Saturday, October 10, 2009

Time to start running again!!

Well this has been terrible to not be able to run for three weeks now. I don't know how people can stand to not be active. The sedentary life sucks! More than once I have thought about running against Doctors orders just because I would rather die running than rot away sitting around not achieving physical goals and potential. I have felt terrible as a result of not running. It is the least running I have done in years (other than a few injuries early in my running pursuits that put me out for 6 weeks). It has been traumatic to feel my fitness draining, at first slowly, and now exponentially. Perhaps most challenging is the fact that the weather here in Victoria has been brilliantly clear-cool fall weather. The perfect time to crank out some serious distance is during the vibrant colors of fall in brisk air from the ocean.

Following Thanksgiving on Monday, I will do the 24 hour Holter test and the day following I will do the treadmill test. I expect nothing more than both tests to reveal a healthy heart following suit from my two ECG and echo cardiogram tests. So far everything says I have a large healthy albeit slow (40 bpm) heart. My blood pressure is extremely low (90/50). As far as I can gather the syncope was possibly caused by a blood sugar crash due to poor fueling the morning of the run, impending flu, or possibly it was a result of stress, lack of sleep and a hard run starting cool and quickly heating up toward the end, and lastly slowing down to quickly after really cranking. I was also at the end of a strong week (100 km) and in the middle of a strong building phase to reach 160 km a week. In general not running has had a silver lining because I have been able to focus all my attention to school, and with my PhD proposal due date fast approaching I have needed the forced break in running desperately. I think I may try a few short (5-10 k) runs over this Thanksgiving weekend to help clear stress caused by solid writing. The point of this weekend is to crank out as much writing as possible, so I will have to run even though I haven't been fully cleared, just to keep sane. I will take it easy and pay close attention to how I feel. I imagine all will go smoothly and I can't wait to recover my fitness, I hope it isn't too far gone.

I will never be sedentary it just sucks. I love being on the trails, cranking up the mountains, and grinding down the rocks. I told my advisor that I will keep my running in balance with the other facets of my life; perhaps I was a bit out of balance towards the end of the Summer. I have felt my attention and effort of other pursuits slip because of the crappy mood I experienced from not being able to hit the trails each day. I don't care how many times I hear that distance running is bad for your knees, heart, and whatever else sedentary people say to make me feel guilty for my obsession, I would rather deal with the risks of running than live in a state of suspended animation not improving my health . The fact that I am not burning 5-7000 calories a week has resulted in a noticeable fat store in just three weeks. I can't wait to tap into those stores and crank out some serious distance. Once these tests come back negative and my PhD proposal is accepted by my committee I have a fantastic 25 Km run over 2 mountains twice overlooking the ocean. It is definitely time to start running again! Thanks to all those who have thought about me during my little fiasco.

2 comments:

Tim said...

Stevie,

I am glad things are going ok for ya, I was starting to wonder since it had been a couple of weeks since you posted anything. Just don't push yourself to hard until the Docs say all is well. I still being able to anticipate running some serious running together in the not to distant future. We will have to do some sort of marathon or something next year that would be fun.

So what is next with school after you have your proposal is accepted?

Your Wife... said...

I love you Steve, I really don't like this statement:
"I would rather die running...."
lol, Stay safe! I would rather have a husband, than have you die running...I am okay with you running...just be aware of your body and be safe. I hope your next test come back with great results!