VR Runners for Indy Half Marathon, May 2006

[msiwik]

4th Update

4th Update

Today marks the 7th month since surgery. Highlights this month include the following:

1. Stress echo shows bovine valve is functioning well. According to the doctor, my heart is now slightly stronger than the average 41 year old male which I think is pretty good, all things considered. Doesn't reflect well on society though since the typical male my age doesn't exercise and is overweight. What it really shows is how traumatic the surgery is. I literally am back at square 1 - 1999 when I decided to train for a marathon was unfit.

2. I was able to do four miles pretty quickly at 10:00 this month but only about once a week and stay aerobic or below 75% capacity which for me is 156 bpm. I thought I would be a little stronger given that I hit the goal within the second week but I have added weight training (2 to 3 times a week) and I think that is leaving me with a little less energy.

3. I am running once a week now for 60 minutes (between 5 and 6 miles). I will start upping that mileage to 7 to 8 miles in Jan.

I will report back on 1/23/06. Mark

Today marks the 8th month from my surgery. Highlights below:

1. Wow - the biggest change over the last 30 days is increased stamina. I now tell people that OHS is like having a fully lit house suddenly without power. When the power comes back on, it comes on in stages, like a room at a time. The room that relit this past month is stamina. I am starting to feel like the OHS was a distant memory and my endurance for work, exercise, life is so much better!

2. I feel like this month was a step back to take two steps forward. That is, I overdid the weights a bit in December to the point that I never truly mastered the 10:00 min. pace - too much activity. So I cut back on the weights for now, will reincorporate slowly and adjusted the pace. I read somewhere that runners could safely drop the pace 5 seconds a week down to their 10k race pace. So I went back to 10:30 at the beginning of the month, then to 10:20, and then to 10:10 last week. Yes, my Type A personality was willing to just go with 5 second decreases although I may be more faithful to that once I hit 10:00 again. We will see how the next two weeks go. I definitely can run much faster than 10:00 but I promised myself and the exercise physiologist that I would wait a full year before anerobic training again.

3. My long runs are up to 8 miles which I am doing slowly - 11:00 min. pace. No problems there, will increase to 9 or 10 over the next month.

Ok all for this month. Mark

 

[Philip]

Great Info Mark!!
I am new to the site (still in the waiting room) and posted last week "greetings from the waiting room" asking for information from the runners in the group specificaly about pace. Your post is very helpful. If you would compare the posted paces to those prior to you valve problems it would be appreciated.
As a masters runner (thats "old runner" for you non-runners reading) I was a 3:10+- marathoner and 40:00+- for 10k four years ago and have spiralled downward since. I would love to know what I can expect with a successful surgery and full recovery. A typical run fo me these days is 2 miles at a 9:30 pace resting at 1 mile. This takes all the fun out of running and is a source of great frustration. I am hoping that a succesful surgery will at least let get enough mileage to call it a real run. Any insight from you and other irunners in the group will be greatly appreciated.
Philip

 

[msiwik]

Welcome Philip

Welcome Philip

Great Info Mark!!
I am new to the site (still in the waiting room) and posted last week "greetings from the waiting room" asking for information from the runners in the group specificaly about pace. Your post is very helpful. If you would compare the posted paces to those prior to you valve problems it would be appreciated.
As a masters runner (thats "old runner" for you non-runners reading) I was a 3:10+- marathoner and 40:00+- for 10k four years ago and have spiralled downward since. I would love to know what I can expect with a successful surgery and full recovery. A typical run fo me these days is 2 miles at a 9:30 pace resting at 1 mile. This takes all the fun out of running and is a source of great frustration. I am hoping that a succesful surgery will at least let get enough mileage to call it a real run. Any insight from you and other irunners in the group will be greatly appreciated.
Philip

Welcome and feel free to send me a private email as we may want to touch base. You were definitely ahead of me; my half marathon time before surgery was 1:43 and I was about 45 minutes for the 10k. I typically trained at the 6:30 to 8:30 pace. Unlike you, I had no advance warning and literally went from running at near personal bests (cited in the previous sentence) to the operating table. There are several runners on the site who were very competitive prior to surgery - a chap in Australia - may be a very good reference for you. Keep scrolling around the active lifestyles and you will find them and stay with the site - it's a wondeful forum. Best, Mark

 

[msiwik]

Update at 9 1/2 mos.

