Term Limits?

I think your strategy to go longer even if it means you need to slow down is a good one.  It will pay off in the end.  That said don't be afraid to sneak in the occasional shorter faster run...especially if you've got better running conditions (weather).  

Carry on and enjoy the cold front.

Well, yeah, I knew that I should slow down to gain the endurance.  I just didn't want to risk not being able to regain whatever 'speed' I had.  Oh well.

Thanks, Nancy.

-30-

So the cooler temperature made it.  It was 71 degrees (-10 degrees from yesterday) and the dew point was 64 (-13).  It was highly noticeable and felt like early October.  Even had a 5-10 north breeze.  It was a relief, tempered by the knowledge of it ain't gonna last past Friday and it's not October.  But the thickness in the air was obliterated.

I kept the cadence at 164, my target for this season.  I still have to acclimate to 164 from 162, but that's happening with every step. 

4 miles, 53:47, 13:26 pace, 163 avg cadence, 0.73 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 13:23, 2nd half pace 13:29
1.  13:19, 163 spm, 74 sl
2.  13:27, 164 spm, 73 sl
3.  13:32, 163 spm, 73 sl
4.  13:27, 163 spm, 73 sl

Below is Monday's run in 81 degree and 77 dew point:
4 miles, 57:08, 14:16 pace, 159 avg cadence, 0.71 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 14:00, 2nd half pace 14:32
1.  14:10, 163 spm, 70 sl
2.  13:50, 163 spm, 71 sl
3.  14:20, 158 spm, 71 sl
4.  14:47, 153 spm, 71 sl

What a difference double digit reductions can do for my running!

Seeing the first split was startling and, oddly, the fastest.  The legs were a little stiff for the first half mile, which made me wonder how far I could last.  After mile 1, I slowed a bit because I wanted to see progress in being able to maintain the cadence past 2.5 miles.  Additionally, I wasn't confident that I could maintain the 13:xx pace for 4 miles.

It wasn't until after passing 2.78 miles that I believed I could hang on to both cadence and pace.  The weather was the difference.  All of the difference.

As an aside, Tuesday, I went to the gym and did the weights, et al.

Thanks for being here.

This morning, Houston missed tying a 125 year record cold temp by 1 degree.  The record is 65.  But it sure was nice walking to the gym with a dew point of 60.  Definitely mid-October weather.  Windows down weather.  Friday morning should be around 70, as it starts the re-introduction of a Houston July.

Did the upper body, abd/adductors, leg lifts, etc.  Also looking around for other stuff by watching other people.  I have been adding 5 lbs to weights, so that's a good thing.  I'm up 5-10 pounds on each machine since before Memorial Day.  So, that's 60 days or so.

Going to do 4 miles on Friday morning, which will give me 12 for the week.  Next week, I'll start varying the distances and objectives.  Might even consider 4 day running (M-W-Th-F) and 2 day gym (T-Th).  Whew!    Ought to be interesting.

Y'all have a good weekend.

Last Friday, I wanted to run 4 miles, but did 3.  I think I wanted a good cadence over distance.  It was the last morning of non-normal temps, 71 degrees with a dew point of 73, which is 10 degrees below the norm.

I set the cadence at 164.

3 miles, 41:38, 13:52 pace, 163 avg cadence, 0.71 m avg stride length
1.  13:43, 163 spm, 72 sl
2.  13:56, 163 spm, 71 sl
3.  13:58, 163 spm, 71 sl

-30-

This morning, we have returned to July Fry in Houston.  It was 80 degrees with a dew point was 75.  5 miles was the target, but 4 would be acceptable.  I dropped the cadence to 163 in order to help run the 5.  I knew I would slow down as the miles added up, so maybe the 163 would mitigate that a bit.

5 miles, 1:13:29, 14:41 pace, 158 avg cadence, 0.69 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 14:38, 2nd half pace 14:44
1.  14:46, 163 spm, 67 sl
2.  14:24, 162 spm, 69 sl
3.  14:49, 158 spm, 69 sl
4.  14:48, 156 spm, 70 sl
5.  14:41, 153 spm, 71 sl

I started out conversationally and did that the whole time.  The last half is where my cadence dropped, yet my split didn't slow to a sloth's pace  That was odd to me.

