Yesterday was stress and pulmonary function test. No caffeine 24 hours prior to test – I get up so early that I still was able to have coffee on Sunday. That is the only caffeine I really “need.” However, I started getting a migraine late Sunday and couldn’t take my medicine because of the pending test. That was tough. Headache stayed with me all through the night and by morning was on 50th floor of 100 story building – and elevator still climbing.
No coffee or breakfast didn’t help things either. So you bet I was there by 8:30 to get things under-way so I could eventually take my meds. After I was checked in I was allowed to take my pill for headache. Then after the first round of IV Injection, treadmill time and pictures, I was able to go get some coffee and eat. 🙂 Things were looking up.
I think everything with the treadmill stress test went great. The doctor conducting it said I was in excellent health. In fact they were trying to get my heart rate up to 170 but after 12 minutes or so it was just at 150 with a steep incline and some speed. He stopped it and said I could do that all day. The official results will come in a day or so but in the mean time…it is all systems go for the October Marathon. No hiccups or skips, etc (or whatever it is they see that causes concern). With all of this going on yesterday I didn’t get my run in – had a post migraine sickly feeling for duration of the day. Also, even though I took my own food for snacks, lunch, etc. I had to eat a snack they provided that was purposely high in fat to get some kind of a reaction from gall bladder that was needed for the test. Later on I had a sick kind of feeling from that too.
That was then…this is now.
Losing more weight!
I am no longer running with what you might visualize as a 10 pound bag of potatoes. By next month, shooting for knocking off another 10 pounds.
Think of how much easier that will be to run, breath and just do anything. Next time you’re at the store pick up (2) 10 pound bags of potatoes.
Then go walk/jog (13) 15 minute miles. (the typical trip – up and down every aisle in grocery store including trips around such for hard to find items, is barely equal to 1/10 of a mile; 5,280 feet = 1 mile).
That was me in the 3 half marathons I finished since 2010. Slow and tough. I would not attempt the full marathon this fall without losing that weight. Hal Higdon says the additional weight and being a past smoker are two factors that increase my chances of having a heart attack during or immediately following such. So reason enough right there to drop the weight (as if I needed any more reasons in addition to the 100 others).
Example of Grocery Store Aisles Image from http://www.searchlores.org/realicra/PT_1006.pdf
Special note about potatoes: I love potatoes. Wrote the book, “What Kind of Potato Are You?” (Just kidding – maybe later in life). Raised in a meat and potatoes family(for real). Not rice. Not Pasta. Potatoes. Mashed, fried, baked, parsley-ed, hashed, stuffed, boiled, souffle-d (not really), any kind of potato dish was always welcomed at our table. So I have a healthy respect for such and know that potato farmers around the globe will forgive my analogy that temporarily may cast a negative image on the “fruits” of their labor. Potatoes are great and a 3 ounce potato counts as 1 of the 2 starches I can have in a day. So there you go. It’s all good.
So here’s to better health and when you feel great you are better able to do great things.
Here’s your morning dose of inspiration. This is You!
(After the ad YT will force you to watch).
Running for Life 