Why I Run

I run for multiple reasons. I run for fitness. I run for a sense of accomplishment. I run to be in nature. I run to have a never-ending stream of goals to pursue. I run because I enjoy the lifestyle that accompanies it.  I run to stay trim. I run to guard against heart disease.

Heart disease is THE disease in my mom’s family. And if it isn’t exactly a case of disease, it’s a case of malfunction. Her father had multiple strokes before the final one did him in. Her mother had a pace maker. Her younger brothers had quadruple bypass surgeries before they were 60, and her younger sister has had a barrage of heart matters, including Afib. My mom had a stent placed in her narrowing circumflex artery several years ago, which got her into an annual routine of seeing a cardiologist. Last year her annual echocardiogram showed that her aortic valve wasn’t working ideally. The doc said they’d keep an eye on it, and that a valve replacement would be needed down the road. The road came to an end quicker than expected.

Last week, mom had her annual echocardiogram which revealed her aortic valve is not doing its job, and as a result her left atrium has become enlarged due to pressure/volume overload from a stenotic aortic valve. The valve has narrowed with calcium deposits and age, so it can no longer effectively pump blood. In her case, valve failure is not part of heart disease, but the result of use over time; wear and tear. I like to think of it as her being born with a generic valve instead of a name brand valve.  The cardiologist scheduled a heart catheterization to ascertain if there is anything else that needs to be done with the heart when they go in to replace the valve. He also ordered her to not run, lift or walk too fast. He said there is a 2% chance of sudden death while doing nothing.

Yesterday was the catheterization, which found her heart to be in tiptop shape aside from the junky valve. Surgery has been set for Tuesday 4/28/15 at St. Luke’s. Surgery will take about 2.5 hours. It is unclear yet if she will need her sternum cracked open for this surgery or if they’ll be able to do a less invasive procedure. When she awakens, she might moo or oink with her new biologic valve made from cow or pig pericardial tissue. The new valve is expected to last 15-20 years, and should help her pick up some speed in future 5k’s.

Of note is that my mom has not been symptomatic. There has been no sudden shortness of breath, noticeable reduction in stamina or fatigue. This is probably due to her fitness level and to the imperceptible adaptation of her body to the day-by-day decline of the valve failure. Mom looks forward to having a new and improved valve and to toeing the line for the Rock-N-Sole 10kon 6/13/15!

Thunderdome

After 8 years on my own, I'm super excited to up my game with a running coach. For years, the generic plans offered by Hal Higdon and others helped me build up my mileage, incorporate speed work and quicken my pace, but there comes a time when you plateau with the cookie cutter plans and/or you reach a state of overtraining as I nearly did. Not wanting to return to those old ways of training, not wanting to continue with the low heart rate approach and tired of trying to synthesize all the information I know into an effective plan, I'm hiring a reputed running coach - Matt Thull of Thunderdome Running based out of Milwaukee. 

Matt has 25+ years of experience running and coaching. He's worked with people coming fresh off the couch, to high school students, to elite level athletes, to professional level runners. He will create a plan specific to my needs. Unlike the cookie cutter plans, my plan will take into considerations the other physical activities I do each week - 1 hour biking, 1 hour yoga, 1 hour dance, 6-7 hours walking, 3+ hours weight lifting, yard work, etc. - as those activities also strengthen or wear down the body in relation to running loads. 

Coaching nowadays is mainly done by email unless you live in a massive metropolis where a coach could piece together a large enough client base within a small radius. Matt charges $95 for one month of training (a drop in the bucket after spending $100/wk on personal training for the past 3+ years!). He will email me a detailed 6-7 page training plan and we will have email contact 2-3 times per week to track how training is going. I've determined that I will start working with him the week of May 11th. This allows me a solid week of recovery from the May 2nd Cheezy Half Marathon. Matt promises me I will be training smarter and will see results if I put in the effort, which we all know I will! He cautions some of the training runs will be hard, with the idea of overshooting race day efforts in some training runs so that race day exertion feels comfortable, which inevitably leads to more fun and more confidence. I like the sound of that☺

My primary goals with Matt are threefold:

1) Get back to a faster overall pace

2) Avoid overtraining

3) Set a half marathon road PR

Since my next 2 half's will be trail races, we're targeting my November 1st half marathon as the target PR. If you're doing quick math, you'll see that I intend to be working with him for at least 6 months, though I'm told a year of coaching can yield startling results, so I'm inclined to stick with him if I'm happy with my progress by November. 

By the way, Matt is no running lackey who had to turn to coaching to keep his toe in the running world. Look at his accomplishments and PR's listed below - this dude runs sub 5-minute miles as easily as he breathes oxygen!

Tattoo #12

Sitting 1 of 2. What you see here is 3 hours of jarring pain. My hardest-to-endure tattoo thus far. Joe can in large part be thanked for this pain. It was whilst backpacking in the cold rainy Colorado Rockies last summer that Joe made the mistake of pointing out I still had open real estate on my outer lower left leg. This innocent observation set my mind in motion. I perseverated on how to develop this space until it dawned on me that a tribute to my love of backpacking the mountainous Western wilderness was just what this leg needed. I spent the autumn searching images on the Internet that captured my vision - I love the pine trees and ravens found at altitude. Joe sealed the deal for my painfest by giving me a $100 gift token towards this tattoo (tats are about $100/hr, but George only charged $180 for today). Strategically planned to be done after running tight's season (tights could ruin a healing tattoo by pulling scabs off and ripping color out in the process), and after one race, but before another, I consulted with my artist, George. I brought him three different images to impart what I wanted and he agreed it could work and today was the day to make it so. George drew all of this on my leg free style, and it was perfect on his first draft. Next, the silent needles began to tear through my flesh, sending jolts of pain through my body. At times my leg jumped involuntarily with a nervous system gone awry. I found the best way to cope was to dull all other senses. I closed my eyes, tuned out sound, pulled my free leg  in towards my chest and wrapped my arms around my torso - one arm gripping  my side... the other holding onto the chair for dear life. And I practiced good yoga breathing ☺

While I have facetiously thanked Joe for indirectly causing me pain, I do have to thank him for sacrificing a precious Saturday for me. First it was hammering out a 10-mile run, then rushing over to a running expo at Fleet Feet where we met my future running coach (more on that in another blog!) and then to Waukesha Tattoo Company. 

Just hours into this tattoo, people have begun to ask about the character beneath the roots. The symbol is the word for "Joy" in Japanese. It is an old tattoo that I had done to reflect my involvement in and love for the martial arts. The fact that it is surrounded by the roots of this tree means nothing - it's just a matter of fitting the tree in around this existing ink. The next round of ink will flow in one month, finishing the top of the tree and the back branches that wrap around the side of my leg to my calf. I'll post another picture of the completed project then. Off to bed now and to find a position in which this doesn't hurt too much when touching the sheets!