Fin de semana

Just watched the Obea Moore video again. His kick is unbelievable.
Just finished up my first week running and I'm taking today (Sunday) off. I ran 3x800,1x400 on Friday and a new (steep) hill loop on Saturday. In general, I was pleased with the week but clearly I have a lot of improvement to make - I hope. I'm going to simplify a little bit. 2.5 is the goal mileage for the entire week rather than incrementing in the middle. I'm planning on running on the track on MWF and on hills on TThSat.

Optimism Springs Eternal

6th day running - This was my first day on the track. I wore my watch just because I wanted to track my progress. After riding my bike to Oxford Academy, I did some drills and then ran 100 barefoot. Something poked or stung my foot so I went back and put shoes on. It was a hot day and I had taken a nap so I was feeling rather lethargic (maybe the anemia - due to my medications - has something to do with that). Anyway, I took off on the first lap at a moderate pace - not really pushing it. 1:59. I ended up doing the planned 6 laps in 12:03. Running 8 minute pace on the first time out makes me very optimistic that I will be able to run 7:30 pace for 8 to 16 miles with not much of a problem. We'll see but this first workout makes me optimistic.

Running Again

This is my 4th day running. I've been running doubles but only 1 mile at a time until today. The baseline workout is running to the local park and running laps. One lap of the park is 3/8ths of a mile. With the commute from my house, it's a mile. I'm adding a lap or 3/8ths of a mile every Monday and Friday, so adding 3/4 mile per week. Most of my running has been barefoot so far. My rib cage has been feeling pretty good, especially in the afternoon runs. That was what I expected to be the chief limiting factor. I tried running for a few days in mid-June and I had a rib get sore. Other than one little blip, no problems this time. When I'm warmed up, I have been running faster than the usual shuffle.
Also, since I started back to work, I've been napping when I get home. I'm going to continue to do that.
As the distance gets long enough to incorporate specific workouts, I'll start doing those. For instance, I expect to be able to run one hill (repeat) on Thursday. I'm anxious to get back to hills and trails.
My weight is still down at 145 so I didn't balloon up to 150 post-surgery.
So far, so good.

OK'd to run

I'm quite happy because my doctor told me "Start running" today. I'm going to start on 7/1 with 1 mile runs although I reserve the right to run twice per day. Also this past weekend, I got the GT Tequesta fixed gear bike fixed and rode 9 miles on that. It was great to get on a real bicycle again.

Heart Attack, Triple Bypass

I had a heart attack on 3/12/2011, undiagnosed until 5/3/2011. I went in for an angiogram the next day. They woke me long enough from the angiogram to tell me that I needed a triple bypass and get my consent, then they put me back to sleep. I woke up in the ICU, gagging on a breathing tube. They took that out a little after I started breathing on my own. I spent a little less than 2 days in the ICU followed by 2 days in the Direct Observation Unit (DOU) and then got to go home. I've been recuperating at home since then and plan to go back to work next Wednesday, 4 weeks after my operation. I started walking once I got out of the ICU and didn't have cables attached. I had a couple of days where I got up to 8 miles of walking. However that seemed to have taxed me somewhat. So right now, I am walking 2 miles per day and getting on the stationary bike for 20 minutes. Otherwise, I am pretty useless around the house since I can't pick up anything heavier than 5 to 10 pounds and can't drive a car.

My cardiologist told me repeatedly that I don't know how lucky I am. He finally explained this by saying most people drop dead who run after having a heart attack (and with 2 coronary arteries 100% blocked and one 95% blocked). After having the heart attack I eventually ran the same workout where I got the attack. I ran 8 miles on Harding Truck Trail. I rode 24 miles home from work on my bike - twice. My last workout before the cardiologist appointment was 4x400 meters. However, we suspect that my running history helped me survive possibly by developing a somewhat redundant set of capillaries from other coronary arteries. Also my running history made it easier to operate on me (less than 4 hours where they sometimes take 6 hours) and helped my recovery. As to "Why me?", my cardiologist blames heredity (my father had a heart attack at 62 - but after decades of smoking) and I blame at least partially my affinity for stress.

