Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.18) - The 5 year itch, time to cut the CRAP

Part 4.18 - THE 5 YEAR ITCH, TIME TO CUT THE CRAP

(Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style)

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

5 year medal haul
29th January 2022 brought me to the end of my 5th 'cardiac' year since my rehab heart assessment and it seems an opportune time to reflect back over the 5 years to see how I have fared, the obstacles thrown in my way, my progress or otherwise and what the future might hold.

Right back at the very beginning, particularly the result of my Nuclear Medicine Perfusion Scan at Harefield [see part 2], I realised that the damage from the heart attack wasn't so bad giving me the ideal opportunity to put a plan into action to restore my health and fitness to hopefully prevent things from deteriorating further, though during my convalescence I seriously doubted my ability to even go for a decent country walk again! I found it particularly worrying that I could reach a heart attack in just over 3.5 years since my first angioplasty and stents following a severe angina attack as I walked to the footie at Adams Park in March 2013 and I didn't want another cardiac event in the next 3.5 years.

Cardiac rehabilitation [see part 3] was without doubt the first major step in putting me on the right road, restoring my confidence and giving me the knowledge and belief I could go on and improve my future, improving my eating habits and starting an exercise programme I have been determine to keep up in some form throughout the whole 5 year period. I need continuous guidance and encouragement to keep me on track and it was fortunate the Wycombe Wanderers Sports & Education Trust introduced FFIT (football fans in training programme) [see part 4], now renamed FIT Chairboys, just as I graduated from Rehab. This gave me a continuity covering such aspects as diet and nutrition and well as regular circuit training which picked up again at a later date through the FFIT Xtra classes, unfortunately these were cancelled due to Covid and I have been out on a limb ever since. As the FFIT programme came to an end I was on my own again, so as a stop gap I continued to increase my step count through walking with a target to join in the Hearts & Souls London Bridges walk in Sept 2017 [see part 4.2] (photo record), during which time I raised £1,797.00 in the process towards the Cardiac Rehab. Hearts & Souls are a small local Wycombe based charity who really impressed me helping to keep the excellent award winning rehab programme in Bucks accessible for all who needed it free of charge, in fact I have been so grateful for the two times I attended this service that I am now an elected a trustee of the charity.

All about FFIT (with a special guest appearance)

Running the Chilterns
It was about this time that I stumbled across the 5km parkrun, setting out on a parkrun running career that has seen me take part in 130 events, all at Wycombe Rye except for one at Taunton Longrun Meadow and another at Henley and new years day 2020. My first 'run' took 37 minutes and 48 seconds and I constantly improved until consistently finishing between 27 and 28 minutes culminating in my personal best of 26:32 which was achieved in Dec 2019. Since the return from Covid I have not matched that form with my best finish being 30:31 while averaging about 32-33 minutes. Beside parkrun I increased the distances I have run firstly with members of the 'Your Pace or Mine' (YPOM) group and various 10K races and then throughout the pandemic isolation where I enjoyed many 'long lone trail' runs of about 15km rediscovering the scenic countryside around the Chiltern hills reaching my ultimate goal of running a half-marathon in Sept 2020 for my 3.5 year anniversary, I was joined by several members of the 'YPOM' running group where we ran the Maidenhead half marathon course [see part 4.12] (photo record), which had been cancelled due to the pandemic, raising another £1,143.00 for Hearts & Souls bringing the total raised over the 5 years in various events to a majestic £4,604.00 - I am so grateful to everyone who supported me both physically and through the generous donations on these events, it does mean so much to me to give something back and help today's cardiac victims get back to a normal life (a huge heartfelt thank you from Hearts & Souls ... link).

My Wycombe Rye parkrun profile (25th Sept 2020) ..... click here

My full parkrun record (off chart is tail walking duties)

Since the summer of 2021 the frequency and length of my runs have dropped off quite significantly as I'm finding it increasingly difficult to motivate myself due to fatigue and tiredness, this seems to result from the AFib which appear to becoming more regular over the same period, though I keep asking myself 'is it the AFib stopping me running or the lack of running that is increasing the AFib?' and I end up going around in circles trying to decide what to do for the best. 

