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!"
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.
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.
Warm-up easy jog 25 minutes, Scarlett Street, then 1 set Magill drills alternating with strides; 5 minutes walking cool-down. That's it for today! Just remembered...I did a few front and backwards lunges and step ups as well!
Low heart rate run/walk; Bowral parkrun course, detour into Phillip Street, turnaround at Elizabeth Street, back to Briars.
60 minutes
6.7km
AHR 103 bpm ( 72% of max.)
MHR 130 bpm (90% of max.)
TE Maintaining!
Another lovely morning in this perfect location for an easy run; very warm, cool breeze. More running than walking on way out, the reverse on the way back. Note to self : don't forget the fly repellent on Thursday!
Bowral Parkrun Course + detour to the end of Phillip Street
This morning has to be what truthfully can be called 'the perfect spring morning'! The sun, warm but not hot; the breeze, cool but not cold. That's how it was on our Bowral parkrun course where I ran/walked keeping a low heart rate and happy to see that I did a whole lot more easy running and far less walking than on Tuesday. Simply, the most beautiful morning for a run on our stunning course beside the river.
I left the cycle path at the detour into Phillip Street and followed it to where Phillip Street meets Elizabeth Street. This was exactly 30 minutes and the turnaround point back to the cycle path and eventually to Briars from where I started.
60 minutes keeping heart rate between 98 and 108 bpm.
So hot on Bowral parkrun cycle path this morning even though there was a breeze and I started around 9:30am. To keep HR between 98 and 108 bpm I needed to take many walk breaks today and walked the grassy hill practically all the way up, but letting fly - hmmm! - for last few metres to practise for a parkrun finish on Saturday!
60 minutes @ low HR (7km) AHR 104 bpm (72% of max.) ..... good! MHR 127 bpm (88% of max.) TE 2.5 = Maintaining!
Dragged out from under its cover, the stationary bike surprisingly had gathered no cobwebs since last used many months ago. Instead of a low heart rate run, I changed the session to a low heart rate cycle and I was surprised to find it a significantly more strenuous workout compared with the low heart rate runs I've been doing recently, but then I'm no cyclist and so it's difficult for me to compare both. I enjoyed the workout and the statistics/comparisons with running, as I felt them, are as below:
Keeping HR between 98 - 108 bpm : warm-up took longer to reach 98 bpm than it does with running : had to work harder to get there .... : used resistance 4 (of 8 tension settings) to keep HR up and it was tiring..... and I was sweating! : HR spiked at 116bpm for a few seconds, but mostly within 98-108 range : cool down free cycling till HR in 70s bpm Total 9km in 32 minutes Summing up... this was a more strenuous 30 minutes than I would have felt had I been running, which proves I need to incorporate more cross-training of this kind in my program! I intend to do just that in the weeks ahead.
Well, that was a bit of a surprise and/or flop! Without getting bogged down or carried away with numbers, formula etc about MHR .....
While doing this low HR aerobic training, I thought I'd like to know even vaguely what my MHR is and, having read that a better method is, not one of the many formula to be found, but instead ...
long warm-up
run hard as you can for 3 minutes
rest for 3 minutes
run hard as you can for 3 minutes
select highest number in 2nd 3 mins.
Didn't do a long warm-up, so that might be why I need to do this test again. From the 2nd 3 mins the highest number is 125! So 125 bpm in my MHR? Even taking into account that MHR decreases with age, that's way lower than any formula I've used in the past eg. for healthy women over 60 years, 211-64% of age and that formula gives me 155 as MHR. I'm not talking aerobic training zones here, just my all up MHR! Top of the bill MHR!
Has the failure to do a long warm-up anything to with results? Don't know, only a proper stress test would have the answer, but another day I'll have another try, next time with a decent warm-up! I know it's not of cataclysmic importance or even necessary to find out, but I'm simply curious!
For my daily distance, low HR aerobic training to continue, I'm making a small shift from Allen to Maffetone who adds on to Allen's method, another 10 bpm for runners over 65 - and that for me means keeping below 108bpm for all easy running/jogging/or even walking, training for the next couple of months at least. Should be OK to keep HR between 100 and 110 for all running except parkrun.
I stayed on after this morning's Bowral parkrun where I was a volunteer, to jog the course just concentrating on keeping a steady cadence and not looking for pace, time etc.. It was hot and humid on the cycle path but I enjoyed the run without having to concentrate on keeping a low heart rate like I've been doing the past week or so. Happy I didn't have to stop or slow down but just jogged steadily, listening to some favourite songs on the way back to Briars.
