Great news, sabaray! On with the training!
I’m not in Florida anymore. Just a couple easy miles here at home. Nice 59 degree morning, but tired from travel and adjusting back to this time zone.
Congratulations, Sabaray. Now I have to run this morning!
Thanks for all the helpful info. I was definitely discouraged after Saturday’s run but I know that I wasn’t very smart in how I approached it. I know there is a lot of good training info available and I need to wade through it and follow a plan. I did have a couple bites of a Clif bar at mile 11 but it was so dry I had difficulty eating. I have never tried gels, I need to look into those if I’m going to try for a marathon. For now, I’m going back to my regular running routine and focusing on the half marathon the first weekend of May. After that I’ll start an official marathon training plan. I ran 5 miles last night in a light rain and it felt good. It was a good run and I needed that!
Sabaray-congratulations!!! I’m so glad you won the lottery, so to speak. It will fun to hear about your training.
CBBBlinker-wow, it must be very tough to be without a car for that long. What an awful winter for you! We have been short a car for the past 5 weeks - I hit a coyote on my way to work in early February and the car has been in the shop. It’s a Saab, no longer in production, and they’ve had a terrible time getting parts for it. But DH and I work at the same place and we normally carpool anyway so being down one car hasn’t been that bad for us. I really feel for you, though - cabin fever must be setting in!
iDad-your hike sounded wonderful! Being outside on a sunny day in the winter can be so invigorating.
Seeing MIND diet headlines. Comments?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/21/diet-alzheimers-_n_6896760.html
Interesting article, Deborah. I find a strict Mediterranean diet (which my doc recommends) difficult to follow - the MIND diet is pretty similar to what I am eating most regularly. I saw a glass of wine was permitted - what about dark chocolate? Someone should research that and report back.
Congrats Sabaray on the marathon bid! Look forward to sitting back (haha) and watching you train!!!
Abasket, I’m counting on you as chief cheerleader!
It was HOT and HUMID in the gym today- whew! Strength training class and a 15 minute run around the track.
My brother (54) had immediate quadruple bypass surgery last night. He had 90% blockage in all 3 arteries. This comes after my older brother died three years ago (56) of a heart attack due to coronary heart disease.
In talking to the surgeon he mentioned that even though my brother smoked, he indicated it was hereditary. The EKG that my brother had a week ago was pretty much worthless and didn’t show anything. It wasn’t until he had the heart cath that the blockage showed up. They scheduled surgery the next day. The surgeon said that he’ll have to be on a plant based diet the rest of his life if he wants to live to be an old man. He told me that I need to buy him Esselstyn’s book “Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” that outlines diet and lifestyle changes.
The surgeon then point blank alluded that I should seriously consider a heart cath too. I indicated that my coronary calcium test showed minimal calcification and he said that it’s not going to show blockage. I’ve taken EKG and passed and burned out a treadmill on a stress test 2 years ago and the surgeon didn’t seem to think that mattered or that I worked out 2-3 hours a day.
So I guess I’m going to strongly consider the heart cath procedure. Don’t know if insurance will even cover it at this point?. Any other folks here have this procedure? At this point I have a hard time believing I have blockage.
No advice Ohio, but wishing your brother a good recovery and lifestyle moving forward.
There are non-invasive options you can look into such as cardiac MR angioplasty or cardiac CT angioplasty, if your concern is the invasiveness.
Even if your insurance doesn’t cover it, it might be worth pricing out, given your family history. The other imaging options might be cheaper as well.
It’s interesting that this cardiologist doesn’t think a coronary calcium test will be useful. Maybe a second option is needed?
I’ve got family history working against me, so I think about this stuff as well.
Good luck to your brother. Was he symptomatic?
Would a stress echo not be a better option? I had one last year, you might recall, when I had similar concerns even though my family history isn’t as bad as yours. I have had runner friends die with no warning. The stress echo is non-invasive and was covered by insurance.
In a couple of weeks, I’m having a stress test where imaging is done using a dye of some sort to enable my cardiologist to watch the coronary artery blood flow and blood flow through the heart chambers. I’ve had it before but just can’t recall the technical name for this type of stress test. It takes about 2 hours total but is much less invasive than a cardio cath!
ohio:
I’m so sorry for your brother’s heart troubles. That’s no fun at all. I would suggest that he research diets for himself.
No experience with this, OhioP. Good luck to your brother.
Slow flow yoga today (heated) and a short walk to the local coffee shop and back.
[Video from Lonesome Lake yesterday](Lonesome Lake - March 2015 - YouTube)
As usual, full screen and high def for the best quality.
I’m out of winter hiking shape. Legs are sore today. Crampons in snow up and down a pretty steep grade is a good workout, plus the pack is heavy with extra clothes, snow shoes, etc. This if the first time I haven’t needed the snow shoes walking across the lake. It’s usually drifted.
If you step off the trail anywhere, you in are snow up to your knees or waist without snow shoes. The trail itself is mostly packed, but no exploring off the trail.
I dressed perfectly. Just hiking pants, no long johns. Just a single base layer hoody for the uphill climb. When I hit the wind exposed lake, I added a second thin stretchy running hoody and left that on for the downhill.
Ohio, no personal experience with that kind of scary stuff, so no advice. I hope your brother recovers quickly.
I am on the injured bench today. Argh. Limping. Had a terrible calf muscle cramp that woke me up at 5 am. At first, I thought I was having a nightmare. Need to dig up that magnesium stuff!
Who’s that serious guy near the end of the video? He needs his daughter to come along and throw a snowball at him. 
That is a lot of snow. Thanks for posting the video, iDad. I hope those of you in colder climes see sun soon!
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Here’s to healthy hearts*, one and all.
- ETA: and calves, just saw your post, BB.
I was pretty much blind, staring straight into the sun reflecting off the snow covered lake! I almost skipped the obligatory selfie, just because it’s impossible to not look like a total dork in winter hoodies.
Nice hike, idad. Glad you are back in one piece.
Sabaray - YAY!!! Now comes the easy part, I mean the training.