Total runs in 2022 (red markers are AFib episodes)

It hasn't all been heart related though and I have had to visit most hospitals within a 35 mile radius for a variety of medical admissions and appointments:

  • 2017 - Prostate cancer investigation - this turned out just to be an enlarge prostate but because of my recent heart attack it took a while to resolve and gave me an extra worry at a time when I didn't really need it.
  • 2018 - Fistual surgery - during the anaesthesia I went in AFib but several Holter monitors failed to prove this was an ongoing problem. It is only recently this has become more apparent, helped by being able to track the episodes after I purchased a Kardia Mobile [see part 4.5 & 4.11]
  • 2018 - Gastroentertis and AKI - This was really quick and sudden, I ended up in resuscitation overnight within hours of feeling ill as my blood pressure crashed to 61/35. This was probably the single worst moment over the whole 5 year period and I really felt I was at deaths door [see part 4.6].
  • 2019 - Bolus impaction -  a choking fit which wasn't very pleasant and I still need to take great care when swallowing [see part 4.9]. 
  • 2020/22 - AFib - I've ended up in A&E a couple of times, both times I was sent home while still in AFib but I have now been referred to a Cardiologist. 

 

5 years of in & out of hospital

AFib [see part 4.17] has without doubt become a major concern over the last year or so with the incidences becoming more regular. I have really struggled to recover from my last episode 2 weeks ago and it is now feels that there has been a change in my condition. I am currently waiting to talk to a cardiologist who I hope to also discuss the increasing frequency of the episodes. There are times where it can get me down, not so much when I'm feeling OK but when I'm in AFib there are occasions when I can get anxious and despondent and might even break down to tears. It is not so much the actual AFib itself, the lack of energy, fatigue, the dizziness or shortness of breath but more the constant physical reminder that I do have a chronic heart condition that is not going to go away without intervention.





That about wraps up the last 5 years in a nutshell though there is plenty more detail covered throughout the blog, but it has certainly been an interesting and unexpected journey. Writing this blog has without doubt helped to keep me on my toes as I always want to share something positive along with the trials and tribulations, so it has acted as my motivation. The positive feedback especially in the earlier years from other heart patients [see testimonials] saying how the blog inspired and gave them hope in their own recovery gave it a sense of purpose, but this has dried up and the interest has dropped off so this will probably be my last blog .... unless something significant happens when I might just write a 'special' blog or maybe still track my annual progress.

All time blog views


END OF YEAR 5 ROUND UP:

So, what have I achieved to the end of year 5, the 5th anniversary of my Cardiac Rehab heart assessment on 30th Jan 2017 when I started recording my progress?  ... It's not very pretty reading.



STEP COUNT:

The year started OK but tailed off during the second half of the year as my running lessened. I am still trying to maintain a reasonable level by setting daily and weekly minimum step and calorie burn targets in which for most of the time, I am achieving.


Total step counts:
Year 1 ...  4,046,492 average 11,086 per day (2023.25 miles) .... target, 4,000,000
Year 2 ...  5,270,911 average 14,440 per day (2635.46 miles) .... target, 5,000,000
Year 3 ...  5,776,020 average 15,824 per day (2888.01 miles) .... target, greater than year 2
Year 4 ...  5,625,239 average 15,369 per day (2812.62 miles) .... target, match year 3
Year 5 ...  5,562,864 average 15,240 per day (2781.43 miles) .... no target set


WEIGHT LOSS:


This is just shot to pieces and I have lost control throughout the pandemic where I haven't tracked it as regular as I did at the start (hardly at all really), but I don't want to use Covid as an excuse. I have become weak willed and given in to far too many temptations and need to get back to the mindset and discipline I had at the beginning, seeing how close I am creeping towards that 'obese' red line again and the fact all my other measurements getting nearer to my heart attack level is worrying. I've just got to be harder on myself, get back to sensible eating and cut the CRAP out!