Update at 9 1/2 mos.

Today marks the 8th month from my surgery. Highlights below:

1. Wow - the biggest change over the last 30 days is increased stamina. I now tell people that OHS is like having a fully lit house suddenly without power. When the power comes back on, it comes on in stages, like a room at a time. The room that relit this past month is stamina. I am starting to feel like the OHS was a distant memory and my endurance for work, exercise, life is so much better!

2. I feel like this month was a step back to take two steps forward. That is, I overdid the weights a bit in December to the point that I never truly mastered the 10:00 min. pace - too much activity. So I cut back on the weights for now, will reincorporate slowly and adjusted the pace. I read somewhere that runners could safely drop the pace 5 seconds a week down to their 10k race pace. So I went back to 10:30 at the beginning of the month, then to 10:20, and then to 10:10 last week. Yes, my Type A personality was willing to just go with 5 second decreases although I may be more faithful to that once I hit 10:00 again. We will see how the next two weeks go. I definitely can run much faster than 10:00 but I promised myself and the exercise physiologist that I would wait a full year before anerobic training again.

3. My long runs are up to 8 miles which I am doing slowly - 11:00 min. pace. No problems there, will increase to 9 or 10 over the next month.

Ok all for this month. Mark

Life has been very busy so haven't been able to post for a while. Here's the latest:

A) My shorter runs are now below 10:00 min. - in the range of 9:40 to 9:50.

B) Long runs are now at the 90 minute to 2 hour range.

C) Suffered a setback two weeks ago due to a high level of stress unrelated to exercise. Working back into a groove now and hope to be able to resume my normal regimen next week. Prior to the setback, I was mildly optimistic that I would be down in the 9:00 minute range before too long but wasn't meant to be. I am a much more patient person as result of OHS and figure that I have all of 2006 to get down to 9:00 minute or below. At the 4 - 6 month mark, I concluded that I should approach things like a professional athlete coming back from a very serious injury. A year to recover from the surgery, followed by a year of getting back into shape. It's not until the third year, that I am going to push to see what makes sense from a physiological sense and long-term perspective.

D) I have been contacted by the Adult Congenital Heart Association. They want to run a story on our Vermont relay team - gang - we need to get to work on those tshirts. I will post a script about that.

 

[msiwik]

Update at 9 1/2 mos.

Update at 9 1/2 mos.

Today marks the 8th month from my surgery. Highlights below:

1. Wow - the biggest change over the last 30 days is increased stamina. I now tell people that OHS is like having a fully lit house suddenly without power. When the power comes back on, it comes on in stages, like a room at a time. The room that relit this past month is stamina. I am starting to feel like the OHS was a distant memory and my endurance for work, exercise, life is so much better!

2. I feel like this month was a step back to take two steps forward. That is, I overdid the weights a bit in December to the point that I never truly mastered the 10:00 min. pace - too much activity. So I cut back on the weights for now, will reincorporate slowly and adjusted the pace. I read somewhere that runners could safely drop the pace 5 seconds a week down to their 10k race pace. So I went back to 10:30 at the beginning of the month, then to 10:20, and then to 10:10 last week. Yes, my Type A personality was willing to just go with 5 second decreases although I may be more faithful to that once I hit 10:00 again. We will see how the next two weeks go. I definitely can run much faster than 10:00 but I promised myself and the exercise physiologist that I would wait a full year before anerobic training again.

3. My long runs are up to 8 miles which I am doing slowly - 11:00 min. pace. No problems there, will increase to 9 or 10 over the next month.

Ok all for this month. Mark

Life has been very busy so haven't been able to post for a while. Here's the latest:

A) My shorter runs are now below 10:00 min. - in the range of 9:40 to 9:50.

B) Long runs are now at the 90 minute to 2 hour range.

