Rant Mode Activated

A 23 year old footballer has a heart attack

This is a personal tragedy, an ordeal for his family and friends.

This isn't the first nor will it be the last young person to die or almost die of a heart attack, there have been other "high profile" tragedies - Terry Yorath's son, Marc-Vivien Foe. Each is a tragedy for the family and their friends.

Congenital Heart Disease affects about 1 in 133 children.  Of which some will be picked up before birth, some shortly after and some as adults.

The tests used at birth would probably not pick up the electrophysiological conditions that lead to many cases of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome (SADS) - pulse oximetry picks up when someones blood oxygenation levels are less than they should be.

An elite athlete is going to probably, and there are always exceptions, going to have a pretty damn good blood oxygen level.

An ECG is used quite often as part of sports tests especially at key points - such as signing up for a new team (the millions spent mean that insurance can tend to insist on these things) or when playing for your country as a teen. But this test doesn't pick everything up, and some conditions are variable.

Congenital Heart Disease affects about 1 in 133 children.  There's aprox an 85% survival rate to adulthood - which by my maths works out that c 1 in 156 adults have congenital heart disease.  There's good evidence that the average person can maintain a network of 150 people - so on average everyone will know 1 person with a congenital heart defect. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tipping_Point - sorry I lent someone my copy so can't give a better reference mid-rant)

That's not rare, but it is uncommon - compare it with mental health disorders (1 in 4) or cancer (1 in 3)  - so c50 people in your network of 150...

Rare is defined, by EuroDis, as 1 in 2000 people (http://www.eurordis.org/about-rare-diseases).

So where is this rant going?

First up, a 23 year old son of an asylum seeker lies in a hospital bed, hopefully recovering - lets not speculate on various things about his lifestyle or health... If he chooses to put out a statement he or his family will.

Second up, promote sensible screening - but realise it won't catch all conditions all the time.

Third up, to most people 1 in 150 is rare, most people don't get the numbers game at the best of times, trying to explain the difference between 1 in 150 & 1 in 2000 is going to throw them.

Fourth up, think for a second... the paramedics did their job, the ambulance did their job, the hospital did their job and he's got a chance.  If the same happened to me at work that's all I could ask for.

Rant Over

TTFN

Paul

20 miles, Nazi Super Weapons, and cultural vulturing...

I've had a week off... Off the paid work anyway...

Being me, that week off did include one formal meeting representing CHF, couple of meetings in London;  2 shows, 2 exhibitions, 6 museums or galleries, an OU tutorial and a 20 mile run...

The Nazi super weapon was at U534, a salvaged WWII U-Boat now cut into 4 pieces and on display at one terminal of the Mersey Ferry... Yes my life, and Liverpool, can be that surreal.  The weapon was the "Shazaam" torpedo (my name) basically it could be programmed to hunt down specific sounds, rather than just the noisiest... This was 1945; no microchips remember.  Now why this Uboat had 3 of the 12 (yup only 12) ever made is still a mystery...

The shows - The Ladykillers, hilarious, brilliant, excellent acting and superb set... If you love the original (not that travesty that Hollywood produced) then if you can see this...

Classical Spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall - it was cheesy, it was so jingoistic it was cheesetastic!  I even felt sorry for the French in the audience... After mentioning the rugby... and before the Can-Can girls... If you like your Union Jacks large, lasers eye popping, your dancing girls pretty and El Marchi guitar playing plinky then this could be the show for you.  As for me, I've done it once it made me smile and that'll do.

The exhibitions - the Antarctic shows at the Royal Geographic Society and the Natural History Museum - the RGS is free, the NHM is based around a recreation of Scott's main hut for that ill fated mission.

Throw in the John Soane Museum (barking, worth it for the Hogarth's alone), the Huntarian (gory, brilliant, induces slight nasuea), the Horniman, the British Library and the Wellcome Galleries (do lunch there - the sausage rolls are to die for) and it was a damn good week off:-)

Unfortunately, the trip back took 7 hours instead of 2... Grrrrrrr... I will be taking whatever "recompense" Virgin offer... and asking for some more!

Tutorial was a tutorial, and today's 20 miler was great up to 16 miles... Then the keep the fuel intake minimal approach went off the rails... Legs wouldn't function as they're meant to, that wibbly wobbly run you see those at the end of marathons do, well I wasn't that bad but the camber of the towpath did direct me worryingly close to the edge...

However, I didn't get wet... I did do 20 miles, not my fastest, but this run was mainly about rebuilding my confidence (if you've not caught up recently ACHA Blog fills you in).

So this is the run...


And now my aching limbs have had radox and a rest, its time for tea... Goats Cheese & Red Onion Bruschetta followed by pasta... Just what I need before a day back at work...

TTFN

Paul

The long miles...

The long slow run... the hours eaten...  the trainers worn down... hydration juice slurped... instant carbs chewed down...

Today was only a half marathon, 13 miles, a nice gentle pootle up and down the calendar... I was tired from my trip to London, running around playing at being a spy, and then the cramped conditions on the train back.

And the rain was beating against the window...

And I'm enjoying reading the Millennium Trilogy again...

And I have an objective... well I have a couple of immediate ones...

First up is the Excalibur Marathon - 26.2 miles 4750 ft, 12 hours... That's a walk, not a run, not for me...   That's on 31 March... So not far away...

After that its the Belfast Marathon...

which will look a bit like this:





Just your bog standard 26.2 miles.  That's 7 May... So not long away at all...

That gives my training a certain focus...

So I plodded out today, with only a couple of objectives:

1) Don't walk, shuffle if you have to, but don't walk
2) No Heroics - long and steady
3) Try and enjoy it...

And I did... all of them, even enjoy it... Splashing through the puddles, mud splattering up my legs (and somehow my face), never going fast, but with a steadiness I don't always run with...

Ok, the first 1000m out of the traps was a little fast, and a bit of a kick on the heart rate... And then I'm in the groove:-)

So, the long miles begin... and carry on for the next 7 weeks... My reading may have to wait a bit...

TFFN

Paul