Tag: HR

Five checkmark day

These have become rarer than a blue moon.

  • My resting HR has gone up by nearly 20 bpm since the one-before-last post https://c306.net/spkeasy/2020/five-checkmark-day-3/.
  • I haven’t run (or swum or biked) since the last one.
  • I’ve eaten everything I can.
  • I haven’t even walked much.
  • Even though the weight is exactly the same, last time it was a spike. This time it’s the lower end of a stable range.
  • Mental health has taken a toll.
  • Today’s stress level of 39 is the lowest I’ve had in a week. The time before last, it was 16.

I’m a mess. Probably.

One up, one down. At least I’m alive.

The Up

Went for my first run since early May. Ran just 5K, but had to take 2 breaks to let the HR come down.

The good bit: Most of the external-focused running muscles worked fine. The ankle whose injury had stopped running felt completely normal. The achilees in the other foot tinged a bit occasionally, but nothing extraordinary. Will ice it tonight.

The ok bit: It’s been just a couple of hours, and my quads (?!) are giving an indication of DOMS already. Could it be because I was lifting my knees while trying to pick up the feet? Or is it just that they’ve not been worked at all since the last spinning class in early August?

The bad bit: HR was high. Way too high for such a short run in cool temperatures. It was a clear indication of how much aerobic fitness I’ve lost in these months. Lots of work to get it back before London.

The Down

When heading down for the run, I turned off the heater in the office. I’d kept it at low for Chewie – who seemed to be feeling a bit cold.

When I returned upstairs 2.5 hours later, the room was boiling. Instead of switching off the low button, I’d turned on the high button – so the electric heater was working at full power for 2.5 hours. The digital temperature gauge read 39ºC :/

My office room is small enough to become uncomfortably warm in 10 mins. After two hours at full power, it was boiling – worse than the worst of summer. The Macbook was so hot that it took nearly 2 mins to show the lock screen!

I’ve been sitting here with the window open for 20 mins, and the temperature still reads 31ºC.

There may be a good amount of damage to the electricity bill.
Photo by Brandon Bynum on Unsplash

I’m still alive

Early in the run, the HR reading said 232 bpm! My heart was working, but not that hard. It was just the usual ‘cold air meets HR strap’ f-up.

Later in the run, the reading said 187 bpm, and I could feel the heart struggling to keep pumping. That was when I took my first break.

That was nothing compared to how hard the heart beat when I came upstairs half-an-hour ago and realised what had happened. Glad I wasn’t wearing the HR monitor anymore, or it may have given a reading to give me a stroke!

Anyway, the heart didn’t stop, and I didn’t burn down the house. I’ll call this afternoon a win.