When I run slow I suffer.. Fustrating

Frustrating!!!!!! 3rd degree heart block and bradycardia. So, as I mentioned in one of my last posts, the tracking of my pacemaker was increased to match the upper chamber up to 170 bpm ( I’m sure the rep mentioned 200bpm). Begins my frustrations. If I blast out of the traps for a 5k/3mile run, I can hold 7 min miles and even go below 7 min mile for one or two of them. I’ll be gasping for air at the end but not breathless or the sicky feeling and week legs.

When I’m going for a long run of 8 mile or more and want to run a slower pace of 9min mile, I can feel the breathlessness at the “edge” and I eventually struggle with the breathing and the sicky(low blood pressure feeling).

The point I’m (trying) making is that when I run slower i.e 8 or 9 min mile, I struggle with breathing from about 2 miles out. It doesn’t make sense in my head. I should be comfortable running slower………No !!!??!??!?

My wife says “ run fast all the time if you can handle he breathing”… But that won’t work, once I hit 5 miles at sub 8 min mile pace the same thing will happen, and has happened, and should happen. That’s why I want to run slower at longer distances.

There has been a massive improvement from my last tech visit.

I’m going to ring the pacemaker tech today. I feel a bit silly saying when I run slow I still get breathless. Anyone else experience this or offer some ideas?

Thanks in advance.

3 Comments

just a guess here

by chip j - 2015-02-26 08:02:09

Perhaps at the slower pace, your pacemaker's rate response is not doing as much for you as it is at a faster pace. (assuming that the rate response is set to "on" at all) If you have a normal SA node, then RR should be set to "off" anyways. Good luck with the PM adjustments and be persistent with your pacemaker tech, until it feels right to you. In the future, I wouldn't hesitate to call for earlier appointments, rather than wait for months when you know the PM isn't set correctly for whatever it is that you want to do.

one more idea

by chip j - 2015-02-26 08:02:39

At the faster pace you mentioned, "once I hit 5 miles at sub 8 min mile pace the same thing will happen". The cause for the same thing happening then, may be different from what happens at the slow pace. The cause at the fast pace may be related to your pacemaker doing an automatic 2:1 block when your heart rate reaches the upper programmed limit of 170. Ask your PM tech if your upper pacing rate limit can safely be increased, higher than 170, so that your PM will do the automatic 2:1 safety block less often.

I have the same condition...

by Runningmama - 2015-03-06 09:03:12

Hi there! I have the same condition, bradycardia with stage 2 /3 type 2 block (mine is intermittent) and I only have a single chamber device (The micra TPS) that is paced at "on demand 50), so it only watches until my heart rate drops below 50 or doesn't "beat right" for 1.1 seconds...I am a runner too and my rate response is definitely off. I have noticed that if I run at a slower speed, I get out of breath some, but I gave that credit to only being 4 months post implant and a bit out of shape (when we run faster, I think we have a bit of adrenaline that keeps us going)?

Let me know what your programmer says? And good luck, hope I've helped!

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