I had SVT ablation surgery 10 years ago, my heart would be banging 200 BPM or just doing any old beat or completely stopping for five or 6 second! Pretty scary stuff and there was no particular trigger to start it. After surgery, I asked my consultant, what I should do now, and he said, “exercise, exercise, exercise!” Retraining my heart to know what it has to do and regularly work the heart hard, a stronger heart will serve you better as it’ll be more efficient when at rest too. I’ve been running pretty much most days 10+ km, and entering a couple of triathlons a year and trail races and half marathons…. I’m now 57 and not felt my heart skip about since.
So in short, you have SVT. I had my first incident 4 years ago. It’s terrifying. I stopped exercising for a whole year out of fear. Even now, I don’t push runs too hard for too long. I empathize.
The discussion about filming Andy's long run demonstrates a clear need for "behind the scenes" cameras; that would be great footage. With the bike riding, throw in some swimming, and Sarah's next challenge can be a triathlon! I found the build for my first half to be the worst because I was building that fitness and aerobic capacity simultaneously. Training for successive halves has reduced the burden of the mileage; you get used to it, and pace/effort/power becomes the training challenge.
That's awesome of you to tell this story. It's inspiring to know even if you have things bringing you down, you don't have to let your dreams get brought down with it. As a runner with genetic heart defects, it's definitely wonderful to hear your stories and experiences. Thanks for all you do Andy!
Interesting that you had an event straight after a meal, Andy. My episodes were often triggered by high glycemic index meals - white rice in particular. I reckon it had something to do with insulin response. I eventually had the ablation op & thankfully still running at 60. Well…jogging 😅. To think of you having that in top competition 😲!
Had SVT started 17 years old intense exercise. Never had it diagnosed until 30 years old. Chose to live with it also but then after getting into running and having it every month or two during track intervals I decided to get it ablated. 42 years old at the time. 2.5 years later still completely gone. It nice to not feel like you are going to die which is what i would feel like every time even though I knew I wasnt.
Thank you for sharing Andy something I can totally relate to. I had Wolff Parkinson White where my hart would race. I had to go into a ball and hold my breath to slow it down into a rhythm. Ended up having an ablation and now have to take two tablet a day for life. The down side is I can’t train to heart rate as even when I’m training hard my hart rate stays low. Loving the pods and vids and keep doing what you guys do 🏃♂️🏃♀️👍🏻👌🏻
Valsalva is correct. It was still used in hospital emergency departments about 10 years ago as it could return the rhythm back to normal. If that was unsuccessful then magnesium was often administered intravenously for patients with dangerously high tachycardia. Great to hear all is well and you know the steps to take. ❤
Great podcast as always, interesting to hear your story Andy. Rick, my sister also has two under 3 and takes them out in a double running buggy - no excuses!
Speaking of hilly: San Diego RnR marathon is 330m up and 400m down elevation. Running I never go to my limits as my knee and hamstrings are easily hurt and that takes forever to recover from. But in a indoor cycling session I was able to drop my stamina (Garmin) from 80% to 0 in a few minutes and then had to slow down considerably to keep on going.
Hi Andy I had the same heart condition, first happened as a 28 year old racing cyclist, after tests I was told it was not dangerous, been running for the last 20 years stronge!
I’m chuckling about the question around how to mentally deal with long runs for a marathon when long runs for half training already feel like a slog. When I was training for marathons, my favourite runs became about 90 minutes (which was about 10 miles for me at the time) because that felt so easy and fun in comparison.
I have exercise induced atrial flutter with a 2:1 lock in so it really loves to jump to 150 if it gets near. am told that ablation has a good success rate and the problem with flutter is (while it is not as bad as afib) it makes the heart less efficient/ fixing it is documented to raise avg vo2 max among patients.
