Each Day Is a Gift

I love Sundays!!!!  To me it is a day of rest from running/training, working or worldly pursuits.  Now that I'm not running/training, I get to truly enjoy the peace, to worship God and to serve without feeling the "recovery pain".

My lesson in Primary today was "I can show gratitude".  It is amazing how many blessings the little 5 year olds are grateful for!  They make me smile and laugh! :) :) :)

Bryan came home from D.C. tonight.  Jeff and Jenn joined us for dinner and we watched Mirror Mirror afterward.  

Looking forward to run with hubby tomorrow morning! :) :) :)

2nd day of running/walking with my love.  We headed west towards Karen's house hoping to meet up with her and her sisters.  Started with 5 min walking.  Why does everything hurt during "warm up"...the left quads, the hip flexors, the hammies?  It is no wonder people don't want to run.  The first step is the hardest.  

Didn't ever meet up with Karen.  So I decided to take hubby on Bull River to 1200W and check out the Murdock Canal Trail.  I told him it's only 3 miles so he agreed.  When we reached the hill up 1200 W, we assessed the trail in order to use the tunnel to cross 1200W.  WaaLaaa!!! the trail is PAVED!!!!  I got SO EXCITED!!!!  But the bathroom at the end of Bull River is not opened, (thus the drinking fountain is off).  Thankfully there is a p-o-p that hubby could use.  We turned back on the trail and hubby started to question the mileage.  He had planned to run 2-3 miles total.  We had already run 2.4 at the turnaround, now approaching 3 miles, ooops!  He accused me of deceiving him into running more.  I tried to explain that when I said 3 miles, I meant ONE way!  :) :) :) 

Hubby's running 12-13 pace so he urged me to run my own pace (9-10) and walk back to him during my 5 min walk (in case he gets ambushed and chased by some women!).  It was getting hot.  When we reached home, I was in the middle of my 5 min run cycle, so I ran around the little block behind my house and finish with a 3 min walk back to the house.  Total 5.45 miles in 1:13:47.  I am so proud of hubby running farther than he had planned.  Other than one accusation of me deceiving him and loosing him [he said he now knows what Lowell meant when Lowell said I "lied" and "disappeared" while running with him in a marathon! :) ] he didn't complain and kept on running. 

Will do yoga later.

Went to Gunnison with the fam. for 4th of July celebration, parade, carnival, rock climbing at Maple Mountain.  I didn't climb, just hiked around the dry rocky riverbed and watched my boys climb.  I was surprised that walking on rocks with my Kinvara was quite pleasant, like my feet getting a massage. :)

There're over 60 family members as every year on the first week of July the cousins (my nieces and nephews) do the Inouye Creative Art Camp for children.  It is pretty amazing!  It was so good to see family visiting from D.C., Hawaii, Calif, Colorado, AZ, Idaho and Hong Kong! :) 

Hubby and I ran to Karen's house for the first mile.  Then Karen, Brian and I ran 4.5 miles east to Smith and back via Canal Trail.  Temp was cooler with overcast sky and breezy. Did 3 min walk 7 min run.  Very glad that Karen and Brian didn't mind doing with me as well.  5.5 miles in 1:06 AP: 12:00.  

6 circuits CSE

Spent all afternoon making dinner for 22 people.  Feet are pretty tired now!

Ran with hubby and Karen to 600W up on Canal Trail, down on 1200E.  Did 2min walk 8 min run.  Everything hurts during the first mile so took it easy.  After bidding Karen goodbye by Center St. I turned around to jog home and heard a "Smooth!" calling from behind.  It was Bec!  She jogged me home.  So GREAT to see her! :)

Looking forward to RHPC tomorrow!  Will wog a 10K or less.  I didn't run it last year because I ran the Bryce Canyon Half so it's been a long time since I've seen some of my RHPChickas! :) :) :) 

AM:  Started at 6:30 the walk/run 2min/10min with Karen and Wendy for 6 miles.  Hubby turned back home at 1.5 for his regular 3.  Feeling still a bit sore and tight, we took it nice and easy.  We went west on Murdock Canal Trail via Bull River/600W, south on Rail Trail and back up east on 3200N.  Got a "hiya" honk from Bec when we crossed the road to Karen's.  Continued east to 600E on 2600N then north to 2700 N and back to my house.  6.05 mi AP 12:08. 

