running with heart disease

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Aliveandrunning February 26 2014

Out with Cambridge and Coleridge running club last night. Usually, I feel like the fleet footed Greek god Hermes , moving freely between mortal mankind and the divine, delivering messages and protecting travellers.This time I felt wounded, as if Zeus had unleashed a thunderbolt at me in a fit of godly pique. A spot on my right rib cage  felt painful and sore on movement and when I breathed more heavily. The reason for this was rather less exotic than being struck by Zeus’s bolt or tapped by Thor’s hammer.I think I asked too much of my muscles by lifting and throwing heavy items onto a skip we’ve hired.

I ran up and down the garden path for a few seconds earlier in the day and pronounced myself fit to run and lo, when we did an 800 metre warm up on the track it felt reasonably OK. However when I did the dynamic warm up exercises and stretching I don’t think I did myself any favours. It felt OK when we jogged over to where we start our road training and then we did 5 x 600m, with a 600 metre recovery jog back to our start position each time. We split up into 4 groups of 5-6 runners according to speed. I was in the slowest group and the slowest in the slowest group. Oh how sudden was my fall from grace! The ignominy, the trashing of my reputation, the shame! Actually, I just ran less fast because the soreness increased and it interfered with efficient breathing. Still, I won’t go running again to the weekend. Parkrun on Saturday and a 5 mile race on Sunday. I’m sure I’ll be back to full fitness by then.

Today, I did a dreadful thing. I hereby make my confession on this blog. I bought a copy of the Daily Mail! I somehow resisted the temptation to blather an excuse about “conducting research” and “not usually making this kind of immoral purchase.” Why did I do it? To compare content with other papers I am more familiar with. I want to confirm my prejudices and pet theories. A preliminary scan of the news (or lack of it) suggests confirmation won’t be difficult. Working hypothesis : the Mail is harmful to your mental health. You risk a substantial increase in levels of anxiety, depression, anger and antagonism. Forensic analysis to follow.

Another interesting snippet caught my eye as I read yesterday’s paper today. Thanos, a Christian thinktank, has found a widespread belief among those surveyed that the poor are to blame for the perceived woes of the welfare system, putting ordinary Christians at odds with bishops who have been protesting about the effects of government cuts. One of the problems with organised religion is that when you have God on your side, you often feel the freedom to express all manner of harsh opinion, unkindness, bigotry and hostility. Faith and righteousness can provide excellent camouflage for aggressive, selfish and class attitudes. All too frequently there is nothing less Christian than a self confessed practising Christian.

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Aliveandrunning February 23 2014

 

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Two random pictures. These trees are silver birch (betula jacquemontii) which have ghostly white, smooth bark. There is a beautiful group of them in the Anglesey Abbey gardens, Cambridgeshire. On the right is the main house in the grounds.

Two weeks to go before Cambridge Half Marathon! Last Sunday I ran 13.2 miles and today I ran the same course  around 3 minutes faster. No sunshine today and I reckon that accounts for about 4 minutes extra plus it was very windy which adds on another 3 minutes. Several runners did not respond to my greeting which dismayed me and resulted in a temporary slower pace while I recovered emotionally; add on 2 minutes. Finally, the river Cam anglers, notorious for their complete disinterest in anything other than catching ridiculously small fish and hoisting them out of the murky waters, kissing them and then depositing them back into the water, were all dressed in dull, drab, dark, dismal jackets and heavy duty trousers. This also resulted in a brief lowering of spirits and accounted for a further 2 minutes. So, if better conditions prevail, I could run it 11 minutes faster on the day!

I certainly felt more tired today compared with last Sunday. This is probably because I am still recovering from last week’s run. According to Lorna, I should now “taper” my runs until race day. My response is tapery wapery or bish,bash,bosh. I may defy running convention and run 20 miles mid week and 25 miles next weekend. But I may not. One of the reasons for not doing further long runs, apart from being deliberately idiotic, is because I tend to lose too much weight. When I returned today, I weighed 9 stone 5 lbs which is on the light side for me. I have a good appetite but I can still lose weight easily and look thin and gaunt; more like a moving match stick  rather than a young Clint Eastwood.