Yet, I succeeded at running 5 miles.

ounce wrote:This morning, Houston missed tying a 125 year record cold temp by 1 degree.  The record is 65.  But it sure was nice walking to the gym with a dew point of 60.  Definitely mid-October weather.  Windows down weather.  Friday morning should be around 70, as it starts the re-introduction of a Houston July.

Did the upper body, abd/adductors, leg lifts, etc.  Also looking around for other stuff by watching other people.  I have been adding 5 lbs to weights, so that's a good thing.  I'm up 5-10 pounds on each machine since before Memorial Day.  So, that's 60 days or so.

Going to do 4 miles on Friday morning, which will give me 12 for the week.  Next week, I'll start varying the distances and objectives.  Might even consider 4 day running (M-W-Th-F) and 2 day gym (T-Th).  Whew!    Ought to be interesting.

Y'all have a good weekend.

Hope you enjoyed the cool weather while it lasted!

That's an ambitious schedule.     Good to see you're including some gym days in there.

I know that the weight loss challenge has been called off but are you still making progress?

Oh, I DID enjoy it.  Two months until another one.

The reason it's ambitious is to see if I really can only run just 3 days a week.  I'm thinking the addition of the gym workouts might (or might not) make running 4 days possible.  When I was doing 3 days, I wasn't going to the gym.  It's my 'What if...' idea of the week.

Wednesdays will be parking garages, Thursdays will be that tempo thing of 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk/jog for 3 times, and Fridays will be the sort of long run.

-30-

Wednesday was hill training by running in a parking garage.  It's about a mile and a half to the garage.  I ran up there at a 13:39 pace and back at a 15:04 pace.  The sad thing was I could only do 1 level.  I think I've never ran the parking garage in the Summer.  That's okay, though.  It was 76 degrees with a dew point of  75.

Today, it was the tempo thing.  Due to the Summer temps, I thought to do only 3 repeats of 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile jog-walk.  It was 77 this morning with a dew point of 76.  There IS a noticeable difference between 81 and 76 degrees.

3 x 1/2 mile, cadence at 165
1.  12:22 pace, 164 spm, 79 sl
2.  12:05 pace, 165 spm, 81 sl
3.  12:11 pace, 165 spm, 80 sl

I was surprised I could do 3, this morning.  I had no idea what the paces were, until now.  I'm pretty pleased!  After this, I went over to the gym and lifted some weights.

Today wasn't as bad for what I did as I thought it would be.  This might not be a big deal, after all.

Tomorrow is 3 miles.  Monday is 6 mile long run.

This morning, it was 79 degrees with no breeze.  This was to be a 3 mile run to culminate the newest iteration of 'What if..' running.  In this iteration, 4 day running.  I used to do it and y'all do it.  In the past 4 years, I had come to think 4 days was too much based on how I felt the day after a run.  So, I was running 3 days out of 5 days with an occasional 4th day wild card.

Now, I'm going to try 4 days in the early stages of this training season and see how it goes.
Monday - LSR
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - parking garage
Thursday - tempo
Friday - sort of LSR (about half the LSR)


3 miles, 42:37, 14:12 pace, 163 average cadence, 0.70 m avg stride length.
1.  14:29, 163 spm, 68 sl
2.  13:57, 162 spm, 71 sl
3.  14:10, 163 spm, 70 sl

I was SOOO curious as to what would happen.  Quads were tight and had trash in the lines (vehicle metaphor for 'trash' in a fuel line resulting in making the vehicle not as smooth running as usual) as a result of the tempo run the day before.  (I purposefully did not do any squats at the gym, the day before.)

Cadence was hanging in there, which seems to be indicative of a not too taxing a tempo run.  Even though cadence was doing well, the body was really being taxed during the first 1.5 miles.  Before turning around, I stopped and rested a bit, not knowing if I would finish.  Surprisingly, the comeback was better.  Much better.  Evidently, the trash was gone and I was able to maintain cadence without feeling like I was going to have to stop.  Still, it wasn't a walk in the park.

That gave me 12 miles for the week and two trips to the gym.  Monday, 6 miles is on the schedule.

Thanks for hitting the wrong button to read this.    Have a good weekend.

