# Slightly troubling news.



## Chris Hobson (Jan 20, 2018)

I've started the New Year by gently starting to build up my fitness work in order to prepare for my 'A' race, the Lakesman 140.6 Triathlon on June 17th. Unfortunately I have been suffering a feeling of partially blacking out, sort of like the feeling you get if you stand up too quickly and all your blood runs into your feet, mostly while running or cycling. I have been to the doctor and had an ECG scan which has shown up some kind of problem. I had originally been told that I would be contacted if there was a problem and, since I hadn't been, I had assumed that it had been clear. Since the problem persisted, I went back again and am now waiting to be referred to a cardiologist. I have been told that I can still do gentle exercise, which isn't a problem at the moment, but it won't be long before I would normally be stepping up to much more vigorous fitness work and this isn't now going to be possible. Training is on hold anyway just now as I seem to be getting another chesty cold, but those are generally temporary. It looks as though I might have to kiss the Lakesman goodbye because, even if the current problem can be treated, it is likely to take a long time and will reduce the available training time too much. I'm now having to face the possibility that I will have to give up doing triathlons altogether, although I tend not to worry about such things until I actually know that they need worrying about. I know from reading the sporty forum here that many other people are unable to exercise properly due to all sorts of additional health problems. I realised how lucky I was to be able to throw myself into my training without having to worry about anything else but keeping the diabetes at bay. For now I'm trying to stay optimistic and, once I know a bit more, I will be planning just what I am still able to do.


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## Radders (Jan 20, 2018)

Sorry to hear this Chris, hope it turns out to be something that won’t stop you in your tracks!


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## SadhbhFiadh (Jan 20, 2018)

Sorry to hear that, and also sorry you'll not be able to participate in the Lakesman.
I hope you get some good news from the cardiologist. 
S.


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## Matt Cycle (Jan 20, 2018)

Sorry to hear this Chris and I hope it can be resolved.  I do as you do and will keep going until something stops me rather than worrying about what might happen but it's the right call to rely on the experts and do what they say and hopefully it will have a good outcome.


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## Chris Hobson (Jan 20, 2018)

Hey Sadhbh, I haven't completely given up hope yet although it doesn't look too good at the moment.

It is interesting that my multisport watch gives me a reading for what it calls my 'Fitness Age' by comparing my heart rate with my level of exercise. At the age of 58 I was scoring a fitness age of 54 which I thought was OK. Recently, despite the fact that I am currently at a lower fitness level, it has been giving me a reading of 45 which has led me to think that it really isn't very scientific and is really just for fun. It has now occurred to me that the reason for this impressive score is that my heart rate isn't going up as it should when I'm exercising, so from the point of view of the watch I have an absolutely amazing fitness level despite the fact that I'm actually almost keeling over.


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## Hepato-pancreato (Jan 20, 2018)

Sad news but your health comes first. A non diabetic endurance cyclist has died age 40. Life is fragile time to retire I think .


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## Chris Hobson (Jan 20, 2018)

"... time to retire I think ."
Not unless I absolutely bloody well have to. I'm fairly philosophical about my mortality, something is going to get all of us eventually. I tend to put more value on the quality of life rather than just the length of it. I'd definitely prefer not to end my life like T. S. Bundy*.

*Totally screwed but unfortunately not dead yet.


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## Womanvsfood (Jan 20, 2018)

At least you’re doing as your doctor tells you and not being defiant , good luck with your test results


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## Chris Hobson (Jan 28, 2018)

My doctor tells me to keep exercising but not to overdo it. I had been resting up due to having had a chesty cold but I've shaken it off now so I'm good to go again. Yesterday I did my regular weights routine in the gym and then went off and did the parkrun. I did the parkrun in about 28 minutes which is a nice sedate pace for me, my PB being about 21:40. This morning I have done an hour on the turbo trainer, again at a nice relaxed pace and then went for a swim. I did a 2k swim in just over an hour which again is a very steady pace for me. After swimming 2k at such a leisurely rate I did feel as though I could have carried on a lot longer, I did consider continuing up to 3.8k but decided that this would probably be a bad idea. As I have been able to do these sessions without any problems, my plan is to work toward slightly longer sessions but maintaining the slow and steady pace.

