I have hardly posted at all in the four years since I completed the 5K programme and moved up to 10Ks, from time to time. But I felt I should post this to a community whose posts are always enjoyable to read and of whom I feel like something of a member.
To keep this short: I’m writing this from the bed of a cardio ward, where I’ve been since collapsing at the end of what I had thought was a normal 5K run on Tuesday. As you may expect, I was briefed later that day that I’d very probably had a mild heart attack. Since then, there has been all the monitoring and brilliant care you would expect from our world-beating NHS. An angiogram and related procedures will follow and the experts are optimistic they’ll get me back doing all the things I love pretty soon.
So my intention is not to to become one of that very particular group of boring late middle-aged men who are boring about having survived minor health incidents. My intention, honestly, is simply to offer humble but sincere advice to running friends out there, particularly men, to, please, be careful. Be honest and realistic about your risk factors (I have very few, it seems), talk to your doctor pre-emptively and use available superb technology with regard to heart monitoring etc. I address this particularly to my fellow blokes, as we seem to be guilty of the apparently incompatible errors of a) complaining too much when we are ill and b) not paying attention to risk mitigation when we should! Come to think of it, those two are not incompatible: they’re both about having a slightly silly, immature attitude to our health. And, goodness, we fellers are certainly guilty of that...
OK, probably time to stop, before you all shout ‘bore!’ at me. I hope you have great days and that all your running steps are safe and happy ones. I also hope to be back out there with you before too long. Gee! I’d miss it if I couldn’t.
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Bredders
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What an awful shock. Oh my goodness, that's very scary. I'm very glad you're well and recovering too. This is a very honest post, a lot of us middle aged crew need to hear this and thankyou for penning your thoughts. It's a wake up call we need. From time to time I do question am I OK if a get a little dizzy, or have irregular heartbeats while running. We're not infallible, even if we feel it. I hope you make a full, restful recovery. Take care.
Hi Melissimo, Thank you very much for your kind words. It has been a bit of a jolt and, frankly, I think I’ve been lucky. I didn’t want to be self-indulgent when I posted this but I did want people to be careful. I think it’s great that the NHS and others push the 5K programme and I’m definitely one of those whose life was changed for the better. But you also have to, as it were, check the engine, the oil and the brakes, before asking too much of your vehicle! Have a great day and thanks for the fellowship!
That’s a good question- which means it’s hard to answer! I think it’s quite hard to distinguish between a) pain and discomfort that you can push through to continue and b) pain and discomfort that’s a more significant warning! We receive conflicting messages, in a way, don’t we? On the one hand, we heat ‘feel the burn’ and ‘keep going’. On the other hand, we hear ‘stop if you feel discomfort’. And, if you’ve had a somewhat traditional Brit upbringing like me, you tend to take more notice of the former kind of notice. So, that’s the long answer to your question. The short answer might be: ‘Maybe but I didn’t recognise them and/or ignored them’
Hello Bredders, thank you for sharing what must be an alarming episode that you encountered after your run. As you say, It is important to run as safely as we can especially when we've already clocked up more decades than we'd care to admit!Of course, it could be that you will make a good recovery because you are fit and that will help you. I expect the doctors can advise you on the likely causes in due course and advise on the way forward.
Once you are ready, perhaps you can let us know how you progress and what the medical advice is regarding running.
Meanwhile, I send you my very best wishes for a speedy return to health and fitness and, ultumately, a full recovery.
Thanks for your concern and good wishes. For the benefit of all, I will post on here when I feel more like I’m on the other side of this. For now, my consultant seems happy with how things are going and optimistic that, with an angiogram and probable stent procedure tomorrow, I’ll be donning running shoes in earnest again before too long. I’m also going to invest in some sort of heart-monitoring technology. That seems prudent.
Wow Bredders, I’m so glad you’re in good hands now. How scary that must have been. I hope you’re feeling ok. 🤞
I’m not a fella, but I’m sure your advice applies to us ladies too. I ignored many warning signs that I was doing too much during my first pregnancy 30 years ago, and keeled over a good number of times! I have naturally low blood pressure and I’m sure I was overdoing things. Nothing like as alarming as a heart attack however.
Please take care, and thank you for sharing your story. 😀
Sorry to hear this Bredders - hope you make a full recovery. Thanks for your helpful post - a cautionary tale for any of us who are tempted to take our health for granted!😀
I wanted to begin this reply "Hello Cheeky" but realised that would take us back into the unwanted territory of 1970s British 'comedy'...
Anyway, thanks very much for your reply and for your concern. It would be foolish of me in the extreme to pontificate about what women should and shouldn't do in a post such as this! Suffice to say that I do take your point- and I have noticed that women can also be guilty of a certain kind of 'point-scoring', perhaps particularly around pregnancy and childbirth...!
Perhaps the clever thing for all of us, male and female, to do would be to learn from practices such as yoga which connect the mind with the body in much more sensible ways than we seem to manage in the West. In the West, we seem to view the demands of our bodies as desires to be repressed and punished...
Right, definitely time to stop there as we drift well into the even more dangerous territory of Generalisation and Mansplaining...
Looking forward to being back in touch with my (slightly damaged) physical frame in the short term and wishing long life and happiness to all readers.
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Out this morning for first run of this week.
Good to be back out there with 12K 
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First venture out alone on crutches
Trying out something new...running form🏃