This morning, it was a stifling 81 degrees, a missing breeze, and 74 degree dew point.  August in Houston at its best. 

6 miles was the target.  Again, I reduced the LR cadence from non-LR cadence 164 to 163.

6 miles, 1:30:10, 15:02 pace, 155 avg cadence, 0.69 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 14:41, 2nd half pace 15:23
1.  14:42, 161 spm, 68 sl
2.  14:27, 162 spm, 69 sl
3.  14:55, 154 spm, 70 sl
4.  15:14, 156 spm, 68 sl
5.  15:35, 146 spm, 71 sl
6.  15:16, 154 spm, 68 sl

This wasn't a very springy run.  The first 3 miles were difficult.  I almost turned around at mile 2, but nope.  I convinced myself to make a final choice at 2.5 miles.  When I got there, it was 'well, you've gone this far.'

Breathing wasn't a problem.  The legs weren't TIGHT, but were 'sleepy.'  Even though the times and cadence do not show it, the second half was actually better than the first.  I was slow, but I was going.  Nothing hurt and I never felt like walking.  So, it was a good run for building endurance.

This was the first run of this cycle where I wrung out my headband more than once at the end.  Twice at mile 3 and once about mile 4.75, then at the end.

3 more runs this week:  Wednesday's parking garage, Tempo Thursday, and Friday's sort of LR.

Thanks for your financial support and keep those phones ringing!

Kudos for sticking with the 6 mile run...and glad it seemed a bit easier on the way back.  I often find the first couple miles the toughest as I try to get my body going.

It was warm hot by the time I was able to run on Sunday.  (low 80's I think and relatively low humidity but higher than normal in Central Oregon)  I'm not sure I'd be a runner if I had to run in those conditions all summer long!!! 

Take care...

nkrichards wrote:Kudos for sticking with the 6 mile run...and glad it seemed a bit easier on the way back.  I often find the first couple miles the toughest as I try to get my body going.

It was warm hot by the time I was able to run on Sunday.  (low 80's I think and relatively low humidity but higher than normal in Central Oregon)  I'm not sure I'd be a runner if I had to run in those conditions all summer long!!! 

Take care...

Thanks, youngin'.

Heat is heat.  While I'm 50 or so miles from the Gulf, I'm glad I don't live and run in Galveston where, at 4:30 a.m., it was 85 degrees with a heat index of 100.  Here, it was only 87.

-30-

This morning it was the second weekly workout at the parking garage.  Last week, I was only able to do 1 ramp.  Cadence was 164. 

Today, I was able to do 2 ramps.  Again, the run to the garage was filled with removing trash from the muscles.  Evidently, enough trash was removed to enable running 2 ramps.  Then, I ran back most of the way and walked the rest.  Which reminded me that I only ran the parking garages in the Fall, in the past.

Tomorrow, is the Tempo of running 3 halves, with a quarter mile jog/walk in between, then head to the gym.  Friday will be a 4 mile sorta long run.  Monday, I'm aiming to run 7 miles for the long run.  That distance will get me onto the running loop at Memorial Park for a half mile.

That's all, folks!

I failed to mention that I went to the gym on Tuesday.  I changed how I was doing bicep curls and tricep extensions.  Instead of the machine that JUST works either muscle, I picked up either a dumbbell for the tricep and a barbell for the bicep.  In each case, a lighter weight had to be used because the muscles surrounding them plus other stabilizer muscles were weak from under use.

I did some squats, stretching, leg lifts, etc.  I'll go tomorrow to the gym after the Tempo.

Again, it was 81 degrees with a heat index of 88.  The Tempo is on tap for the morning, followed by the gym.  2 miles worth of 3 - 880's and a quarter mile jog/walk in between.  I bumped the cadence up 1 to 165.

I'm still testing this 3 days running in a row.  I never would've thought to do this, due to perceived over-training and age, plus I always thought I needed the endurance before anything else.

