Ever since Liberty I have not felt myself , been lacking in power on the bike and struggled on the run. After Chisago I started having chest pains when I would run for the first 10-15 minutes of my run. I've had that happen before but in the past it would go away within a minute or two and only for one day. This has been happening since Chisago.
Being that I have a fourth year med student as a wife who is scared to death of something called hypertrophy I didn't want to take any chances. I went in to see my family practice doc last week to see what he thought. At first he was thinking it was still the asthma bothering me. Since my breathing has been fine lately I steered him in a different direction. Doc then gave me an EKG and a chest X-ray. Besides the fact that my resting heart rate is 38 everything was fine. My Doc then came up with a theory that I may have some cartilage damaged between my ribs. Possible, but I again thought this was unlikely. Why would the pain go away? I then asked for a Heart Stress Echo. My wife thought this was the best way to see if my ticker was tocking correctly.
I went in for the test last Thursday wondering what it was going to be like. I was told that I was going to be on a stationary bike and they would be doing an ultrasound on my heart while I worked out. When I arrived I saw a type of bike, only I would be lying down while pedaling so they could do the ultra sound. There were three fun nurses who were administering the test and seemed to really enjoy their job. One explained that they were going to need to get my heart rate up to 161 in order to get a "good test result". I then told them that this would be a while. They explained that only one person had ever almost beaten the bike and they had atropine to get my heart rate up if they needed it.
I started pedaling at 50 watts. They quickly realized this would in fact be a while. Every two minutes they bumped it up 50 watts until they finally reached the max of 275 for about 15 minutes. Problem was I was still only in the 140s. The girls were astounded and started to get a little panicked. They did not think they would need the atropine so they didn't have an IV in. Then they had to give me an IV mid test. The nurse first gave me .5 milligrams which had little to no effect. She then decided to administer 2 milligrams which is the most she was allowed to give me. This still only got me up to 155. At this point there was nothing they could do but finish the test with a little lower than the desired heart rate of 161. I now have the distinguished title of being the only person ever to beat the bike at the Methodist Hospital.
The good news is that the test was normal. So what the hell is going on? I'm guessing that I'm either short on Potassium or Iron. I started taking Iron pills and got back on my multivitamin about ten days ago and have been feeling better by the day. My strength is back and I've been putting in two of my longest runs and bike rides I've ever done back to back on Saturday and Sunday the last two weeks. The better part is they have even felt rather easy, in fact easier than some of my 70 mile rides from earlier this year.
I did get a blood test done today and we'll find out what the results are but I'm guessing that I will show up on the low end normal for Iron levels. This will point to me being anemic for who knows how long. I'm sure I've been anemic in the past few seasons as well. All in all though I seem to be back on track. Swim times are back were they should be. Bike volume is way up, sprint times are down and my run is feeling more solid than it ever has. I have also added my Physical Therapy back into my training regiment and I feel stronger than ever. Hopefully this adds up to success in my last two races as I've felt like the season has been a bit of a let down since after my win at Minnetonka.
I must stay focused on the prize of Wisconsin IM though. Sam Janicki will be at Detroint lakes and I would love to defend my honor as much as he would like to prove that he can beat me again. Still, I must focus on the ultimate goal right now. To be honest I believe if I stay on track for WI then I should be in peak shape for Detroit lakes. If Sam beats me he beats me. Lord knows the kid is fast and has proven to be faster than me before. I just hope it will be an exiting race for LuAnn and the Young Life crew.
About Me
- Steve Sander
- I grew up and graduated from Edina High in 1997. I was an athlete growing up but loved soccer and was the JV Captain my Senior Year. After High School I joined the Army and was stationed with the 10th Mountain Div. In 2000 I went to college at MN State Univ for Law Enforcement. I started playing soccer and was voted team Co Captain my Junior year. I was still involved with the MN National guard and after graduation I went to El Paso for OBC. While there I joined the OBC running team and started running road races. At the same time a friend taught me how to swim while another mentioned doing a triathlon. I came home and was instantly hooked. I did six tris that season and couldn't get enough. Then I was called up for what ended up being a 16 month tour in Iraq. While there I was a Convoy Escort Platoon Leader. As exciting as triathlons are nothing is as exciting as running 30 fuel tankers through Baghdad. After I got back I had a hunger for triathlons. Last season was great but I want to get faster (doesn't everyone).
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