Running with hypothyroidism

Bluesquare

Morning,

In October last year I find out I had sub acute thyroiditis - which was unfortunate as I was due to run Dublin and couldn't . Anyways long story short I am now been medicated for hypothyroidism . My bloods have now been normal for a month . I am a back running / training since Christmas .

Anyway I'm looking for advice from others with hypothyroidism and how the manage training . I have built up my mileage bewteen 30-35k a week . I am not training for anything specific - but would like to do a half marathon at some stage . I find it frustrating as one day Im flying making super progress and the next session I'm running through treacle.

Anyway all advice welcome ?

Thanks
Blue square

sideswipe

Hi Bluesquare, I'm in the same boat for a few years now. I started a thread back then which might be helpful-
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056749037/1/#post80661945

It has never held me back in terms of training and racing. I do find temperature regulation in warm weather very tough.
It is hard to tell just how much it affects performance- I ran a 10k yesterday flat out, my average HR was 95% but my pace was way lower than I'd have hoped for that effort. I see people training far less than me achieving much better results. It's frustrating but I'm not sure if it's genetics or thyroid problems or a distorted view of my own training.
Anyway I'd suggest keeping a training diary to see if there is any pattern in how you feel and what effects different types of runs have on you.
Best of luck.

Bluesquare

sideswipe wrote: »

Hi Bluesquare, I'm in the same boat for a few years now. I started a thread back then which might be helpful-
http://touch.boards.ie/thread/2056749037/1/#post80661945

It has never held me back in terms of training and racing. I do find temperature regulation in warm weather very tough.
It is hard to tell just how much it affects performance- I ran a 10k yesterday flat out, my average HR was 95% but my pace was way lower than I'd have hoped for that effort. I see people training far less than me achieving much better results. It's frustrating but I'm not sure if it's genetics or thyroid problems or a distorted view of my own training.
Anyway I'd suggest keeping a training diary to see if there is any pattern you feel and what effects different types of runs have on you.
Best of luck.

Thanks - I think sometimes I'm getting back exactly what I put in but the next run with the same effort can be way slower . It's frustrating turning up for club sessions and having to change running plans because I don't have it in my legs .

Do you find you need more recovery after hard runs than previously? I know if I run a hard interval session my heart rate remains elevated for up to 24 hours afterwards . I maybe addicted to looking at my heart rate mind ! The problem is my watch is only new so I have no idea what my heart rate was doing before. my resting heart rate is on average around 50 . I don't know if that's becuase of the hyperthyroid or if that would be normal enough !

I will read your log - thanks for sharing


Bluesquare

sideswipe

Bluesquare wrote: »

Do you find you need more recovery after hard runs than previously? I know if I run a hard interval session my heart rate remains elevated for up to 24 hours afterwards .

Bluesquare

I think I do need more recovery but I'd put that down to age (i'm 43).

The thing is a diagnosis should improve things rather than make them worse. What I mean is- before diagnosis (who knows how long your levels were off) you were running without knowing you had an issue, now you know and have medication to rectify the imbalance.

I've always tried to just forget about it TBH. Running is 90% physiological and the other 10% is in your head;)
If I train and race thinking I'm at a disadvantage it can really give the voices of negativity ammo to mess with my head, especially in a race.

robinph

I assume that you mean hypo and not hyper?

Amongst other afflictions I'm also hypothyroid. Once they finally decided to put me on the pills it made a world of difference to mental and physical state. It takes a while for any changes in the dosage to take effect though, could be a few weeks at least. Also the level that they test you at and claim that you are then within normal range is very wide and I had to make use of my diabetes consultant to pressure the GP into adjusting the dosage.

There can be differences depending on when you take the pills and what else you take at the same time, such as a multi vitamin containing metals can reduce the effectiveness. Have a look in the Long Term Illness forum where there is a long thread on thyroid issues.

sideswipe

robinph wrote: »

I assume that you mean hypo and not hyper?

I was referring to hypo as per the first post- only now copped the title was hyper!

Interesting about the multi vitamins robinph, must have a auld google!

Annie get your Run

robinph wrote: »

Have a look in the Long Term Illness forum where there is a long thread on thyroid issues.

I started to read that yesterday but had to close out of it, so many awful experiences . I have Hyper, or more specifically Graves Disease so I'm hoping for a positive outcome as I'm told a lot of Graves sufferers go into remission after 18 months on medication. In the meantime no running but hope to get back to it once I'm off the meds. I'm making an executive decision though, no more marathon training, never again!

Good luck with the training bluesquare

TFBubendorfer

Just yesterday I happened to listen to a podcast and they spent a few minutes discussing hypothyroid issues.

http://www.enduranceplanet.com/dr-richard-maurer-decode-your-blood-tests-for-optimal-results-managing-insulin-cholesterol-thyroid-weight-fitness-and-more/

The talk about hypothyroidism starts about 45 minutes into the podcast, though I think the rest is interesting enough to listen to as well.

The gist of it is that the thinks during exercise this isn't really an issue. It's at rest that you do get affected. ( I hasten to add that personally I know nothing about this, so I can't tell if he's right or talking nonsense)