August 8---
3-880's, 1/4 jog/walk tempo, cadence at 165
1.  12:02 pace, 164 spm, 81 sl
2.  12:10 pace, 165 spm, 80 sl
3.  11:53 pace, 165 spm, 82 sl

August 1---
3 x 1/2 mile, cadence at 165
1.  12:22 pace, 164 spm, 79 sl
2.  12:05 pace, 165 spm, 81 sl
3.  12:11 pace, 165 spm, 80 sl


I started off well and quickly realized that my quads were just peachy, even though I did the parking garage ramps just the day before.    So, I just ran with it.  (Pun intended.)  I walked more of the 1/4 mile than jogged it.  Maybe at some point I'll jog more of it, but I doubt it unless it's cool outside.  THAT'S not going to happen until Thanksgiving. 

I probably could've ran 4-880s, but why risk it?  After cooling and drying off, I headed off to the gym.  Did some weights, leg lifts, etc.  I decided to increase the weights some to increase the effort and discomfort.  I don't hurt or ache, afterwards, so I didn't think I was exerting enough.

Before the leg lifts (usually the last thing), I tried another core exercise that I've seen done in various tweaks.  Basically, I am on a mat.  Then, my upper torso is off the ground, my legs are off the ground and bent at the knee, so I'm resting on my tailbone.  I'm holding that pose for 20 seconds, then rinse repeat 3 times.  That's the base exercise.  I've seen one girl have a small, weighted ball in her hands, swinging it left and right across her body.  I saw another guy doing it, except he was balanced on one of those big therapy balls with a 10 lb plate and swinging it left and right across his body.  I never counted how many sets either did, but it was interesting enough for me to try it out.

Tomorrow is a sorta long run of 3 or 4 miles (probably 4).  No niggles.  Thanks.

I woke up, stood up, and the muscles weren't sore, but they seemed tired.  I reckon so!  Well, let's see what happens.  81 degrees and a heat index of 89.  4 miles and a cadence of 164 were the goals.

4 miles, 1:01:32, 15:22 pace, 151 avg cadence, 0.69 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 14:54, 2nd half pace 15:50
1.  14:46, 158 spm, 69 sl
2.  14:57, 152 spm, 71 sl
3.  15:52, 147 spm, 69 sl
4.  15:55, 149 spm, 68 sl

The legs were tired, but never hurt, nor trash.  Just tired.  My cadence of 164 lasted for a half mile.  I soldiered on to see how far I could go.  Normally, I would've stopped before a mile, but I wanted to see what would happen.  We've been taught, "There is no such thing as junk miles."  That and it wasn't hurting were the reason to keep on going.

It wasn't easy, but it's done.  I have 15 miles for the week and 4 days of running.  I can't tell you the last time I ran 4 days in the Summer, but I can tell you that I've never done a tempo and a parking garage during the Summer.  And I can categorically state that I've never ran AND gone to the gym in the same week.  That just never happened.

So, I'll rest up and try for 7 miles on Monday, then the same garage, tempo, and sorta long I did this week for a total of 16 miles.  It plans on being 100 degrees until Monday, then 98 degrees for the rest of the week.

Y'all have a good weekend and enjoy the trek to WSU, Mark.

Howdy, y'all.  Hot 'n steamy, this morning, with 82 degrees and a heat index of 90 at 4:30.  7 miles was the idea for today's long run. 

The weekend was unremarkable, except for seeing 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.'  2 hours and 40 minutes, rated R, and set in 1969.  While all of the cars, fashions, settings, and sentiment appropos to 1969 were absolutely spot on (except no reference to Vietnam War), I would recommend waiting for either streaming or DVD.  The story was just draggy.  The main story line that was brought to the audience was of a historical nature for August, 1969 in Hollywood.  It's the kind of thing you get from Quentin Tarentino and you'll either love it or not.  My favorite is "Pulp Fiction."

Uh, running.  Yeah.  Okay.  It was SO warm. 

7 miles, 1:47:38, 15:22 pace, 149 avg cadence, 0.70 m avg stride length, 1st half pace 15:19, 2nd half pace 15:25
1.  15:12, 156 spm, 68 sl
2.  15:28, 146 spm, 71 sl
3.  15:19, 146 spm, 72 sl
4.  15:22, 147 spm, 71 sl
5.  16:00, 146 spm, 69 sl
6.  15:16, 149 spm, 71 sl
7.  14:59, 151 spm, 71 sl

It was at that point of the warm air hitting me in the face, just outside the door, that I felt like I wouldn't be able to maintain the 163 cadence.  But I tried for a little while.  Then I just let the legs do as they wished, since the idea is to run a whole 7.

