I guess I really should have started this blog at the beginning of my journey. In January of 2009 at 43 years old I was hospitalized and found to have a blockage of my femoral artery. Two months after that little set back I did an indoor Triathalon that I was training for with my docs approval....I survived and it wasn't too bad. In May of that year I decided to run Race for your Memories in honor of my father who died of Alzheimers in January 2008. Just a little 5K....STRAIGHT UP HILL! I'm not kidding! I was one of those looking to barf in a bucket at the finish line and I couldn't walk for a week! That kinda turned me off to this whole running thing...dang, it hurt! But then I looked back and realized...I didn't really have a clue what I was doing and didn't train! I just ran.....Word to the wise....TRAIN! I picked up every running book I could...searched the internet and talked to every runner I came across....DO YOUR RESEARCH!
I have the worldest GREATEST Cardiologist and at one of my appointment in May 2010 I say..... "So -- I want to run the Detroit Half Marathon in October" In which he replies..."Great! Have fun!"......(ok -- not the response I was expecting....).... so I continue...."No really.....I want to celebrate the life God has given me and show I something to celebrate"....again he replies...."Go for it".....(apparently is wasn't getting my fear and the whole not wanting to die thing)....so I say...."3 people died last year at this race ya know".....Then I got THE ANSWER! "Yes, people die running races, people also die sleeping, grocery shopping and sitting on their couch, only God knows when you are going to die...that's up to him. Those people very well may have died that morning if they were sitting on their couch and not running a marathon.....don't let the fear of dying stop you!" YES! Exactly what I needed to hear! So now I needed details and info on what I needed to do to actually do it....besides training of course!
In a nutshell -- I good heart rate monitor, watch your heart rate, when it's too high...slow down! (Simple enough)....also remember your heart is a muscle! It needs to be warmed up like any other muscle.....Don't take off full tilt without warming it up first....makes sense. Now I am an outdoor runner in Michigan. I don't have a treadmill or access to one...(what I will always refer to as the Dreadmill)....Michigan winters are cold! COVER YOUR MOUTH! Warm the air before it enters your lungs.....Think of your nice little heart beating along all toasting warm and then Boom.....A shock of freezing cold air! Yep, that will do some damage. I also notice the colder it is the higher my heart rate...so I tend to walk fast or a very slow jog....It can be frustrating but it's better than the alternative!
My first Cardio appointment following the Half Marathon I took my medal in to show him I did it....(I carried it in my purse for awhile and showed every doctor I saw from my surgeon for the lymphnodes to my primary care doctor) He was beaming with excitment and even took a picture of me with it!
So now everytime I see my doc I fill him in on races I want to do....and what I have done.....he says he wishes most of his patients "Got it"........you will not die from moving!
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