The run was done but the chatting wasn't so we walked Karen half way home to Center and turned back to Wendy's where Carolyn drove past and stopped to visit under a shady tree.  :)

PM:  Core.  Yoga

Walked/Ran (2min/12min) with same crew same time, south on 3rd W, west on 2100 N to Rail Trail, hubby cut off to head east on 2600N at mile 2.  We continued north on Rail Trail then east on Canal Trail, south on Center then east to home.   No time to have post run chit chat today.  6.5 miles AP 11:08

AM:  I find that I cannot run 3 days in a row.  My legs are sore and stiff.  My feet and ankles are tired.  In the last 9 days since returning to running, I have walked/ran 7 days.  I look forward to today's water aerobics.  Karen and I choose Wed because we love the workouts Chelsea does.  We even kidnapped Wendy to join us.  We had a great aqua workout with cardio intervals, core and total body strength training AND it was so much FUN to be giggling and working up a sweat...yes we know we do sweat in the pool because we had to take couple of drink breaks. 

Hubby went running by himself, new shoes and socks, his right hip and left ankle is bugging him.

PM:  Took grandma and Lily to shopping and lunch and visit grandma's 92 yo friend in Salt Lake.  These ladies are amazing.  So lots of walking.

EVENING:  Met the new mission president and his wife of the Utah Provo Mission.  Well fed spiritually.

AM:  Woke up at 5:30 groggily and promptly fell back asleep.  Woke up second time and shocked to see the clock read 6:30!  Aaaaaghh!!!  Supposed to meet the girls for our 6:30 run!  Quickly got dressed and Wendy was at my door.  We walked/jogged to meet Karen.  My body is so tired that I did not want to run.  So they ran me home where I did cross train instead.  Hubby cannot believe I finally listened to my body! :)

30 min recumbent bike

30 min elliptical

PM:  Temple

I seem to have a hard time falling asleep if I hadn't run in the morning...thus even though I went to bed at 10:30 last night, I was still awake at midnight.  Woke up at 4 and should've gotten up to run with Karen and Toby; but I knew I wouldn't be able to run as far and as fast as them so I opted to stay in bed and waited 'till the alarm went off at 5:30 at which time hubby hit the snooze button.  We got out the door at 6 and was instantly hit by the arid smokey air, warm and humid.  Just my luck to have such icky condition for my first double digits run! :(

John, Wendy, hubs and I wogged north up to Suncrest.  The smokey air was irritating my airway, had to spit and sputtered a lot.  Hubs turned around at mile 2 to get in 4 for the day.  We continued north then east to the ever flowing fountain at Alpine Park.  The water was kinda warm.  I had already drank my 12 oz water bottle so refilled it, ate 3 disgustingly dried Gu chomps (peach tea that I got from a race, the only Gu I could find this morning in my "stash"); then headed back.  John had to be at work so he took off while Wendy and I trotted along.  It was tough to get going after the stop.  My left hip flexor and gracilius were screaming; hurt worst with walking, may be I just don't "hear" the "screaming pain" as much when running. 

Stopped at Smith's (mile 8.88) for a drink and potty break and decided to run on the trail parallel to SR92 and connected on the Canal Trail.  Lots of runners on the Canal Trail this morning.  We turned down on 600W to run back east on Bull River.  That last 0.5 mile was SO HARD, everything hurts.  It was a good thing Wendy was there to keep me company, I wanted to lay down and die!  12 miles AP: 11:28.  I'm so discouraged with how bad and hard this run felt.

