The Laggards:
After a year of treatment for aplastic anemia, January 2012 was looking pretty good. My genius hematologist at Mass General considered me his "star patient" whose recovery (his words) was "like hitting a home run over the Green Monstah" (nod to Boston Red Sox here). Wow! I was cruising. My platelets (the #1 indicator of a healthy bone marrow)were increasing monthly; still not normal, but getting there. Ditto white cells. Oh but those reds :( Genius doc calls them "the laggards". Up and down, up and down, never the same from doc visit to visit. Still, all signs pointed to returning to running. In my dreams.
Trying to run with a low red blood count (hematocrit) is useless. It creates labored breathing, lightheadedness, off-the-chart heart rate, s.l.o.w. times, and a bone weary fatigue that is hard to describe. Fatigue that sapped my energy daily. I was able to continue to work, luckily due to the fact that my job (academic faculty at university) isn't physically demanding; and, I could come home and rest as soon as I walked in the door. So I waited for my pesky laggards to improve & walked on my treadmill (occasionally). Walking is ok as an exercise & for Xtraining, but it's not running. As I always told Missy, my former running partner, "runners run".
Ankle-mania: The Boot and Elevation
April 2012 started out terrific. Our oldest granddaughter was here for a week's visit. She went to work with me and while we were walking around campus (and introducing her to my friends), I tripped and went down, spraining my weak ankle pretty badly. Enter the Boot. Ortho doc told me I had to wear it, after the 1st week on crutches. I started to actually want to walk, forget running. April, May, June got the Boot, Advil, ice packs, and Elevation with four pillows under my foot every time I sat down. Hello 5 more pounds added directly to my hips and tummy. If I'd been a tad smarter, I would have started strength training then and there. I was too busy eating ice cream and feeling sorry for myself. That's a sure recipe for misery.
Slip-sliding Away in the Perennials:
July 2012. Ankle-mania is over! I'm walking sans The Boot, Advil, still elevating when overuse results in swelling (to be expected). I planted my veg garden, and while working in my perennial bed, slipped on a wet rock, slammed my head on my big blue wheelbarrow, and tore up that same ankle. Only this time, wife called 911 because she couldn't lift me (mortifying) and was afraid The Ankle was broken. It wasn't but my ankle was badly wrecked, worse than in April. ER's are, for the most part, misery condensed. People lined up in hallways, in all levels of pain, some bloody, some incoherent, most "sleeping it off". The pain meds given me made me sicker than I've been in years. Well, there went a few pounds right there. Always a silver lining I suppose. Enter crutches, The Boot.....you know the drill. And a 4 week stint with physical therapy 2x/week. I apparently have an ankle that doesn't know where it is in space, hence the 6-8 ankle sprains over the past 25 years. It was December before I could even consider running.
In the meantime, I worked all summer at home (research project, etc.) And I crested a major birthday milestone; my students began to have that jaw-dropping "YOU RUN Dr. Miller??" response to my casual remarks about running. Ugh. AARP found me much to my chagrin. Why can't I and the rest of the world drop the age thing?? (More on this for a later blog/rant). Nobody cares. Really. The world needs to get over this age fetish.
Enter 2013 and The Zone of Good:
Running again was always my goal; quitting for good never an option. So I waited and waited and waited some more for The Laggards to arrive at their needed destination. I worked A LOT, was awarded tenure, and walked on the treadmill occasionally, and fought fatigue every day. And it happened. May 2013! Hematocrit well into The Zone Where All is Good and Well and I Can Run Again :D
Summer on Cape Cod 2013 - A brutally hot summer to be sure. Humidity 90-100% almost every day. Air so thick you can almost cut it with a knife. Running outside is not an option. I tried it. Heart rate went sky high and with it, accompanying GI issues. Ah but I wasn't fatigued! I just couldn't breathe. (There are trade-offs in life, right?)
That's when I stopped being an outdoor running snob and began to love my treadmill. Now, I set my alarm for 5am, get up and turn on my little window a/c unit in my exercise room, plug in my coffee maker, and go back to bed for a bit. By 6am my TM room is cool, coffee is ready, and I'm good to go. Yesterday I ran a 5K and walked a mile. I've got an elyptical machine in there too (long story), which I HATE, but maybe it's time to give it another try. It kills my quads.
I've gone to the beach and started swimming. I began a strength training for runners program in June 2013, & bought some very cool workout DVDs. I'm amazed at how I'm progressing in the strength dept. Cores for runners? You bet! Superman, bicycle, bridge, I can do. I can hold a plank for 25 seconds now; granted, not terribly impressive to most people; however, since my 1st plank was all of 3 seconds before I fell flat on my face, I'm pretty happy with that 25 seconds. I'm beginning to love pushups because I can do them now! I've combed the internet for strength training for runners and I've joined SparkPeople. I don't always follow their "food choices" (don't say diet!), but I absolutely love their workout videos.
August 2013 is almost here. Another birthday is coming up. Wife is taking me on a 3 day mini-vacay to the Vineyard, one of our most fav places on earth. Youngest son & his family MIGHT come for a visit later in the month. We have a new beautiful granddaughter who has just started walking running which brings the grandbaby count to 6. Everyone is working, all are well, wife is scheduled for total knee replacement in Sept. Oldest granddaughter is going to college in the Fall (on a full ride YAY Avery:D). Life right now is very very good.
And I just ran a 5K. It's about time. Thanks Laggards! Glad to see you've arrived! Stay around for awhile. I need you.
