Whew! For the remaining few of you that are still around to hear updates on my dancing, here ya go:
The dance, naturally, being the daily interactions between my chronic atrial fibrillation and my insistence on continue training for long course triathlon. The role of the former, supposedly repaired by the surgical insertion of an internal automatic defibrillation device, more commonly known as a pacemaker, and the latter, are sometimes compatible and sometimes not. Many days they are lovers and many others they are engaged in a bitter lovers quarrel. I am the judge, referee and umpire. And while I did not make the rules, I have complete control over how I interpret them. As an example, when I go into AFIB, I usually notice the irregularity immediately and then, with the experience of longevity on my side (it hasn’t killed me yet) I can take quick action. This usually consists calling for an immediate damage report, what am I doing that might be a trigger, and, more importantly, what can I do to ensure there will be no additional damage. In the five years since the implant the answers to those questions remain a mystery. Kinda like the strike zone, pass interference and spotting the ball. Make a decision and sell it as best you can.
From the viewpoint of erring on the side of caution, I have reduced my long distance training, to simply training, decreasing miles and adding to the intensity and consistency of workouts . This is, of course, a classic good news-bad news equation. As I found out yesterday.
I took on another triathlete client and yesterday was our monthly 10K running time trial. I haven’t ran since September’s second Olympic triathlon of the year (both wins you surly naysayers!) so my anticipation was indifferent at best. The fact that our pancake flat run was after a rather spirited hour spin class only added to the self-induced drama. But I felt like I could slug it out and so we set one hour as the goal. Embarrassingly slow - but who cares?
I spent a rugged afternoon in recovery, took on plenty of liquids and protein, went to bed early and woke this morning feeling just slightly North of a painful death. Warmed over. All right fine, I said, meekly negotiating the 13 downward facing stairs, good lesson there.
This morning I led the same spin class as yesterday, with a few thematic tweaks, and felt "OK", (please note the parenthetical usage), sped home for a change of kit and a tuna sandwich and headed off to the PowerBarn for our 1000 Sunday afternoon movie ride. Two hours later I am drinking coffee at my desk and writing my bog journal to report that I may have discovered a clue. Almost instantaneously I went into AFIB this morning during the warm-up for the class. HR was pinging all session between 90 and 220. The movie ride, slow and steady was brutal but I managed to enter a calm state of flow and ride through it. I am still in AFIB and probably will stay there until another good night’s rest cures it. Here is my somewhat less than scientific take away from two days of two-a-days:
It could be load. Accumulated load. With insufficient proper recovery time between.
Has anyone else witnessed this or have data they would like to share?
‘Cause this is getting (again) old, real fast.
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