I also bought a blood pressure testing kit so I can check for any problems in that area. I haven't yet familiarised myself with what the numbers mean yet so I have to keep looking them up in the little chart in the instruction book. So far they always seem to be in the area marked 'Ideal'.


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## Chris Hobson (Feb 1, 2018)

Update. I've now seen a cardiologist, had another ECG test, been weighed and had a BP test. I'm told that my problem is probably being caused by a virus. If this turns out to be the case, there is no treatment and I just have to give it time to sort itself out. I have also been penciled in to have some further tests to make sure that I don't have a more serious issue. Mid March is about the latest that I could start to step up my training for the Lakesman, twelve weeks being the absolute minimum time needed to train for an Ironman. If the problems haven't been resolved by then I will be attending the event as a spectator only.


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## everydayupsanddowns (Feb 3, 2018)

Hope you beat the virus soon, Chris. Good luck with your training/prep.


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## pav (Feb 3, 2018)

Good news it's a virus, hope you can beat it soon and get back normal soon as possible.


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## Chris Hobson (Feb 9, 2018)

Update.
I have just about got over my latest cold. I've now had appointments booked for early march. These involve ultrasound scans and tests that involve running on a treadmill while wired up to lots of tech. I'm really looking forward to this which apparently means that I'm a bit weird.


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## mikeyB (Feb 10, 2018)

Course you’re weird, Chris. You want do an Ironman. Anybody would think there were no buses.


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## trophywench (Feb 11, 2018)

There has to be buses - what else will the strongmen attach to the end of their towrope?


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## Chris Hobson (Mar 1, 2018)

Today's update. I have only been having my problem when I exercise and I have been told by the medical people that I can continue to exercise as long as I am careful. As a result I have been learning by experience just how much I can do without getting an adverse reaction, and how to spot it happening so that I can ease off before it gets too uncomfortable. I can do a parkrun without a problem if I do it at 30 minute pace, if I do it at 28 minute pace I tend to feel bad while walking back to the car. Last weekend I did the East Midlands 10k without a problem by running along with wife Liz who is a slower runner. Swimming wise I can swim up to 2k at a nice steady pace or do sets of drills without trouble. I have been out cycling with Liz, again at a slower pace than normal and this works well, I also spend time in the gym on the turbo trainer as then I can slow down or stop if ever I need to.

My hospital appointment was at 13:20 today so I took a full day off work. In the morning Liz and I went swimming and I did four sets of drills and then about 15 lengths to bring my score up to 1k, my sports watch doesn't register kick drills so there were 20 lengths missing from the score. We had something to eat at the cafe at the gym and then went to the Hospital which is just up the road. The first part was having an ultra sound scan of my heart. It is checked out from various angles and there is also something called a Doppler Test which includes various rhythmic whooshing sounds all in 2/4 time. I'm assuming that if this test showed that something was drastically wrong they wouldn't send you to the next part which involves the use of a treadmill to raise your heart rate while having an ECG test. The treadmill appears similar to the ones in the gym but has a program that increases the speed and incline in stages. To start with I am walking slightly uphill quite slowly, I have lots of wires attached to my chest and a BP cuff on my upper arm.  There is a computer screen with lots of wavy lines on it and a machine printing out screenshots of the wavy lines. Every few minutes the speed and incline is increased and I am instructed not to run but to keep walking with nice long strides. I carried on until the last but one setting by which time I was getting symptoms and the medical operatives were happy that they had what they needed on their chart. basically the wiggly line has gone from 2/4 time to some kind of Latin American beat. They then sat me on a chair until my heart rate gradually returned to normal. The three ladies involved in the treadmill test were quite surprised when I said that I had enjoyed myself while doing it. Normal people don't apparently.

It is now pretty certain that this problem isn't going to be resolved in time for me to train for the Lakesman. Interestingly, there was a nice framed picture in front of the treadmill as a distraction for those being tested. It was a picture of Derwentwater in the Lake District, the lake that I had been planning to do a 2.4 mile swim in.


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## trophywench (Mar 1, 2018)

Well Chris - you sound pretty darn fit to me if you had nowt wrong with you but since you have - you're very fit!  LOL

I call the photo on the wall 'bloody ironic' rather than 'interesting', myself.  I'd need it to take my mind off the treadmill, cos I'd always be one of the ones they were telling you about!

