jollies

I'm off on my hols this evening. We're going to stay in a challet in the village of Bourg D'Oisans, which is at the foot of Alpe D'Huez.
I'm really looking forward to some family time and some cycling time with Colin. We won't be doing Alpe D'Huez together but I shall watch him go up it and he's going to drive me to the top so that I can descend it. I've posted on the Grenoble Cycling website and have a few suggestions for flattish routes in the area. This is a big week for Colin as he always said that if he struggled too much on the Alpe, he wouldn't do the Etape.
Really looking forward to some fresh mountain air, fine french food and wine and just chillin with the kids. (Although it's been like world war 3 in here today with all 4 of them at home)

Slow Bicycles

Last Wednesday was my first longer ride trying to stay beneath the cardiologist imposed limit of 120bpm - and gawwwwd, it was hard work. I feel like I'm practically stationary now, just dawdling along where I used to fly. Cyclists pass me frequently and I feel the urge to explain why I'm going so slow - of course I don't do this but the feeling is there. I readily engage my lowest gear on hills and I twiddle up, trying and failing to stay below 120bpm. On my ride last week I spent an hour over 120bpm, avg was 118.

Within the last hour I heard the good news from the Cardiologist that my scan looked absolutely normal and the treatment can go ahead as planned. All I'm waiting for now is the blood test results and then bring on the rat poison!

Road to Wales

Unfortunately, the results of the echocardiogram were not available last night so the picture is not yet clear. The exercise ECG showed the huge spike that I'd seen in training and the cardiologist told me not to go over 120bpm in training until the problem is fixed. That is snails pace training! He went into more detail about the treatment as well - I need a month of warfarin followed by a month of monitoring my blood and then I have the cardioversion. Once that is done, I'm fine to resume full training - hoorah! However, that will be after the Etape. So, upshot is that I won't be doing Alpe D'huez at the end of the month and I won't be doing the Etape - not even the starting 60 miles. It is probably a good thing not to chance that first 60 as the excitement of the event certainly will have an effect on my HR. On the cheshire cat sportive I spent two hours well over my previous max HR of 165.
I am disappointed. Colin is still planning to take part so I will be there to watch and have a few chilled glasses of wine at the top of Hautacam while everyone else is slogging away. I really want to take part in the Wild Wales Challenge in August so that will be my new focus and in the meantime, I'll just enjoy cycling slowly in this lovely summer sunshine.

Nervous

Actually, I'm quietly sh!tting myself about getting results tomorrow. I've gone from worrying about whether I'll be doing the Etape or not to worrying whether I'll be alive or not!

I've managed another 149 miles this week but I was anxious on my early morning ride today and so rode very conservatively. I had a few dizzy spells yesterday and felt quite faint - watching my HR going down when I feel like I'm putting in lots of effort is a bit of a worry too.

I know that there's no point in getting worried - there may be nothing at all wrong. I've managed to maintain this attitude quite well until this weekend but the nerves are definitely creeping in a bit now.

No News

I went for my tests on Wednesday but don't know the outcome as yet. First I had the exercise ECG - the hardest bit about that was running without a bra! It was a bit like a ramp test really - walking on an incline and gradually increasing speed and gradient. Just like in my home ramp tests, the HR went up to 124 and stuck there even with the increase in load. Then after about 12 minutes a jump to 140 and I told them that it was about to go, "no, no, you're only at 140 at the moment", then a jump to 150, 180, 200, 250 within about 10 seconds. Red lights and warnings flashing everywhere. Happy that they'd seen what I'd been experiencing on the hills, I asked them to stop and after a bit of recovery monitoring, that was the end of that. Next to the Echocardiogram; kind of like having an antenatal scan but not. After 20 minutes of scanning and measuring, I was free to go.
I didn't get any sign of whether it was good or bad news - nothing at all. The lady doing the scanning barely said anything - completely not like a baby scan where they tell you exactly what they're doing. They said the consultant would be in touch with the results, which contradicted what he had already told me about making an appointment. I got a bit worried about that, thinking that they must have seen something bad. However, Coach Joe Beer, put my mind at rest - if there was something really bad, they wouldn't have let me go.
So, I go back on Monday night for the results and I'm looking forward to it. I just want to get things sorted. I'm writing down lots of questions so that I won't forget to ask them in the heat of the moment. I hadn't expected there to be any problem last time round so I went on my own - this time Colin will be coming with me, just in case.

Riding wise - it's going great. I'm loving this warm weather and riding with bare arms and legs.

Stats for April

Weight loss - 2lb (total 1st 1lb for year)
Miles - 500 (well 470 road miles and a few turbo sessions so I'll round it up to 500)
Total Miles - 1650 since Jan
31 hours cycling

A good month all in all. I'm staying off the hills but I'm still getting lots of miles in and they're pretty good quality - I don't think I'd be pushing much harder even if I didn't have this problem with the heart. I think I'm definitely going to be able to dodge the broom wagon for the first 60 miles of the Etape at least, particularly now that I know my number 2343 - excellent! I'm starting ahead of 7000 people so really chuffed with that number.

I go for tests tomorrow and I can't wait to start the treatment. I just want it all sorted and the sooner the better. I have felt a few twinges in my arm and chest but I think I'm just getting paronoid now - any slight feeling in my chest becomes the onset of heart attack!
I missed the Forest of Dean Classic at the weekend - damn shame as it sounds like it was a superb event and excellent preparation for the Etape. I'm also booked in for the Gran Fondu Cymru but will probably not be able to compete there either. What I need to get from the doctor is a better idea of what is possible and what is to be avoided. He said don't do the intense stuff but I suppose 5 hours cycling might seem intense to some people - I've just avoided the cycling that I know will bring the high heart rates on. Ahhhhh, I just want it fixed now.