When I started out on this journey I would have hoped to hit the cardiac rehab targets by now, or at least hold a steady lower level so in that respect the last couple of years has been both frustrating and disappointing. I hope by writing this report will renew my determination to get back on track and at least get back to my best results.



Heart attack to 10K 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 - Mixed bag through Covid (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
Part 4.16 - Reintegrating back into society (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here
Part 4.17 - Get that crazy rhythm (the low down on AFib) (Phase IV - sustaining a healthy life-style)  click here

Next:
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 

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The rest of the story

Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.1) - Getting FFITer and Harefield & Heartbreak hill revisited

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GETTING FFITer. (Phase VI – sustaining a healthy life-style ) "Nothings going to happen unless you make it happen." I already knew I had an enlarged prostate, but during early April 2017 that I noticed that I was having to visit the little chairboys room a bit more frequently and it was becoming more difficult to pass water. I thought this might be due to a change in medication so mentioned it to my GP on one of my many visits. This prompted the doctor to get a little more intimate with me than I was comfortable with as he gave my prostate a little tickle (you'll probably have to pay extra for that in a house of ill repute!) and he then referred me to the Urologist. A blood test showed my PSA ( Prostate-specific antigen, a protein released from the prostate gland into the blood stream) to be 6.2, this was cause for concern as anything over 4.0 could indicate the presence of cancer cells. Normally, I believe the next stage would be to go for a biopsy, thi
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 1) - That fateful day.

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THAT FATEFUL DAY. (Phase I – heart attack) Being at a bit of a loose end and with nothing better to do during that dull period between Christmas and New Year (or the Plymouth Argyle & Cheltenham Town matches as my fellow Chairboys & girls would remember it), I decided to go for a walk in the local countryside around the rolling Chiltern hills. Overnight it had frozen, but the bright winter sunshine turned the early frost into a mist persuading me that it might make for some good atmospheric photographs. So, on Wednesday 28 th December 2016 (a date now etched into my brain) I drove out to Bledlow Ridge, parked the car in a side road just after mid-day and set out with my camera on a 6.8 mile walk that by the time I returned to the car would become an adventure I wouldn't forget in a hurry and ultimately have a dramatic change on my priorities and the way I live my life. I had been meaning to walk the Radnage area for some time and with the afternoon bright sunl
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.17) - Get that crazy rhythm (the low down on AFib)

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Part 4.17 - Get that crazy rhythm (the low down on AFib) (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." I'm not sure who is actually reading this blog or even if you find it interesting or not, with little feedback it can be difficult to know how well it is received.    I'm certainly no expert and just write from my own experiences and what I have learnt by facing or overcoming certain problems as they occur, I hope by writing this blog to raise awareness on matters of the heart so others might consider their own health and fitness needs and seek medical attention, if needed, before letting things get out of hand ..... at the very least writing this stuff helps me to recall my recent medical history & achievements 😉. My biggest concern of late has without doubt been Atrial Fibrillation (also known as AFib or AF) and its quite noticeable from my conversations that many 'non-hearties' have no idea what t
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 3) - They tried to make me go to rehab, I said yes, yes, yes please

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THEY TRIED TO MAKE ME GO TO REHAB. I SAID YES, YES, YES PLEASE! (Phase III – cardiac rehabilitation) the cardiac rehab team 21 st Feb 2017 and I start phase III of my cardiac event when attending the first of 6 weeks of cardiac rehabilitation classes, but this part of the story really began back at my heart assessment 3 weeks earlier. Besides receiving my pedometer and starting an obsession in counting steps [see part 2], a series of measurements were taken which have since become the base point for tracking my subsequent progress.  My heart rate was 59, blood pressure 153/96, weight 98.2 kg, height 177cm, BMI 31.34 and waist 107cm. The Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation Team set long term targets against these measurements – blood pressure <140/90, weight 58-78.3kg, BMI 18.5-25 and waist <94cm. [Care4Today Cardiac Rehab video, this features the actual team I was with ..... click here ] Part of the assessment is to do a ‘shuttle walk test’ during which you wear
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RUNNING THE RIDGE FOR HEARTS & SOULS: LOCAL CHARITY APPEAL