I stopped at 1/3rd of a mile to assess why the body wasn't doing too good.  Then, I carried on and ran.  The legs were compliant, as long as let them do their thing.  This was the right choice because I never seriously thought about stopping, once I got past mile 2.  I was disappointed about not going faster, but the goal of 7 was the priority.

It had been months since running on the running trail at Memorial Park.  Even though I was on the trail for only a half mile, it was sure nice to be there again.  That was my halfway, turnaround point.  Oddly enough, once I started on the trail, I believed I would complete the 7.  Odd because 3.4 miles, or almost halfway, is not the point where confidence goes through my head.  Usually, it's later.

After the 5th mile of 16 minutes, I felt good.  I had been hit by a breeze on the trail and that helped the attitude.  I started picking up the pace because I felt well enough to be able to maintain it.  The legs still felt really good and my posture wasn't slumping too much.  Hence, the final splits of 15:16 and 14:59.

The only explanation (maybe) as to why the 7 miles went well today is what I have been doing the other days of the week...parking garage, tempo, running the other 3 days, weights, and resting on the weekend.  I don't know what's going to happen when the mileage ramps up, especially the long runs, but I'll monitor and report in.  Hopefully, it'll be good.

Weights tomorrow.  Thanks for being so attentive.

Indeed weights were the physical activity for today.  I actually broke a sweat, today.  I just worked at a quicker pace.  Fortunately, nobody was hogging a machine by scanning their phones when I needed one.  I use about half machine and half free weights.  I'd use all free weights, but there's not a free weight equivalent for what I'm doing.

The high point was doing four sets of squats with each set being progressively lower.  The fourth one felt really good.

Wednesday will be the parking garage.  Toodles!

ounce wrote:I failed to mention that I went to the gym on Tuesday.  I changed how I was doing bicep curls and tricep extensions.  Instead of the machine that JUST works either muscle, I picked up either a dumbbell for the tricep and a barbell for the bicep.  In each case, a lighter weight had to be used because the muscles surrounding them plus other stabilizer muscles were weak from under use.

I did some squats, stretching, leg lifts, etc.  I'll go tomorrow to the gym after the Tempo.

Not that your run reports weren't interesting Doug but this is what really caught my eye...yes free weights definitely make all your muscles work a bit harder.  I think you're getting a lot more bang for your buck (benefit for your time) when you can use free weights.  Similar to trail running vs road running in that lots more muscles are involved.

Looks like you're keeping at both the gym work and the running...pretty impressive in your heat.  I'm curious to see how things go for you as your mileage increases but I do agree that your success on your 7 mile run was due to the efforts you've been putting in at the gym and with more intense running.  Slow long runs are not a bad thing.

Keep up the good work.

nkrichards wrote:

ounce wrote:I failed to mention that I went to the gym on Tuesday.  I changed how I was doing bicep curls and tricep extensions.  Instead of the machine that JUST works either muscle, I picked up either a dumbbell for the tricep and a barbell for the bicep.  In each case, a lighter weight had to be used because the muscles surrounding them plus other stabilizer muscles were weak from under use.

I did some squats, stretching, leg lifts, etc.  I'll go tomorrow to the gym after the Tempo.

Not that your run reports weren't interesting Doug but this is what really caught my eye...yes free weights definitely make all your muscles work a bit harder.  I think you're getting a lot more bang for your buck (benefit for your time) when you can use free weights.  Similar to trail running vs road running in that lots more muscles are involved.

Looks like you're keeping at both the gym work and the running...pretty impressive in your heat.  I'm curious to see how things go for you as your mileage increases but I do agree that your success on your 7 mile run was due to the efforts you've been putting in at the gym and with more intense running.  Slow long runs are not a bad thing.

Keep up the good work.

Thanks, but it's not really that impressive.  Running in the heat could be, but I'm not so dogged that I'm doing the gym after the running.  THAT might be almost impressive. 

Well, it looks like I've hit an unknown snag.  Thursday and today, I couldn't do the running.  Something is off and I'm not quite sure what it is.  However, next week I won't be able to run due to a family commitment for all of next week.  So, maybe the snag will un-snag and I can get back to running.

