• 14 by Steve Bowbrick from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    14 by Steve Bowbrick from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    For those of you who have been following along, my marathon training program for Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona 2015 has not been going to plan. So far there has been chest pain and night sweats, medical testing, finding out I have 2 holes in my heart, 2 new medications, and walking my mile for the last 3 weeks. Many of my teammates have suggested that Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona 2015 isn’t my race, but it looks like my race might be salvageable.

    Last week had a disappointing start. I tried to walk 5 miles on Tuesday but I was so tired and weak that I could only manage 3. I didn’t even bother trying to walk the 9 miles on my marathon training program on Wednesday.

    Thursday morning had me back in my cardiologist’s office for my test results. That’s when I found out that I have 2 holes between my atriums and he put me on a low-dose beta blocker and referred me to another cardiac specialist to determine if having atrial septal defect is causing my problems. He also said I could run again. I managed to run/walk 5 miles on the treadmill that evening in just under an hour.

    I was scheduled to run 14 miles on Saturday and my plan was to run on the treadmill at my complex again so I wouldn’t be far from home if it got too hard to I started having chest pain. To my dismay, both treadmills were not working. (What are my HOA fees paying for again?) I opted to do my miles on the elliptical in 2 sets of 7 miles. My toes were numb and my legs were a little wobbly by the end but otherwise it was fine. I finished in just under 2 hours. My pulse never felt like it was getting excessively high.

    I’ve become such a wimp about the cold. Earlier in my training I was off cross training on my bike at sunrise, but now it’s chilly in the morning. It was sunny and warm by the afternoon but unfortunately I had other obligations then. (I should probably adjust my schedule when I can if I want to work out outside.) Instead I hit the gym at my condo again and did 7 miles on the elliptical.

    Next week, I’m scheduled to do 2 5-mile runs, a 10-mile run, and a 20-mile run. My plan is to run/walk all of them in the real world, but I’m considering finding some type of loop for the 20-mile run so I won’t risk getting into trouble and being 10 miles from home.

    Totals for the week:
    Running/Walking/Elliptical: 29 miles
    Biking: 2 miles