There are some flattish walks in the Lake District and if you home in at Bowness for instance, you can swap the Derwentwater swim for a trip on a small steam yacht on Windermere or on a larger one (Gondola) another day on Coniston.


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## peter poppet (Mar 2, 2018)

Well done Chris, I am new on here but I must say it has tired me out just reading all this. Always remember that its you yourself who knows when your body is starting to play up and when that happens its time to deal with it by slowing down or stopping what your doing. Good luck anyway.


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## Chris Hobson (Mar 2, 2018)

I've visited the Lake District before and have been on a steam boat, it was a while ago as my, now 21yo, daughter was quite small. We have booked a cottage so we will be going to the Lakesman anyway, Liz's sister Jill will be competing as well as some ladies from the WHL running club.

My main motivation for staying fit Peter, is the positive effect that it has had on my diabetes. It has made a huge difference, I initially went from injecting insulin to being completely free of medication. For this reason it has been a worry that I would be unable to do any fitness work and my diabetes would get worse. I am deeply disappointed not to be able to do the Lakesman but I can still do enough to keep the big D in check and that is really the most important thing. My account of how I got fit again is here:

https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/tiny-steps.63909/


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## peter poppet (Mar 3, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> I've visited the Lake District before and have been on a steam boat, it was a while ago as my, now 21yo, daughter was quite small. We have booked a cottage so we will be going to the Lakesman anyway, Liz's sister Jill will be competing as well as some ladies from the WHL running club.
> 
> My main motivation for staying fit Peter, is the positive effect that it has had on my diabetes. It has made a huge difference, I initially went from injecting insulin to being completely free of medication. For this reason it has been a worry that I would be unable to do any fitness work and my diabetes would get worse. I am deeply disappointed not to be able to do the Lakesman but I can still do enough to keep the big D in check and that is really the most important thing. My account of how I got fit again is here:
> 
> https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/tiny-steps.63909/


Hi Chris, my weight went up from 17 stone to 20 stone very suddenly at the rate of  around 3 or 4 pounds a week over 3  months. I had no idea what the reason was for the sudden weight gain, I was diagnosed with diabetes about 12 months ago and I thought i had it under control after having my 3 month check up  with the nurse. I forgot that i ever had diabetes and lived life to the full. I was playing golf 3 or 4 times a week and i was fairly active so i just could not find the cause of my rapid weight gain. I stopped smoking probably about a month before this rapid weight gain but i was not eating any more than usual and i know you can add a little bit of weight when you stop smoking . My doctor thought that i may be impacted in the bowel and treated me for this although i knew this was not the problem. It was only after a CT scan that i was diagnosed with non alcoholic fatty liver disease  and  this quite shocked me although it could have been worse, I am now having tests done for this and I am now starting to watch my diet and to do plenty of excercise. The only problem at moment though is the blooming weather . I found that i had high blood pressure , my diabetes level was  high but by cutting out all salt and sugar and fat  , my blood pressure has dropped to normal levels, my diabetes id now coming down  averaging around 6. to 7. in a morning , it has gone as low as  about 4.5 once  so i am just trying to control things. At the end of the day though i still don't know what caused the N.A.F.L.D.  although it may well have been because of me not checking my diabetes. I now check it regularly sometimes up to 4 times a day just to see how its adjusted  after eating.   So keep on doing the exercise chris  as i am behind you.


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## Northerner (Mar 3, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> It is now pretty certain that this problem isn't going to be resolved in time for me to train for the Lakesman. Interestingly, there was a nice framed picture in front of the treadmill as a distraction for those being tested. It was a picture of Derwentwater in the Lake District, the lake that I had been planning to do a 2.4 mile swim in.