Tour De Run

The start/finish was at Lone Peak HS.  Stage 1 was a 5K out and back loop around the Highland Glen Park at 7pm Friday evening.  Stage 2 was a 10K out-n-back loop in Cedar Hills with the high point at the mouth of AF Canyon at 7am Saturday morning.  Stage 3 was a 8K out-n-back loop in Highland neighborhood west of Lone Peak HS. 

http://tourderun.net/index.php/race-info/stage-maps

Alex was the youngest male runner in a field of about 50.  He was 10th overall after Stage 1 and moved up to 5th after Stage 2 and maintained the lead in the final race.  So so so so so very proud of him!!! :)

Strong kick to the finish of a tough hilly 10K course in 44:03

Moved up to 5th.  His goal was to beat the 1st female who runs cross country at SUU.

Awesome sprint to the finish of the final stage.

The NCAA Champion in the 10000m and 5000m, Cam Levans, who will be competing in the Olympics in couple weeks on the Canadian team, presented the awards.

GREAT race!  CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!!!

Results can be found here:  http://tourderun.net/index.php/race-info/results

Cooler morning.  Wogged with hubby and Wendy to meet Karen at Center.  Ran north to Canal Trail (hubs peeled off), east to tunnel at top of Dry Creek, then up on road and trail parallel SR92 to Highland, turned around at 4800W, back on Smith's Rd and 800E neighborhood to 2600N to Center. 

With 2 rest days and cooler temp, I was hoping for better run.  Nope!  I was dragging today.  Left leg and pelvis not happy.  Feet are still achy.  6 slow painful miles AP 10:47.  Will I ever be a real runner again?!!! :(

Myrtle

Core

FUNNEST RUN EVER since returning from injury!!!!  SO SO SO SO HAPPY that RAD, Quiet Pirate and her dahling water boy came all the way to Lehi JRP to run with me (Bec, Wendy and hubby too!) :) :) :) :)

QP is SO FUN to run with!!!  GREAT chats!!!  :) :) :)  RAD has such sharp eyes even when she was running so very speedily with Bec that she could spot some "treasures" along the way.  She would stop to wait for us to get there so QP could snap a pix. 

It was such a magical run!!!  I did not feel any pain during the run; only slight discomfort (in the left hip) when we started back up after each stop.  I think we stopped 5-6 times (mile 2 drink, mile 3 regroup to see if we should turn around, mile 4 turnaround and group pix, mile 5ish roadkill kodak moment, mile 5.25 pelicans kodak moment and Mr. QP to retrieve a "find" from the pond, mile 6 drink).  I did not look at my Garmin until we were done and was so surprised to see the 9:34 AP.  I did stop the Garmin when we stopped.  (10:18, 9:44, 9:30, 9:12, 9:14, 9:24, 9:35, 9:36)  Very happy about the pace for the last two miles where we did not stop and it felt smooth and easy.  YipEEEE!!! :) 

This is hubby's first time on the JRP.  He really likes the trail.  He ran 4 miles and waited in the car for us! :)

THANK YOU SO MUCH RAD and QP for running with me!!!  You girls are the best!!!! :) :) :)

Boy! was I tight, tired and sore this morning!!!  Hubby was all excited to go and I wanted to stay in bed.  I never thought he'd be the one who wants to run and I'd be the slacker! :)  I reluctantly dragged my sorry sore self out at 7:30.  Didn't wear watch...didn't want to know how painfully SLOW I was. 

Hubby was very kind to walk with me for a little bit.   Then he started to run and to my astonishment I could not keep up with him....what?!!!  A neighbor weeding his yard said "Hi" to hubs; then when I jogged by, said:  "If you hurry you might catch him!"  I humbly replied:  "Probably not!"!!!  SO humiliating!  :)  He was feeling so good that about a mile into the wog he sped up for about 400m then slowed down for about 200m to wait for me.  I later told him that he was doing Fartlek! :)  He couldn't believe I'd uttered such a silly word...thought I was teasing him! :) :) :)

We had to cut our run short because a very distraught sister called just as we were leaving the house that she needed a temple recommend interview with hubby.  I was hoping to go to water aerobics but missed it because she came to the house during that time.

4 circuits of CSE

Myrtle

Hip opener

Calf raises

Stretching

********

Tightness in the left hip flexor, vastus medialis and soleus.  Perhaps from overcompensation for the weaker right leg/foot?   

