Cold-turkey

“Just give it a go” the doc said. He gave me the all-clear at my bi-annual check-up and with a no-nonsense approach just said that ‘if it doesn’t work, you can just go back on. And throw away your watch’.

Two Oceans half. 56ks next year? 

The last few weeks have been fantastic for running. I feel stronger and fitter than ever, with some technique changes have managed to tackle hills and have beaten my previous 32k time by almost 30 minutes. Two Oceans half-marathon was my best ever and just missed sub 2, but it’s coming. I’m starting my training for Otter including strength training and stairs and I’m enjoying the variation from every-day road. It’s an exciting few months ahead and it gives me plenty of time to monitor changes. Yet it’s nerve-wracking letting go of Flecainide, my wonder drug, the only thing that’s kept me in check for the last 6 years.

So roll on drug free running. It’s been 6 days and the ticker is behaving. The only time it shoots up to over 100 is when I get nervous about why it’s slightly higher than normal. Maybe I should throw away that watch after all.

Blowout in the berg

Oxpecker was a favorite last year. A brilliantly-organized event it bridges the gap between serious runner and first-timers for a two-day stage race through the Drakensberg mountains. I was in some pain from London marathon still but seriously confident and was great to be back on trails after so much running on tar. But my heart didn’t play ball.

Day one is the most challenging. A 21 km stretch with a serious climb a third of the way in my heart was over 200 bpm 5 minutes in. It sometimes settles down so I pushed through but when I started feeling lightheaded on the real steep sections, I slowed down. At one stage I could only take about four steps before I had to grab hold of trees or rocks to steady myself until I could take the next four. I eventually lost consciousness for a second or two at the summit, just enough to cause a bit of a stir and panic with some other runners. The view revived me, my heart settled to its predictable 121 bpm and I soldiered on, but by now I was exhausted. So between walking and running I was a good 20 mins slower than my time of the previous year.

Heart rate day 1

Heart rate day 2

Day 2 was the easy 16 km run, but worse. Yes, I know I shouldn’t have even gotten out of bed but I wanted to see if I was just unlucky. One quickly forgets and think that it’ll pass but I ended up walking 90% of the route and coming in as they were packing up the fanfare.

It turns out the Ibuprofen from the Transact patch to dull my runners’ knee could have been the culprit. But there’s too many ifs and maybes. I’ve now been reduced to 5ks 3 times a week and a walk home if it spikes. They may as well have told me to shut-up and sit down. I’ve been naughty and I should be punished. Right.

4 halfs on

After Knysna I got into a rhythm – a month rest and then start training for another half marathon. So it works out to about three a year which was manageable all through 2015. I ran the Two Oceans half which was a personal victory because of no afib throughout the run. Add to that the atmosphere, scenery and vibe and it was the most fun you could have while going through so much pain. My friends ran the 55k so my achievement was my own but it felt great to have ticked that off my list.

Midyear I was back in Knysna and bettered my time marginally. Again – no afib and I felt healthy. My third half in 2015 was my favourite though. I flew down to Oudtshoorn, woke up early the next morning for the ride on the ostrich truck out to the start and stood in the cold with my rusk and my blanket. It was a downhill run and spectacularly beautiful, ending in the little town of De Rust with a celebratory Coke and roosterkoek. Once again an awesome run with no afib – just sore legs.

It takes some time for my heart rate to settle in every run and it never really goes above 140 bpm thanks to the verapamil and the tambacor. Which means I’ll probably never do a sub 2 hour half marathon. But I am loving it and have my doctor’s approval. He’d still like to do another ablation but as long as I don’t try out a marathon, he’s happy. London 2017 may be calling.

I’m busy training for another Two Oceans, Vic Falls in June and Gun Run in Cape Town in September and feel great that I have found my rhythm. Not sure if my running is shortening my life span (or extending it) but I am doing what I love again.

Gearing up

As a gadget freak I’ve been gearing up over the years front the right specs, insoles for shoes to gps devices. I find myself freaked out by devices that don’t work or are tedious to operate. The last thing you want to think of during your run is ‘why isn’t your music playing’ or ‘why isn’t your heart rate monitor working?’ I now run with a Garmin Forerunner 610 mainly to check my heart rate easily, and an old iPhone with Runkeeper that paces me and, when it works properly, gives me kicking tunes. It’s also easier to upload and monitor your runs from Runkeeper compared to having to sync your garmin which can be laborious. The newer phones unfortunately won’t link to the garmin’s heart rate monitor. But I’ll keep searching as I’m sure there a more effective combination around.

UPDATE: The wonderful Garmin Fenix 3 now does all of that – no more phone!

8Ks and counting

I went down to Knysna for the weekend, where it all began. My run started out well. I ran with my partner, a fit trail and road runner who humored me by slowing down the pace. It was a beautiful seaside run on a flat island course, 4ks in circumference, which we did twice. I tried to maintain the 6.30 pace but felt good and pushed it a bit on occasion. As far as perfect conditions go, this was it. My heart rate spiked once or twice which slowed us down but overall it went ok. My body and legs felt fitter and stronger than my heart rate monitor suggested but I stuck to my guns and slowed down when the beeps buzzed. It scared me a little to think what may have happened if conditions were less than perfect, a bit of a headwind, an uphill, a hot day. But we’ll tackle those in good time. Post run I again assessed if eating habits could have interfered but I only had a banana half an hour before and a caffeine free gel 15 minutes later. So far that makes for a good combination.