 

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Aliveandrunning February 22 2014

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A tolerably good Cambridge parkrun today. The sun shone in a bright blue sky and it was chilly rather than cold. Nevertheless, I wore a long sleeved top and a light jacket with tracksters (plus gloves initially). I’ve no doubt the extra clothing has a mildly torpid effect on my running ability. I feel much freer and fitter in the warmer weather above 14-15C plus. I don’t mind running in the heat although with parkrun, which starts at 9am, the temperature is never a big issue.

Lorna volunteered as back up time keeper AND took all the hi viz bibs and jackets home to wash, at least 40 of them. Each of the Cambridge runs needs upward of 40 volunteers and at the moment they are having difficulty filling the positions. Today we had a rare, stern address at the start, informing the assembled runners that the future of Cambridge parkrun was in jeopardy unless more people volunteered and didn’t leave it until the organisers were tearing their hair out which was happening each week.

309 took part in the run today and I came in at 129 in a time of 24 mins 41 seconds. My ex-arch rival Mike finished 80th in 22 mins 57 seconds. He is now a Zeus like figure living on Mount Olympus while I am a minor deity inhabiting one of the forgotten little Greek islands dependent on sailors blown off course for company. Still, the days are getting warmer, and like a wronged and injured gun fighter (Clint Eastwood, for example) I feel myself getting stronger and preparing to take revenge. Oh yes, it’s only a matter of time before my adversaries will be scorched by my slip stream as I pass them like a dragster. Won’t everyone be surprised when I deploy my parachute on the finish line to bring me to a halt. They will beg to know the secret of my success and I won’t be slow to tell them : an increase in Brussels sprouts consumption and a new wonder breakfast: broccoli porridge.

A well known parkrunner, Terry, in the 65-69 age bracket, walked the 5K course just two weeks after having a heart attack, taking around 55 minutes. An act of defiance in the face of a life threatening illness probably but not very sensible,  I suspect.

My son and daughter, Dan and Isobelle, both got personal bests at Valentine’s parkrun. Dan is now sub 20 mins and Isobelle was less than 30 seconds slower than me. Great running, children, but remember, it’s participation and setting a good example by running alongside and supporting the slower runners, that’s ultimately important. Not getting a fast time. Remember that and slow down for the next five races, kids.

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Aliveandrunning February 21 2014

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Yesterday evening was particularly spooky as the terrifyingly atmospheric image attests. To distract myself from the raw fear of the unusually odd noises outside, I made myself a date and raisin cake. You can imagine the shock, and a sizable amount of horror, I experienced when I climbed the ancient stairs in our home and opened the door to the master bedroom.

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Spock, on my side of the bed and indisputable evidence of having consumed three quarters of my cake before it had cooled down. I remonstrated with him and demanded he beam up without delay. The sadness caused by the loss of my cake was assuaged by the decision to nip off to a 24 hour Tesco and buy new ingredients with a view to immediately bringing a new cake into the world. The journey turned out to be quite a trek. It was late at night. There was life in the store but not as I knew it. I gingerly negotiated the aisles and weird nocturnal shoppers, paid up and returned home.

On the running front, I ran 13.2 miles plus a 5k parkrun last weekend and this went well. In two weeks it’s the Cambridge Half Marathon. Lorna will be giving good support and four of my children will be running as well as loads of friends. I’ll probably go for a further two long runs before the Half. I don’t carefully taper down before a long race. I just listen to my body, man; it’s in continual/continuous dialogue with me.

Tomorrow is Cambridge parkrun. A running acquaintance in the 65-69 age range had a heart attack during a half marathon two weeks ago and apparently he will be starting the race with Peter who is in his mid 80’s and still runs. Well done, Terry. Get back to running fitness as soon as you can.