M
msiwik
Hi VR.COM Gang:
Starting a new thread to capture thoughts and experiences over the next six to 12 months. My story is posted elsewhere but briefly - 41 year old runner who went from couch potato at age 35 to decent long distance runner who was starting to post some very good times when bicuspid aortic valve (suspected to be deteriorating over a long period of time) blew up in May 2005 (at age 40).
My story is interesting in that the bicuspid aortic valve intervened at a time when I was still improving. It takes seven to 10 years for a long distance runner to mature and I was still posting new personal records (prs) every year in all my distances. I am not gifted so I wasn?t ever going to achieve elite status but with some ability and LOTS of determination and discipline, I was improving, in just about every race.
I think recovery goes in stages. The first stage is surgery and the first six to eight weeks thereafter (could even go as far out as three months). In the first stage, it?s about letting the sternum heal and allowing your body, mind, and spirit to heal. For many people who were very athletic prior to surgery, this may be a tough stage because you are accustomed to having a regimen and you know how much better you are mentally and emotionally when you get that workout in. The danger in the first stage is overdoing (which as many of you know I did ? getting mono at the 2 ½ month mark).
The second stage goes from the 8 week to 3 month mark to the first year anniversary. The key to this stage is resuming a regimen and building slowly. My bout with mono scared me straight so I built up a regimen of running 25 miles a week ? all in the low intensity range of 60% to 75% maximum heart rate. I started this phase in late September 2005 and then I couldn?t run a 12 minute mile and keep my heart rate below 75%. But I kept at it and by March ? April 2006, I was down below 9:00 minutes, still keeping my heart rate below 75% - the anaerobic threshold.
May 2006 was a key month for me. May marked my one year anniversary which meant that I saw my cardiologist. Looking at the echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and other tests, the cardiologist called the surgery ?a complete success? ? which lead to tears of joy and thankfulness for being so lucky and so well taken care of. I have a tissue valve and it?s a little larger than normal in order to accommodate my desire to compete in long distance running. He also felt that for me I could resume running without worrying about whether the intensity or duration of my workouts would shorten the life of my valve. (In saying this, I must emphasize that anybody reading this should be guided by their own medical team ? there are so many variables from person to person that one person?s experience may not be determinative of what another person should or can do).
The second big event in May 2006 was participating in the first annual VR.com marathon relay team. What an honor and experience! There is definitely a bond we all share coming back from this experience and connecting with other like-minded positive people who want to live life to the fullest is awesome! I didn?t train for the relay because the news from the cardiologist was too close to the relay for any ?harder training? to be of any benefit. Instead, I just enjoyed the day and getting to know my teammates. I was able to run 6.5 miles for my leg in the relay at a 9:20 pace which was enough of a baseline to start a training regimen.
This is the training regimen for stage 3 which I call ?reconditioning phase.? Before I explain stage 3, let me say that stage four is ?return to training for competition phase? which for me I am putting at the year 2 to year 3 mark.
What does the reconditioning phase look like - I am now going to follow the schedule of running five days a week for approximately 30 miles. Again, up to this point, I have been running easy, averaging 25 miles a week.
Day 1 ? Run 5 miles easy at 10 to 10:30 (60 to 75% mhr).
Day 2 ? Run 5 miles with 3 to 4 miles at tempo pace of 8:40 (75% to 80% mhr).
Day 3 ? Recovery run of 5 miles at 10 to 10:30 pace. Light weights
Day 4 ? Run 5 miles with ½ mile to 1m intervals at 7:50 pace (80 to 85% mhr)
Day 5 ? Walk 2 to 3 miles. Light weights
Day 6 ? Long run of 8 to 12 miles (avg. 10 miles) at easy pace of 10:30 to 11:30
Day 7 ? Easy walk or rest
This is about where I was at the start of year 4 in terms of average miles before I got sick. The paces however are about where I started in year 1 to year 2. It really is like starting over again. The big difference for me is that while I am starting over again, I have the knowledge and experience I didn?t have the first time around. I never ran with a heart rate monitor before my surgery and I am sure that I overtrained most of the time (wanting to improve too quickly) (I like to tell people that I am a ?Type A in Recovery?).
There is a certain excitement in learning what I might accomplish post-surgery. My cardiologist said that it?s impossible to predict. Some people are slower. Some people are about the same and some people do become faster. The biggest variables are how well the heart recovers; the overall state of one?s body and age; and one?s attitude. I feel like I will be happy with whatever the result is; in fact, I am not even focused on where I might end up. For now, I just want to run this regimen for the next year.
I will make some adjustments over the next year as my conditioning comes back. There are flashes and good signs. Today, for example, I ran 10 miles and it was starting to warm up (high of 90 degrees expected today). However, when I finished mile 9, I felt an irresistible pull to just cut loose and run the last mile in hard. I did and it was nice way to end a long run. So I expect that I will lower the overall training paces every three months or so as I get stronger. I will also sprinkle in some races along the way to gauge where I am at. Right now, the 5k and 10k distance have a lot more appeal than the half marathon, which prior to my surgery was probably my favorite distance (p.r. of 1 hr 43 min., 7 months before surgery).
Ok this has gone on way too long. Thanks for listening. Will update again when it feels right. Take care and best wishes to all my vr.com teammates/buddies. Mark
P.S. "Turning the page" was theme of my daughter's dance recital last night. Thought it made for an appropriate title - I am hoping to run a 7:30 pace with her for the 5k (she's 12) in Sept.