C) Suffered a setback two weeks ago due to a high level of stress unrelated to exercise. Working back into a groove now and hope to be able to resume my normal regimen next week. Prior to the setback, I was mildly optimistic that I would be down in the 9:00 minute range before too long but wasn't meant to be. I am a much more patient person as result of OHS and figure that I have all of 2006 to get down to 9:00 minute or below. At the 4 - 6 month mark, I concluded that I should approach things like a professional athlete coming back from a very serious injury. A year to recover from the surgery, followed by a year of getting back into shape. It's not until the third year, that I am going to push to see what makes sense from a physiological sense and long-term perspective.

D) I have been contacted by the Adult Congenital Heart Association. They want to run a story on our Vermont relay team - gang - we need to get to work on those tshirts. I will post a message about that.

 

[msiwik]

10 Month Mark - Field of Dreams

10 Month Mark - Field of Dreams

Life has been very busy so haven't been able to post for a while. Here's the latest:

A) My shorter runs are now below 10:00 min. - in the range of 9:40 to 9:50.

B) Long runs are now at the 90 minute to 2 hour range.

C) Suffered a setback two weeks ago due to a high level of stress unrelated to exercise. Working back into a groove now and hope to be able to resume my normal regimen next week. Prior to the setback, I was mildly optimistic that I would be down in the 9:00 minute range before too long but wasn't meant to be. I am a much more patient person as result of OHS and figure that I have all of 2006 to get down to 9:00 minute or below. At the 4 - 6 month mark, I concluded that I should approach things like a professional athlete coming back from a very serious injury. A year to recover from the surgery, followed by a year of getting back into shape. It's not until the third year, that I am going to push to see what makes sense from a physiological sense and long-term perspective.

D) I have been contacted by the Adult Congenital Heart Association. They want to run a story on our Vermont relay team - gang - we need to get to work on those tshirts. I will post a message about that.

Had to record today in my online open diary! My first sub-9:00 minute mile since before 2 weeks before my surgery when I completed a half marathon in 1:45 despite a resp. infection and an unknown calificied aortic valve.

I have a learned a great deal from this experience, the most important lesson being to stay focused on your goals but break them into subgoals - see the top of the ladder you want but don't obsess about that - look at the next rung and if you don't make the next rung immediately, regroup and try again.

Bill Cobit posted a very nice thread about this site - it is a "Field of Dreams"
Thank you for listening. Mark

 

[MitralMan]

Outstanding, Mark. You've become my long-term benchmark

Outstanding, Mark. You've become my long-term benchmark

I'm aiming to get to 12:00/mile this year.

And now I've got my daughter training with me!!

So next year, why not 10:00?

MM

 

[msiwik]

Daughters

Daughters

I'm aiming to get to 12:00/mile this year.

And now I've got my daughter training with me!!

So next year, why not 10:00?

MM

MM - we will get there. Looking forward to connecting our daughters in Vt. I am bringing mine (Missy - 12) who I introduced to running several years ago. Now she is faster is than me but I keep telling her that I will regain my pre-surgery form in time. Mark

 

[msiwik]

Final Post - Indy Mini Marathon 2006

Final Post - Indy Mini Marathon 2006

Had to record today in my online open diary! My first sub-9:00 minute mile since before 2 weeks before my surgery when I completed a half marathon in 1:45 despite a resp. infection and an unknown calificied aortic valve.

I have a learned a great deal from this experience, the most important lesson being to stay focused on your goals but break them into subgoals - see the top of the ladder you want but don't obsess about that - look at the next rung and if you don't make the next rung immediately, regroup and try again.

Bill Cobit posted a very nice thread about this site - it is a "Field of Dreams"
Thank you for listening. Mark

Well this is my final post to this thread. I am now just a couple of weeks shy of my one year mark. Thoughts:

1. I have progressed very well. After learning to not overdo, the recovery from the four month mark to the eleventh month mark has gone well. I can now run at an 8:30 to 9:00 minute pace and not exceed 75% maximum heart rate.

