Health Issue

So I don't have the flu, just flu like symptoms, and moderate case of feeling bad. Doctor told me not to run, and said that I could injure my heart muscle if I pushed too hard now when I am sick. Yikes! OK, I'll take a couple days off.

On another note, my doctor convinced me to have a heart exam. No issues or problems, just a look see, given that I am in my 40's and had a heart arrhythmia in my 20's. Not a big deal, but I am not getting any younger, and with people I know having serious health issues, better to stay informed than to risk it. I am actually kind of intrigued to see the results of the stress test, etc.

Blood pressure yesterday: 110/70 with a resting heart rate of 64, which doctor said was elevated because of my sickness, so she speculated it would be under 60 normally.

Tale of two weekends

The weekend started great. A beautiful Saturday morning, went for first long run in a while. Ended up going 10.25 at 9:00 pace. It was very weird wearing a heart rate monitor for along run and trying to SLOW down to keep the heart rate down. I have read about 4000 on the web and some books, and there is not much consensus on the right pace for a long run, so I used the Macmillan Racing Calculator, and tried to keep my HR below 80%. Macmillan had me at long run pace of 8:56 to 9:20, So I shot for 9:10, and ended up running 9:03, with an average HR of 80% on the button. (Also, after further reading of Macmillan's web site, he actually advocates long run of over 2 hours, so I am not sure this was correct.) But anyway, I am not really training yet, so this worked just fine.

As much as I dump on my Garmin, the Virtual Partner feature for this was awesome. It allows you to set a pace buddy on your 405 and then you "race" him. You can be behind or ahead, based on how you are doing relative to your desired pace. All in all, an outstanding run.



After a relaxing Saturday, a trip to the pool, etc., had pasta with pesto for dinner. I did not want it, but I don't always get what I want, so I went along with it. Farmer's market Apple Crisp for dessert.

But when I laid down for bed to watch the Red Wings in Stanley Cup (took Game 1 by the way), I felt very hot and flush. Very hot. Didn't have a thermometer handy, but I am sure I had a fever. Then in middle of night woke up, started throwing up. Very sudden onset. A relatively bad sleepless night, woke up Sunday feeling bad (not terrible) fever gone really. A lazy Sunday, taking it easy, but no seeming long term effects. Just something I ate I figured. And then after dinner on Sunday, I got same feeling. And today I feel bad, hot, achy, etc. Off to the doctor this afternoon to see if she can tell me what ails me. I am guessing a nonspecific diagnosis (flu maybe?) and prescription of rest, sleep and Gatorade. Actually, that doesn't sound so bad....

Being honest, I probably have not been picture of health lately. I have lost a lot of weight over last couple of months (albeit intentionally so). I had a hard workout on Wednesday, and a long run on Saturday. I imagine my immune system is not 100%. But I still eat well, get rest, drink fluids, vitamins, etc. But it came on sooo suddenly on Saturday. Literally, from I don't feel so good to burning up in 30 minutes.