Saturday 11 June 2011

1492

"The world is flat and if you head west you'll fall off the edge" Mr Columbus was told before he headed on his first transatlantic cruise in 1492. All that awaited him and his crew 20 miles west of the Azores was certain death. Luckily he managed to avoid the edge of the world despite the fact that the low cost carrier he was travelling with dropped him further from his intended destination than he bargained for - no change there then in 500 odd years.
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With 6 days left to my first 100k run (freudian slip there using the word "first") Abina is getting a bit agnsty, dropping hints over the last few weeks that my heart might not be up to the task, despite the fact that I am following a well trodden path. I tried to reassure her that my heart will be more than capable of dealing with the relatively low effort and that it will be my muscular skeletal system that would be under pressure. I don't think she was convinced. "What about the guy who died on Mount Everest, he thought he was up to the task and what good is he now to his wife and newborn child who he will never see". Did I mention that Abina predominantly operates on a emotional plane - balanced by my logical disposition - making for a perfect schizophenic match.
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Her next plan of attach was the fact that we have only so may heart beats in our lifetime and that i'll have used all mine up before my time - maybe I should take to my bed and wait for the inevitable, although i'll have a longer wait at my resting HR. In the interest of giving her the benefit of the doubt and to be quite honest she is probably (always) right I replied that for the 10 or so hours a week that my heart is working at 70 or 80 beat per minute (BPM) higher than normal the benefit is that it is working at least 10 BPM lower than normal for the rest of the week (158 hours). While this makes perfect sense to me it was like white noise to her as she replied with "well you're no use to me dead" or some such thing. I could have mentioned the life assurance and death benefit that she would get but thought it best not to mention it.
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Abina got me thinking about the theory that we have so many heartbeats in our lifetime - anywhere between 2 and 2.9 billion according to this site. Based on this theory I calculated that if I exercised for 10 hours a week at an average of 70 BPM higher than my normal HR and the benefit of a healthier heart was a lowering of my normal HR by 15 BPM I would save enough heart beats over 20 years to give me an extra 2.83 years (assuming a normal HR of 70 BPM). Alternatively my 10 hours a week would add about an hour to my life, which could be seen as a poor return, if you'd rather spend those 10 hours watching the telly or reading a book. The following table shows the "theoretical" extension to your life in years after 20 years of exercising for 10 hours a week for various combinations of normal HR improvement and average gap between normal and exercising HR. You can see that your life expectancy reduces in the unlikely event that the benefit is outweighed by the exertion. A load of old bull really but a good counter argument should you ever be challenged by the flat earth society.

Postscript: 20:49 hrs -

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I neglected to mention that 2 or 3 hours a week would be all the exercise you'd need to keep a healthy heart and therefore the optimum training level for the ultimate endurance event -life, as you'd be keeping unnecessary exertion to a minimum - don't tell the missus (I reckon i'd get another year with her).

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11 comments:

  1. An interesting post - g luck with the 100k run...

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  2. First off well done in Cork Grellan! Im just thinkin based on your post if you know anywhere I can pick up a good second hand heart with only a couple of beats on the clock a good service/medical history would be helpful and only one previous owner would be good :)

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  3. Just goes to prove that the head can out beat the heart (in some things at least & pun is unintentional!). It's also interesting to see what effect the taper crazies are having on your mind!!! :)

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  4. Her "plan of attach" is also an interesting typing slip.

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  5. Your wife is right! You are no good to any of us dead!!

    But if you do happen to have a heart attack while flying I wouldn't recommend she "operate on a emotional plane"

    Then you could really be in trouble ;)

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  6. Come on Grellan. We've never heard Scott saying "my wife is always right" - who's wearing the arm warmers and compression socks in this relationship?!

    BTW, you forgot the stress on your brain in the 100k. Having crewed for a 100k runner, it's the little section between 65 and 90k that's dangerous for the brain.

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  7. Finally,

    I thought you lived in some sort of nirvana world where you and Abina existed in total harmony and your running was something she fully supported and encouraged.

    thank fuck I was wrong.

    You're just like the rest of us.

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  8. Cheers Canine.

    Rob, given your recent results you'd be better off hanging on to the heart you have - fnantastic times and great warm weather training swimming in a hot water bottle.

    Brendan, the word "crazy" is cropping up in conversation a lot lately.


    Bob, very intersting slip of the pen. The mind is such a wonderful machine.

    Scott, don't you get started.

    Ewen, if I added arm warmers to the compression socks, she'd never take me seriously again. Although if she thought they would help she'd knit me a pair herself. Yeah! it'll be interesting to see how my mind copes with the stress.

    Richard, where did you get that impression, glad the myth is finally dispelled. She's even got Martin (van Hoppe) saying i'll end up in hospital if I keep going the way I am. Could you have a word with him.

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  9. She's worried about you... which is kinda normal I reckon. Its when she starts slipping entry forms for the marathon de Sable into your lunch bag that you gotta start worrying ;)

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  10. too funny, good luck with the upcoming race... want to hear all about it.

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  11. More worried than I thought Paul.

    Cheers Michael, I hope the story is a good one.

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