So frustrating for you Chris, I know what it's like to have to miss an event when you basically feel OK but are forbidden by the medics  Better safe than sorry - I hope that they are able to treat the problem, and I hope it doesn't involve beta blockers (which limit the upper levels of your heart rate to about 100bpm). I was put on these after diagnosis after they had discovered an 'inverted T wave' on my ECG - basically one of the peaks on the ECG was a trough. Things did resolve themselves though after a few months and I was able to get back into training.  I hope it's not too long before you can get back to full strength, for now stick to 'wifey pace'


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## Chris Hobson (Mar 4, 2018)

Actually I feel OK until I exercise just a little too much and then get this feeling of fainting and nausea, so it's not just the medics forbidding me it's my body too. Now that I've been dealing with this for a while I have started to recognise the early warning signs so that I can ease off before it gets to that point. I don't know if it is because, despite the problems, I am getting fitter after the winter lull, but I am finding that I can now go just a tiny bit harder than before without problems.

I also previously mentioned that my sports watch compares my heart rate with my levels of activity and calculates my "Fitness Age". This had previously been 54 when my actual age was 58. Since I've been having problems this had come down to a ludicrously low 42, which suggests to me that the problem is partly caused by heart rate being far lower than it should be. This looks great according to the crude metric that the watch uses to do the calculation, but of course it is entirely misleading. My fitness age has now gone up to 49 which, sort of paradoxically, I find encouraging.

Regarding weight issues, I lost about 13 kilos before diagnosis, going from about 88 kilos down to 75. I was put on insulin in May 2013 and pretty quickly put most of the weight back on. As I slowly built up the amount of fitness work that I was doing it started to come back down and is now pretty stable at around 76 kilos. Last year when I was training for the Outlaw triathlon my weight went down to 70 kilos but is now back at 76.


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## Chris Hobson (Apr 7, 2018)

Update. It now appears that I am on the mend. I got a letter from the Cardiologist stating that my  scan and treadmill test had come up normal. The symptoms that I was experiencing have significantly reduced, I'm still getting the odd sign that I'm not completely back to normal but I can now do my training more or less normally. Last weekend I did the Bridlington Easter Five Mile Dash, I ran round with Liz and we finished in just under an hour. I checked my diary and found that last year I did it in under 37 minutes. So I'm not quite back to previous levels yet but I'm starting to feel a little more optimistic.


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## CathyB (Apr 7, 2018)

Hi Chris,
Wow, what an inspirational attitude you have, reading through the thread has made me feel like I want to go walking right now...probably won’t in my pj’s....but I want to move!!  I have lived with heart disease for a number of years now, my family carry a defective gene so rather than holidays we have family outings to the cardiologist  my daughter and I both have implanted defibrillators that have been a massive positive change and should have been the drive to push me to do more.  Truth is it was only with my diagnosis of diabetes that kicked my butt into action, I have had to start slowly but am now walking (borrowed my neighbours dog) for about 45 mins a day.
To be honest, it wasn’t my heart that held me back, it was my attitude!  I love your ‘glass half full and a spare bottle’ approach to life, you are an inspiration and I have no doubt that you will get through this and fight back.  Good luck and thank you for sharing x


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## Chris Hobson (Apr 8, 2018)

Thank you CathyB for that wonderful vote of confidence, I really do appreciate it. My glass is now staying empty as I'm now on the wagon for the next three months or so.

I was on the very verge of seeing if I could sell my Lakesman place when I started to perk up. I've been tentatively testing out my current fitness level to work out whether it is still going to be possible to be ready, providing I don't have any kind of relapse. Obviously I'm pretty well off the pace on all three disciplines but not so disastrously as I had feared. Yesterday I cycled 28 miles in 2:08 which is close to the 14mph average needed to complete the bike ride in time, of course I need to keep that up for rather longer but I still have ten weeks. Cut off time for the swim is normally two hours and I can do that quite comfortably even now. I've just done an 11k run in 1:07, since I would have to do the swim and bike in under ten hours to beat the cut off times, that leaves seven hours for the run, that is a snails pace even at my current pace. Of course having the endurance to keep going for around fifteen hours is the real clincher.


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## Chris Hobson (Apr 27, 2018)

It appears that my eternal optimism may have been misplaced as, a couple of weeks ago, my condition came back and bit me on the bum during a 10k run. It seemed at the time that I might be back to square one but since then I have had only minor problems. Although I am still fooling myself that I will be able to do the Lakesman, the side effect to all this is that I am hopefully still in pretty good shape for my next review. I have just had my blood sample extracted and been PB tested, measured and weighed. BP is good, I've lost a couple of kilos and my waist measurement is 79cm that is 31 inches. I will be seeing the specialist nurse in a couple of weeks time, five years after my diagnosis.