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RUNNING THE RIDGE FOR HEARTS & SOULS: APPEAL PLEASE DONATE HERE :    https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/runtheridge-heartsandsouls    I’m again raising money in aid of HEARTS & SOULS having previously completed the London Bridges walk in 2017 and the Thames Valley Summer walk last summer, this time I will be running my first ever 10K race at the age of 61 ..... 25 years, 10 months and 1 day after my last race! Hearts & Souls are a local voluntary run charity based in Wycombe hospital that fund the excellent cardiac rehabilitation classes which help around a 1,000 patients to recover from cardiac events each year in South Bucks.    This part of the rehabilitation programme is not funded by the NHS and relies entirely on charitable and legacy donations to keep it free at the point of use at a cost of about £25,000 per year. This is not some high profile national organisation but a small local charity who rely mainly on a small pool of those who have been th
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.23) - God bless the NHS

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Part 4.23 - GOD BLESS THE NHS (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." Just occasionally I like to write something other than about my heart condition, highlighting my appreciation, experiences or support received over the past 6 and a bit years, to this end I have already written special blogs covering Cardiac Rehab , FITT , AFib awareness and Parkrun . Today I would like to show my admiration and gratitude for the tremendous work & service given to me by the NHS , not just for my heart problems but for other aliments I suffered over the same period. Recently I have been reading a 'question & answer' social media platform where the question of health care in the USA gets heavily debated when compared to the UK and elsewhere with 'socialised healthcare' and I admit knowing very little what happens over the pond other than it being 'private' and driven by insurance with terminology su
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.20) - Persisting with parkrun

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  Part 4.20 - PERSISTING WITH PARKRUN (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." I only intended to write another blog if there was something special or significant to write about; well, since the last blog in May my AFib (Atrial Fibrillation) has moved up a level to from paroxysmal to persistent which is a fairly significant change in lifestyle for me and as a result I would like to write my own tribute to just how important parkrun has been, especially through this period of relative inactivity as it has been the only bright spot during a period where I have become concerned about my of lack of exercise, but as crucially how it gave me the opportunity to progress my health and fitness drive soon after I completed both cardiac rehab and the Wycombe Wanderers FITT lifestyle programme in 2017, months after suffering a heart attack. Parkrun has become a constant feature throughout these blogs for nearly 5 years now. I
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 2) - Back home & drama at White Hart Lane

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BACK HOME & DRAMA AT WHITE HART LANE (Phase II – home recovery) Not the New Year's Eve I had planned but I was home!! 4 to 6 weeks off work, no driving for a month, lots of rest, no lifting – welcome to phase II of a cardiac event. Sounds good but it soon becomes tedious, never mind at last I get to see those photos that had led to all this excitement in the first place [see part 1] and that was about it for the first week or so, sitting in front either the TV or computer or reading a jolly good book I got for Christmas about a tale of a Chairboy who missed that famous FA Cup run* with the odd excursion past a few neighbours houses and back mummified with my WWFC scarf wrapped tightly around my head to keep the cold air at bay. The instructions were simple enough, plenty of rest and start slowly with gentle short walks, a little light dusting etc. and gradually build up the pace and length of the walks and resume normal daily activities over the next 4 weeks. * 
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Heart Attack to 10K (part 4.4) - Falling heart rate: fitter or hibernation?

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PART 4.4 - FALLING HEART RATE: FITTER OR HIBERNATION? (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happen unless you make it happen." I didn’t really have any intention to continue with this blog beyond the first year but like in real life, my fitness campaign keeps rolling on so must the chronicles (or so I’ve been told by my blog fan).   Picking up from where we left off, my next parkrun on 3rd Feb. became a bit of a ground breaking occasion. It all started like any previous – a combination of jogging and walking when feeling the onset of angina but suddenly at about 3km I picked up a fairly comfortable stride and managed to keep going for the next 1km without pulling up when a fellow runner saw how I was pushing myself and offered to help me to the finish line. We jogged the last 1km together and finished in 33:09, just 18 seconds behind my best time. At about 2km this was the longest distance I had ran non-stop since starting parkrun and having
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