I'm more of a plodder rather than a runner, but I like distance rather than short speed work. When I trained for the London Virtual run earlier this year, I broke my 20 miler down into sections. I run in the New Forest, so parked up at one of the car parks and ran out from there. Coming back to my car at the end of each session. I think I did a 7m, 6m and then another 7 m loop. All different courses so I didn't get bored, and had a variety of people from my Running Club join me. I loved it. I ran the virtual in the same way. I think there were 4 different routes we did for a total of 26.2 miles, and apart from my ongoing foot issue, I felt I could have gone further at the end. Both mentally and physically 😊
56 year old suffer with same thing...had an episode today as it happens later on after running parkrun all out...tight in arm and arm pit area feeling of dizziness...heart uncontrollable heavy fluttering..got rid of it..by having a fan full blast blowing on me and bearing down so to speak...i literally just bent down and stood up quickly in shower.set it off..Used to happen a lot after long runs taking too much water on board..i use an electrolyte these days which keeps me more in balance..i have a set routine these days on runs warm up slowly...do run...warm down...i don't eat immediately after any hard run because has caused me problems in past and never run hard or not at all if tired because lack of sleep or stress...deviated from my routine today and off it went...yep it can be scary especially as you get older when you are already well aware of your own mortality😂...but i have learned to live with it....great to hear Andy talking about it on the channel 🙂
Hey guys! I have just watched the podcast! It's the day after my second Marathon in Athens! You should come and run the Authentic marathon of Athens, it's so hilly but so beautiful. I don't know if you know that the marathon movement started from here, a village 42,2 km away from Athens, called Marathon! Yesterday was the 40th anniversary and we had some elite athletes coming and breaking the record of the route. You should look into it!! It's not a major marathon, but we Greeks invented it and it's so sad watching everybody talking about all these other marathons and nobody talking about the authentic one. Btw I crossed the finish line with a -21minute PB (4:34) and I am so excited 🙃
Hi Running Channel. When following 20/80, and you run 3 times a week. Is the tempo run considered a part of the 20 or the 80? I feel like you have to do a tempo run every week, but then there is no space for faster speed work.
Comforting to hear about the struggle with the elevation gain on Andy’s long run. I ran Sydney for my first road marathon this year which had an elevation gain around 350m 😬. A hundred more than NYC. Seems I chose a tough one. No wonder I felt the way I did during and after.
I think I found the minute Sarah lost, I'm of a similar age and experience to her but she can keep her marathons I have a new 5K PB and it's really good.
I had an ablation in 2014. It was a success but pretty drawn out. I avoided surgery for 5 months before opting for the surgery. I had been out on beta blockers and already have of a resting heart rate of 36 the beta blockers got that down to 22. Not a great idea/experience. The EP doctor had my heart rate at 290 bpm before the extra circuits activated. Took me ages to get confident to run long/hard - didn’t race for 3 years but I’ve done 5 ultra trail races since.
@DrProfX 0 seconds ago This is why the first 20 mile run (maybe even the first 2) should be all about completing the miles while building that cardiovascular 🫀 engine… no need to worry about the pace or anything… by the time you’re into your 3rd or 4th 20 miler you can play with some surges and MP efforts
Sounds very familar to me. Exact same issue here. I first though I would have to give up running althogether. Had a my 4 main arteries isolated and my rythm is much better. Funny enough when the irregular heart rhythm came was when I was sitting and relaxing. Please take care. Running is such an amazing sport (lifestyle)
Key point from Andy's story is listen to your body and seek expert medical attention/analysis if you think anything is wrong. The corollary, as someone with a heart condition (ARVC) who cannot run anymore, is that life is more important than running (shocking I know!). Don't take any risks and listen to the medical advice.
I used to have the same symptoms as what you've described and now I wonder if I have the same condition. I had it very often when I was 13-17 and the same symptoms (heart feels like its thumping very loudly, beating at over 200bpm) would occur at very random times like bending down to pick up something or whilst laughing or when I was training. I had several tests done but since it never occurred when they were running their tests they didn't find anything, they said it's prpbably panic attacks induced by stress. I wasn't convinced by that since besides the episodes where it happened when I was training, the others were when I was definitely not stressed, But since it didn't really impact me much (for me each episode lasted less than 5 mins), I didn't do anything or followed up with the doctors afterwards. But after 17 it hardly occurs now and my last episode was 2 years ago
I have an arrhythmia (premature atrial contractions) but I try to see it as an advantage in the sense that I’ve gotten a lot better at biofeedback with my heart rate.
@@SparkesIsRunning yeah I know it’s “fine” but when your heart is being creative, it’s slightly disconcerting haha I also find the compensatory pause quite uncomfortable, borderline painful.
