit to Sabie 45km
Day 2 Sunday - Sabie to Lydenberg 43km
Day 3 Monday - Lydenberg to Brandraai 62km
Day 4 Tuesday - Brandraai to Pilgrems Rest 77km
Day 5 Wednesday - Rest day at Pilgrims Rest, I think I might need this day!!
Day 6 Thursday - Pilgrims Rest to Hazy View 47km
Day 7 Friday - Hazy View to White River 38km
Day 8 Saturday - White River to Nelspruit 20km

Ok so now that I put it down like that and look at it... and look at it again I'm a bit scared!! But I think I'm pretty fit, if anything I'll just fall into bed every evening and sleep like I've never slept before. Oh and it's a camping trip so no terribly comfy bed... I think I'm going to invest in one of those expensive self inflatinf airmattresses.

I would have liked to take a GPS to record this, alas my GPS willl run out of juice after the first day. Perhaps I can rig up some kind of charger so I can record the route... and especially the contour!!

I'm sure this won't be my last post about this, I'm getting quite excited.

Week 11 Exercise Log

Enjoyed this week a lot, the weather seems to be cooling off and I'm finding I have more energy. Also cycled on Sunday and Tuesday in preparation for the bike ride next month. I put the running interval up by 5 seconds which actually makes a surprising difference to the average pace that I end up running.

Monday 10 March 2008
Distance: 5.5km
Total time: 40:13
Intervals: 35/60
Pace: 7:29 min/km
Average HR:
Route: Spiral

Wednesday 5 March 2008
Distance: 5.1km
Total time: 38:00
Intervals: 35/60
Pace: 7:27 min/km
Average HR:
Route: Nicholson

Friday 29 February 2008
Distance: 5km
Total time: 40
Intervals: Didn't have a watch
Pace: 8 min/km
Average HR:
Route: Lynwood

Training plans

As it seems to be going better again, I think I must think of how fast I want to be going and then keep it there if possible. The problem is that there are two aims that I have in mind, going a little faster and going a lot further. The question is how to do both?

While running yesterday I think I came up with a plan. At the moment I can comfortably complete 4, 5, 6 and at a push even 10km. Problem is that my ultimate goal, to complete the Two Oceans Half Marathon, means that I need to be able to run at a pace faster than 8.5km for the entire race. At the moment I'm quite close to that, so I think I need to speed up a bit. I would be more comfortable at a pace of about 7min/km. That should have me finishing in about 2hrs 15, with a lot of time left till the three hour cuttoff. Question is how to get there and maintian it for greater distances.

What I'm going to do is stick to my "style" of running, where I run and walk. At the moment my walking time is 1min and my running time is 30s. This allows an average pace of around 8min/km, which in itself will be fast enough to allow me to complete the race in time, but I don't want to cut it too fine. Then at a certain training distance, 5/6km at the moment I will keep the walking time the same and slowly increase my running time till I reach the 7min/km mark. Only once I can comfortably run that distance at 7min/km will I start training to go another km.

It's pretty simple, but it makes sense to me and should allow me to progress without hurting myself. I will try to keep doing a monthly 10km race aswell to keep track of my progress. Once I can run a 10km in under 70 minutes then I will start looking to run slightly longer distances. A great suggestion from one of the Run Walk For Life coaches was that in a race if you can find 2 km markers you can run from one back to the previous one, and then continue running, this immediately adds 2km to your race distance, which is a great way to start moving towards the final goal of 21.1km.

Week 10 Exercise Log

Took things very easy this week, except for on Wednesday's time trial which I pushed just a little bit. I think last time I did a 10km I didn't give myself enough rest afterwards, so this week I only did 4kms every day. Although on Sunday I went for an hours ride and on Tuesday I went for another 45min ride, so I guess I had quite a busy week. Work is a little stressful at the moment, so it's probably good to be getting some more exercise. I am reminded that I find cycling a lot easier than running, but the risks of cycling seem to be greater, so I'd rather run for now...besides I have a goal to achieve.

Monday 3 March 2008
Distance: 4km
Total time: 30:28
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 8:04 min/km
Average HR: 139
Route: Boys High

Wednesday 5 March 2008
Distance: 4km
Total time: 28:14
Intervals: 45/60
Pace: 7:12 min/km
Average HR: 146
Route: Time Trial Clockwise

Friday 29 February 2008
Distance: 4.02km
Total time: 31:59
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 7:57 min/km
Average HR: 139
Route: Clarke

What's cool for me about this week is that I'm back below the 8min/km mark. I'll try and keep it there

Deloitte Pretoria 10km race

I wasn't expecting much from this race as I really haven't been feeling strong lately. We decided to do it because we are attempting to do one 10km every month, this is the one for March... I missed February as I was sick and I will miss the April one as I will be away on the bike ride.

For those of you who know that my creative writing sucks scroll down tow paragraphs.

As for the race, as always I hated getting out of bed. It was so warm and comfortable... I pressed the snooze button and rolled over. My conscience pricked me and two minutes later I was out of bed, walking into walls and doors etc. This is where everything got forgotten. I took my meds, took a bight of an energy bar, drank some energade and realised I had no apples... I looked at a very miserable looking banana... when it smiled back, with a gooey grin, I threw it in the bin. I threw some rediculously short shorts on...the slightly less short shorts had been destroyed in a garage walkby... never mind. I was supposed to put my licence number on my shirt the night before but I rather went to bed. Ofcourse that meant I forgot the safety pins. I got fetched by an overly keen and chirpy lady from run walk for life two seconds later, meaning that I forgot my heart rate monitor and GPS.

