Pennington: Clinic Visit, Sinus Arrythmia, and PVC

So, Friday was my last workout on the treadmill for the week.  Since the fitness center was closed on Saturday, there was no workout and since I was feeling so poorly on Friday, I decided to take it easy on Saturday.  Then I wasn't allowed to exercise on Sunday or Monday due to my clinic visit. 

Saturday morning, I had a little episode.  I was laying in bed and had JUST opened my eyes.  I rolled over to get up and felt a thud in my chest quickly followed by a lightheaded/vertigo feeling.  It lasted all of maybe 2 seconds and was gone.  My first thought was, "What they Hay was THAT?"  I got up and went about my day but then was paranoid for the rest of the day trying to figure out what happened.  I also had a dull ache in my chest which was part of what led me to forgo any exercise for the day other than the normal housework stuff.

Sunday came and went without anything unusual.  I ended the day by beginning a 12 hour fast for my clinic visit the following day. 

Monday, I got up early and arrived at Pennington at 7 a.m.  Male Nurse Tance called me to follow him and he led me into a room.  There he presented me with a 28 page questionnaire and told me to answer the questions by filling in the bubbles (you remember those don't you?).  While I got started on that, he proceeded to ask me some questions about my weekend.  Then he had to take my blood pressure and do some measurements.

Measurements for 7/8/2013 are as follows (You can see previous measurements here):

BP 138/80
Right Bicep 35.2 cm
Waist 124.3 cm (the Waist and Hip measurements were taken over my clothes)
Hips 134.2 cm

They called in Dr. Ron to discuss the thud and dizziness thing.  He told me something very interesting.  He told me that my preliminary EKG (done during the preliminary exams before starting the exercise program) showed I have a sinus arrhythmia in my heart.  What the heck is that?  He briefly explained it to me but I had to come home and google it for more info.  His THEORY regarding my episode is that I had experienced a PVC or Premature Ventricular Contraction.  Again my question was "What the heck is that?" to which he explained it was bit like a water pump that had lost its prime and pumped up some air instead of water resulting in low water pressure.  That was what he theorized happened to my heart.  The UNUSUAL thing is that I FELT it.  He told me that normally, everyone experiences it as we all get older but we don't feel it or ever know it happens.  He said about 15% of the population has this Sinus Arrythmia thing so it's fairly common.  His best guess is that now that I'm exercising more than before, I am building up that heart muscle and things like this are not abnormal and really nothing to worry about but if I got concerned to be sure and make an appointment with my doctor for any further testing.

Then they fed me a granola bar for breakfast and told me to come back at lunchtime and again at dinner time for the lunch and dinner as they did before. Then they gave me an activity monitor again and told me to have a nice evening and they would see me in the fitness center on Tuesday.

Tuesday (today) they basically tried to kill me.  I went in there after having 3 days off and the first thing they did was put me on the Met Cart to see what kind of progress I'm making in the respiratory area.  Then Ryan transferred me to another treadmill and set it to going.  Incline = 3.0 degrees, Speed = 3.0 mph, Time = 1-0-0 MINUTES! I said, "Are you NUTS!?" and he said, "Well, the Met Cart says you can handle it." Ryan continues, "BUT (I like that word) we CAN tack 5 minutes onto the next 4 workouts if you like and that will cut today's time down to just over an hour.  The Met Cart shows that starting tomorrow, you can work for an hour a day until next Friday. " I nearly shouted, "Yes PLEASE!" However, after an hours worth of work, I was DONE!  I'm exhausted today!  Thank GOD I only have to work out 65 minutes tomorrow!

Pennington: Feeling discouraged

I'm confused.  I'm not sure what's going on.  Since I couldn't go to Pennington yesterday, I completed a 4 mile walk at home.  It was hot, I was sweaty, I think I may have done too much but I'm not sure how.  I'd been walking the same speed, distance, and pretty much the same incline all week before.  So, what happened?  Maybe it was the heat yesterday.  After all, I did do the walk outdoors.

Anyway, I got up this morning and went to Pennington for my stint on the treadmill and, well, it was rough.  We started out 3.0 grade and 3.0 speed but 15 minutes in and I quickly asked them to bump it down.  I was having pain in the toes on BOTH feet and even the right shin!  My minimum heart rate zone is 127 bpm but when we bumped the grade and speed down, I couldn't seem to get above 125.  I felt like I was walking and sweating for nothing. I need to get my heartrate up to at least 130 in order for me to feel like I'm accomplishing anything.  The burn in the lower legs and feet is dragging me down. 

Is there any way to do this stuff without pain? 

I realize that I am a sedentary individual and that any amount of exercise will cause me some pain since I'm not used to exercising on a daily basis.  I just don't care for all this feeling sore all the time stuff.  It's nearly enough to make me quit.

This weekend, I will get a 3 day break.  I can do some sort of exercise tomorrow so I think I'll just go swimming.  Sunday and Monday I am not allowed to exercise at all due to blood work and other tests being done.  That means that when I return on Tuesday afternoon, those 2 days off are also gonna effect my Tuesday workout.  Yikes!

If anyone has any tips, please feel free to share. 

Pennington: Week 3, Thoughts on Food, Toes, and Walking

I know I sound like I'm whining a lot (at least I THINK I sound like that).  I woke up this morning just thinking about getting over to Pennington to endure my torture, er, do my walk.  My first thought was, "Man, I'm so tired of thinking about this stuff all the time!" 

On Monday and Tuesday, we bumped up the incline to grade 2.5 at 2.8 mph. This zone feels good for me but it isn't working my heart hard enough.  I'm having some issues under my 2nd toe on the left foot.  Have you ever ran around barefoot as a kid?  Ever step on a hot match or discarded cigarette butt that was still lit?  If so, remember that initial burning pain?  That's what I'm experiencing.  It doesn't start right away, it usually *pings* at 3.25 miles into the walk when I'm nearly finished.  Then it stings and burns for a while before I take my shoes off and rub my feet.  Afterwards, I'm fine .... until the next time I hit 3.25 miles on my walk when it happens again.  Pennington's PA Ron told me today that he thought it was Morton's Neuroma and that there's not much that can be done for it.

I'm a little tired of thinking all the time about walking and healthy food but I know that it will be goo for me in the long run.