Time will tell.  I'll lose some fitness, but I'm in a good enough position to recover.

I can identify my 'unknown snag' from last week. This morning, I had a mild myocardial infarction (heart attack) with unstable characteristics. I walked into the ER at 10 a.m., after it occurred at 2:05 a.m.

I am going to the cath lab for the dye up the femoral artery to see what kind of blockage(s), how much dead muscle, and whether a stent or more would fix it. This happens around noon CT on Wednesday. I had an echo, this afternoon.

Nancy, the blood enzyme Troponin was released into the bloodstream. That was the culprit that verified a heart attack. I've been given some nitro to open up the arteries. Pre-nitro, BP was 169/105 around 3 pm. I walked in the hospital at 141/85. Now, 105/63. Better living through chemistry.

I'm feeling great or 0 on the pain scale. The cath will be the pivotal diagnostic on how to fix what happened and when I get released. I'm figuring Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

I'd type more, but doing it on a phone isn't fun. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I half jokingly asked the cardiologist when could I start back running. He said probably 1-2 weeks, depending on the results of the cath. Egad!

ounce wrote:I can identify my 'unknown snag' from last week.  This morning, I had a mild myocardial infarction (heart attack) with unstable characteristics.  I walked into the ER at 10 a.m., after it occurred at 2:05 a.m.

I am going to the cath lab for the dye up the femoral artery to see what kind of blockage(s), how much dead muscle, and whether a stent or more would fix it.  This happens around noon CT on Wednesday.  I had an echo, this afternoon.

Nancy, the blood enzyme Troponin was released into the bloodstream.  That was the culprit that verified a heart attack.  I've been given some nitro to open up the arteries. Pre-nitro, BP was 169/105 around 3 pm.  I walked in the hospital at 141/85.  Now, 105/63.  Better living through chemistry.

I'm feeling great or 0 on the pain scale.  The cath will be the pivotal diagnostic on how to fix what happened and when I get released.  I'm figuring Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

I'd type more, but doing it on a phone isn't fun.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I half jokingly asked the cardiologist when could I start back running.  He said probably 1-2 weeks, depending on the results of the cath.  Egad!

OMG  I can't believe what I'm reading.  Welcome to the club??

Your experience is so different than mine.  You started feeling off on Thursday and didn't go to ER till Tuesday?  

I'm not sure they ever tested my blood for Troponin.  They diagnosed mine in the medical tent at the marathon with an ECG.  Mine was classified as an acute STEMI.  I bypassed ER and went straight to the cath lab and by then my LAD was fully blocked.  I have no memory of anything after loading into the ambulance and starting my ride to the hospital.  I woke up in the cath lab after the procedure was finished.

Did they say what the echo showed?  Did they give you an EF%  Did they say which artery is/was blocked?

I didn't get a stent...partly because they didn't have one that fit and partly because I had no blockage other then the blood clot which they removed in the cath lab.  I do have Right Bundle Branch Block as a result of tissue damage due to lack of blood flow.

So many questions but the important thing is take care of yourself.  Ask LOTS of questions...I probably didn't need to tell you that.  

Keep us posted...thoughts and prayers...

ounce wrote:I can identify my 'unknown snag' from last week.  This morning, I had a mild myocardial infarction (heart attack) with unstable characteristics.  I walked into the ER at 10 a.m., after it occurred at 2:05 a.m.

I am going to the cath lab for the dye up the femoral artery to see what kind of blockage(s), how much dead muscle, and whether a stent or more would fix it.  This happens around noon CT on Wednesday.  I had an echo, this afternoon.

Nancy, the blood enzyme Troponin was released into the bloodstream.  That was the culprit that verified a heart attack.  I've been given some nitro to open up the arteries. Pre-nitro, BP was 169/105 around 3 pm.  I walked in the hospital at 141/85.  Now, 105/63.  Better living through chemistry.

I'm feeling great or 0 on the pain scale.  The cath will be the pivotal diagnostic on how to fix what happened and when I get released.  I'm figuring Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

I'd type more, but doing it on a phone isn't fun.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I half jokingly asked the cardiologist when could I start back running.  He said probably 1-2 weeks, depending on the results of the cath.  Egad!

