Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.16) - Reintegrating back into society

Part 4.16 - Reintegrating back into society 

(Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style)

"Nothings going to happen unless you make it happen."

Following on from my last blog where I might have come across feeling a bit sorry for myself, having had both Covid vaccinations, it is now time to come up with a plan to re-integrate back into society and regain some of what I have lost in terms of fitness and drive throughout the whole pandemic.

Over the pandemic I have concentrated more on my stamina by running lone long-distance trail runs though these have fallen by the wayside a little of late as my motivation wains, on these I have not worried about time and resorted to a fair bit of walking but have consistently achieved between 15-20km with typical elevations gains of around 300-500km which give the heart a helluva good workout.

 

Recently I have been finding it particularly difficult to keep up a regular steady pace over any distance especially when running on my own, with my runs becoming very stop-start as aching first starts in my legs and if I can push through that then my chest as angina starts to kick in. After about 1.5km (and a puff of the magic GTN spray) I normally fall into a breathing/step rhythm which helps with my momentum but even this has become harder with the slightest gradient becoming a strain. This effects my motivation and just getting out for a run becomes a bit of a chore, but it is something I want to keep up after working so hard on this over the past 3 or so years.

2021 run distances - the red marks are where I recorded episodes of AFib

Following a YPOM (Your Pace or Mine running group) 10K run where I decided to make my comeback to the group and join the evening Spade Oak 'its always on' run as I had some unusually free time, I found it extremely difficult to keep up with the pack despite my best effort and had to push myself just to keep them in sight, the rain in the latter part of the run didn't really help though. I think I reached a bit of a cross-roads after this run as it was frustrating knowing where I was pre-Covid to where I am now and I not sure if this is down to lost fitness or a decline in my condition.

 

I have begun to re-access what I actually want from this exercise. My end goal has always been to prevent further heart problems and/or deterioration of the conditions I have and not to try and set any world records, attempting to keep up with the YPOM gang felt a step too far. I have already without a doubt benefited from running with increased fitness levels and lower and better controlled heart rate, blood pressure and cholesterol and I would like to maintain that - I would never have attempted or achieved this pre-HA and have no wish to return back to those less active days. With AFib (see below) becoming quite prominent in my life over the past year I feel I need to give this more consideration as over strenuous exercising could induce a bout and I would hate to be stuck in a remote area all alone should that happen (luckily it hasn't happened so far). This also makes planning longer group runs more difficult as I never know when it might start and have to cancel at 5 minutes notice, so when arranging runs such as the 'Attack the Attack' I need to give a extra warning that 'it might not always be on!" .... it is a bit of a pig.

 

I’m now thinking that I might go back to the basics and have decided to concentrate more on parkrun and similar short runs to try and regain my lost pace and fitness, parkrun is a distance (5km) and course (reasonably flat) I’m more comfortable to attempt to run at a pace and the time recordings are a good gauge to judge progress over time which in turns acts as a motivator. I’d like to also continue to run/walk the occasional ’long lone run’ possibly with a support runner or two until such time as I feel more confident to re-join the regular group runs.

I re-started my parkrun adventure on the 31st of July 2021 at Wycombe Rye (it was just like starting all over again), 72 weeks since my last parkrun when I had ran the previous 26 consecutive weeks with regular finishes around the 27:00 to 28:00 minute mark. I finished the run in 32:49, equaling in time about where I was at my 6th run out of 110 runs and some 4:54 behind my last run before lockdown and 5:56 slower than my PB (personal best). As always with parkrun I put everything I have into each run and although I expected this sort of time, it was still disappointing owing to the fact that I had kept up a good level of running throughout the pandemic, actually running by far a greater total distance in the last year than any time in my life! [see part 4.14 for running distance charts]

Wycombe Rye parkrun, I'm at 0.35 in the black shirt carrying a water bottle.