Dave's question about running marathons. Ask yourself "Why do you want to run a marathon?" If you're running it because you think you should or it's the next thing, then finding the joy or motivation will be hard. If you've trying to test yourself and see what you're capable of, then you're on a new journey that is going to need a new set of goals, failures, and triumphs. Over time you'll look back at achievements that will make you proud. Find out why, then stick at it.
I've had regular ish (monthly) palpitations since I was 18. I'm 39 now and been regularly running for about 18 months. I still get them and recently while running a 10k race and at the end after Crossing the line at 180 bpm. I worry about it but drs take a reading and say nothing wrong here.
The discussion around Parkrun gave an idea for future episode… Has anyone in the world completed all of the 5k app challenges? Why not interview them or some people who have completed the most or the harder ones to complete?
Fun story, endurance running saved me with my heart abnormality that I was born with! The marathon training strengthened my heart muscles 💪 ♥
I had SVT ablation surgery 10 years ago, my heart would be banging 200 BPM or just doing any old beat or completely stopping for five or 6 second! Pretty scary stuff and there was no particular trigger to start it. After surgery, I asked my consultant, what I should do now, and he said, “exercise, exercise, exercise!” Retraining my heart to know what it has to do and regularly work the heart hard, a stronger heart will serve you better as it’ll be more efficient when at rest too. I’ve been running pretty much most days 10+ km, and entering a couple of triathlons a year and trail races and half marathons…. I’m now 57 and not felt my heart skip about since.
Wow!! That’s awesome 👏👏
So in short, you have SVT. I had my first incident 4 years ago. It’s terrifying. I stopped exercising for a whole year out of fear. Even now, I don’t push runs too hard for too long. I empathize.
Sorry to hear that! Hopefully you can get back to exercising how you want one day.
Very scary. So glad you are still running!
Yep it's scary..puts doubts in your mind..had it for a long time now..generally i have learnt when and not to push
🤗Take care and listen to your body🤗
The discussion about filming Andy's long run demonstrates a clear need for "behind the scenes" cameras; that would be great footage. With the bike riding, throw in some swimming, and Sarah's next challenge can be a triathlon!
I found the build for my first half to be the worst because I was building that fitness and aerobic capacity simultaneously. Training for successive halves has reduced the burden of the mileage; you get used to it, and pace/effort/power becomes the training challenge.
That's awesome of you to tell this story. It's inspiring to know even if you have things bringing you down, you don't have to let your dreams get brought down with it.
As a runner with genetic heart defects, it's definitely wonderful to hear your stories and experiences.
Thanks for all you do Andy!
Interesting that you had an event straight after a meal, Andy. My episodes were often triggered by high glycemic index meals - white rice in particular. I reckon it had something to do with insulin response. I eventually had the ablation op & thankfully still running at 60. Well…jogging 😅. To think of you having that in top competition 😲!
Informative and entertaining. Another brilliant episode.
Thanks!!
Fantastic as always guys. Really helped me get through my long runs listening to you guys this morning. Thank you ❤
So glad to hear it! How did the run go??
@@runningchannel my first half marathon in training for Rob burrows marathon run next may. Only been running since September but feel amazing
The Parkrun attendance numbers for n the UK 🇬🇧 blow my mind. My rural home Parkrun in South West Queensland 🇦🇺 averages around 70-80.
Had SVT started 17 years old intense exercise. Never had it diagnosed until 30 years old. Chose to live with it also but then after getting into running and having it every month or two during track intervals I decided to get it ablated. 42 years old at the time.
2.5 years later still completely gone. It nice to not feel like you are going to die which is what i would feel like every time even though I knew I wasnt.
That’s terrifying I’m glad you’re still with us Andy! I’m excited to see the video of Andy’s longest run and marathon someday!
Thank you for sharing Andy something I can totally relate to. I had Wolff Parkinson White where my hart would race. I had to go into a ball and hold my breath to slow it down into a rhythm. Ended up having an ablation and now have to take two tablet a day for life. The down side is I can’t train to heart rate as even when I’m training hard my hart rate stays low. Loving the pods and vids and keep doing what you guys do 🏃♂️🏃♀️👍🏻👌🏻
Valsalva is correct. It was still used in hospital emergency departments about 10 years ago as it could return the rhythm back to normal. If that was unsuccessful then magnesium was often administered intravenously for patients with dangerously high tachycardia.
