DNS… Three nasty letters that I’ve never had to use before (at least in the running sense). \u00a0Did Not Start… DNS… \u00a0In my mind I know that a lot can happen between signing up for a race and actually reaching the starting line. A percentage of people get hurt during training, travel snafus, etc… \u00a0In my 20 some years of running I can’t recall ever having a DNS next to my name. I can definitively say that I’ve never had one in my post-collegiate career.<\/p>\n
So why after 20 years did it occur? \u00a0That’s a good question and not really an easy one to answer. It was a combination of things that really culminated in one simple answer. \u00a0It wouldn’t be a wise decision.<\/p>\n
I felt some reluctance to not start and even though my wife and I talked about it over a week before the race I couldn’t bring myself to announce it to anyone beforehand. \u00a0I felt bad for my 1st Covenant – Team World Vision teammates, I was their captain and I wasn’t going to be racing alongside them. I felt bad for my 2015 donors who had given to support me and brought clean water to people in need. \u00a0Honestly, I did feel a little bad for myself too – was I a quitter?<\/p>\n
But it was the right decision and being at the race actually confirmed my decision. \u00a0They day was significantly better than last year, but still warm, humid, and sunny. \u00a0Those conditions plus the shadeless, rolling hilly course wouldn’t have been ideal for me.<\/p>\n
So why didn’t I run? Simply put I wasn’t in shape to run a half marathon on August 1. That’s the easy answer. \u00a0But why wasn’t I in shape? \u00a0I’ve been doing Cross-fit, running, biking, hiking, etc. \u00a0The fitness should have been there. \u00a0But it wasn’t. Why not? I wasn’t being super-consistent with my training but I did the long runs, pushing my kids even.<\/p>\n
Ok, let’s roll back the clock. For a period of time now while running I’ve gotten these weird sensations in my chest and my heart has been beating like crazy. \u00a0Don’t freak out. \u00a0My wife, a nurse, and my doctor have both already grilled me. \u00a0I wasn’t having a stroke or heart attack. When this happened I would back off the throttle and let my heart rate come down a bit and be fine. \u00a0Sometimes this would take awhile and it would usually come with a loss of power for a bit. \u00a0Some of you who have ridden or run with me might remember some of these random instances. I didn’t really think anything of it.<\/p>\n
Looking back it has never occurred during a WOD at Cross-Fit or while taking a spin class at the YMCA. \u00a0It seems to happen when I pick up my pace while running or biking, or after a long period of exertion. \u00a0I haven’t consistently worn a heart rate monitor over time but when I have nothing seemed out of the ordinary. \u00a0In April I rode the Dickie’s Scramble 75 mile gravel (and hill) grinder. \u00a0It was a brutal ride and I had some trouble with some of the hills, when I pushed hard my heart rate went up. \u00a0I wasn’t watching my heart rate monitor but after the ride I remember that it said I had a Max HR of 238. \u00a0I mentioned it to the guys at dinner and we all agreed it had to be an equipment mistake.<\/p>\n
So why did I sign up for a race? Remember, I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. \u00a0Something that would improve with conditioning. I trained, doing long runs and as long as I controlled the pace or maintained a steady, comfortable pace I was fine. \u00a0Ok, let’s come back closer to the present time. \u00a0On my July 11 long run several odd things happened that kind of messed up the routine. That was the day of the Lifetime Triathlon which makes it really hard to get to where the Team World Vision group runs meet. \u00a0No worries, I parked nearby and was going to wait for them to come down. \u00a0I even got to cheer a few people I knew racing the triathlon. \u00a0As I waited and waited I decided they might actually have gone a different way, so I took off. \u00a0After stopping at the porta-pot for Nadia they actually caught up to me.<\/p>\n
My usual running partner was racing but I’ve run with some of the others so I fell in with them. \u00a0Chatting along the pace got a little faster and I felt my heart speed up, so I slowed down. I was pretty confident I knew the 10 mile route and wasn’t too concerned. \u00a0I don’t remember the whole run, but I do remember it was warming up and I was getting tired. \u00a0Sure mental games that we all must endure, so I endured. \u00a0Some of the group in front of me turned around and passed me heading the opposite direction. \u00a0Odd, but they are training for the marathon, I kept going. \u00a0Somewhere in there I had another “episode” or two, but kept trudging along. \u00a0My run took forever… \u00a0And I screwed up the 10 mile route and only ran 8.5 miles (probably a good thing). \u00a0I ended up running an average of 10 minute pace which is pretty slow for me, even pushing the kids. \u00a0My last run with the kids was 7 miles at 8:49 pace.<\/p>\n
Ok, so I had a bad run. \u00a0Chalk it up to a crappy day. \u00a0I had actually remembered to wear my heart rate monitor for the run and when I looked at the data it said Max HR 238 and average HR was in the 170’s. \u00a0Possibly, still an equipment error, but I felt horrible. \u00a0It took over an hour for my HR to come back down into the resting zone and by the afternoon I felt like I’d run a marathon. \u00a0The next morning, I still felt horrible like post-race horrible. \u00a0Not an easy 8.5 mile at 10 minute pace should feel. \u00a0That’s when I decided something might be up. \u00a0The culmination of all of those things happening at one time made it clear to me that I needed to go find a doctor to check me out.<\/p>\n
