the heart of the matter

One of the great things about working in Japan is the annual health check. A full medical examination including, eyes, ears, blood tests, x-rays and electrocardiagram. Free for everyone.

The idea is to catch a problem before it becomes serious.

My results came through. Like my school report! All "A"s except for one "D". Not Art this time! A "D" for the electrocardiagram.

If your resting HR is below 60, this rings the alarm bells.

Competitive endurance athletes often have resting HR below this.

In a phenomenon known as "sports heart", the heart muscle strengthens. The heart pumps harder, pumping more blood each time. Therefore the heart can beat slower at rest.

However, a diseased heart can produce similar symptoms, so it's important to have more tests.

On Friday I went in for further analysis. I'm lucky to have many friends at the hospital. Dr. Shin Imazato talked me through it. The further analysis:

• a blood test
• another electrocardiagram
• ultrasound analysis of the arteries in the neck
• ultrasound analysis of the heart
• 24 hour surveillance

Lieing on the bed for the electrocardiagram I wasn't as surprised as the nurse to see a HR of 40 bpm. The ultrasound showed a heart which pumps 150 percent stronger than average. The blood test showed no markers for heart disease.

In and out in less than an hour. Quicker than a haircut!

All signs are good but the 24 hour monitoring is necessary. Shin asked me to do a typical day. Some hard training and drink a few beers! Doctor's orders!

On Friday afternoon an easy ride. Just one hard effort. A 170 LTHR climb of Komura pass.

Asaren with Nishihiro san on Saturday. Still coughing and spluttering. The first hour is a pipe opener. 2 hard efforts on the 2 climbs of the day.

I'm looking forward to looking at the 24h data with Shin.

Friday's training: road (60 km, 500 m climbing)

Saturday's training: Road (90 km)

Race tomorrow! We'll see how it goes!