Great to hear all is well and you know the steps to take. ❤
Great podcast as always, interesting to hear your story Andy. Rick, my sister also has two under 3 and takes them out in a double running buggy - no excuses!
Speaking of hilly: San Diego RnR marathon is 330m up and 400m down elevation. Running I never go to my limits as my knee and hamstrings are easily hurt and that takes forever to recover from. But in a indoor cycling session I was able to drop my stamina (Garmin) from 80% to 0 in a few minutes and then had to slow down considerably to keep on going.
Hi Andy I had the same heart condition, first happened as a 28 year old racing cyclist, after tests I was told it was not dangerous, been running for the last 20 years stronge!
I’m chuckling about the question around how to mentally deal with long runs for a marathon when long runs for half training already feel like a slog. When I was training for marathons, my favourite runs became about 90 minutes (which was about 10 miles for me at the time) because that felt so easy and fun in comparison.
It’s funny how your brain and body readjust isn’t it?
It’s funny how your brain and body readjust isn’t it?
Is there an echo in here? In here?
Is there an echo in here? In here?
I have exercise induced atrial flutter with a 2:1 lock in so it really loves to jump to 150 if it gets near. am told that ablation has a good success rate and the problem with flutter is (while it is not as bad as afib) it makes the heart less efficient/ fixing it is documented to raise avg vo2 max among patients.
I'm more of a plodder rather than a runner, but I like distance rather than short speed work. When I trained for the London Virtual run earlier this year, I broke my 20 miler down into sections. I run in the New Forest, so parked up at one of the car parks and ran out from there. Coming back to my car at the end of each session. I think I did a 7m, 6m and then another 7 m loop. All different courses so I didn't get bored, and had a variety of people from my Running Club join me. I loved it. I ran the virtual in the same way. I think there were 4 different routes we did for a total of 26.2 miles, and apart from my ongoing foot issue, I felt I could have gone further at the end. Both mentally and physically 😊
56 year old suffer with same thing...had an episode today as it happens later on after running parkrun all out...tight in arm and arm pit area feeling of dizziness...heart uncontrollable heavy fluttering..got rid of it..by having a fan full blast blowing on me and bearing down so to speak...i literally just bent down and stood up quickly in shower.set it off..Used to happen a lot after long runs taking too much water on board..i use an electrolyte these days which keeps me more in balance..i have a set routine these days on runs warm up slowly...do run...warm down...i don't eat immediately after any hard run because has caused me problems in past and never run hard or not at all if tired because lack of sleep or stress...deviated from my routine today and off it went...yep it can be scary especially as you get older when you are already well aware of your own mortality😂...but i have learned to live with it....great to hear Andy talking about it on the channel 🙂
Hey guys! I have just watched the podcast! It's the day after my second Marathon in Athens! You should come and run the Authentic marathon of Athens, it's so hilly but so beautiful. I don't know if you know that the marathon movement started from here, a village 42,2 km away from Athens, called Marathon! Yesterday was the 40th anniversary and we had some elite athletes coming and breaking the record of the route. You should look into it!! It's not a major marathon, but we Greeks invented it and it's so sad watching everybody talking about all these other marathons and nobody talking about the authentic one. Btw I crossed the finish line with a -21minute PB (4:34) and I am so excited 🙃
Thanks for answering!!
Looked up old pictures of Andy, and you can see it at some photos, like the ones from 2008 London Grad Prix. Interesting.
Good spot!
Sarah you never cease to amaze ❤️
Hi Running Channel. When following 20/80, and you run 3 times a week. Is the tempo run considered a part of the 20 or the 80? I feel like you have to do a tempo run every week, but then there is no space for faster speed work.
Comforting to hear about the struggle with the elevation gain on Andy’s long run. I ran Sydney for my first road marathon this year which had an elevation gain around 350m 😬. A hundred more than NYC. Seems I chose a tough one. No wonder I felt the way I did during and after.
I think I found the minute Sarah lost, I'm of a similar age and experience to her but she can keep her marathons I have a new 5K PB and it's really good.
I had an ablation in 2014. It was a success but pretty drawn out. I avoided surgery for 5 months before opting for the surgery. I had been out on beta blockers and already have of a resting heart rate of 36 the beta blockers got that down to 22. Not a great idea/experience. The EP doctor had my heart rate at 290 bpm before the extra circuits activated. Took me ages to get confident to run long/hard - didn’t race for 3 years but I’ve done 5 ultra trail races since.