Don't know what's going on with my body.  Every small joints in my body hurt when I awoke in the morning.  It used to happen only when there's weather changes particularly when it gets cold.  Thought it was arthritis.  It's happening more frequently now and today when I awoke in the morning and again from an afternoon nap.  The joints in my fingers, neck and toes were stiff and sore.  There is also pain in the left lower calf just above the Achilles.  Feels like lots of inflammation.

Again, I was dragging this morning and if not for hubby, I would've stayed in bed.  We decided to run on the Canal Trail going east from Center.  I felt better once I was warmed up.  Hubby wanted to turn for home at the tunnel by Smith's.  But I convinced him to run down to Dry Creek.  There's a closure barrier at the bridge so we turned back.  Hubby walked the uphill while I ran it.  When I reached the top, I ran back down to him and ran back up so got a couple of hill repeats in.  Nothing heroic, just steady pace.  Once on the road, I ran just a bit ahead of him and then ran back to him.  When we reached home, I decided to run around the small block behind my house a bit faster and got into marathon pace.  Reached 5.25 mi right at 400E where Julie and Karin just finishing their morning walks.  We chatted a bit as we headed to our homes I could feel some pain at the top of the right foot, the stress fracture site.  Wore the Elixir 6 for the first time since the stress fracture.  Although I love how light and comfortable it feels and thought I'd give the Inspire a "rest";  I wonder if it's the wrong choice.

After a quick shower, we went to the temple, lunch then hubby's INR.  So tired that we took a nap in the afternoon.  Been stretching and massaging the muscles/ligaments in the lower calf.  Will probably take a rest day tomorrow...hopefully I can run long on Sat.

Small joints pain again upon waking.  Glad that it's limited to fingers, toes, ankles and upper vertebra.

30 min recumbent bike (Performance L4)

30 min elliptical

2 miles (various incline, 3-6mph)

Lower calf muscles and ligaments very tender with foam roll; so limited it to couple go around then some massage and stretch. (note to self:  wear compression sleeves next run)

Core CSE

I can't begin to express my immense gratitude to RAD and Kelli for a wonderful fun run! :) :) :) I had serious doubt that I could pull off a 14 miler by myself. Since I'm spending the weekend in Park City and Kelli wanted a preview of the PCM course...RAD worked out a perfect plan for us to run mile 11ish to 20ish of the course with another 4.65 mikes back to the car. I started out walking 1 min every mile to warm up till we hit the base of Deer Valley loop...then no more walking other than that little monster of a hill on 8th St. to Empire (which took me 2 min to walk it) and once my Garmin hit 14 miles I announced that I'm walking the remaining distance to the car. RAD and Kelli would run back to me every now and then and at some crossings. They even ran back to get my hubby when he ran from Bonanza to meet us. :). They got some BONUS miles for sure! Having them within sight kept me going... such awesome friends, SO FUN, great chats! A fun run isn't complete without a yummy breakfast afterward! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! RAD and Kelli for making this run so fun for me! :) :) :).

Spent the afternoon shopping at the outlet mall, movie and dinner with the fam. So didn't do any recovery stretch or foam roll. Lower legs and the right tibial tendon are pretty sore which kept me up all night! Today, Sunday, the soreness eased up a bit, am wearing compression sleeves in the evening. I hope that the soreness is the good kind. I guess I'm rather paranoid of injuries!

Went to church at the Park City Ward.  It seems a fourth of those attending are visitors.  The Sunday School teacher turned out to be Elder Richard Cook whom Larry has worked with in the past.  SO NICE to sit next to hubby during Sacrament Mtg. and Sunday School.  :) :) :)

After church we went back to the cabin for lunch, rest/read a little.  Walked down to Main St. to browse the Farmer's Market and Sunday Outdoor Bazaar.  It was very interesting to look at all the arts and products people create.  

Hubby cooked us a nice BBQ dinner on the deck!  Thoroughly enjoyed a restful peaceful day.

