General update (Upgrade and heart ache...literally)
Posted by: mshackley in Untagged on
Jul 30, 2008
So following what I thought was a weak performance in the Sisquoc RR and SLO Downtown Crit. I managed to eek out an upgrade to CAT 3 citing the possiblity of riding in the upcoming National Championships (which I unfortunately will not be). Like with anything you work hard for, it was satisfying, but at the same time CAT 3 lost all its glamour. I now have to work towards CAT 2.
I was planning to do 3 more races this season, in order to get a head start of my CAT 2 upgrade points (Tour de Gap, UT; Mount Charleston HC, NV; and Everest Challenge). However, now it looks like I'll be lucky to race just the local Mount Charleston HC (August 30). Over the past month and a half or so I have noticed that there have been times when my heart rate jumps up with little exertion and I get winded quickly. Being a typical athlete I attributed this to many things: the heat, fatigue from heavy training, and undereating. The most training I could manage without the onset of this condition was 2 hard weeks with the occasional recovery day before needing a very very easy recovery week. Even these hard weeks were cut short by my problem, as I continued to fall short of training goals, training less than planned. This was reflected in my Sisquoc and SLO results and I decided to take a weeklong recovery following those races before beginning intensive climbing training for the remainder of my season. On Sunday, I went out with the intention of climbing the Mount Charleston HC course a couple of times at a moderate pace. 3 miles into the first climb I had to stop. It wasn't the fatigue that I usually push through when climbing, but my heart rate had reached its limit with little exertion and my chest was actually starting to hurt. Today I visited my family doctor and was told that I had an abnormal EKG (and a "slow resting heart rate"; the machine said 50 bpm which is actually a little fast for me - the doctor didn't really understand the fact that I am a serious endurance athlete). I have an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist (yeah, I'm 17 and I still have to visit a pediatric) tomorrow where I'm supposed to have a series of tests to determine what exactly is wrong. Unfortunately, it looks like the only cure they will probably be able to suggest will be a few weeks, maybe even months, of rest. Wish me luck, but it looks like this might be the end of my season.
Has anyone else had any problem like this? Could it just be overtraining or is it more serious? What can I do to stop it but still be able to race?
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written by Archiracer, July 31, 2008
Think of your cardiovascular system like you do you legs, if your legs hurt do you ride or rest? I hope you rest. If not you'll learn to and you'll get stronger. If this is your first year racing and you do a lot of "intense" racing like every road race or hill climb you can handle (it sounds like it) then you may have pushed your body enough for this year. Your body is telling you to chill so it can grow stronger and better adapt to the training stimulus that you are subjecting it to regularly.
written by mporche, August 07, 2008
BTW - I have experienced overtraining and this was not the same.
written by BrianC, August 13, 2008
I have had issues similar to yours - say 200 watt effort and 175 bpm HR. You can see some of the charts in one of my entries over here.
The way I delt with it was to ease up the intensity and volume. I was still able to race, but the SoCal way... sit in, sit in, sit in and then for the last 5-8 minutes in the race I would spend my match. Unfortunately you can't really do that in a Hill Climb.
I am no expert - hope one does opine - but you need to rest. The earlier you start resting, the less damage you will do and recovery time will be shorter. Now "shorter" recovery time can be indeed months.
See the doctor, ask him questions.
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