Sunday morning was the Hooters 2 Hooters 10K. Arianna spent the night at my house so we could get up early and drive down to clearwater together. We woke up at around 4:45, and started to get ready. We drove down to clearwater to the original Hooters. We met up with John and both him and Arianna registered for the race. They weren't pre-registered and their line was about 3.5 seconds long. I waited for about 20 minutes. And luckily I got there early, because the line was outrageous. The race started a little late because of the problems with registration but that was ok. John and Arianna got to meet Jay who was signed up with us for our savage race team. We all talked a little bit before the race and then it started.
Hooters chicken!
Before the start of the race
Arianna wanted to aim for under an hour, but for me that would be difficult. I'm not that fast and I know I have to keep a steady pace in races or I'll burn out too easily. My goal time was 1:05. My PR is 1:01, but apparently that course might have been slightly short. (Oh well, it was still an official course, so I'll take the PR). The race started and I felt pretty good. I was keeping about a 9:50 pace for about the first 3/4 miles. Then I started to feel kinda funny.
My heart started racing very fast. I was having difficulty breathing. My chest started to hurt a little bit. I slowed my pace down a little bit. I hit 1 mile. 10:15 pace for the first. Not bad. But I was feeling really crappy. I started to walk. Walking already? I know sometimes I have to slow down and walk during a long run, or if I go all out and run hard and fast at first, but I was keeping a steady pace. I wasn't overexerting myself. I tried running again. My chest started to hurt more, my heart raced faster. I still couldn't breathe. During parts of that mile I thought I should stop. But I'm stubborn. I didn't want to stop a race. I needed to finish. I got to mile 2 and felt sick. I was dizzy, weak, chest was tight and in pain. I couldn't breathe. My heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. There was no way I was going to make it another 4 miles. I walked off the trail and sat on the ground. I felt sick for about 10 more minutes.
I realized I had to get back to the start somehow, I had already ran 2 miles. I started trying to walk back slowly. Even that was a challenge. I walked up a little hill and would get out of breath. Luckily I run with my phone - I called my aunt who said she would come meet me at Hooters. If I needed to stop walking she could probably come find me as well. I also text John and Jay because I thought John had his phone and I knew Jay did. Jay called me when he was finished and drove to pick me up. I was so thankful. I had my chip taken off, had some water and a granola bar and met back up with Arianna and John. I felt a lot better but still had a tightness in my chest and labored breathing.
I wound up going to the hospital to get checked. My heart rate was still elevated, but nothing super crazy. I didn't have a blood clot or heart attack, but I already knew that. I got a nebulizer treatment and fluids. (I do not like needles, and I hated the IV). I was told to follow up with my primary care doctor. And I did.
My doctor said my heart rate is too high and he's not sure what is causing it. I had a slightly abnormal EKG, so he's sending me to a cardiologist. Or I might just have exercise induced asthma, but since the EKG was off, he wants to check out my heart first, because any asthma treatments will just make any heart problems worse.
And of course - I'm told not to run until I get all of the testing back. Ahhhhhh! I have the tower of terror race on Sept 29th. I registered for it back in March and have been looking forward to it since then. I'm thinking of asking the doctor if I can try it with a heart rate monitor on. We'll see.
Just another picture from the race =)