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## Northerner (Apr 28, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> It appears that my eternal optimism may have been misplaced as, a couple of weeks ago, my condition came back and bit me on the bum during a 10k run. It seemed at the time that I might be back to square one but since then I have had only minor problems. Although I am still fooling myself that I will be able to do the Lakesman, the side effect to all this is that I am hopefully still in pretty good shape for my next review. I have just had my blood sample extracted and been PB tested, measured and weighed. BP is good, I've lost a couple of kilos and my waist measurement is 79cm that is 31 inches. I will be seeing the specialist nurse in a couple of weeks time, five years after my diagnosis.


Sorry to hear the problems are persisting Chris  I hope (I'm pretty sure!) that your test results will be good, let us know how you get on


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## Heath o (Apr 29, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> I've started the New Year by gently starting to build up my fitness work in order to prepare for my 'A' race, the Lakesman 140.6 Triathlon on June 17th. Unfortunately I have been suffering a feeling of partially blacking out, sort of like the feeling you get if you stand up too quickly and all your blood runs into your feet, mostly while running or cycling. I have been to the doctor and had an ECG scan which has shown up some kind of problem. I had originally been told that I would be contacted if there was a problem and, since I hadn't been, I had assumed that it had been clear. Since the problem persisted, I went back again and am now waiting to be referred to a cardiologist. I have been told that I can still do gentle exercise, which isn't a problem at the moment, but it won't be long before I would normally be stepping up to much more vigorous fitness work and this isn't now going to be possible. Training is on hold anyway just now as I seem to be getting another chesty cold, but those are generally temporary. It looks as though I might have to kiss the Lakesman goodbye because, even if the current problem can be treated, it is likely to take a long time and will reduce the available training time too much. I'm now having to face the possibility that I will have to give up doing triathlons altogether, although I tend not to worry about such things until I actually know that they need worrying about. I know from reading the sporty forum here that many other people are unable to exercise properly due to all sorts of additional health problems. I realised how lucky I was to be able to throw myself into my training without having to worry about anything else but keeping the diabetes at bay. For now I'm trying to stay optimistic and, once I know a bit more, I will be planning just what I am still able to do.


Hope everything goes well for you chis


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## Chris Hobson (Apr 30, 2018)

I have now taken the first steps towards offering my Lakesman place to another athlete. I'm more concerned that my place doesn't go to waste than being able to recoup my entry fee, although I do need another sports watch as the battery is dying on my current one. Having now made the decision, I can concentrate on training for the shorter events that I know that I can do, having completed the Brigg sprint triathlon on Sunday. I will be going along to the event to cheer on my sister in law who is doing the Half-Lakesman, as well as some other girls from the WHL club who will also be competing. Hopefully I will be able to root for whoever gets my place too. Of course I am very disappointed but I am also quite relieved as the training has felt very much like swimming against the tide. I'm having a couple of days off now but have the Grantham Sprint Triathlon in two weeks, so I won't be able to rest for long.


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## Northerner (May 1, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> I have now taken the first steps towards offering my Lakesman place to another athlete. I'm more concerned that my place doesn't go to waste than being able to recoup my entry fee, although I do need another sports watch as the battery is dying on my current one. Having now made the decision, I can concentrate on training for the shorter events that I know that I can do, having completed the Brigg sprint triathlon on Sunday. I will be going along to the event to cheer on my sister in law who is doing the Half-Lakesman, as well as some other girls from the WHL club who will also be competing. Hopefully I will be able to root for whoever gets my place too. Of course I am very disappointed but I am also quite relieved as the training has felt very much like swimming against the tide. I'm having a couple of days off now but have the Grantham Sprint Triathlon in two weeks, so I won't be able to rest for long.


A wise decision Chris, I think you'd feel even more disappointed if you tried the full Ironman and failed to complete. Good luck in Grantham!


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## Chris Hobson (May 10, 2018)

I've now sold my Lakesman place, I got about half of my entry fee for it. I have already put the money towards a new sports watch as the battery was gradually dying on my current one. The new one has much more tech so I'm going to have to spend a bit of time learning how to operate it. Meanwhile I have perked up again and have been swimming 1500 metres in about 42 minutes and cycling home from work in just over 40 minutes. Both of these are close to my best times before I started having problems. I still know that I have made the correct decision to withdraw, I haven't been able to do anything like enough training and it is just not realistic to try to do such a tough event without being fully fit, especially for someone who is pushing sixty. Maybe next year.