Nice easy recovery jog with hubby on Poison Creek Trail.  Ran up south to the roundabout which is 0.5 mile, turned back and ran down north to mile 2 and back to the car for exactly three miles.  Hubby kept saying, you run up this trail for the marathon?   It's so fun to show him the shoe tree and the murals on the tunnels.  Glad we drove to the skate park so we didn't have to walk up the hills back to the cabin.  

Cleaned up the cabin then stopped at Tangers Outlet on the drive home.  It was a nice weekend getaway.  Park City is so beautiful.  :)

3 easy recovery with the hubs

Myrtle

Core

Ran by myself the entire time today.  Can't remember the last time I had a solo run.  Ran down 3rd West, up Rail Trail, did not get on Canal Trail to obey the silly "no trespass" sign...hubby would be so proud of me for "obeying the sign".  The ironic thing is the sign says "your safety is important to us"; yet while I ran on the narrow Bull River Rd instead of the unfinished Canal Trail, I had to dodge a passing road construction truck and a fast moving car...clearly I would've been much saver running on the paved trail.

Busy day getting ready to host a baby shower for my daughter-in-law this evening.  Grandbaby #7 is due 4 days before Park City.  Why are all my grandbabies born so close to my marathons? :)

A rainbow over Utah Lake greeted hubby and I as we headed out the door for a short run.  :)  Much cooler but muggier this morning.  We went to the temple while Lowell was just getting up.  Took Lowell to AF HS after lunch so he could exchange the Sogonapmit race shirts.   It made me all sad again to be at the packet pick up of yet another marathon that I have to miss this year.  I am determined to get back at it.  Although my goal of running 12 marathons this year is not obtainable, I still hold out hopes that I can run some Fall marathons.

Plan to run up to AF Canyon from my house tomorrow morning and then run Lowell and Marci to the finish, hoping to get in 16 miles. 

Marci, hubby and I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics last night while Lowell was on the phone.  We had planned to go to bed at 9ish.  But hubby had to wait for a return missionary to arrive from Italy to release him so he and I didn't turn in 'till 11ish.  I set the phone alarm at 5:00am but woke up at 1:45am.  I was wide awake though; did not get out of bed 'cause I didn't want to wake hubby.  I could hear Lowell and Marci getting up around 2:00 and left the house at 2:50.  I laid in bed thinking about how much fun I was missing.  My mind was swirling with thoughts of all the wonderful experiences and races I had in 2011.  It made me cry a little.  I finally got out of bed at 4:20 and texted Marci to see where they're at (between mile 5-6).   O man, how I wish I was running up the Canyon with them.  Interestingly it was very hot at 2am and got cooler two hours later.

Got dressed and out the door at 4:44.  Karen has driven to my house.  We walked over to Wendy's house and waited for her and John to come out.  As soon as they came out I took off running.  I was anxious to get going!  We ran up to SR92 which goes straight up to American Fork Canyon.  It was good to chat with the girls as we have not run together for a long time.  We encountered a strong head wind, I guess about 25mph.  I asked Wendy and Karen if it was like running the headwind at UVM.  They said this is worse because we are going uphill.  I tried to draft off John but it didn't seem to help.

We reached the mouth of the Canyon and could see the fast guys already made their way onto the golf course parkway.  Got to cheer on the first women.  It was awesome to see Melanie zoomed by.  Then I got super excited to see Kelli looking fast and strong.  After Emily ran past, I called Lowell with no answer, so I called Marci who told me she had lost Lowell at the Half and she is coming down around her mile 18ish.  My Garmin has low battery so Karen and I exchanged Garmins as she was going to be picked up by her husband.  We did not stop our watches while we were cheering and waiting at the mouth of the canyon.  We were at mile 5.5ish so I told Wendy and John that I would run up the canyon to find Lowell.  They didn't want to run further so I bid them goodbye. 