Egad, indeed!

Geez! Glad you're not feeling pain, but yipes! It sounds chillingly familiar to Nancy's heart "incident" while running a race. The get-up-and-go got up and went? I'm glad you went to the doctor to get it checked out.

Here's hoping a bit of roto-rootering takes care of the problem for you tomorrow. I'll be sending karma rockets your way.

Hope you have somebody around to fuss over you as you go through this.

Thanks, y'all. They would tell me nothing about the echo. I slept decently, as well as one could with 3 tethers attached. They know that I run, so when the low HR range beeper of 50 started going off before I was asleep, they reduced it to 45 or so. I saw a 47 on the screen. A record low, but I'm sure it was probably a bit lower than that.

I hope that I'm cognizant enough to ASK enough questions.

If I need a stent, they'll insert it during the procedure. I'm supposed to be somewhat alert, but I doubt that's going to happen. Sedation is to be akin to colonoscopy sedation.

I'm not anxious about the procedure, but I do want to place a stent and get out in a timely fashion. One thing that was interesting to me is they may use the veins in the wrist and not the femoral artery.

ounce wrote:Thanks, y'all.  They would tell me nothing about the echo.  I slept decently, as well as one could with 3 tethers attached.  They know that I run, so when the low HR range beeper of 50 started going off before I was asleep, they reduced it to 45 or so.  I saw a 47 on the screen.  A record low, but I'm sure it was probably a bit lower than that.

I hope that I'm cognizant enough to ASK enough questions.

If I need a stent, they'll insert it during the procedure.  I'm supposed to be somewhat alert, but I doubt that's going to happen.  Sedation is to be akin to colonoscopy sedation.

I'm not anxious about the procedure, but I do want to place a stent and get out in a timely fashion.  One thing that was interesting to me is they may use the veins in the wrist and not the femoral artery.

Good to hear you slept reasonably well Doug.  Yes, we runners are an odd lot when it comes to things like resting HR.  

I remember nothing about either one of my cath procedures.  I only remember waking up and wondering where in the heck I was desperately having to pee!!  (Because they couldn't put in a stent during the first one they wanted to repeat the procedure in case it needed to be done.  Very pleased that it was healing well and they didn't have to place a stent.)

They prefer to do the cath through the wrist but most people don't have good enough veins in the wrist.  I don't even have good enough veins to do blood draws.  They gave up quickly.  They worry about the vein opening back up...I had some issues with the first one.  That's why you'll have to lay still for so long afterwards.

You'll have lots of time to ask questions after the procedure and during follow up appointments.  Start asking for cardiac rehab early and be persistent.

Hope all goes well and they give you good news.

Just to let you know, Doug, that we're all eagerly awaiting the results of this procedure.



Let us know when you can!

I'm not in a good position to type much.
1 blocked artery. Circumflex. Stent installed. Went the femoral artery route. I was awake for the whole thing. Now laying mostly flat for 6 hours until 6:15 PT. Getting 18 hour blood thinner drip. No idea on discharge. Thinking Friday morning.
Nancy, I asked about electricity and he doesn't believe there was any damage there.
Doc and I haven't chatted yet. That was during the procedure.

Seen a 45 bpm, which makes me wonder what is the wiggle room accuracy of those machines?

Thanks, y'all! More tomorrow, I figure.

ounce wrote:I'm not in a good position  to type much.
1 blocked artery.  Circumflex. Stent installed.  Went the femoral artery route.  I was awake for the whole thing.  Now laying mostly flat for 6 hours until 6:15 PT. Getting 18 hour blood thinner drip.  No idea on discharge.  Thinking Friday morning.
Nancy, I asked about electricity and he doesn't believe there was any  damage there.
Doc and I haven't chatted yet.  That was during the procedure.  

Seen a 45 bpm, which makes me wonder what is the wiggle room accuracy of those machines?

Thanks, y'all!  More tomorrow, I figure.

When you talk to the doc, find out how blocked. It's amazing what they can do with angioplasty now.

Glad they didn't have to do the whole chest-cracking routine. That has a much bigger impact, obviously.

But once you can get back out and run, I bet you're going to notice quite a difference. Bloodflow!