Then instead of walking to the start, which was literally three hundred meters from my bed, we drove to a secure parking lot... I should have suspected something when the walk to the race start was DOWNHILL all the way, I was still asleep. We got our numbers and they had safety pins! YAY.

Ambled to the start, we were there for not more than five minutes when the gun went off and everyone surged ahead. I felt pretty good most of the way, because I had forgotten my watch I kept a count of how many paces we had run and walked. Depending on how I felt we ran for longer or shorter usually longer on the downhills and shorter on the uphills. All in all it was a good race, I didn't feel particularly tired and we finished in a not too terrible 1:19. Granted it's 2 minutes slower than the last race, but then I was quite sick three weeks ago!

Then came the comical ending, after collecting our goddie bags and taking full advantage of the run walk for life hospitality tent, we began the great trek back to the car. The temptation to rag Melinda about the UPHILL and the distance to her car was impossible to resist. When she couldn't get back to her car because the code on the gate had changed... well living this down will take a LONG time.

But it was all good fun, and whats more is that at the end of the 10km I didn't feel dead tire, I think I could have pushed on for another few km... maybe the 21 is doable afterall.

Week 9 Exercise Log

Felt a lot better this week, my lungs were clear and I didn't cough as much. I didn't go any faster but it felt easier, it also feels like it's been cooler the past few days, maybe that's why. I'm not sure if I posted about it yet, but I'm going to do the Great Mpumalanga Bike Ride next month. It is not a race, it's a tour of the countryside at a snails pace. Nevertheless, I feel I should at least get my butt used to sitting in a saddle again, so my alarm time has been changed to 5:30... I'm lucky if I can drag myself out of bed, and even when I do get out of bed and get dressed, it's very lucky if I don't go back to sleep for another "2 minutes". However on Wednesday I did manage to do 20 minutes on an exercise bike, and another 30 minutes on Thursday, and the plan is to do more on Sunday. Oh and I almost forgot this week I did the Deloitte Pretoria 10km Race

Monday 25 February 2008
Distance: 6km
Total time: 55:00
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 8:59
Average HR: 129
Route: Lynwood

Wednesday 27 February 2008
Distance: 5.2km
Total time: 42:12
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 8:18 min/km
Average HR: 150
Route: Death on tar... I mean Premier

Friday 29 February 2008
Rained out

Saturday 1 March 2008
Distance: 10km
Total time: 1:19
Intervals: Don't know
Pace: just under 8min/km
Average HR: Don't know
Route: Deloitte 10km

Week 8 Exercise Log

Still trying to get over my cold. Got myself a venteze inhaler... ok so it wasn't prescribed but I have used one before, it just allows me to breathe easier and to clear my lungs.

Sunday 17 February 2008
Distance: 5km
Total time: 54:00
Intervals: walked
Pace: 10:48
Average HR: 118
Route: Random

Monday 18 February 2008
Distance: 5km
Total time: 42
Intervals:
Pace: 8:24 min/km
Average HR: Don't know
Route: Clarke

Wednesday 20 February 2007
Distance: 4.8km
Total time: 39:00
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 8:08 min/km
Average HR: 145
Route: Nicholson

Friday 15 February 2007
Rained out

The Frustration is getting to me

I started run/walking again on 1 May 2007, which means that in 2.5 months I will have been "training" steadily for a full year, with the biggest break being Christmas and that was for three weeks.

It seems that since about September I have been getting steadily slower. There could be good reasons for this, like the heat and humidity, but it doesn't help my state of mind. I'm painfully aware that if I'd had a normal heart the chances are with the effort and commitment I've put in I would already be running half marathons! At the moment I don't even feel like I can walk a 10km... ok thats not entirely true, I'm still getting rid of the last symptoms of my flu, and if it weren't for that I'm sure walking the 10km would have been fine.

I wish there was a way to be more scientific about this, but all I can rely on is what my body tells me. When I've brought the running intervals back down to 20s and still I find myself getting lightheaded on easy inclines, I become a bit despondent. I have started to doubt whether this is actually doable. I believe that on the whole I have all the will power necessary, but there are physical bounds in which I must work. Can I really complete the 21 in under 3 hours?

Anyway, this is me having a low day. I'm busy hating a few people, who I blame for me being in this situation. It will pass.

Week 7 Exercise Log

We had wanted to do the 10km Irene night race on Wednesday but at the 11th hour I decided it was too soon after being sick and I wasn't feeling strong enough. Apparently it's very cool, I'll try to do it next year.

Monday 11 February 2008
Distance: 3.9km
Total time: 32:51
Intervals: 30/60
Pace: 8:30 min/km
Average HR: 8:30
Route: Premier

Wednesday 13 February 2007
Distance: 5km
Total time: 61:29
Intervals: Walked
Pace: 12:24 min/km
Average HR: 128
Route: Random Route

Friday 15 February 2007
Distance: 5km
Total time: 43:00
Intervals: 20/60
Pace: 8:41 min/km
Average HR: 139
Route: Boys High

Week 6 Exercise Log

Unfortunately this week started off on a sick note. I had a course of antibiotics and had some nasty bugs. So I took stuff easy

Wednesday 6 February 2007
Distance: 4km
Total time: 37:50
Intervals: Walked
Pace: 10:06 min/km
Average HR: 119
Route: Time Trial

Saturday 9 February 2007
Distance: 4.9km
Total time: 52:07
Route: Random Route

Skipped Friday because I had a function. Every time I get ill I seem to retain huge amounts of water or salt, or both. I know this is a little gross, but I can taste the salt when I cough. So I made a concerted effort this week to cut salt out of my diet completely, as I should do anyway, but it's easier said than done. Also this week I was just trying to recover from the flu.