Monday, March 16, 2009

Tough going after long break

I had over six weeks off following foot surgery and was able to start aerobic exercise last Tuesday. Running was tough and my legs didn't have their former strength. Now I'm getting stronger but my heart is lagging.

This morning in a cycle class I got a bit dizzy and nauseous after 40 minutes of moderate (I thought) exercise. I left class and did something I shouldn't have done --- I sat down. I noticed my that my heart rate was dropping like a rock. It plummeted to 40. I checked my pulse and the HRM was correct. Yikes! I felt fine and got up to walk around and my heart rate moved up to normal. I went back to class and finished by cycling with a light effort level. I realize my aerobic fitness will take some time to improve now, but I need some guidelines for getting back into aerobic shape. Any suggestions?
--Mark

4 comments:

Londell said...

Just be patient... It comes back faster than one thinks...

SteveQ said...

Sounds like severe dehydration (the other possibilities are worse). Drink up!

When I'm coming back, which is frequent, I set the goal to go the distance I would do when in shape, but walk as much as I have to to complete it. You have to have a lot of time, though.

Mark H. said...

I'm with what SteveQ said.... dehydration. I had one tiny water break part-way into class. I was way overdue for fluids when I had my problem.

I like your run/walk idea and I did that this morning. I ran a 6.2 miler but I walked for 5 minutes after 3 miles and I walked a long hill at the end of my run. I was sure that I wasn't dehydrated going into the run and I felt fine the entire time (1 hour).

Mark H. said...

I just remembered that I had forgotten to take my vitamins after breakfast that morning which means that I missed drinking a glass of water. I started class with very little water in my stomach. Not the best plan. I'm very confident now that my problem was dehydration.