The good thing is this has set a new benchmark for parkrun and with a new target to beat a sub 30 to aim for. In subsequent runs I have achieved 31:58, 32:03 and 30:31 (my post-covid PB) so at least I'm being fairly consistent. I'm hoping this last one is an indication that I'm on the right road to regaining some of what I lost and that a sub 30 is just around the corner.

Heartbreak hill

To wrap up the running I again hit the 'Attack the Attack' (route that led to my heart attack - see part 1) on 29th Aug 2021, this was my 7th time running the course and it was an absolute pleasure to be joined by my largest group so far for what was a pleasant social casual run/walk. Paul Szefer is now an old timer this being his 3rd run while Warren Bennet joined for the second time. Making their maiden attack runs were Stuart Wheeler, Karen Boyle and Sue Donoghue, it is always a pleasure to have such great company on this personal and special run, particularly after such a long period of being on my own. My thoughts are to make it seasonal - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, but in a summer where we are still waiting for summer to arrive in late Aug I'm not sure if to count this as summer or go straight to the autumn run! I have never run this alone, so I would always be looking for support as after all this time I still feel a bit apprehensive about trying it alone - a bit daft considering the long lone runs I have done over the last year.

 

After 75 weeks I'm still working from home and try my best to remain fairly active throughout the day, but in reality spend great chunks of the day just sat on my work PC at my dining room table as the day slips by. This is even with a hourly 250 step reminder set on my Fitbit (which I fail dismally) so to try and overcome this, I have a few routines and targets to hit during a working day. Soon after rehab. I started a pre-breakfast walk around the block, this was to get my heart pumping first thing in the morning, since then I have progressed onto the treadmill during the winter months and now adapted it to a 15 minute 'Living Room Jog' with a target of 3,000 steps before breakfast. At work I would do a daily 30-minute 3km lunch time brisk walk but through the pandemic this has been reduced to a slow dog walk stopping at every tree probably about 1.5-2km. Even with these routines I still normally end up in evening, unless I'm going for a run, either on my treadmill, walking around the garden or jogging on the spot as I attempt to make up a shortfall on 2,800 calorie minimum burn target in hope of maintaining a constant 'healthy' weight.

Wearing both my Hearts & Souls trustee and YPOM hats, I managed to get the charity nominated as a beneficiary of the 'Your Pace or Mine' Ultimate Challenge charity event which took place in mid-July. This was unfortunately the week I was away on holiday, but I don't think I would have lasted very long anyway. The challenge was for each runner to run 5km every hour for up to 24 hours with just one runner making it all the way, a massive congratulations to Peter Trousers (pictured showing his joy) on this phenomenal achievement. In all the total donations which currently amount to £1,575.00 are to be split equally between four charities that have helped or supported group members in some way, the other three being Mind, Rennie Grove Hospice and Women's Aid. On behalf of Hearts & Souls I would like to thank Stuart, Warren and all who took part or made donations, speaking as a trustee I know only too well it has been a particularly tough year for all charities as far as fund raising activities are concerned.

YPOM Ultra Challenge JustGiving page .... click here

 

Living with AFib (atrial fibrillation):

Some people with AFib have no symptoms and are unaware of their condition until it is discovered during a physical examination, for me it came to light while I was under a general anesthetic for a minor surgery in 2018 [see part 4.5] and is probably the result of my heart attack in Dec 2016. I had experience mild palpitations since my heart attack but thought little of it until the hospital highlighted the problem and started anticoagulation therapy to reduce the risk of a stroke. AFib is a progressive condition going from paroxysmal to persistent and then permanent so it is best to keep it in check as there is a very real risk of a stroke, dementia or even in extreme cases, heart failure.

Other than medication or surgical procedures [see part 4.15], as I understand the best way to manage and slow down it's progression is through lifestyle changes including exercise (see Dr AFib video below), so I am determined to carry on jogging/running and exercising as long as I am able though I have a self imposed rule not to exercise for at least 24 hours following an AFib episode.

