Total Distance Travelled: 598.76kms Days to holiday: supposedly 286 Days in Lockdown: 20
When I find a quote for this chapter, I will add one.
Last September I started to have really bad headaches. I’m not really a ‘run to the doctor’ at first symptom kind of person. After several weeks of the pain just not easing, I was on a verge of going to one, when a short holiday abroad sorted out the issue, and it made me realise that the headaches are mechanical – due to uncomfortable mattress and bed. Having slept for a week on comfy beds, the headaches went away; when I got home they came back. Very quickly I sorted myself with a comfy mattress topper, and poof – headaches gone.
Recently however, the pain began again, and usually after an exercise session. Naturally, this began to worry me. Self-diagnosis is obviously a dangerous thing, as you can completely miss something series. Nevertheless, rather than bother a doctor, I reached for Google instead. Where I found several articles relating to headaches after exercise. Turns out, that one of the causes, is pressure – probably as that part of my body not used to exercise. As the headaches originated before I started training I was a bit dubious. However, having got rid of them with a better mattress, there must be something behind it. According to several articles, muscle tension, in the upper body – where the muscles link up with those reaching into one’s head, can cause these tension headaches. I’ve had a headache of some kind or another over the years most days, so I’m used to recognising the different types of pain. I thought about it, and remembered how badly I scrunch up my shoulder-blades when I’m on a bike; how much I rely on my arms to support my upper body, rather than using my stomach muscles to hold myself in position. It was indeed possible that bad cycling position was behind the pain.
Today, after the 58kms training session that pressure headache got really bad. All I wanted to do was to curl up on my sofa and sleep, which in effect is pretty much did. There was very little else, well apart from a good dose of migraine tablets.
According to the medical articles, and I have checked some of it with NHS websites, to ensure I was getting information from reputable sources, the headaches should dissipate with time, as my body gets used to the exercise. I hope that happens soon, because I can’t take another afternoon like this.
P.S. Before anybody wonders, I do make sure to take at least 2 litres of water with me, for those long training sessions, to ensure I stay hydrated. So I can discount dehydration as the cause. Just in case you were wondering.
Hate To Exercise 