Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Small victories; my return to running

I ran today.  Another victory on my road to recovery.  It was hot.  It was Ugly.  It was frustratingly slow. It was satisfying.

Running, one of the joys in my life for almost 40 years appeared to be over after I staggered and gasped my way to the car after my latest heart surgery 2.5 years ago.  I was unable to get in the car without the assistance of my wife Karen.  Broken and humbled, I felt there was very little left for me as far as quality of life.  I watched my fathers health deteriorate from heart desease and felt I would soon be joining him.

I began Cardiac rehab after a few weeks  and could barely walk 50 feet without my heart racing and my lungs gasping for air. Slowly I progressed.  As my health slowly returned I returned to some activities, water/ snow skiing and golf.  All with limitations, but enjoyable.  Yet every time I attempted to jog a few steps, I was reminded of the damage that my heart had sustained....lungs burning, heart racing and fear gripping my soul I stopped......it was paralyzing.

Today I did it....it was probably the worlds slowest 5K (Maybe I should say 2.5K...I only ran the middle half and walked the front and back ends), but, it was just as satisfying as running that 8:34 two mile in Germany at age 30.

Maybe more.....

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