Ok so I wrote in a previous post that my running times have sucked over the last two months. Most of that can be blamed on my health worries. But over the last week or so I’ll also blame the weather. (Heaven forbid it can’t be that I’m approaching 72 years old.
Back on May 27th I ran my fastest 5K of the year and I felt like I was starting to get back into running form. Little did I know that would be my high point for the spring and so far the summer.
That’s because shortly after that run I went to an ophthalmologist to find out why everything was gray when looking only with my left eye!
Anyway, the ophthalmologist didn’t know what the caused the problem. She thought I may have a tear in my retina, so she sent me to a retina specialist.
The retina specialist had some good news and some not so good news. He said there was no tear in the retina. And aside from some age related dry macular degeneration everything looked good. However, he speculated that the cause of the appearance of the grayness was an arterial occlusion, i.e. a “mini-stroke”
He gave me some post examination “homework”, The homework included a lipid panel, two other blood tests. As well as, a visit to a cardiologist for an echo cardiogram and an ultrasound. My blood work is all good and Im still waiting on the other tests. Oh and right now I’m wearing a heart monitor for three weeks!
After a return visit to the retina specialist he still doesn’t see anything wrong with the retina except for the AMD. He said the next step would be a visit to a neurological eye specialist.
However, before taking that step he wants me to return to the ophthalmologist and see if they can do something with eyeglasses to help.
The bottom line is I am now waiting for my ophthalmologist appointment and the two tests at the cardiologist. Oh and the result of the heart monitoring. Even though at the end of the cardiologist visit he said I’ll see you in three months!
All of the above and the hot summer weather have played havoc with my running. I have been taking it easy even though both the retina specialist and the cardiologist said to keep running!
So this week I ran twice! Once on Tuesday and again on Friday. Both times I ran for a total time of 30 minutes rather than a set distance. The runs were 2.3 and 2.4 miles respectively at a pace of 12:52 and 12.57 minutes/mile. I keep on reminding myself this is just base miles and speed doesn’t matter! Doing it is what matters!
Now this is the point in a post where I would write about the soundtracks for these runs. But I’ve rambled in enough, so I’ll write about those soundtracks in another post!
The soundtracks respectively were : The Right Man the debut album from D.K. Harrell and Sticks and Stones from Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real.
Ok so I have been moving forward in many ways and also feeling my age (71) in others. I have been moving forward in my battle with my ADHD, as I try to do more thing that I’ve thought about doing. While doing others when I think about them, rather than putting them off ! And so far it’s working! One of those things I didn’t put off was this morning’s run!
Ok so now that this site is about all aspects of my life and not just about the books I read or have read. And one of the things you will be reading about is my running. Now you haven’t missed much over the last month and a half because I sprained my ankle on May 28th and I have been rehab since then! The physical therapy I’ve had at NovaCare over the last several weeks has really worked wonders. Over the last few days I have had virtually no pain. So I was hoping for a pain free run..
The Run
Oh, what a difference a cloudy sky and a temperature that is a few degrees lower make on a morning run! I have been making it a habit to check the running conditions each night before a run. Last night the rating for this morning was an 8 out of 10 until after 10am. And the rating was correct! The beat thing was there was no bright sun beating down on me!
Rising Up Lifts Me Up on a Good Run
Yesterday, after I finished reading The Residence, I decided to go for a run rather than do my typical workout. I was doing pretty well running last year up until November. After November 8th I didn’t run again until March3rd. After that run it was another month until I ran again on April 15th.
