Ugly Toes

I ran in the afternoon today (5.3 mi) because I went to the doctor this morning. Before Thanksgiving, and when I was away for Christmas, I had this pain in my hip while running. At first, it only hurt while running but then it started hurting even when I wasn't running. My brother told me to check out sportsinjuryclinic.net (or something like that) and that site said that it could be a stress fracture or a bursitis. Now I doubted that it was something that serious, but I don't like to screw around when it comes to my feet and legs. Better safe than sorry is my motto. So I called to make an appointment and today was the first day my doctor could see me. And of course, the pain went away between then and now.

I still went because I just wanted to clarify that I shouldn't worry about it and because I wanted to ask about my heart rate. Training with a heart rate monitor has become one of the newest "things" in running, and I've read all kinds of glowing reports about how training based on heart rate has improved peoples' running. And a lot of it does make sense - especially the part where if you run too hard on your easy days you aren't allowing your body proper recovery. So while I was home for Thanksgiving, I checked out a heart rate transmitter from the gym and wore it while I was on the treadmill. No matter what speed I ran at, my heart rate was above 160. I didn't think too much of it because I hadn't read anything at that point as to what my target heart rate should be.

My mom found an Omcron heart rate monitor for $11 at Ulta, and she let me borrow it when I came back to Minnesota. I was curious to see if there was a difference between indoor and outdoor running. I thought maybe my heart rate would be lower outside since I'd have air to cool me down (I overheat when running on the treadmill). I also wanted to see if I even liked running with the chest strap (the transmitter is on a chest strap). I did do some reading online, and based upon various formulas, I found that my heart rate should be between 125-144 (65-75%) for an easy run. Well my heart rate was above 160, even when I slowed down to a point where I felt much too slow. (And I would never train that slow as I'd feel like I was running "junk miles"). I continued playing with the heart rate monitor when I went back to IL (and the treadmill). I finally stopped wearing it because seeing the 160s and 170s was stressing me out (which I'm sure raised it, too). I was running easy by all other measurements - my legs felt fine and I wasn't breathing hard at all. So why the high heart rate?

So I told my doctor about that to see what she thought. I asked if it was possible that my maximum heart rate is higher than the formulas predict and maybe that was why it was so high. She said that was possible, but that she would think that with as long as I've been running and being in good condition, that I would have a lower heart rate when running. (I do have a low resting heart rate (45), which is usually the sign of someone in good condition). She listened to my heart and didn't hear anything funky. Since my mom has an arrhythmia (brought on by the chemo) and her mom had one (that she died from), the doctor decided we should do an EKG and an echocardiogram. I have to go back for the echo, but they did the EKG in the office. And it apparently showed an abnormality.

I'm not freaking out about this yet. If I do have an arrhythmia, my doctor said it can be treated with medications. The medications aren't a necessity, though; it's mainly just important to have it noted in medical records so it can be kept track of. She didn't say I'd have to stop running, and that's probably the thing that would get me to be upset because that would mean it's serious.