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Tuesday Feb 19, 2013 #
Note
Trails and Fibrillations
We have all been there. We have picked a nondescript injury to a key muscle which prevents us from running. We don’t know what caused it, we spend a lot of time google-ing (and scaring ourselves) about a possible diagnosis, we tick the boxes of denial and remorse, get angry, annoyed and ultimately frustrated. And then, if we are lucky things slowly turn themselves around and we see some light at the end of the tunnel.
So I have picked up an injury to key muscle and I am not sure what has caused it. Sure it came on after the Dragon’s Back but I had no indication at the time, or immediately afterwards that there was any problem. I am not entirely convinced it was due to the race. The thing is, unlike any other muscle injury I have picked up in the past (in over 20 years of serious running), this one is very different and at times alarming. I appear to have picked up an injury to my heart.
At the Senior Home International Orienteering champs in October 2012, where I was running for England, I suffered what I thought at the time was an asthma attack. I became short of breath, my breathing became shallow and I was reduced a walk in the forest. After a few minutes of walking, I slowly managed to pick things up again but quickly was reduced to crawl again unable to catch my breath. It was only after a couple of these “attacks” that I realised that my heart was going like the clappers beating irregularly.
Putting this all down to over exuberance after the DB I took it easy for a bit hoping my injury would clear up, never to be seen again. As with most injuries this burying head in sand approach did not work – as I suffered a number of similar attacks in the following weeks despite scaling back my running efforts. I was lucky to get referred at the hospital quickly and had a check of my heart which appeared normal (for a runner) and had a number of increasingly tough treadmill tests which frustratingly failed to trigger the palpitations / fibrillations (without catching it on a ECG in hospital it is not easy to define the problem precisely).
Again with any injury I have had to be flexible with my plans and aspirations trying to focus my attention on rehab and recovery. So since October, I have been on a very light exercise plan, trying to take things easy adjusting things on a daily basis based on how I feel. Whilst I had hoped to represent Great Britain at the World Cups in New Zealand during a 2 month unpaid break from work this was not possible. I had to satisfy myself with completing (rather than competing) the accompanying spectator races. Acting my age (I have now moved into the M35 age group) meant that I could run shorter courses and give Clare a run for her money.
Aside from heart issues, the trip was fantastic and it was refreshing not to have to have the need to go training at the back of mind all the time. Whilst we stayed active every day, I did not have to keep any eye on the training diary or weekly training sessions. I even managed to start to enjoy walking (but still struggled with the city tourist variety) but having covered most miles in my life by running any other mode of locomotion felt clumsy and uncomfortable to start with. Food and wine always tasted best after we had managed a run or a big day in the hills.
Apart from the hills and the trails most of my personal highlights revolve around catching up with friends and making new acquaintances. Canberra felt like a much bigger and more grown up Sheffield and I particularly enjoyed our Aussie Christmas with the Candys and warm pints on Christmas Eve at the Wig and Pen. Similarly, it was great to hang out with Middleditch (and zee Germans) in Queenstown; with Andy’s kitchen table having probably the best views of any place that I have dined.
On getting back to the UK I seemed to be the only person who was excited by the fact that it was still snowing. I was really lucky to quickly be able to get an appointment for a portable ECG (one which I could wear for a number of days straight). During this time, I did quite a lot of running to make sure that we had plenty of data and whilst it was frustrating still to be suffering from palpitations/fibrillations at least it meant that hopefully we can now work out what is going wrong.
Having excitingly been signed to run with team Inov8 for 2013 I am particularly keen to get out racing, but for the meantime, I am having to settle for a slower and steadier exercise strategy. This is certainly an injury that I can’t afford to ignore and need to sort. I am currently managing to run 2 -3 times a week at a steady pace. As I am often reminded, we don’t race because it is easy, but because it is difficult. My time off has given me a fresh perspective and passion for the hills and I can’t wait to lace up my shoes with serious intent....
We have all been there. We have picked a nondescript injury to a key muscle which prevents us from running. We don’t know what caused it, we spend a lot of time google-ing (and scaring ourselves) about a possible diagnosis, we tick the boxes of denial and remorse, get angry, annoyed and ultimately frustrated. And then, if we are lucky things slowly turn themselves around and we see some light at the end of the tunnel.
So I have picked up an injury to key muscle and I am not sure what has caused it. Sure it came on after the Dragon’s Back but I had no indication at the time, or immediately afterwards that there was any problem. I am not entirely convinced it was due to the race. The thing is, unlike any other muscle injury I have picked up in the past (in over 20 years of serious running), this one is very different and at times alarming. I appear to have picked up an injury to my heart.
At the Senior Home International Orienteering champs in October 2012, where I was running for England, I suffered what I thought at the time was an asthma attack. I became short of breath, my breathing became shallow and I was reduced a walk in the forest. After a few minutes of walking, I slowly managed to pick things up again but quickly was reduced to crawl again unable to catch my breath. It was only after a couple of these “attacks” that I realised that my heart was going like the clappers beating irregularly.
Putting this all down to over exuberance after the DB I took it easy for a bit hoping my injury would clear up, never to be seen again. As with most injuries this burying head in sand approach did not work – as I suffered a number of similar attacks in the following weeks despite scaling back my running efforts. I was lucky to get referred at the hospital quickly and had a check of my heart which appeared normal (for a runner) and had a number of increasingly tough treadmill tests which frustratingly failed to trigger the palpitations / fibrillations (without catching it on a ECG in hospital it is not easy to define the problem precisely).
Again with any injury I have had to be flexible with my plans and aspirations trying to focus my attention on rehab and recovery. So since October, I have been on a very light exercise plan, trying to take things easy adjusting things on a daily basis based on how I feel. Whilst I had hoped to represent Great Britain at the World Cups in New Zealand during a 2 month unpaid break from work this was not possible. I had to satisfy myself with completing (rather than competing) the accompanying spectator races. Acting my age (I have now moved into the M35 age group) meant that I could run shorter courses and give Clare a run for her money.
Aside from heart issues, the trip was fantastic and it was refreshing not to have to have the need to go training at the back of mind all the time. Whilst we stayed active every day, I did not have to keep any eye on the training diary or weekly training sessions. I even managed to start to enjoy walking (but still struggled with the city tourist variety) but having covered most miles in my life by running any other mode of locomotion felt clumsy and uncomfortable to start with. Food and wine always tasted best after we had managed a run or a big day in the hills.
Apart from the hills and the trails most of my personal highlights revolve around catching up with friends and making new acquaintances. Canberra felt like a much bigger and more grown up Sheffield and I particularly enjoyed our Aussie Christmas with the Candys and warm pints on Christmas Eve at the Wig and Pen. Similarly, it was great to hang out with Middleditch (and zee Germans) in Queenstown; with Andy’s kitchen table having probably the best views of any place that I have dined.
On getting back to the UK I seemed to be the only person who was excited by the fact that it was still snowing. I was really lucky to quickly be able to get an appointment for a portable ECG (one which I could wear for a number of days straight). During this time, I did quite a lot of running to make sure that we had plenty of data and whilst it was frustrating still to be suffering from palpitations/fibrillations at least it meant that hopefully we can now work out what is going wrong.
Having excitingly been signed to run with team Inov8 for 2013 I am particularly keen to get out racing, but for the meantime, I am having to settle for a slower and steadier exercise strategy. This is certainly an injury that I can’t afford to ignore and need to sort. I am currently managing to run 2 -3 times a week at a steady pace. As I am often reminded, we don’t race because it is easy, but because it is difficult. My time off has given me a fresh perspective and passion for the hills and I can’t wait to lace up my shoes with serious intent....