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## Chris Hobson (May 13, 2018)

I did the Grantham Sprint Triathlon today. My problem has been gradually improving and, as a result, I have recently been able to exercise a little more normally than before. Today's event was the first time that I have been able to go out without having to take it a little easy in case I have problems. My best time for this distance is 1:16, this was achieved at Goole, a couple of years ago, on a fairly flat course. Today the cycle course was quite hilly, I stopped to help Liz as the chain had come off her bike. The run course was flat but I had to stop to take a piece of grit out of my shoe. I still managed a time of 1:27. I am totally over the moon with this result, despite not having been able to train properly since the start of the year I feel as though I'm back on course. The fact that the guy who won my age group did it in 58 minutes hasn't dampened my spirits in the slightest. I'm sixty in September so I will be moving up into a new age group, not that that will help.


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## PhoebeC (May 14, 2018)

Well done Chris!


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## everydayupsanddowns (May 14, 2018)

Great that you are continuing to see improvement. 

AMAZING result in the triathlon - big congrats for that!

Shame about the Lakesman, but enjoy your new gadget


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## Chris Hobson (May 14, 2018)

My new watch is a Garmin Vivoactive 3. The Tomtom was really well suited to me because it was very simple and easy to use and I have a slightly uneasy relationship with modern technology sometimes. The problem is that I haven't found the Tomtom watches to be very durable. They seem to have a natural lifespan of about a year and, although they are the cheapest of the GPS watches, they still cost around £100. The Garmin is aimed much more at techie types, it seems to be in constant conversation with my phone and I can even program it to do contactless payments. It also has a virtual analogue face which I really like.


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## Chris Hobson (May 20, 2018)

Over this weekend I have been to the Rock 'N' Roll running weekend at Liverpool. I ran 5k in 25 minutes and, the following day, did the Half Marathon in just over two hours. I have had no symptoms of my problem at all, so I am once again feeling quite optimistic.


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## everydayupsanddowns (May 21, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> Over this weekend I have been to the Rock 'N' Roll running weekend at Liverpool. I ran 5k in 25 minutes and, the following day, did the Half Marathon in just over two hours. I have had no symptoms of my problem at all, so I am once again feeling quite optimistic.



Great stuff Chris. Congratulations on those times!


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## HOBIE (May 21, 2018)

Grantham & Liverpool !  Good stuff Chris


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## Chris Hobson (Jun 18, 2018)

Update, I have spent this weekend in Keswick with wife Liz and her sister Jill. We rented a delightful little cottage for three people. The original intention was for Jill and myself to be taking part in the Lakesman Triathlon along with two other members of the West Hull Ladies running club. As it turned out, Jill had to drop out due to a knee injury, I withdrew due to my heart problem and one of the remaining WHL girls dropped out as well. So the three of us attended as spectators, supporting Shelly, the one remaining WHL member, and looking out for Adrian, race number 284, the guy who bought my place in the event. I have experienced some very confused and conflicting emotions. I was obviously disappointed not to be able to compete but at the same time feeling quite relieved not to be indulging in this insane act of masochism. My first experience of this kind of event as a spectator was interesting. Seeing the unbelievable abilities of the top guys doing the run as if they were out on a 10k contrasted with the ordinary entrants who really did look as though they were attempting a marathon after doing a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride. Liz took lots of pictures of the event in general, Shelly doing her various stages, and Adrian on the run. She posted the Adrian pictures to Adrian via the interweb thingy. I felt a pang of envy when Shelly showed us her finisher's medal and tee shirt.

Having taken a look at this event, I'm now thinking about whether I would like to enter next year if my health problems clear up. On the one hand there is that feeling of having unfinished business, having set myself a challenge and not having achieved it. On the other hand, I don't feel that it was as well organised as the Outlaw. There didn't appear to be quite enough marshals. The swim seemed to be very good, the lake was clean and, at least this year, quite warm. It is more difficult as a spectator to judge the bike section but Shelly said that she had few problems. The run section seemed to be passing through some rather busy areas traffic wise and, looking at the area, it seemed as though the run could have been totally off road as there were numerous woodland trails including a ten mile path around the lake. There is also the issue of the unpredictable Lake District weather. Back home the weather has been fine. In Keswick it was heavy cloud and occasional rain over the whole weekend.