I had to have the car in this morning for registration check and service and I then had to decide to get a lift back home or, by walking, make it another low heart rate session. Since I'm a volunteer tomorrow at Bowral parkrun, I chose the latter! It was hot and uphill all the way along Range Road where there's no concession at all made for walking and so it became a matter of hopping quickly into ditches to avoid being hit by cars speeding like crazy all the way up and down Range Road. Having done that once today, I'll be getting a lift back into town this afternoon!
45 minutes walking AHR 89 bpm (67% of max.) MHR 102 bpm (77% of max.) TE 1.7 = Minor! A 'minor' effect on training is better than no effect!
A very late start at around 11:30am so it was quite hot on Bowral parkrun course but, nevertheless, a glorious, clear day!
A much better result with low HR training than I'd had on Tuesday when I had to walk the entire time. I can only think I must have still been in recovery from Fishers Ghost 5km on Sunday. This morning I'd say I jogged easily for about 70-80% of the time with short intermittent walk breaks when HR went above 100bpm.
82 minutes low HR training:
AHR 97bpm (73% of max.)
MHR 106bpm (80% of max.)
Avg. cadence 147spm
Max. cadence 184spm
AND......
TE = 2.4 which is "Maintaining" training effect! Very interesting!
Just as I walked up the grassy hill, a favourite from the Broadway show "Candide" happened to be playing. It was the finale from Leonard Bernstein's brilliant comic operetta, "Candide", based on the classic Voltaire tale, of the same name, about an innocent young man's journey through a life filled with colourful characters, unexpected life lessons and one terrible disaster after another, but who still believes everything, absolutely everything, happens for the best in this best of all possible worlds!
A funny one with which to start! According to the M.A. formula, I'm to keep heart rate between 90 and 100 bpm. Short of standing still on the spot or lying down on the cycle path, there was no way even by walking the entire time, that I could get heart rate anywhere near the lower end, instead it stayed always over the top!
Our parkrun course including a short detour from the cycle path to Phillip Street which I found to be a cul-de-sac, and back to Briars.
75 minutes ....all walking! AHR 113 bpm!
MHR 142 bpm! TE 2.6 = Maintaining! What? I don't know why my heart rate was as high as it was - wish I could understand these things! - that's what the Garmin said but then again, I don't know how infallible or not the Allen formula is and neither do I know how accurate the Garmin and its heart rate monitor are. In any case, I want to give this low heart rate training a fair trial over a couple of months, as long as I'm not wasting my time! It'll be interesting to see results then. In the meantime, I'll continue with it except for Saturday Parkruns which will be my one flat tack run for the week!
Walking for 78 minutes is not one of my favourite things, so I was happy to have Borodin's spirited "Polovtsian Dancers" to listen to on the way out and back,
.....and then finally up the grassy hill to the somewhat appropriate (or perhaps not?) lovely version of Frank Sinatra's "My Way"!
I tried to be restrained in praise of myself on Facebook but no such rule applies here in my own little blog where I can say what I like and/or think! I was so surprised and so happy to win 1st place, for the 2nd year in a row, in the F70+ age category! Surprised? I'm thrilled to bits and tickled pink, especially when I walked some hills and expected nothing more than to finish. Just one statistic... TE = 4.7 = Overreaching!
Today's run has done wonders for my flagging enthusiasm lately and I'm now looking forward to starting up afresh next week with something different from what I've been doing in past months some Mark Allen low heart rate training on 3 days and then going out my hardest (whatever that is!)at Saturday's Bowral Parkrun. Interesting runs ahead!
With no other running events in the next few months, I feel free and excited to experiment during the hot months ahead with Allen's method. I hope to have the patience needed to stay with it!
Hoping it won't be so humid tomorrow as it is here today after last night's rain and pleased I was a volunteer and not a runner at Bowral parkrun this morning!
20 minutes easy running around the school after letting the chooks out and collecting the eggs!!
Today is just so absolutely bloominlootly glorious here, it's difficult to see how tomorrow, Saturday, has a forecast for thunderstorms, but that's what the weather app says! It is a bit humid, a few clouds are starting to sneak in and I'm a volunteer at tomorrow's Bowral Parkrun!
2 days before Fishers Ghost 5km:
Easy 25min run with 4-8 strides .... I did 6 strides!
Two of us, Sonia Graham and myself at the Royal Hotel, Bowral! As with running, there's little I enjoy more than having lunch with friends and talking running, running watches, the latest apps - not always running related - on our smart phones, shopping for clothes we've bought lately and more we intend to buy in the near future, laugh a lot and, at the same time, enjoy a really delicious lunch. That's how two hours just melted away this afternoon. Thank you, Sonia, it was just what I needed and it's exactly how I love to spend a few hours!
