Heart failure plus aging!

 One of my favorite sharknado picks of all time! I ran my probable last ever race this spring. Felt awful. It was just a 5K, and I struggled to run a 7:30k/12 minute per mile pace. Once ran 40 consecutive 5K’s in the  3:40-3:44/sub 6 minute mile range. So I’m pretty much half the man, at 72, that I once was at 33-36. Part of it is having the 2 ablations and the pacemaker implant. At 71 was diagnosed with early heart failure with an ejection fraction of 40. They initially put me on entresto, but after 6 months, it did little to improve my heart function, and made me feel weak and dizzy every time I stood up. So they changed that to low dose jardiance, and I feel much better. My resting HR and sleeping HR have each dropped 10 beats a minute, which I assume is a good thing, but who knows. I see the 2 heart guys for another ultrasound late in the fall, to see if I’ve had any heart remodeling or an improved ejection fraction. In the mean time, I try and run 5 days a week for about 20 miles, and spin a half hour on the Exercycle and lift weights 2 days a week. This aging and slowing down is a drag, but what else can you do. Assuming I can keep going,  it will just keep getting tougher….

Shock The Monkey!

 

So I managed another thousand mile year, much slower and so much longer to reach. Probably be my last at age 72. I am in early stage heart failure and trying to attack it with Entresto. When I moved to the gulf coast 4 years ago I was at least able to run faster than 5 miles per hour. Not anymore ……

Anyway, sarcopenia is muscle wasting as you age. I blame it for much of my decline. Learned recently it’s not the only cause. Researchers have discovered that nerve firing is equally important. They took one hundred men over age 65 and had them do max leg presses. They then hooked up electrodes and mildly shocked them while repeating the exercise. They improved bye an average of 14.7%, with the oldest making the greatest gains. Shock the monkey! Anyway, we shuffle on ……

Stride length!

 

I belong to a “runners over 70 group” on Facebook and enjoy interacting with other aged runners. Lots of dudes like me who have gone from 9mph runs in their hay day  to 5mph runs on a brisk day. One discussion chain was about stride length and the fact that the average stride length for a 70-79 aged runner is a pathetic 25” inches. Now, even when I ran all those sub 6 minute mile pace 5k’s in my 30’s, I never had a long stride length, especially for a guy of 6’3”. Now with my size 13 feet, 25 inches is a really sad state of affairs! These days, I look down often during runs and notice 2 things….I never seem to be in the air, and my right foot, as a result of being hit by that truck at age 58 and fracturing the inside of my knee and both sides of my ankle, causes my foot to land toe’d out a bit. Makes my right shoe on the outer mid foot also wear faster. Also, in some shoes, especially ones with higher drops, I feel like I’m slapping the ground. 60 mile weeks are now 20 mile weeks with some days in the gym on the Exercycle. Like most of my buds in the group say, it ain’t pretty but it beats quitting ….

Long Time Gone!

 

Been a good long time since I posted on my blog, so now seems as good a time as any. Had a rough 70 starting with an upper respiratory infection in mid june that turned out to be covid. Went from two weeks of covid to bronchitis, to asthma, back to bronchitis, and back to asthma. 4 months later, still have some mild bronchial inflammation. After many running starts and stops, an ER visit (here) in August, way too many pulmonologist visits and steroid inhalers,  I’ve finally been able to put three slow weeks of running back together. Not very fit, but I don’t race any more since last January’s casino bridge 10K (just to chase a final medal in my 5 year age group). Fitness will return in time. Focused solely on trying to stay in zone 2 HR running (120-129), but as yet, keep sliding into zone 3 at (130-139). Goal is 80% zone 2. So 71 is a few weeks away, and my hope is just some healthy months of putting one slow foot in front of the other…

Running During The Time Of Covid-19!

Well, 2020 certainly was a very strange and difficult year. I normally choose to run 4 days a week now and do weights and a short spin on the Exercycle at Crunch fitness, but by mid March, my fears over covid caused me to do my floor stretches and exercises and skip the gym. And lots of puzzles! So therefore, to keep my sanity, I ran 4, 5, and sometimes  6 day run weeks. My goal for the year was to hit 1613 kilometers or 1000 miles. That was a goal of 32 kilometers or 20 miles a week, assuming 2 weeks off for illness or injury.  What I ended up with is 1956 kilometers or 1213 miles. Doubt I’ll see that level of mileage again but who really knows? Hope vaccines get rolled out faster than they are starting out, and then all my old loved ones stay safe and healthy in 2021! 

Failed Triathlete!

In my late 30’s, I tried to become a triathlete....I failed. Also, possibly from the riding and swimming, weight training, and over eating, I reached the apex of weight in my entire life....I hit 192 lbs. this is just a picture from a 5K at that weight.
I learned to swim as a child in Lake Erie with my head up. Not the way to learn. Even becoming a certified life guard didn’t change that much at age 18. Anyway, I was reasonably competent on my red Fuji, and had the running background, but decided to enter a triathlon on a whim. 1K swim, 30K ride, 10K run. I practiced doing weekly bricks where I rode an hour and then ran an hour. The race I entered had a 2 lap swim of the perimeter of the lake. When you completed the application they seeded the swim start based on anticipated swim time. I purposely listed a slow swim time thinking I would catch people on the ride and run. Turned out to be a critical mistake. Swimmers were set off every 40 seconds in ten waves. I was in the 2nd last wave. While I was  standing there awaiting my start, I noticed the leaders were 2/3rds of the way around their first lap. The gun went off and I started leisurely swimming along. I got about half way around the lake on my first lap when people started swimming over me and  trying to drown me....had to fight thru people until I completed lap 1. Had taken on so much water and my bruised  and battered body was sore as hell.
I got out of the water and on the bike and started to push. Got to the run about mid pack. Once in the run, I probably passed about 60 people. Ended up in the top third, but when they adjusted time for your start group, ended up in the top 20%. But no where near the leaders in my age group. Attempted 2 other races where I seeded better for the swim, but never felt I was gonna dent the age group awards. So, at 39, I started upping mileage, dieting, and came into age 40 at my normal racing weight of 168.....

My Favorite Race Ever!

Ivans Utah is one of the most beautiful places on Earth. It is west of St. George near Keyenta and the Shivwitz Indian reservation. I know it sounds Jewish. Actually a band of Paiutes. So anyway, it is at altitude and hilly and rocky as all hell. Anyway, they advertised a race that sounded about as perfect as you could imagine. The race was in late April, right when Ernie was due to visit. What I absolutely loved about this race was that it was a handicapped event. Runners were released based on age/sex categories. For example, 75+ and -7 year old females....20 seconds later, same men and boys. Delayed starts ranged from 20-40 seconds early, and up to a minute for those in late 20’s early 30’s. Was a copy of the system used for the Dipsea road race in California. The first 25 finishers got a trophy. That was it. Very large field of all ages and sexes. Ernie and I were released (50-55 male) with women 35-9. Course was straight down hill, around a parking lot circle, and back up. I went down way way too fast. Climb proved to be a gasping crawl. This agony picture is with about a third of a mile to go. Got past quickly by 2 20’s flying back to the finish. Ernie got his award, ending up 23rd. They butchered the shit out of his name but I’m not sure I have ever seen him happier. I ended up 11th. I would love to do one of those in a year and a half if I was still running at age 70!