Understandably my wife got a little freaked out. \u00a0Asking lots of questions, getting out her stethoscope. \u00a0I do have a low-grade heart murmur and she says I have an occasional arrhythmia. The doctor did his work… And of course everything was fine and normal while at the clinic. He had to listen carefully to hear the murmur and I didn’t have any irregular heart patterns while he was listening. He did do an EKG on me and had some blood work drawn. \u00a0He said the EKG looked perfect and my blood work was all in the normal ranges. \u00a0So next step is to see a Cardiologist. \u00a0He wants me to see a specific guy who doescardiac\u00a0electrophysiology, or studies how the heart’s electrical system (rhythm) works. \u00a0Unfortunately, I can’t see him until mid-September. The doctor who did the exam said that I would be fine to continue working out – running, biking, and Cross-fitting. \u00a0But to be careful.<\/p>\n
So a DNS, being careful. \u00a0Knowing a hilly course and that I’d want to push the pace and “race” or at least PR the course. Knowing me, a DNS was the right choice. \u00a0Yes, I’m a little more concerned now than I was over the past few months. I’m being more careful about pushing the pace, running hills, etc. \u00a0And I’ve started to pay more attention to what is going on with my ticker.<\/p>\n
I’ve started wearing my heart rate monitor on more workouts and wearing my RoadID bracelet more often. \u00a0I definitely don’t like talking about this kind of stuff, but it has been good to talk about it. \u00a0I’ll keep you updated as I learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DNS… Three nasty letters that I’ve never had to use before (at least in the running sense). \u00a0Did Not Start… DNS… \u00a0In my mind I know that a lot can happen between signing up for a race and actually reaching the starting line. A percentage of people get hurt during training, travel snafus, etc… \u00a0In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30,13,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-my-running","category-race-review"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4iaAv-1xp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2871,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2011\/weekly-report-29\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":0},"title":"Weekly Report","author":"crossn81","date":"September 12, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Race week started out nice enough. \u00a0 A beautiful Labor Day relaxing at home and finishing up a bit of lite yard work. \u00a0Hanging out with friends and the family. \u00a0It was gorgeous weather-wise. \u00a0When we were getting Nadia ready for bed she felt really hot. \u00a0104.4 hot. \u00a0The clinic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":694,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2008\/post-marathon-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":1},"title":"Post Marathon Thoughts","author":"crossn81","date":"October 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the main reasons I run is to race, I really enjoy racing and the feeling that comes with it, even when I place 700 and something!\u00a0 When I have a goal race or races it gives me something to look forward to and to be motivated by.\u00a0 So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Health"","block_context":{"text":"Health","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/health\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"P2170302","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.static.flickr.com\/3124\/2607830752_7c999e5f1d_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1889,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2010\/ready-to-increase\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":2},"title":"Ready to Increase","author":"crossn81","date":"March 8, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I've slowly been trying to increase my mileage since I am still fighting off the Plantar Fasciitis. \u00a0This week was the longest yet in 2010 at 13 miles, I know impressive? \u00a0I feel like I'm getting stronger (running-wise) and haven't seen an increase in heel pain. \u00a0I don't think I've\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "My Running"","block_context":{"text":"My Running","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/my-running\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2634,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2011\/race-recap-mdra-mudball-classic\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":3},"title":"Race Recap: MDRA Mudball Classic","author":"crossn81","date":"April 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"You can't complain about a free race! That being said, I was quite\u00a0surprised\u00a0when my Garmin said 4 miles at the end of the race, it was after all the MDRA Mudball Classic 4 miler. \u00a0In the 3 years we've lived here, this is the first of the free races that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "4 Mile"","block_context":{"text":"4 Mile","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/4-mile\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mudball Classic","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5308\/5629280660_848053c5e3_m.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3055,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2013\/polar-dash-5k\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":4},"title":"Polar Dash 5k","author":"crossn81","date":"January 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I've never done a Team Ortho event before today, even though I've driven the Team Ortho truck! \u00a0 While I was sitting around the house over winter break I decided I should do a 5k on New Years Day to celebrate the new year and to jump start my training.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "5K"","block_context":{"text":"5K","link":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/category\/5k\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMAG2266","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/IMAG2266-300x179.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1329,"url":"https:\/\/www.teamcrossworld.com\/running\/2009\/no-training-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":5915,"position":5},"title":"No Training Week","author":"crossn81","date":"May 13, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Now that the half-marathon is over I can relax a little bit and let my body recover (and race a mile!). 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