It was so fun cheering on the runners and super happy to see Don Bigger, Becky, Erik, Karen Tree, Michelle Stringham, many FRBers and our awesome American Flyer pacer Rachelle and JulieC as I made my way running up the canyon.  Found Marci at the mile 7/20 aid station.  She was feeling great so I left her to look for Lowell further up the canyon.  I reached him around mile 7 or 8 then turned to run back down with him.  He was doing the 4/1 thing and no issue with his strained Gracilus (from Ogden).  So while he walked I would run ahead a ways and then run back to him.  It was super fun cheering fellow runners along the way.  On the way down saw Wendy and Matt Clark running up the canyon.  Ran into Danielle, my daughter's HS friend, on the Golf Course Parkway.  It was great to chat and catch up with her life a bit.  I encouraged the runners on the rollers as I ran back and forth to get Lowell.  Had so much fun challenging a tall guy on the uphills.  One guy made an off-hand remark about my exuberant running: "Too much caffeine this morning!!!"  I wanted to yell back: "Hey you have no idea how much I crave running, I am a caffeine free girl."...but I didn't!  Lowell later told hubby  that the women runners in today's race were generally more pleasant and would smile and respond positively while the guys were either grumpy or way too serious.  I ran with a teenage girl who said her grandpa talked her into running this.  Lowell sent me ahead to look for her grandpa...later found out he wasn't in the race but her grandma is...so I went back to look for her! 

The sun got over the mountain once we reached the road south of the temple.  I ran back and forth 5 times and somehow could not find Lowell.  I have already run 13+ miles when I saw Kelli and Toby running back on the course for their cool down miles.  Since I needed 2+ miles so I ran with them back on the course for about 0.75 mile and decided to call Marci who told me that she just saw Lowell crossing the finish.  So we turned back and I asked Kelli what's the remaining distance to the finish.  A quick calculation shows that I would be about a mile short.  Interestingly as I "crossed" the side of the finish arch, the Garmin showed 15 miles.  So I made my way running thru the crowds on the grass to the track and ran 3.5 laps till the Garmin read 16 miles.   Karen's Garmin does not have mile split set up, just time, distance and average pace.  Dang!  I was hoping to see how fast I was going on the track!  Anyway, total time of  2:53:39 which includes the standing around at the mouth of the canyon, AP of 10:51 and max pace of 6:40 which are totally meaningless. Well, 16 miles in the bag. 

Waited for the award ceremony while chatted with a few friends.  So many FRBers took podium, very proud of each and everyone of them.  Got home, showered and made a nice lunch of salmon, stir-fry veggies (red onion, red & yellow sweet peppers, sugar snap peas, zucchini and Chinese lahpcheung), salad, rice.  Foot is feeling fine.  Will know better tomorrow.  So glad Lowell finished Sogonapmit without problem....he's taking a nap right now! :)

*************

I don't know how to handle the mixed bag of emotions flooding me since my stress fracture.  I feel such immense sadness for missing UVM, AF Canyon1/2 and Sogonapmit, the races that are close to home and to my heart as so many of my friends run in them and I have had such fond memories in past years.  On the one hand I wanted to hide and feel sorry for my self yet on the other hand I wanted to offer whatever help and support I could.  The later brought me tremendous joy.  I feel extremely grateful for the ability to run (albeit slow).  Yet I felt so very jealous standing around the finish.  I guess I really crave the satisfaction of having finished a race.  I know I am addicted to marathons.  I truly hope that I can continue to run and share the joy of running 'till the day I die! :)  On a side note, I would've volunteered in these races if I wasn't housing/running with Lowell.  I did help out a bit yesterday at the packet pickup while Lowell was waiting for the RD to go home to get last year's medals that he wanted an extra set of.  The RD's wife gave me a free bread coupon, she didn't know I wasn't running the race! :)

Hubby ran with me to meet Karen for easy recovery run and exchange Garmins at 7am. We were chatting away running easily east to Smith's then down and up trail next to SR 92, turned around to head back west once we reached the top.  With about 0.75 mile left before reaching my home, on 3200N by the Stake Center, my heart suddenly went into tachycardia, beating so fast that it felt like it would jump right out of my throat.  After I rounded the corner onto 600E, told Karen I had to walk because my heart was pounding so fast.  I could feel its rapid pulsating over my chest wall.  It was very scary even though I did not feel dizzy or any shortness of breath.  The strange thing is I was not running fast at all, (no pace because my Garmin is dead), in fact I was talking in full sentences the whole time about our upcoming plans for Fall marathons. 