2. I have learned to be more patient and to break goals into smaller goals. I am truly looking forward to the next year. I have come to believe that for an athlete undering OHS for valve replacement that it's three years. The first year after OHS should be about "getting back on the field" and that a safe way to do that is simply adhere to a formula of staying within the 60% to 75% low intensity workout range. The second year should be about getting back into game shape - reintroducing some higher intensity workouts but keeping it limited (no more than 5% - 10% of the weekly mileage). The third year should be the year where you determine whether pre-surgery fitness can be matched or exceeded.

3. Now on to the race yesterday. If you have read this thread, then you know a year ago, I ran very well in the Indy mini-marathon and slowed at the end of the race (around the 9 mile marker) - not by much - but all runners know their body well. Ten days later, I was talking to surgeons about OHS. Yesterday's race was very enjoyable on several levels. But to my surprise, the greatest feeling was the sense of well being that I felt. I had a long week leading up to the race. I am jet lagged from a hectic and busy week, that in addition to work/travel included late nights watching Lebron and the Cavs-Wizards playoff series. So I was tired for the half marathon. I also knew from a 10 mile run about a month ago that my endurance was not there for a race of this distance. Heck, when I first started running 5 years ago, it took me four years before I really excelled at the half marathon distance. It's going to take another four years probably before I can excel at the distance again. You have to start over and rebuild and be patient about it.

Anway, I got into the first mile and boom - my heart rate exceeded 75% where my doctor likes to keep me for now. For a moment, I had thoughts about dropping out of the race. Several people from this website flashed through my mind - LLJ, Bill Cobit, Hugh, Philip, Paul, and I thought - remember what you said - don't press. Forget about time for this event. Turn off the fricken watch and just track your heart rate. Enjoy the day; enjoy the company of Russ (one of my friends from Indy who accompanied me during the race rather than focus on his goals). That's what I did. We have our first VR.com marathon relay in less than a month in Vermont and I want to be rested and ready for that. So I just walked/jogged - maintaining an even 12:00 minute pace, never exceeding 60 to 75% max. heart rate and finished in 2:37. I couldn't have been happier. The last quarter mile - I ran like my old self - sprinting in and that felt really good.

4. Where am I now - I am ready to take the "cast off." I am ready to train again. I am going to start sprinkling in some higher intensity workouts - nothing too extreme and I am going to start signing up for 5ks and 10ks. I prefer the 10k to half marathon distance but the longer stuff will have to wait until next year. I will do one more half marathon - the Cleveland Clinic half marathon in September but apart from that, I will just enjoy this. I love running and thanks in part to all the great people on this website who have consistently supported me and supported the notion of coming back easy, I am ready to go to the next level. I am brimming with enthusiasism and energy.

5. One of my favorite writers is George Sheehan, the famous cardiologist - turned philosopher/runner guru. Six months before his death, he gave a talk entitled "Did I Win" - parts of which are below:

"What is your big concern in life? [For me, it's did I win? Is this enough? It reminded me of Robert Frost when he was in his sixties. Somebody was talking to him about his view of life, how his life had gone, and he said he'd gone past good and evil. He said "What I am concerned about is whether my offering will be acceptable. That's what you come to when you get into your sixties and seventies."

Fortunately, life is not a skill sport. Each one of us has everything we need to be a winner. Runner's learn this. It's very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against that little voice inside you that wants to quit. I told these kids that each one of them had the capability of being a winner, because winning is about just triumphing over that little voice.

This transformation that occurs with running can occur in other activities. But the only way it can occur is through experience. You have to plunge into the experience. You have to make mistakes, go down blind alleys. There are no bad experiences; you learn from them all."

Thanks for listening - on to the next year! On to Vermont!

 

[tommy]

Great job!

Great post!

 

[LLJ]

As one of your biggest fans,I waited anxiously for your post about the race. Wonderful! I am thrilled for you. I know what you went through with that "little voice" at the beginning. My little voice pestered me from mile 8 to mile 13. I love the quotes you included and plan to post them on my bathroom mirror (Right now I have one that says :The miles can build you up or the miles can break you down;it's all about how you approach it.) It sounds like your approach was right on!! I really like your training ideas too regarding first year second year post surgery. I can't wait until Vermont!
Laura(LLJ)

 

[MitralMan]

Mark, I wrote it to you privately, but I'll say it publicly now...

