I am not even sure where to start this post. Yesterday I woke up for the Wednesday morning workout at the usual 4 a.m. Dressed in my running clothes and headed to the club. My plan was to get in an easy 40 minute run then do a one hour spin class with a 15 minute warm-up and 15 cool-down at the end. About 10 minutes into my run I went up a slight hill and felt winded, so I checked my heart rate and to my dismay found it to be just under 200bpm. Yikes! I forged on through the snow at a very easy pace thinking it would go down. It never went below 180 as far as I know.
After 30 minutes I returned to the club feeling somewhat light headed only to be cornered by one of the managers. "You're one of those spinning guys aren't you?" You can imagine that I was somewhat dumbfounded at this point. It only got worse. I replied, "Why yes I am." He responds with, "I told you not to take those towels out of the men's locker room to use for your class. You have to stop doing that! Then it hit me...This ass thinks I'm Matt. There are some similarities between the two of us. I have far less hair, but of course I had a hat on. I"m Italian and Matt's Jewish. I wanted to say, "I'm the Italian guy not the Jew," but he wouldn't get it anyway. I told him he was mistaken and his comment was, "You tell that guy that if he takes those towels out again I'm going to string him up." I'm thinking, "This guy just qualified himself as a real asshole and is now right at the top of my list." I ignored him and headed to locker room to change into my cycling clothes and grab a handful of those "f"ing towels.
Anyway, I noticed my heart rate was not going down. Bad sign. After being on the bike for about ten minutes, a very easy ten minutes, it still would not drop below 170. I felt my pulse and noticed it was irregular. Bad sign #2. I continued on despite my concern. I didn't want to say anything to anyone so I just spun on for the next 50 minutes. I felt like you know what all the way to school and upon arriving was told by my friend Drea that I looked tired and pale. I told her what was going on and she said that I needed to go to the nurse's office. Mary, the school nurse checked my blood pressure, which was rather high (140/80). Bad sign #3. She also listened to my heart, took one look at me and said I needed to go to urgent care, the ER, or to the clinic ASAP. Bad sign #4.
Later that morning I saw a Dr. who said that what I experienced was probably atrial fibrillation. An EKG revealed an abnormality with my right ventricle. Yep, definitely a bad sign. Apparently it's a bit weaker then the left. I will be having a stress test done along with an echo cardiogram. If it happens again, he said for me to go straight to an emergency room. All I can say right now is SHIT! I feel like I've worked so damn hard to get where I am at. So now I'm educating myself on this condition. I feel pretty good about the prognosis and believe that I will be OK. I just need to work through the frustration and fear of maybe not working out very intensely for a few days or maybe longer.
Mayo Clinic: Atrial Fibrillation
Anyway, I did meet with the Amigos last night to discuss our race schedule. It has the potential to be a good deal of fun. My plan right now is to move on, see what the tests reveal, and go from there. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful wife, great friends, and family. All are concerned and hoping for the best. I'm home resting and relaxing today and will probably do the same tomorrow. I may do a light workout tomorrow, but I'm just waiting to see how I feel. I was told not to workout if I still felt tired. That will be hard for me to do. Maybe I do still have that virus I caught before Christmas.
Running Time: 30 minutes
Total Ride Time: 1 hr. 25 min. Total Calories Burned: 1,532
Nigity - "Always keep a smile in your heart."
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