This is the 3rd time in the last 16 months that I experience this alarming tachycardia.  I went back on my blog and found out that the other two episodes happened on March 29, 2011 and March 15 of this year.  The first episode was at mile 6.5 of a 12 miler on Bull River heading east after just cresting the 1200W hill.  Karen was with me.  The heart rate calmed down after walking a bit.  It was noted that the remaining miles were death march.  I felt drained and fatigued the next day.  Went to doc to get some Symbicort and the receptionist insisted that I had my O2 Sat checked because my breathing was labor, at the time I think I had broncho irritation.  I told the doc. of my tachycardia episode so he got an EKG to make sure there's no arrythmia.  The second episode was nearly a year later running on trail down from Traverse Mountain with Karen and Wendy.  Again the heart suddenly pounding rapidly as if it would jump right of my chest.  I stopped running; but no dizziness or shortness of breath.  However the last mile home felt hard.  Again felt drained during the day.

Today's episode was a bit more worrisome because it lasted much longer.  I walked the last 0.5 home and stood outside talking with Karen for another 5 min.  Upon getting in the house, I sat down petting my cat trying to relax; but the heart kept on pounding away.  Hubby told me to get the blood pressure monitor to check the B/P and HR.  The heart was going so fast that the monitor could not get any readings.  I got my stetascope out to listen to my heart and count the beats.  It reached 150 beats in 30 seconds; that was at least half hour since I stopped running.  I felt ok, no shortness of breath, just an uneasy and queasy feeling, like death-looming-nauscious-scary feeling.  I asked hubby to take me to the ER; but he said I would get better care going to the doctor especially since it's around 8:30am and there'd be no one at the doc's.  Turned out he's right.

On the drive to the doc (about 15-20 min.) I kept trying to take B/P and HR readings with the B/P machine with no success; and listened my heart with the stetascope.  The staff got me in right away and was unsuccessful in getting any B/P HR readings from neither the B/P machine nor the oximeter.  They grabbed the doc who also couldn't get any readings but confirmed that I definitely was experiencing tachycardia.  It took a while to locate the EKG machine and the charger.  As soon as the nurse put the EKG leads on me, my HR dropped.  My EKG result showed normal sinus rhythm with a HR of 66.  The entire tachycardia episode lasted about 90 min.,  clearly much longer than the last two episodes.  It left me feeling completely drained.  After I got home, I tried to do some core exercise while watching the Olympic swimming qualifying events but promptly fell asleep...so weak and fatigued.

The doc. said that he would consult a cardiologist.  Since it happened infrequently for no ryhmn nor reason other than that I was running, a halter monitor would not be useful.  He also doubt that the cardiologist would recommend angiogram since I have no angina nor eschymia nor other symptom such as shortness of breath or chest pain.  The only suggestion he made was that I should always run with someone.  Thankfully all three episodes happened close to home and I was with Karen. 

I think I'll wear my HR monitor which I haven't done the last 4 years.  I'll carry a cell phone when running alone, and resume taking liquid iron. 

Ran with Karen and Wendy on the rail trail Bull River loop.  Slow, conversational run.  Yesterday's tachycardia episode took a lot out of me.  Not going to worry about pace as I'm just trying to build back the base miles.  

My doctor called me, first thing he said was:  "How was your run?" :) :) :)  Then he told me he talked to a cardiologist who said that sometimes marathon runners experience atrial fibulation that resolve itself.  The cardiologist office will call and set up appointment for me to see him and determine what kind of tests/monitoring I'll need. 

**********update*********

Dr. Carter, the cardiologist, called me this afternoon.  He will see me tomorrow at 1pm to get a history and to determine if/what kind of ECG is needed.  He is concerned that there might be myocardial fibrosis in the atrium.  I am not too worried.