Mark, I wrote it to you privately, but I'll say it publicly now...

You're my Yoda!

Really fantastic accomplishment, but I'm not sure if I'm thinking of the physical side (hey, you did it!) or the emotional/intellectual side (wow, you did what you needed to do, took some perspective, and are the better for it).

As you know, I'm vastly slower than you are (I checked, and the last time I ran 4 miles at even a 10:00 pace was 1999), yet I've allowed my HR to hit 184 (yesterday) running 3 miles at a 12:48 pace -- and this is approximately 107% of what used to be my max HR pre-surgery!!

Really looking forward to seeing you and the team in a few weeks and trading training strategies!

 

[BillCobit]

Congrats, Mark and Laura. Did you guys meet up w/ MarkU also?

 

[MarkU]

Congrats, Mark and Laura. Did you guys meet up w/ MarkU also?

I didn't make it. My mother's been in the hospital here for the last couple of weeks and I couldn't get away. Congratulations to Mark, Laura and any others who were there.
MarkU

 

[msiwik]

Thanks

Thanks

I didn't make it. My mother's been in the hospital here for the last couple of weeks and I couldn't get away. Congratulations to Mark, Laura and any others who were there.
MarkU

MarkU - sorry to hear about your mom; good luck with that. Thanks to all for your kind comments. I would say that Mitralman was right on - the real success I feel is one "the intellectual/emotional" side - beating the little voice in the first mile of the race when my heart rate zipped past 75% maximum. I think the higher rate was because of the excitement of standing there with 35,000 fellow runners. The old Mark - presurgery - would have just forged ahead, in stead of taking a moderate approach. I finished with a smile on my face, zip in my step, and zest to start tackling the shorter runs with more intensity. I credit my friends here for part of that success and maturation.

 

[tommy]

Mark,

I don't know about you, but I usually feel like Cr** for the first 2 miles of any run. After that I'm loose and happy. It's one of the things I love about getting my endurance up - a longer "happy zone".

Again, great race! Be sure to get out and loosen up over the next few days. If you're really stiff, then at least walk a bit.

I finished with a smile on my face, zip in my step, and zest to start tackling the shorter runs with more intensity. I credit my friends here for part of that success and maturation.

Boy, I love to see you post that! I guess that's what it's all about......doing something challenging......having fun...finishing strong......looking forward to the next one. Woo Hoo!

MarkU, sorry about your mom. Hope she's getting better.

 

[msiwik]

I feel "too good"

I feel "too good"

Mark,

I don't know about you, but I usually feel like Cr** for the first 2 miles of any run. After that I'm loose and happy. It's one of the things I love about getting my endurance up - a longer "happy zone".

Again, great race! Be sure to get out and loosen up over the next few days. If you're really stiff, then at least walk a bit.
Boy, I love to see you post that! I guess that's what it's all about......doing something challenging......having fun...finishing strong......looking forward to the next one. Woo Hoo!

MarkU, sorry about your mom. Hope she's getting better.

Tommy - thanks for the words! I can't wait to get you in the 2007 marathon relay team! I actually feel too good; like I really didn't race. I have a little bit of soreness just from going 13 miles, but nothing like the typical post-race fatigue. I will hit the gym tomorrow. I think that's the real blessing in all of this - learning to not put so much pressure on myself "to go to the wall" in everything, all the time. You know there is some wisdom in that old "tortoise vs. hare" fable.

 

[Philip]

I once trained with a person who finished every workout with a handshake or high five and "good stuff" I can't say it any better...GOOD STUFF!!
Philip

 

[LLJ]

I wasn't at the Indy guys, the half Marathon I referred to was the More back in March.
LLJ

 

[BillCobit]

I didn't make it. My mother's been in the hospital here for the last couple of weeks and I couldn't get away. MarkU

So sorry to hear that, Mark. I hope she is better soon.