And then I was told to REST

The first of our Tri clinics for the DCTRI Club MoCo Mafia was on Sunday.

We met with our hired expert, AJ, and after a brief introduction we started.

She had us warm up around the track for two laps, then to run moving up to 90% effort for 10 minutes, and finally run at 100% effort for 20 minutes. This was she would be able to tell us what our VO2 Max threshold was. Of course, I asked if 100% meant sprinting... and she said 100% at the fastest pace we could maintain for the entire 20 minutes.

We all had to wear HR monitors. Silly me had not even taken mine out of the box with I bought my Garmin 2 years ago. As I was pairing it with my Garmin, it said my heart rate was 51... not bad for a resting heart beat (sort of low though).

On the warm up, my HR was all over the place... I backed down my pace since 8:15 wasn't a warm up pace. Once the 10 minute run on, my breathing was all over the place... and by the 20 minute run, I was exhausted.

During the 20 minute time, my heart rate average was 181 with a MAX HR of 220 - WTH? 230 is like a heart attack.

I was breathing horribly and could not catch my breath... and actually when it reached 220, I had to stop (with 7 minutes left) because I felt light headed. My walking HR was 160, at 3/4 of the way around the track. NOT GOOD AT ALL.

All of my runs since my heart surgery have been tough. 6 mile runs feel like 12 mile runs. 12 mile runs feel like  20 mile runs. I am exhausted. I literally took a nap after the track workout on Sunday... btw: total mileage was: 3.44 pace was 8:56.

I was concerned.. AJ, the coach was alarmed.

We had a talk at the end... about form and other very useful information.

On my way to my car, AJ stopped me and gave me her (non-cardiologist) opinion of what was going on:

1. Over training- well, duh... I don't exactly rest.
2. Lack of sleep - I had only gotten 5 hours all weekend.
3. Still having issues with my heart.

Advice: take a week off. Meaning... no exercising at all. Of course, I wanted clarification... meaning no Ab Ripper? NO! No plank off? NOPE!

So... this has been day two. I am not going insane yet... but I feel tired. And scared.

I wondered if I jumped the gun with the surgery. I have felt lethargic since the surgery and EVERY run has felt labored. At my month followup, I talked to my cardiologist about it... he did an EKG, and everything looked normal. He suggested that maybe it was that I was coming off of marathon training.. etc.

But now... now, I should be feeling better. I should not feel labored running 12 miles at a 9:45 pace (Saturday's run) considering a year ago, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler at a 8:15 pace. Nothing has changed... besides the heart thing (oh and maybe the over training).

One, rather abrasive Mafia member said, "You just need to stop... and quit playing around... you have a congenital heart issue - get it looked at." And it hit me... I shouldn't be messing around with my heart!

So this week, I will NOT workout. And I will wear my heart rate monitor and record the data to see if we an get to the bottom of this. So far, nothing abnormal doing nothing... I did take a stroll with the kids and Dolce the Wonder Dog this afternoon (the weather was just too gorgeous)! HR was around 125. :-)

By the end of this week, I will be going INSANE! Pray for me! ;-)