So, the future is very uncertain at the moment. Maybe this is what keeps life interesting.


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## Northerner (Jun 19, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> Update, I have spent this weekend in Keswick with wife Liz and her sister Jill. We rented a delightful little cottage for three people. The original intention was for Jill and myself to be taking part in the Lakesman Triathlon along with two other members of the West Hull Ladies running club. As it turned out, Jill had to drop out due to a knee injury, I withdrew due to my heart problem and one of the remaining WHL girls dropped out as well. So the three of us attended as spectators, supporting Shelly, the one remaining WHL member, and looking out for Adrian, race number 284, the guy who bought my place in the event. I have experienced some very confused and conflicting emotions. I was obviously disappointed not to be able to compete but at the same time feeling quite relieved not to be indulging in this insane act of masochism. My first experience of this kind of event as a spectator was interesting. Seeing the unbelievable abilities of the top guys doing the run as if they were out on a 10k contrasted with the ordinary entrants who really did look as though they were attempting a marathon after doing a 2.4 mile swim and a 112 mile bike ride. Liz took lots of pictures of the event in general, Shelly doing her various stages, and Adrian on the run. She posted the Adrian pictures to Adrian via the interweb thingy. I felt a pang of envy when Shelly showed us her finisher's medal and tee shirt.
> 
> Having taken a look at this event, I'm now thinking about whether I would like to enter next year if my health problems clear up. On the one hand there is that feeling of having unfinished business, having set myself a challenge and not having achieved it. On the other hand, I don't feel that it was as well organised as the Outlaw. There didn't appear to be quite enough marshals. The swim seemed to be very good, the lake was clean and, at least this year, quite warm. It is more difficult as a spectator to judge the bike section but Shelly said that she had few problems. The run section seemed to be passing through some rather busy areas traffic wise and, looking at the area, it seemed as though the run could have been totally off road as there were numerous woodland trails including a ten mile path around the lake. There is also the issue of the unpredictable Lake District weather. Back home the weather has been fine. In Keswick it was heavy cloud and occasional rain over the whole weekend.
> 
> So, the future is very uncertain at the moment. Maybe this is what keeps life interesting.


I find that part of the problem is having to plan so far ahead in order to secure a place on these things - paying for a place a year ahead is fine, but it seems that at my time of life (same as you Chris!) I'm more than likely to have 'something' to deal with that either stops me training properly or puts me out altogether  I have 'unfinished business' with the Yorkshire Marathon. Would have loved to have done it this year (October, I will turn 60 that month), but now I have this potential asthma/COPD thing that is preventing me training properly.

Good luck whatever you decide, and I hope you stay healthy in order to achieve it!


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## Chris Hobson (Jul 2, 2018)

Well hopefully this will be the final update on this thread. I've had a CT scan and I'm awaiting a report on the results from the consultant. meanwhile I have been staying generally fit by lifting weights in the gym, cycling to work early and doing a 10k run before work, and swimming. I'm now having very few problems and I'm finally getting to the point where I'm not having to hold back in case I do. I've been trying to get my 1500 metre swim time down to forty minutes for the first time (OK I'm not Michael Phelps but it's a good time for me), and at my last attempt missed by only twenty seconds. The real proof of the pudding was this weekend when I ran forty miles at the Endure 24 Ultra Marathon at Bramham Park near Leeds. My wife Liz and I ran as a pair under the heading 'Little Short Legs & Chrome Dome' and managed to clock up 65 miles between us. The course was what you would describe as undulating and I was able to run up the hills without problems. Having managed to do this without specifically training for it, I have penciled in Endure 24 as my 'A' race for 2019. The plan is to go solo and try for the 100 mile tee shirt.


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## Chris Hobson (Jul 21, 2018)

Update.
I have now had a letter from the cardiologist, CCed to my GP, detailing the results of my CT Scan. It showed 'no coronary heart disease, no non-cardiac pathological findings'. The letter says that I have now been discharged from the cardiology clinic as 'the problem is most probably non-cardiac in nature'.

