New HR peak, not to be repeated

This weekend I was in Cambridge for my mum's boyfriend's 70th birthday. If it seems odd to be calling a 70 year old man, a 'boyfriend', then hold that thought, cause I'm coming back to it.

The Cambridge Park Run wasn't on, so I went to the Wimpole Estate one. The loveliest location for a run, through fields, beside a lake and up some fairly steep hills. I felt pretty good, although my time was one of my worst, nearly 3 minutes. But about halfway I suddenly realised my Garmin was registering a heart rate of 212 BPM. This didn't feel like a very good idea, although I also didn't feel like I was working that hard. I tried to slow it down without walking, unsuccessfully, and at one point it went up to 217.

After the run - which as I say didn't feel too hard, certainly no harder than last week, I kept an eye on my heart rate. I went to the University Library to get some books out and then went back to my mum's house to change for the party, and it hovered around 90-100, which is high for me. I was also feeling nervous and agitated, although how far this was feedback from the fact that my heart was feeling odd and I was worrying about it, I don't know. I was also nervous about the party, as I was on my own (W was away for his grandmother's 93rd birthday) and knew I would have to be making a lot of small talk, which I don't really like doing.

The party was quite fun, although as there were about 60 people there, it felt quite full-on and as ever there was very little opportunity to talk to the people I really care about, i.e. my mother and my siblings and their families. I was sitting next to some quite interesting people however, and the food was absolutely delicious (this was at Hotel Felix, which I would recommend). Anyway, the highlight of the evening, which unfortunately happened while I was out of the room, was that mu mother and her partner announced that the previous Thursday they had got married! Cue a combination of disbelief and congratulations. I am still in a sort of shock, although obviously very happy for them.

Sunday morning, I went for a 4 mile run, which went without wierd heartbeats and was very enjoyable. So I managed 9 miles this week, which wasn't too bad, although not at all according to plan.