AFib signs and symptoms include:

• Palpitations, which are sensations of racing, uncontrollable, irregular heartbeat or a flip-flopping in your chest.
• Weakness
• Reduced ability to exercise
• Fatigue
• Light-headedness
• Dizziness
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain

I am in the first stage and have paroxysmal AFib, with symptoms that come and go and have been trying to determine what triggers each episode and there doesn't seem to be any clear-cut pattern. Reading up on the condition, possible triggers are given as - diet, alcohol, caffeine, sleep deprivation, fatigue, illness, testosterone, emotions, exercise, medication, dehydration and stress. 

Dr AFib on AFib and exercise:

 

There have been a couple of times I can point to after a particularly hard strenuous run where I have some hours later fallen into AFib, but then there many more times, far more than when this does occur, when I've been fine. I have gone into AFib after missing medication but then again times when I haven't, though I did go into AFib a couple of days after receiving my second Covid vaccination and reported this as a possible side effect on the yellow card, but it was probably just a coincident. On one occasion stress does seem to have been a factor, while under some pressure to deliver a particular job for work my blood pressure raised to 162/92 (hypertension stage 2) and I felt a bit 'funny' about mid-morning, though it did come down to normal during the rest of the day by early evening I went into AFib which lasted the next 38 hours. 

 

KardiaMobile ECG trace showing my AFib elevated & irregular pulse

 

 

Most of the time it just seems to start and end for no apparent reason, normally while I'm relaxing. I am very poor at drinking water so suspect dehydration may play a part and also disturbed sleep as I constantly need pop to the loo throughout the night due to my enlarged prostate, these certainly won't help but I can't put my finger on any particular trigger and say 'that's it'.

 

The other thing I've been doing is monitoring the frequency and duration of each episode, to check if there is any change or deterioration in my condition. So far, since I bought the Kardia-Mobile ECG recorder in May 2020 (15 months) I have had 13 episodes lasting between the shortest of 4 hours to the longest of 96 hours with the average duration being 37.7 hours. What I have noticed there does seem to be a regular pattern emerging with the episodes often coming in pairs at fairly regular intervals. Again. I can't explain this though it is starting to help me to predict when then next episode might occur.

Heart attack to 10K pictorial record - click here
Covid long lone runs (more scenic pictorial record) - click here

Thank-you for reading and I would love to hear your thoughts on any subject I have covered, please leave your comments below or email me at peterjemmett@aol.com

My full story - from heart attack to half marathon:

Part 1 - That fateful day. (Phase I - heart attack)  click here
Part 2 - Back home & drama at White Hart Lane. (Phase II - home recovery)  click here
Part 3 - They tried to make me go to rehab, I said yes, yes, yes please. (Phase III - cardiac rehabilitation)  click here
Part 4.1 - Getting FFITer and Harefield & Heartbreak hill revisited (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.2 - Walking for heart & soul & finding parkrun (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.3 - End of year 1 round-up and assessment (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.4 - Falling heart rate: fitter or hibernation? (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.5 - Pain in the bum, going senile and sub 30! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.6 - Sub 29, attack of the AKI and 1 year old (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.7 - Pushing the boundaries (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.8 - Bling, bling, bling, two 10K's and a 5K. (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.9 - 3 Years On, Ragged Radnage and Pete's bolus journey (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.10 - Coping with COVID-19 and what they say (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.11 - Living in the lock-down (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.12 - Plus and minus 3.5 years; heart attack to half marathon! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.13 - Is it worth the risk? (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.14 - Mix bag through Covid - End of year 4 (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.15 - Getting back in the groove (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here 

Next:
Part 4.17 - Get that crazy rhythm (the low down on AFib) (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.18 - The 5 year itch, time to cut the CRAP! (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.19 - The last word (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.20 - Persisting with parkrun (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.21 - Stuck in reverse (recap of 2022) (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.22 - Starting all over again 6 years on (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.23 - God bless the NHS (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here
Part 4.24 - What I can, when I can (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style) click here