my makeup may be flaking

JAFAJA run. Still feeling pretty sore. I felt like I kept pushing the pace today. It wasn't because I felt good, it was because I was uncomfortable.

AM 10 mile loop with Allie for the 1st 5 miles until she wussed out.

Ran around the south tip of the Island 32:33 (6:20 pace). Hot and humid on the island, it kind of sucked. This was supposed to be a tempo run of sorts and it was OK. The run is definitely very tough and my best time on the course is only about a 30:30 or so.

8.7 miles (6:53 pace). Another really hot run on Mercer Island.

Ran from my parents' house to the closest train station and then took the train to the airport. I was really sweaty and gross. I averaged 8 flat pace for this run despite some pretty tough climbs, the warm weather and the fact that I was carrying a heavy backpack. Ahh, sea level.

To and from school. Trying to bring the mileage up gradually this time.

Uh oh, feeling a bit sick today. :( Allergies just won't go away.

AM Not terrible.

Definitely not healthy again for this race. I've been under the weather for about 3 months now, so I knew what to expect. The plan was just to go out, run marathon pace and try to keep it together.

I felt like I was running very slowly, slower than a training run, but my breathing just wouldn't permit me to go any faster. 

Averaged sub 7 minute pace gradually speeding up the whole time which felt good.

Sugarhouse Up.

AM 6.2

To and from school 6.5

Blerg! Simple explanation=anemia.

Tanner Park Loop will Allie. We went a bit nuts at the end. That last mile is a bit deceptive as we were running closer to 7 minute pace and then started running 5:40 ish.

Around campus with Andrew

Well, better than last week but things are still not right with me. I ran 5:20 for the first mile feeling well within myself. My breathing was slower and my stride felt comfortable. Unfortunately I couldn't put in any surges because my legs would get full of lactic acid whenever I tried to push. It definitely feels like anemia at this point. I'm trying to increase my iron intake and I'll just see how this progresses. I ran 5:43 for the 2nd mile and then 6:19 (also 5:43 pace) for the 3rd mile.

It might be a stretch but I can run a fairly decent half if I try to hold 5:45-5:55 pace next week at TOU. It seems like anytime I go faster than that, I get myself into trouble. 

It was tempting to go the full 18 with Allie but I decided to stop at 14.

I think my main problem at the moment is Anemia as my allergies seem to be under control.

For most of the summer I suffered from sinusitis. This in turn led to repeated sinus infections. Apparently, a continuously activated immune system can lead directly to anemia. It's called the "Anemia of Chronic Disease".

The anemia/allergies combination has proven to be pretty formidable even when I'm not sick. I've suffered from a decrease in blood pressure which has led to feeling faint on runs.

My resting heart rate was 68 this morning, a pretty strong symptom of anemia. I usually take my pulse in the high 40s in the morning.

To and from school. Recorded heart rate numerous times in the 70s, including when I woke up. I need to get systematic about this.

Unfortunately this is not a joke,

I went into the Dr because my heart rate has been going kind of whacko. They recorded my resting heart rate in the Dr's office as 91 compared to 67 just two weeks ago and many years of registering in the 50s. After a long discussion of my symptoms they did an EKG followed by a large battery of blood tests.

I got a call shortly after leaving that my EKG revealed a very rare disorder called a mobitz type II arrhythmia. They told me that I can keep running but that I should definitely not push myself too hard. I am fortunate that I am so attuned to my body and made an appointment because apparently this can rapidly progress to something far more serious.

Anyway, now I'm going for an easy run.

Ran with Allie for a bit.

Morning HR: 72 

Ran around liberty park with Allie following me on a bike.

I had a new heart rate monitor and wanted to get some data. 

The miles were 7:47,6:53,6:48,6:24.

Avg Heart Rate 133,160,164,174

What interesting is that the middle miles with a 160 heart rate were pretty challenging for me, however it felt pretty natural for me to be running that pace. I sped up a little at the end because I could smell the finish line and also it seemed like after about 2.5 miles my body suddenly "allowed" my heart rate to rise above 160.

Mentally, this effort felt very easy but clearly this was a tough run for me based on the heart rates. Normally I would, I think be about 30-40 seconds a mile faster at the same heart rate.

It's kind of crazy to think what I've been putting my body through in these 5ks - running the first mile in 5:20. Even though in my head it felt like a 5:20, to my heart it was like running a 4:45-4:50 and then attempting to hang on.

The good news is that other than being 30-40 seconds slower my heart rate still got into the correct zones and it came down pretty rapidly after I stopped running. 

AM RHR=78

Followed Allie for a bit on the bike. For no particular reason I took my heart rate while pedaling. It held pretty steady at 93 which is pretty good as on Thursday my resting heart rate was 91.

Tomorrow I should get the results of my blood tests, which I'm pretty excited about. The plan for the next few days is just to keep taking it easy and hopefully watch my heart rate go down. 

AM RHR=70 :)

Sitting RHR=84

Ran 2.4 miles to school: data later.

My Cardiology appointment is scheduled for after Top of Utah unfortunately which means I pretty much can't do the race unless my situation magically reverses itself.

I did get my test results back:

RBC=4.95 M/uL

Hemoglobin=15.7 g/dL

Hematocrit=45.4 %

TSH=2.42 mU/L

Troponin=.01 ng/mL

Testosterone= 685

Basically:no anemia, normal thyroid,normal Testosterone, no myocardial damage. Pretty much all the numbers were not only in the optimal range, but were the optimal value. This seems like kind of a mystery to me.

Anyway so much data now!

Run1 up hill to school

Mile 1 9:05 131bpm

Mile 2 10:00 151bpm

My heart rate was about 80 sitting at my desk and then dropped to 73-76 later in the day.

Home

Mile 1 7:52 126

Mile 2 8:22 122 

I will eventually get around to posting this data on my blog, but I believe that I have found the proverbial "smoking gun" for my symptoms.

On my run today I experienced a racing heart rate despite a relatively slow pace. Checking my HR monitor revealed that it had spiked to the 180s. The remainder of the run, my heart rate cycled between 130s and 180s regularly. It seemed like the oscillations decreased over time. However, they were extremely regular.