Drove from school to Scarlett Street, paced out a 200m stretch marked by trees etc on either side of road. First, 1.5k warm-up
12 x 200m in 1:24 (based on 36min 5km time) 1:18; 1:24; 1:47; 1:18; 1:11; 1:18; 1:23; 1:17; 1:02; 1:14; 1:03; 1:18
Forgot to look up program for RI, but made up one of my own! Started each repeat when HR dropped from approx. 121 to 93 bpm, i.e. just a few seconds walking around before starting off again. I feel this short session went well and I very much enjoyed it!
Thursday, when I last ran, was on our flat (except for grass hill) parkrun course; today, was rough, up and down hill on Diamond Fields Road and Buckmans Lane, so it's difficult (for me!) to compare the two days' training and probably too soon anyhow. In any case, I don't know how to work these details out, so all I can do is write down today's stats and look at them compared to last Thursday's.
I needed something different for a while so have decided on Mark Allen method which I've used before when I felt I was getting nowhere except exhausted with training by pace.! For me HR between 93 and 103 has to be it.
Bowral parkrun course, gorgeous morning, newly mowed grass hill, 5km run keeping HR nearer to lower number. Nothing to lose by doing this for some weeks; after Fishers Ghost nothing important up ahead and I like change if I think it's going to make some improvements.
As I expected I had to walk most of the 5km to keep HR within ranges, even stopping a couple of times but believe this is a good method for now, especially as my aerobic capacity looks like being at zero level by having to walk so much of the distance to keep HR down.
Heart Rate Results:
AHR 100bpm ...exactly where I wanted to be!
MHR 121bpm
Lowest HR 80bpm
TE 2.0 = 'Maintaining' This surprised me most, getting 2.0 having walked with a lower heart rate when till today and training by pace, I'd been struggling to get out of the 'Minor' category of TE! Interesting few weeks ahead!
That's about all it took this morning, after school in the soccer field, to do 1 set of Pete Magill drills with alternating strides and some backwards walking! I think it's a very worthwhile session to do once a week if possible ... and make the effort! And besides, it can be a fun session.
I know it's Melbourne Cup day but I don't watch it or any other horse race; I think it's a cruel sport but I did go to the Bowral Parkrun cycle track for today's run.
1.5k warm-up jog 3 x 1600m in 11:30 (7:11 m/k) 400m RI (walked) 5 min cool-down walk. 3 x 1600m : 12:11; 12:29; 12:47!!! VP won easily! I couldn't run any faster and the last repeat included running up the grassy hill... any excuse will do!
Tuesday: track session on cycle path 5 x 1000m in 6:57 : 7:12; 7:36; 7:34; 7:14; 5th rep 1.32km + uphill in 8:18 VP won that session! Thursday :Tempo Run on cycle path 3km @ ST pace 1.5k easy 1.5k @ ST pace ..... skipped this; short of time. 1.5k easy, skipped this too. 3km @ ST pace VP had no trouble staying ahead of me this morning!
3km in 22:55 AHR77-84% of max. TE 2.0 ~~ Maintaining!
Drove across to Chev to use their track only to find the oval was being used for archery! Not wanting to be a target for any stray arrows I made a quick about turn and over to Briars to use the cycle path for today's track which was :
Warm-up..... jog down the hill and 1km on the path
4 x 1200m in 8:25 (based on 36min for 5km..not 37 like last week!)
400m RI
1km cool down ..... jog cycle path and up grassy hill.
I wouldn't say it anywhere else other than on my blog but .... Gosh! I was pleased with myself this morning! I thought I was fabulous! I ran well and felt really good for all 4 repeats. The 400m intervals helped, of course, but I still think I did a good session!
1. 8:34. AHR 81-88% of max; Avg. Cadence 174spm; TE 2.0 Improving!
2. 8:15. AHR 82-89% of max; Avg. Cadence 174spm; TE 1.8 Minor.
3. 8:25 AHR 83-89% of max; Avg. Cadence 173spm; TE 2.0 Improving!
4. 8:27 AHR 84-90% of max; Avg. Cadence 174spm; TE 1.9 Minor.
Another glorious morning just like yesterday and hopefully for the week ahead. So good to be running and doing a long run on such a beautiful day. I started and finished at the Highlands School, down Bong Bong Road and then followed one of my favourite runs .. Diamond Fields Road. adding an extra hill to get the distance I wanted. Ran all the hills, couple of short walk breaks before the hills.
The road was a bit of a mess with potholes and stones awaiting a misstep which I managed to avoid. One of my most loved and scenic runs!
