Perhaps it would be better to say that I got some news on the heart front today. I finally got in touch with Dr Stobie today and received an update on how my Holter Monitor went a couple of weeks ago.
The intent of wearing the Holter Monitor after my ablation was to give some idea of what effect the surgery had. Whilst I couldn't do any strenuous activity with the Holter Monitor on, wearing it for 24 hours did give a good idea of what the heart is now doing. The hope was that the Holter Monitor would show the heart getting a lot less ectopic beats.
And that is exactly what it did show. Hooray.
Before I had the ablation my ectopic load was 25%, that means that every 4th heart beat was out of rhythm, which is why I felt so dodgy, so often. What the post ablation Holter Monitor revealed is that my ectopic load has dropped to 2%, or about one dodgy beat every 50. Around one a minute. A significant improvement. I have been feeling a lot better since the ablation and that is why.
The other good news is that the ectopic beats are a lot simpler now, indicating that they are probably all coming from the same region of the heart, as opposed to several areas like before. This shows that if I had another ablation it would have a good chance of success. What the longer term implications of that ablation would be is a bit more unknown which is why I am not keen on going back in for one, but it is good to know that the situation has improved.
Another unknown is whether the significant improvement is due to the ablation, or because of my reduced training load. To be honest though I am just happy that there has been an improvement. I will take that good news for now.
Now that the analysis of the Holter Monitor has revealed positive results it is time for the next phase of testing, which is a Stress Test . The stress test is planned for next Monday and will involve a step test on a treadmill while hooked up to an ECG. The Holter Monitor showed what my heart has been doing at rest and hopefully the Stress Test will give some idea of what the heart is doing under load. If thing go well I will be able to put the heart under a bit of load during the test without the ectopics getting worse or any signs of tachycardia. If the test goes as hoped it may mean that I can get permission to push a bit harder in training without putting myself at risk.
That would be very welcome news indeed.
As well as being a day of news, today was also a day with a bit of exercise and a bit of coaching.
The exercise was a very pleasant jog around Lake Claremont this morning.
The jog was another reminder that while I can't exercise at higher intensity it doesn't mean that I can't enjoy myself. The jog may have been slow, but it was a lovely morning out and about, great conditions and a perfect sunrise. Just what you want on a morning out.
Following the jog it was time to help out Paul Newsome with the 7:00am Pure Technique Swim Smooth session. This morning's session was an interesting one. For something a little bit different this week Paul is incorporating old school drills into training. This morning the session incorporated a series of catch up drills which is something that we don't tend to do at Swim Smooth much. Swim Smooth stopped using catch up drills a while ago as it can over emphasise a pause at the front of the stroke encouraging a bit of overgliding. Instead Swim Smooth uses drills like 6/1/6 and Unco to help achieve a similar aim as catch up tries too, focusing on stroke rhythm and catch engagement. However, when used in the right context catch up can also help focus swim technique through exception. Helping you to identify what is missing in your stroke by over emphasising that front pause. That was the idea behind the session this morning.
As well as being an interesting session, it was also a good one from a learning perspective. The more time I spend on the pool deck the more comfortable I find I am giving some instructions and helping people out with the session. I am not sure what the future holds in the area of coaching, but it feels like the last few weeks at Swim Smooth have been great preparation to help me find out.
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