Whatever it was it seems to be clearing up now anyway. The odd feeling that I used to get before the attacks of feeling faint is more or less gone. The feeling was difficult to describe, even to myself, and so now I don't even know whether I'm imagining it. I am now training fairly hard without having any problems so hopefully I'm now over it. I will be running the Grimsby 10K tomorrow and seeing if I can get anywhere near the PB that I set for this distance in May 2017. This was 47:40 and will require 1K splits inside 4:46 to beat it. I don't expect to better the time as I'm still not fully run fit but you never know.


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## missclb (Jul 26, 2018)

Ah, Chris, that's great news. I've just read through this whole chain, and i'm so glad it's positive at the end. You are an inspiration.


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## Chris Hobson (Jul 26, 2018)

"You are an inspiration."
Thanks Caroline, people keep telling me this and I don't quite understand it. I seem to be a natural exercise junkie so doing lots of exercise isn't difficult for me. As you will have gathered from reading this thread, I found it more difficult to deal with the frustration of not being able to train as much as I wanted to. I wrote a piece about being an inspiration which can be found here:
https://forum.diabetes.org.uk/boards/threads/from-last-pick-to-inspirational-sportsman.74130/


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## Chris Hobson (Jul 28, 2018)

Further to my gradual recovery, I did the East Hull parkrun today and got a reasonable result. Time 22:10 position 42/384. This is just 28 seconds down on my PB which I set on the 1st of April 2017 when I was sixteen months younger. My new sports watch automatically gives out 1K splits which has allowed me to assess how good I am at pacing, surprisingly good as it turns out. I did every one of the first four kilometers just a few seconds either side of 4:30. I speeded up on the last kilometer to empty the tank and so that one was slightly quicker. I still felt just slightly faint as I walked back to the car, showing that the problem still hasn't completely gone away, nevertheless it is hardly an issue now. The other good thing about having set such a good time was that, just as I got into the car to drive home, it absolutely hosed it down with rain.


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## Northerner (Jul 29, 2018)

Chris Hobson said:


> Further to my gradual recovery, I did the East Hull parkrun today and got a reasonable result. Time 22:10 position 42/384. This is just 28 seconds down on my PB which I set on the 1st of April 2017 when I was sixteen months younger. My new sports watch automatically gives out 1K splits which has allowed me to assess how good I am at pacing, surprisingly good as it turns out. I did the first every one of the first four kilometers just a few seconds either side of 4:30. I speeded up on the last kilometer to empty the tank and so that one was slightly quicker. I still felt just slightly faint as I walked back to the car, showing that the problem still hasn't completely gone away, nevertheless it is hardly an issue now. The other good thing about having set such a good time was that, just as I got into the car to drive home, it absolutely hosed it down with rain.


That's a terrific time Chris!


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## Chris Hobson (Jul 29, 2018)

Not bad for an old git like me. The first place time is usually around sixteen minutes.


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## Chris Hobson (Aug 25, 2018)

Well, a while ago I thought that I was posting my last update on this thread but new developments keep occurring. As it has done in the past, my fainting problem returned one morning while I was doing an early morning bike ride before work. This is the second time that this thing seems to have cleared up and has then returned. It does seem to be gradually improving as it isn't as bad as it was. For the time being I am back to training at a fairly low intensity so that it doesn't happen again. I don't know if it was significant that the night prior to this event my evening meal was a salad with hardly any carbs in it. One thing that I have been doing while exercising is checking my pulse, stick finger in neck, count for six seconds, multiply by ten. My resting heart rate is about 60 BPM which I'm told is pretty good for someone of my age. Swimming at a moderate pace brings it up to about 120 BPM but I find that, along with the elevated heart rate, I start getting missed beats. I can feel a regular pulse but every so often there is one missing. I have gone back to the doctor and described the current situation pretty much as described above. I was surprised to be told that the missing beat thing is actually very common and is nothing at all to worry about. Meanwhile I don't have any major events to train for just now so I can take it a little steady. I've sort of come to terms with not knowing whether I am now stuck with this thing for good and will just have to work around it, or whether it will continue to gradually get better.


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