Heart attack to 10K (or maybe that should be half marathon) - 'my story'

Part 4.25 - LIFE CHANGES (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." I last published a blog way back in June 2023 and fair bit has changed within my life both 'on-field' and 'off-field' since then, and as my blog is regularly mentioned to me and I'm always being asked 'how you doing now?', which is not a answer you can easily wrap up in few words while chatting, so I thought an update to this series might be a little overdue. When I left off I had just been diagnosed with ' Chronotropic Incompetence ' (CI), an exercise intolerance. I'm still not totally sure what this really means or how it will impact my life, but what is very apparent is that my parkrun times have suffered a lot since then. Since returning back to parkrun post Covid, during which time my (intermittent) paroxysmal AFib episodes had become more regular and longer causing some worry and concern, I could never ma...

Part 4.24 - WHAT I CAN, WHEN I CAN (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." As covered over my last few blogs, since returning from the Covid I have never really got back to where was hoping to be, becoming less active, slower and as of result together with my diet slipping, a bit more podgy. Before Boris separated and isolated all of us I was enjoying some excellent support on group runs of varying distances with many of the 'Your Pace or Mine (YPOM)' ( photos ) members which kept me progressing and pushing further with my fitness plan, achieving beyond anything I could have dreamt or hope to achieve when I first started out in 2017, improving my weight loss and generally feeling better than I had in years. Your Pace or Mine and me at Parkrun The YPOM group sessions was of a great benefit to me pre-Covid at a time when post heart attack I was still re-building my fitness, stamina & increasing my runnin...

Part 4.22 - STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN 6 YEARS ON (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happen unless you make it happen." I delayed writing this 'end of cardiac year 2022' review,  the 6th anniversary since my cardiac rehab heart assessment on 30th Jan 2017, partly because I only published my last blog a little over a month ago which covered most of my tribulations through the year, but also to be able to assess what impact my latest DC cardioversion in late January combined with starting the Amiodarone treatment  (antiarrhythmic drug) has made on my health and well being. As covered in my last blog [see part 4.21], 2022 has been a year of frustration and decline largely due to spending a great chuck of it from early May in persistent AFib ( atrial fibrillation ), a total of 260 days in fact in two episodes divided by my first cardioversion in August [see part 4.21]. This has greatly impacted my will and ability and to get out and exercise f...

  Part 4.21 - STUCK IN REVERSE (RECAP OF 2022) (Phase VI - sustaining a healthy life-style) "Nothings going to happ en unless you ma ke it happen." I would normally do an end of year blog on the anniversary of my first cardiac rehab heart assessment on the 31st January 2017, but 2022 has careered so far off the path I set myself that's it feels like I've been going backwards - negating a lot of what I have achieved, so I felt compiled do a re-cap of the past year just so I have a personal log if nothing else. It's been a disrupted year where due to a deteriorating heart rhythm, my exercising and running levels suffered significantly and consequently I've got a bit porky undoing 5 years of weight loss and I've been getting a little too near for comfort to my heart attack weight again. I shall try and keep this blog brief but it has been one helluva year. After 2020 where I had to several hospital appointments (not all cardiac related), for my 2021 new year ...