After something like 5 years, TODAY, I feel like I have changed something in this world. Maybe a little tiny part of it, but it’s a HUGE triumph for me (and my running!)

Some of you might know (or remember from these two small posts from last year) that I started running because I had a cardiac “malfunction” a few years ago. Many Drs. tried to get me on a life-long supply of pills and I resisted: they made me dizzy (they control your blood pressure and I already have very low blood pressure) and worse, they made me feel like a heart patient. So I decided that if I could run, they would agree that my heart was ok.  That was my evil plan to resist pills and surgery, what I saw as a crutch. Well, this didn’t go well with every doctor I saw, so I kept changing drs… until I found the one that I’ve kept for the last 4 years. He’d say “you give me a headache” every time he saw me in the waiting room, and we didn’t always see eye to eye but we communicated really well. He listens to me, he gets me, and he has patience.

Two years ago, a month right before the NYCM he said it wasn’t wise to run it, and that he couldn’t ok it. I cried all the way home, but I obviously did it anyway. He’s always told me I push my heart too much, that some running is ok, but what I do is just too much. I kept at it… and somehow, things turned around!

I saw him last October, again, right before the marathon and he said things looked great, that my heart was almost back to normal, and that “whatever” I was doing was working. He didn’t say “Keep Running” but he talks with his eyes 😉

I saw him again today, and all of a sudden, while he was talking, I remembered WHY I started running when he said “this looks fantastic. I can’t say it’s…. actually, IT IS perfect; I couldn’t have expected such a recovery from anyone else. There’s just nothing here I can object to. And you did this naturally, the right way, without taking the poisonous pills I wanted you to take… It’s got to be the running.“

I was so happy I almost cried. I had nothing to say but smile. And I remembered about my plan… And yes, he said poisonous. He also always tells me I have the most outstanding cholesterol numbers he’s ever seen (go figure!!). He wished me luck in Boston and to see him right before NYC again.

There’s something to be said about Running. I have tons of echos, stress tests, x-rays, and blood-work to prove it.