Since my diagnosis of Exercise Induced Hypertension, and starting my medication, I have been keeping my heart rate while working out to 90 BPM or under. On the bike it’s not so bad. However, even running on the treadmill with zero elevation it’s difficult to run faster than 13 minutes per mile and keep my heart rate to a 90 BPM average. BTW, I feel like a total douche while doing this.
At what point do you just give up and freakin walk fast to stay somewhat in shape and burn calories? The funny thing is, I can damn near walk at the same pace, yet my HR isn’t as high then. I have to keep this up until another stress test later in December to determine my safe exercise heart rate.
This is slowtwtich - the slowest anyone here will ever run is 6:30 per mile and thats for a 5 mi recovery run the day after Kona.
In all seriousness, for a while I was forced to keep mine under 110 bpm and it was pretty hard (usually 11-12 min miles) and I only tried it for a few runs and ended up opting for the eliptical and deep water running instead. I felt that when I was running that slow I was forced to change so much of my form, stride etc., it just didn’t feel natural and I didn’t want to learn how to make it feel natural.
If I were you, I think I’d be doing these three things to kinda stay ready.
Long brisk walks (like 2 hours) with hills to build strength and be on your feet. You might be able to get your wife or girlfriend (don’t do both I tried it, didn’t go well) to go with you for an hour of it as well. We have a nice 500 acre hilly park we can do this in, maybe you have something similar nearby.
Treadmill walking with hills to get hr right to the limit.
Water running, your hr will naturally be lower in the water. Go to your lower discount store or sports authority type place and buy the cheapest heart rate monitor there, it will work underwater, the old ones and cheap ones use a 5 mhz transmitter and it will work fine. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Sportline-S7-Slim-Heart-Rate-Monitor/16537225 The fancier ones don’t work underwater. If you can’t find one, let me know and I’ll send you an extra I have.
Just ride more, if all that 1 through 3 is a pain, just substitute with riding. More than a few triathletes have found that instead of fighting with water running and all that during injury they do well just to put in extra bike miles.
I don’t have a direct answer for you but listen up; your body is a great big bag of chemicals and it doesn’t have to be. My point stems from an allergy test I had about 6 months ago; “what goes in likely should NOT, if monitored, and as we are certainly discovering more and more every day, we all have to be our own doctors.” I was diagnosed with the so called ‘Exercise Induced Hypertension.’ I had high blood pressure without your usual high cholesterol or increased stress levels. Some days I would feel like I was dead while running. Somedays I felt great, but I could not get my legs to move. Sometimes light head from hard efforts. Doc said stop. But I know something inside me is/was different. I am 32 and age can be a factor but I usually get the feeling of diet and nutrition being off just before or after a head cold. This was the same. I felt an increasingly high amount of anxiety during exercise I always felt it come and go during what I call “shit eating” or too much junk.
In short I cut ALL meat except for fish. I cut out all dairy products. I have tried to cut out anything in a wrapper. I only buy USADA organic foods. I eat what I would call plant based foods and as much of them as I want. I only drink juice that was juiced by myself. I eat smaller portions and this wasn’t because I was over weight; it was because I felt something different or a bit off. I used to think that vitamins were bullsh!t but I am now hooked and I know there is a huge difference in my performance while using them then without.
6 months later and it’s now my off season. I am back to my mid to early 20’s running form. I do rest a bit more (8+ hours of sleep) when I feel the need and my diet is still being tweaked. I know this sounds funny, but I refused to believe that some doctor that was fat as f*ck without 1 competitive bone in his body was going to tell me that 10-15 hours a week of training was causing EIH. I am not sure if I cured it but I know that I am back to training and feeling great.
Note: I have started looking into different detox clays that take harmful metals out of the body and I have done tons of research on EIH and how it may be linked to our diets though (I think everything is linked to diet and nutrition.)
On the flipside I would say that once you get to about 10 m/km 16 m/m jogging becomes easier than walking, so only if going slower than that would I walk.
No. I’m on 100 mgrams of labetalol tice daily. Did I mention a slightly dialatrd aorta that is what really caused my retirement from racing? The cardiologist thinks he EIH caused it.
Don’t. I can’t really offer any training advice - but at least you can say you are out there and doing it. I will level zero criticism at anyone who is going slow on a treadmill - or who appears to be having an easier time on the bike. For the most - there is probably a perfect valid reason be it a fitness reason or other.