Starting a new thread to capture thoughts and experiences over the next six to 12 months. My story is posted elsewhere but briefly - 41 year old runner who went from couch potato at age 35 to decent long distance runner who was starting to post some very good times when bicuspid aortic valve (suspected to be deteriorating over a long period of time) blew up in May 2005 (at age 40).
My story is interesting in that the bicuspid aortic valve intervened at a time when I was still improving. It takes seven to 10 years for a long distance runner to mature and I was still posting new personal records (prs) every year in all my distances. I am not gifted so I wasn?t ever going to achieve elite status but with some ability and LOTS of determination and discipline, I was improving, in just about every race.
I think recovery goes in stages. The first stage is surgery and the first six to eight weeks thereafter (could even go as far out as three months). In the first stage, it?s about letting the sternum heal and allowing your body, mind, and spirit to heal. For many people who were very athletic prior to surgery, this may be a tough stage because you are accustomed to having a regimen and you know how much better you are mentally and emotionally when you get that workout in. The danger in the first stage is overdoing (which as many of you know I did ? getting mono at the 2 ½ month mark).
The second stage goes from the 8 week to 3 month mark to the first year anniversary. The key to this stage is resuming a regimen and building slowly. My bout with mono scared me straight so I built up a regimen of running 25 miles a week ? all in the low intensity range of 60% to 75% maximum heart rate. I started this phase in late September 2005 and then I couldn?t run a 12 minute mile and keep my heart rate below 75%. But I kept at it and by March ? April 2006, I was down below 9:00 minutes, still keeping my heart rate below 75% - the anaerobic threshold.
May 2006 was a key month for me. May marked my one year anniversary which meant that I saw my cardiologist. Looking at the echocardiogram, chest x-ray, and other tests, the cardiologist called the surgery ?a complete success? ? which lead to tears of joy and thankfulness for being so lucky and so well taken care of. I have a tissue valve and it?s a little larger than normal in order to accommodate my desire to compete in long distance running. He also felt that for me I could resume running without worrying about whether the intensity or duration of my workouts would shorten the life of my valve. (In saying this, I must emphasize that anybody reading this should be guided by their own medical team ? there are so many variables from person to person that one person?s experience may not be determinative of what another person should or can do).
The second big event in May 2006 was participating in the first annual VR.com marathon relay team. What an honor and experience! There is definitely a bond we all share coming back from this experience and connecting with other like-minded positive people who want to live life to the fullest is awesome! I didn?t train for the relay because the news from the cardiologist was too close to the relay for any ?harder training? to be of any benefit. Instead, I just enjoyed the day and getting to know my teammates. I was able to run 6.5 miles for my leg in the relay at a 9:20 pace which was enough of a baseline to start a training regimen.
This is the training regimen for stage 3 which I call ?reconditioning phase.? Before I explain stage 3, let me say that stage four is ?return to training for competition phase? which for me I am putting at the year 2 to year 3 mark.
What does the reconditioning phase look like - I am now going to follow the schedule of running five days a week for approximately 30 miles. Again, up to this point, I have been running easy, averaging 25 miles a week.
Day 1 ? Run 5 miles easy at 10 to 10:30 (60 to 75% mhr).
Day 2 ? Run 5 miles with 3 to 4 miles at tempo pace of 8:40 (75% to 80% mhr).
Day 3 ? Recovery run of 5 miles at 10 to 10:30 pace. Light weights
Day 4 ? Run 5 miles with ½ mile to 1m intervals at 7:50 pace (80 to 85% mhr)
Day 5 ? Walk 2 to 3 miles. Light weights
Day 6 ? Long run of 8 to 12 miles (avg. 10 miles) at easy pace of 10:30 to 11:30
Day 7 ? Easy walk or rest
This is about where I was at the start of year 4 in terms of average miles before I got sick. The paces however are about where I started in year 1 to year 2. It really is like starting over again. The big difference for me is that while I am starting over again, I have the knowledge and experience I didn?t have the first time around. I never ran with a heart rate monitor before my surgery and I am sure that I overtrained most of the time (wanting to improve too quickly) (I like to tell people that I am a ?Type A in Recovery?).
There is a certain excitement in learning what I might accomplish post-surgery. My cardiologist said that it?s impossible to predict. Some people are slower. Some people are about the same and some people do become faster. The biggest variables are how well the heart recovers; the overall state of one?s body and age; and one?s attitude. I feel like I will be happy with whatever the result is; in fact, I am not even focused on where I might end up. For now, I just want to run this regimen for the next year.
I will make some adjustments over the next year as my conditioning comes back. There are flashes and good signs. Today, for example, I ran 10 miles and it was starting to warm up (high of 90 degrees expected today). However, when I finished mile 9, I felt an irresistible pull to just cut loose and run the last mile in hard. I did and it was nice way to end a long run. So I expect that I will lower the overall training paces every three months or so as I get stronger. I will also sprinkle in some races along the way to gauge where I am at. Right now, the 5k and 10k distance have a lot more appeal than the half marathon, which prior to my surgery was probably my favorite distance (p.r. of 1 hr 43 min., 7 months before surgery).
Ok this has gone on way too long. Thanks for listening. Will update again when it feels right. Take care and best wishes to all my vr.com teammates/buddies. Mark
P.S. "Turning the page" was theme of my daughter's dance recital last night. Thought it made for an appropriate title - I am hoping to run a 7:30 pace with her for the 5k (she's 12) in Sept.
