Making Myself Accountable

I get asked often "Why running? Why Triathlons?" The short answer is "because I can." The long answer goes back 15 years.

I was 27 years old, finally finishing my UNDERgraduate degree and thought I was generally healthy. I went to the gym mainly for vanity reasons, but I also smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, and ate mostly fast food or processed food and only went to the doctor if I got a cold or injured myself.

Because this is a blog and not a book, I'll skip the finer points, but suffice it to say that I got sick. Very sick. Very quickly. I went to the emergency room and found out I was in severe congestive heart failure due to Mitral valve stenosis. I had emergency open heart surgery the following day. My recovery from that surgery was less than ideal. I lived alone. I was a college student and had a full-time job. I couldn't really afford to not work, I couldn't really afford my medications. Needless to say, I was depressed and brought taco bell and McDonald's by well meaning friends who didn't really know how to help. I wallowed in self pity, gaining 40lbs in the process.

Fast Forward 10 years and a lot had changed. I finished my Master's Degree, I had lived in Arizona for 8 years and even though I continued to have periodic medical complications from taking Coumadin (A blood thinner), I was healthier and more active. I also met my wife during that time and moved to Atlanta. 10 years, almost to the day, I ended up back in the emergency room with very familiar symptoms. I had a mini stroke (which we actually found out years later) and was back in congestive heart failure. A clot had developed on my valve. Another open heart surgery to replace my mechanical Mitral valve. Thankfully, my life was more stable and I had amazing support from my girlfriend (now wife) and a great community of friends that made my recovery much better.

A month after surgery, I started a new job, and a co-worker and eventual good friend was a distance runner and she encouraged me to sign up for a 10K race (The Peachtree Road Race, only the largest 10K race in the country!) that would be 5 months post surgery.  It took me 1hr and 15mins to finish, but I finished! That turned out to be the beginning of my love for running.

After that, I decided to sign up for a half marathon 3 months later. After that race, I signed up for the Georgia Publix full marathon. You see where this is going. I raced a lot that year preparing for the full marathon, including another half marathon. Unfortunately, my marathon experience was a DNF at the 25 mile marker, when I was so dehydrated that I couldn't continue, and with my history, I was off to the emergency room for fluids and observation.

 I took an extended racing (and running) break after that. Plus, I had a wedding to plan, so that took a lot of my time. I didn't really start running or racing again for almost a year (a lot of life happened in that year).
 In March 2014 (3 years after my 2nd open heart surgery), I ran a St. Patrick's Day 5K with some friends. I had a PR for my 5K time. I felt amazing. A couple hours later, we were at brunch with a group of friends and I apparently passed out momentarily (I don't remember it at all). Many trips to the doctor and several tests later, my doctor told me I had bradycardia (Low heart rate) and that over a 48hr period my heart slowed to below 60 beats a minute multiple times a day and I would also flat line for a brief moments which was what caused the loss of consciousness that day. Because my heart rate would fall so low to officially flat line, my doctor wanted me to have a pacemaker implanted immediately. My 3rd emergent heart surgery/procedure. Thankfully, the procedure is pretty routine and I even got to go home that day!

As with my last heart surgery, I signed up for the Peachtree Road Race 10K, 3 1/2 months later. I even got a another friend into running and she signed up with me! There's something about that race that seems to spark something in me. I had been tossing around the idea in my head for a while to try a triathlon. I had been fascinated with them since watching the Kona Ironman Championship races on tv as a teenager. I signed up for a sprint triathlon (500meter swim/14mile bike/3.1mile run) at the end of the summer (and the Savannah half marathon in Nov). I signed up for some basic swim lessons as a brush up on stroke mechanics and breathing and bought a road bike. I was ready! Thankfully, I had several friends that had done several triathlons, including the Ironman distance (2.4 mile swim/112 mile bike/26.2 mile run) and they talked me through transitions and took me to open water swims and let me borrow a tri kit (the outfit you wear to swim, bike and run in). I finished in my goal time and was hooked. I loved it!

I immediately started talking about wanting to do the Chicago Triathlon the following year (2015). We had decided to move to Chicago that summer and although we didn't realize we would be moving in Jan 2015 (in the dead of winter, brrr), it worked out perfectly for my triathlon plan (well, sort of). I also had a marathon plan. I feel a strong pull to complete a marathon since my DNF in 2012 and the Chicago marathon is one of the 6 major marathons, so I was planning to add that to my training schedule. Just as I had made my training plan, I fell down some stairs and did this.

It's been a very rough start to 2015.

So, where does that leave me? I've scratched the marathon for this year, but I am signed up for the Chicago Triathlon, Olympic distance (0.9mile swim/25mile bike/6.2mile run). My ankle finally healed and I started running again about a month ago. I've done some swimming as well. I decided to train with Chicago Endurance Sports in their group triathlon training program so I have some accountability, but this is also my accountability. Putting it out there publicly. I'm ready to do this.