I'm told that i have no other blockages other than those they fixed (bypassed). My ejection fraction was measured at 65% (normal) the day after my surgery. I never got an answer as to whether this (advanced atherosclerosis) could be detected without first having a heart attack.

My symptoms prior to the heart attack were

• Decreasing running abilities over the last 3.5 to 5 years.
  
• The general feeling that eating cheese strains my heart.
  
• Pale at the end of runs (at least when I end at the house).
  
• Angina (now I know what it is) 2 days prior to the heart attack.
  

Symptoms of my heart attack

• Tightness across chest
  
• Sense that it would be a really bad idea to keep running.
  
• Immediate drop in cardiovascular capacity. I had to walk slowly back to the car with several stops to sit down.
  
• General feeling of discomfort. The drive home was really a challenge.
  
• Flu-like symptoms the next few days.
  

Symptoms after my heart attack.

• Continued diminished cardiovascular capacity.
  
• Wierd EKG - dips instead of peaks - once I had it taken (on 4/4).
  
• Angina when jogging on flat ground. Oddly enough, I had light to no symptoms when riding a bike, running trails, running sprints up to 400 meters.
  
• I definitely improved over time. A 10 mile bike ride early on was tiring whereas 18 and 24 mile bike rides later on were not a problem. I ran the same route that I had run when I had the heart attack without a problem.
  

Expectations and Hopes

• Given my ejection fraction of 65% post-op and the fact that I could actually do something prior to my bypass, I expect my capabilities to return to what they were a few years ago.
  
• I expect to have little anomalies with my chest like popping ribs (due to the operation) for at least a year.
  
• I hope to be able to run by 8 weeks after the operation (end of June). I hope to be able to run hard 4 weeks after that.
  

Moral: Running does not prevent heart attacks but it did help me survive and recover faster.

Another disrupted week

I went to Arizona last weekend to cleanup my brother's house. As a result, I didn't get a run in on Friday or Saturday and only a short one on Sunday. I'm going back for a week in two more weeks but will try to get a regular workout in then.

• 10/26 - 10
  
• 10/27 - 11.3 (10 on track, 1.3 in morning)
  
• 10/28 - 9.64 on trails, 1942 vertical
  
• 10/29 - 11.7 (10 on roads, I guess 1.7 in am)
  
• 10/31 - 3.6 roads
  

The last two weeks - life (and death) intervenes

My mother and sister were visiting on the week on 10/4 since my niece was getting married out here. I just didn't feel like running on Tuesday of that week. That workout (long tempo on the track) has been suffering for a few weeks due to problems with my right soleus (see previous months) and disruptions (see previous weeks). I will be going to Arizona for 3 consecutive weekends starting Halloween weekend in order to clean up my brother's house. That will disrupt my long run on Saturday which has been progressing steadily. So I'm using this opportunity to move my workouts to more of a Lydiard schedule which I was pretty close to anyway. So the plan is to get the weekdays into that schedule over the 3 weeks when I will be in Arizona on weekends. Then I'll see where my long run is on the 3rd weekend in November. Hopefully I won't lose anything and I'll be able to resume with a long run around 26 miles.
So here are the last two weeks:

• 1st week
  
• 10/4 - 7, 5@7:34 pace
  
• 10/5 - 4 easy
  
• 10/6 - 2 just didn't feel like it.
  
• 10/7 - 11.33 on trails, 2308 vertical
  
• 10/8 - 8.38 on trails, 1405 vertical
  
• 10/9 - 24.25 on trails, 4929 vertical, 13:06 pace
  
• 10/10 - nothing (niece's wedding)
  
• 2nd week
  
• 10/11 - 7, 5@7:27 pace
  
• 10/12 - 4 easy
  
• 10/13 - 1.25 (soleus complaint)
  
• 10/14 - 7.56 on trails, 1378 vertical
  
• 10/15 - 1 easy
  
• 10/16 - 25.93, 5405 vertical, 14:11 pace
  
• 10/17 - nothing (memorial service for my brother)