11km 1 hr 40min AHR 75-86% of max. TE 2.2 = Maintaining
Oh what a beautiful morning! The weather was perfect and.... I ran below 37 minutes! I was so excited when I saw the time of my Garmin and I've stayed excited all bloomin' day!! Long way, I know, from PB of 33:34 but I've been stuck on 37+ for so long now I'd almost given up hope of running any faster. I felt so good while running, the weather was absolutely perfect.. sunny with a cool breeze.
Today we returned too our 'A' Course for the first time in weeks, it now being dry all the way through. Strange thing about this original course: I always run well (or better!) there! All my PBs have been on this course, never on the flat 'B' course. This morning, I felt great from start to finish, no gagging, no stopping or slowing down, same cadence all the way and not tired afterwards for the rest of the day as has been the case for some weeks. I know my time is slow compared to the other runners, but I couldn't care less ..... I finished under 37 minutes and I'm over the moon!!
5km in 37:40 Avg. pace 7:21k/m; Best pace 6:34m/k Age Graded 91.50% ...... back in the 90s ... thrilled with that too! Avg. Cadence 170spm TE 2.7 = Maintaining Splits 7:08; 7:16; 7:20; 7:15; 7:37
Program for today: 1km warm-up 3km @ ST pace 1.5k easy 3km @ ST pace 1km cool-down Warm-up jog: 1km incl. down grass hill & cycle path. 3km in 22:37.... 7:32; 7:41; 7:24 Avg. Cadence 167spm TE 3.2= IMPROVING!! WooHoo! 1.5km easy 3km in 22:33 ... 7:25; 7:30; 7:37 Avg. Cadence 163spm TE 2.1 = Maintaining. Cool down jog: 1km incl. cycle path & up grass hill. Managed to stay ahead of VP for the 2x3km @ ST pace and that's all that mattered! I ran out and back on the cycle path with a tail wind going out, a head wind returning and a light, misty fall of rain to finish! Total: 9.5km
Drove past Chev as I expected the oval to be unusable, but on the way back had a better look and it seems to have been mowed etc, so could be ok for next Tuesday's track.
Further on to Briars to use the cycle path.
Program for today:
Warm-up
6 x 800m (5:41 for me based on 37 min 5km time)
90 sec RI
Cool-down
Warm-up jog down the grass hill to cycle path:
5:41; 5:30; 5:32; 5:33; 5:45; 5:41
Cool-down jog up the grass hill!
Satisfied with the repeats because I was ahead of VP for each of the six! On the cycle path, a little breezy in some sections but altogether very pleasant for a change! Did the repeats by continuing around the path with 90 secs walking RI between each one.
A waist of time this morning and again this awful dry retching starting around 3km and then having to walk 3km back to the Briars. Every run this week same thing so parkrun is not going to happen until I can get a week clear without dry heaving half way through; won't risk it happening there and having to turn back. Right now though, I'm not too sure of what to do about it!
It was far from easy! Another cold windy day ... so strong was the wind I had to walk the last 2km into the headwind ... got the dry heaves again; was it the wind? dehydrated? Don't know, but it's an awful, sick feeling! Plan was to do an easy 6-8km so as not to be tired for tomorrow's tempo run; because of the weather, it was anything but easy. Tomorrow will tell! Certainly felt all done in back home!
Started from the school > Diamond Fields Road > Buckmans Lane > back to school. Buchmans Lane was the only part where there was shelter from the wind.
Hardly slept a wink last night with the wind pummelling the windows and the door to the power box banging as well! I went outside at around 3am and slammed it shut and, no sooner had I got back into bed, it came unstuck and continued banging till the wind dropped slightly; no way was I going out a second time in my PJs into that ghastly wind!
This morning was my first run since last Thursday when I was blown to pieces on our Bowral Parkrun course and I missed parkrun on Saturday feeling too exhausted emotionally as well as physically even to turn up!
This morning I did half of the 5km program I'm following; again the wind was bad but what I did do went well and I want to get out again tomorrow for some easy distance running; I finished feeling I could have done more ... if someone forced me!
Program: Ran on Scarlett Street. Warm-up 8 x 400m ( I did 4) ...2:49 based on my present, getting slower 5km time of 37 mins.! Cool down.
Terrible conditions on the Bowral Parkrun course this morning! Light rain but a ferocious wind like no other! Did what I could given the sort of weather.
Program: Warm-up 1.5km @ ST (6:55m/k based on 35min 5km time) 1.5k easy 1.5k @ ST 1.5k easy 1,5k @ ST 1.5k easy
Start from Briars ... After the muddy downhill...to 1st course C turnaround ... cycle path to Oxley end ... back along cycle path and up muddy hill to Briars! Needless to say VP was way ahead for all 3x1.5k. Completely exhausted after this one!
.....and a treasured medal!