@DrProfX
0 seconds ago
This is why the first 20 mile run (maybe even the first 2) should be all about completing the miles while building that cardiovascular 🫀 engine… no need to worry about the pace or anything… by the time you’re into your 3rd or 4th 20 miler you can play with some surges and MP efforts
Sounds very familar to me. Exact same issue here. I first though I would have to give up running althogether. Had a my 4 main arteries isolated and my rythm is much better. Funny enough when the irregular heart rhythm came was when I was sitting and relaxing. Please take care. Running is such an amazing sport (lifestyle)
In fact, Kszczot finished that marathon in 2:50 and it was his debut, so it wasn’t that bad… good luck in Valencia!
Key point from Andy's story is listen to your body and seek expert medical attention/analysis if you think anything is wrong. The corollary, as someone with a heart condition (ARVC) who cannot run anymore, is that life is more important than running (shocking I know!). Don't take any risks and listen to the medical advice.
I used to have the same symptoms as what you've described and now I wonder if I have the same condition. I had it very often when I was 13-17 and the same symptoms (heart feels like its thumping very loudly, beating at over 200bpm) would occur at very random times like bending down to pick up something or whilst laughing or when I was training. I had several tests done but since it never occurred when they were running their tests they didn't find anything, they said it's prpbably panic attacks induced by stress. I wasn't convinced by that since besides the episodes where it happened when I was training, the others were when I was definitely not stressed, But since it didn't really impact me much (for me each episode lasted less than 5 mins), I didn't do anything or followed up with the doctors afterwards. But after 17 it hardly occurs now and my last episode was 2 years ago
Sorry to be petty, but the description needs editing - it refers to the topic of last week's podcast at the top!
Sarah not getting that "Anchorman" reference at the end made me sad. It seems that I'm getting old!
Haha I know it’s sad isn’t it?! I was in a glass cage of emotion about it
I have an arrhythmia (premature atrial contractions) but I try to see it as an advantage in the sense that I’ve gotten a lot better at biofeedback with my heart rate.
I also have PACs and PVCs, completely benign and nothing like SVT but it's hard to get your head around sometimes.
@@SparkesIsRunning yeah I know it’s “fine” but when your heart is being creative, it’s slightly disconcerting haha I also find the compensatory pause quite uncomfortable, borderline painful.
Dave's question about running marathons.
Ask yourself "Why do you want to run a marathon?"
If you're running it because you think you should or it's the next thing, then finding the joy or motivation will be hard.
If you've trying to test yourself and see what you're capable of, then you're on a new journey that is going to need a new set of goals, failures, and triumphs.
Over time you'll look back at achievements that will make you proud.
Find out why, then stick at it.
I've had regular ish (monthly) palpitations since I was 18. I'm 39 now and been regularly running for about 18 months. I still get them and recently while running a 10k race and at the end after Crossing the line at 180 bpm. I worry about it but drs take a reading and say nothing wrong here.
The discussion around Parkrun gave an idea for future episode… Has anyone in the world completed all of the 5k app challenges? Why not interview them or some people who have completed the most or the harder ones to complete?
Don't forget first timer park runners could also be the first time they have attended that particular park run
@Sarah -- haven't you run a sub-4:00 marathon? Doesn't that necessitate that you've run 32k in under 3:00?
ICT - Information and Communication Technology ✌🏽
The introductions 😂
sarah is brutal 7:50 love it
Absolute menace 😂
Agreed 😂
Any truth to the rumour that Andy still gets these symptoms when it's time to get a round in? 😉😁 Only kidding Badders, I'm still Team Andy 👍🙂
I see someone managed to unearth the missing 2 minutes from the end of the audio podcast - overenthusiastic button pressing from Rick?
spot on with the valsalva maneouvre! or you can blow hard into a calpol syringe!!!
My god, medical tech is so cool 😍
Really is!!
Rick looks like a WW2 German interrogation officer
😂😂😂😂
fuck the puddle, i'm going around...
😂😂😂
Is it just me??? Does that picture behind Andy’s head freak anybody me else out? Looks like a freaky clown on my iPhone watching 😮