Bit of a scare...

It's been a week...

It would've been a longish week anyway I cut it, 4 days in the office and 1 doing the charity thing in London on Tuesday... An early start, an important meeting, an afternoon at the CHF offices followed by popping to the British Museum to see the Benin Bronzes and then a bit of shopping before coming back...

And on Oxford Street the phone goes... My cardiologist, he's had the numbers from my MRI they don't match the numbers from my echo a couple of months before hand, can I pop in and see him on Friday afternoon, we need to chat through them...

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

There is no other way of putting it.

All the running, the PB's and the climbing, and races to come disappeared from my head... Worst case scenario - pulmonary valve has gone out of commission (a possibility for all fallots) and needs an urgent op.  Best case scenario... at that point there was no best case...

The inner sanctum (those three or four friends who would be the ones delivering food to hospital while I was in, and handling any enquiries from people about how I was doing) knew that evening, a few more and my bosses at work the next day.  I made no secret of it, but given the lack of clarity I wasn't going to broadcast it either...  A passing reference that I'd be getting the results on Facebook and back to doing my job, and a couple of gentle exercise sessions...  ok, that's a blatant lie - running 5 miles with a hard set of traverses in the middle isn't gentle! 

But it was needed for my brain...

And so the day dawned and the hour clicked over...

And there had been an error in the calculations, my valve will need replacing at some point, but not now, maybe not for years... It needs monitoring, as it always has done, and MRIs are going to be a feature every 2 years or so... I can live with that.  Its part of being a GUCH, an ACHDer, a Fallots. Part of being me!

So worry over, for now.  The inner sanctum are stood down, the plans which would have swung into place have gone back on the shelf and the sense of relief is very, very palpable...

And so back to the fun stuff!

Tomorrow is the OU day school, followed by a trip to Baslow for a 1 day photography course on the edges above Chatsworth on Sunday.

I recently wrote something to try and raise awareness (when I hear if it works you will) that I'll never take walking or running or climbing for granted.  This week is why...

TTFN

Paul

Comfort Blankets, Colds & Popcorn

We all have them, those little things which we do... and if we don't do we feel off, odd or just not right!

For me its the strapping on of the Garmin watch, seeing the satellites lock on, and the heart rate drop (its the relaxation I do as I get ready for a run) and then going...

Which is a right pain at the moment... My 310XT watch is back at Garmin.  For reasons best known to itself it has decided its 2007, and probably unrelated one of the buttons has stopped working.  Garmin customer services, are as good as ever, and a new one should be heading my way for the weekend. 

Fortunately, the duffness of the watch has coincided with a cold, so following the entirely sensible advice I've ratcheted down the exercise... Which is beginning to get on my wick... However, the cold seems to be dying down, the walk and the clambering today didn't have a negative impact. 

So a gentle gym session in the morning, and probably a climb in the evening... Tuesday is a long day to London and back for a meeting...

However, I do have a new snack - work's coffee shop have started stocking savoury popcorn, but as so often what they considered "hot" was a mild tingle... It also wasn't cheap... So for the price of 1 packet I've a huge amount of popping corn, and some more entertaining flavours... Peri-Peri to start:-D

So, hopefully the new watch will be with me mid week, just in time for me to be hitting the miles for the run in to the 1st of the marathon...

TTFN

Paul

Who let the (mad) dogs out?

I have a cold... my nose is a mucus stream

I'm tired - Long week at work...

I'm tired - Meeting about a pet project or two at the CHF offices on Friday, Friday night the requisite relaxation and discussion time (yes, that does mean a bottle or so of wine... Each) Trustees meeting in London on Saturday..

I have a cold - the rule books says take it easy...

I have a congenital heart defect - sometimes it has a moment...

The Mad Dog has been voted the best 10k in the country - and its bloody good, its one of my favourites (the Bug Runs midweek madness is v v close to perfection as well).

So, by the km...

1st - 6:06 - Too fast, swept along in the moment... Heart rate up, but not too far

2nd - 7:18 - first 700m far to fast, legs won't reset down... Heart rate higher than I like... Do the right thing, walk 300m reset the system

3rd - 6.59 - solid, PB territory, feels good, HR back to normal for running

4th - 6.58 - solid, wave at mate whose comment was I was looking faster than last year...

5th - 6:47 - take gel, blow nose, do the twisty bit.. Other runners start looking tired, pick target for next KM

6th - 6:55 - target taken early, slowed down afterwards - pick new targets for the run in...

7th - 6:57 - solid, woman running on my shoulder, sweeping my targets with me

8th - 7:00 - solid, woman on shoulder now in front of me, not letting her go... systems check, nose still dripping, heart rate ok, PB on if I hold steady

9th - 6:37 - take woman early, new targets set, legs stretch out, only 2000m to go, systems looking good, see where I am and then do the last one...

10th - 6:02 - watch not important, targets falling, spotted someone who'd got a good distance in front when I walking back at km 2... Can I do it... yup.. last 30m...

67:40 by the watch, 67:47 by the chip... Previous PB was 69:32 - so almost 2 minutes off...

Should I have run, possibly not, but the t-shirt is Grrrrr-eat!

The cold is still there, the dicky ticker is behaving itself, the gym kit and climbing gear is in the bag... Gentle tomorrow...

Oh, as I said I'd raise awareness - I was in Children's Heart Federation colours, my scar prompted comment in the changing rooms and I had a good natter with a few people... Job done, and done well:-D


TTFN

Paul

The Power of the Personal Best

I'm 40...

According to the books I should be slowing down...

Bugger that!

I'm not entirely sure where my sudden spurt of pace has come from, but its kept coming...

I've, in 10 days, taken over 2 and a half minutes out of a PB for 5 miles that has stood for 2 years... That would be enough to make my running this year a success!

In one run I slayed a 5km pm that again has stood for 2 years, taking almost 2 and a half minutes out of it... That's dream land territory

If it was all the short stuff I'd be worried as I'm not in this for the sprint, I'm in this for the marathons... A truism and a reality for me...

But I also took 6 minutes out of my 25km PB, not a distance I run often but still a massive improvement over the previous run which was in the build up to the Liverpool Marathon.

So what?

Running for me is a lot, an awful lot, about confidence... The demons of school telling me I'm slow, I shouldn't run, are still on my shoulders even now.  I ran the 5km start to finish at pace, I ran the 5 milers with the last km being the fastest (going as fast as my 5km pace in places), apart from 1 km (in 3 chunks - the muddy 500m, and the 2 x 250m fiddling with my hip pockets to get the gels out) I ran 25km.

So those demons are quietened down, for now... The hard miles are working, the strength work in the gym is working, the sports massages are working (painful but it all seems to be working)...

So my objectives - keep the demons at bay, keep the miles going... My odd combination of events means I've got to find time to put hills in as well as pace... Which was the potter around the West Pennines this Friday.  Now, I need to wait for the morning, it should be a 30km run... But ice isn't entirely sensible to run on, so I'd have to hold my frustrations at bay, and go to the gym... This is a run I intend to finish, so no glory dashes!

This week is an almost pain in the ass... I've a trip to London for work (if the West Coast line is working again) on Tuesday, a course in Buxton on Thursday and a much more pleasant trip to London on Friday for a CHF Trustees meeting.  And then on Sunday is one of my favourite races the Southport MadDog 10k - will it be a PB, I don't know, I do know I'll try...

TTFN


Paul