See Your Doc!

I had an appointment with my doctor before my rookie season.  Why?  Because I was experiencing chest pain when the intensity of my workout would increase.  I wasn't training that hard nor that long and yet I got this a lot so I would be resting for up to 2 weeks recovering from these bouts of chest discomfort.

Last December 2011 I decided to visit an Interventional Cardiologist at St. Luke's Taguig as advised by my friend who is also a doctor at that place.  When I told my doc about my cardio history (blue baby, mitral valve prolapse, bradicardia and of course the pain) and looked at my seemingly frail body due to my weight or lack thereof :) he said something that really surprised me.  'Let's put it this way, kung meron mga magkakatabing baka at yun isa eh naiba ang itsura of course you have to look further to see if something is wrong with that particular cow.'  Haha! Napatawa naman ako dun.  So to make the story short I was admitted to the hospital right then and there for further exams.  I think the most important exam was the Stess Test and Stress Echo.  Lo and behold, when the results came we were both surprised.  I have no mitral valve prolapse contrary to my tests at Makati Med and Mt. Carmel Hospital.  And the interesting part is this... I did 15 METS with a very short recovery period!  From what he said it seemed that few people can actually reach 15 mets and recover fast.  I was reassured.  My good doctor told me 'I guess you're made for endurance sport.'  Naks! Sarap naman pakinggan nun hehe.  And he went on to say 'just avoid alcohol before a race or a long run because it is dangerous.'  So what happened to the chest pain?  I just avoid high intensity workout, I don't like punishing sessions anyway.  

My daughter made a funny collage of our stay

If you are reasonably healthy maybe seeing a doctor is just an option but if you are feeling something weird or need assurance or plain curious or feeling old for this sport, I think it's a good thing to stop by your doc and hear what he/she has to say.  Or better yet stop by my doc, he's at room 609 of St. Luke's Taguig.


Stage   Speed (km/hr)  Gradient
1            2.74                   10
2            4.02                   12
3            5.47                   14
4            6.76                   16
5            8.05                   18
6            8.85                   20
7            9.65                   22    
8           10.46                  24
9           11.26                  26
10         12.07                  28


3 minutes per stage - if you finish stage 5 I think that's 15 METS so just reaching stage 6 gives you 15 METS. It's not the speed that will make you keel over, it's the steepness.
hmmm i wonder how I would fare right now that I'm actually doing races...