A Christmas Update

Morning / Afternoon / Evening Where-ever you all may be!

So its been a while since I last blogged, life has been a bit hectic!

Since my last post, on the 9th of December, I have only ran once :( on the 10th December! A near PB on a local hilly trail for 3.5 miles, the first mile was an utter let down! The 7 miles from the previous day had my hill climbing legs a bit tired, and I ran a slow ascent to the high point of the run!
The remainder of the run includes a nice flat trail at the high point, a muddy descent into the forest and then 2/3rds of 'Bastard Hill' ( this is not the official name of the hill, simply my name for it! From bottom to top it's about a mile long, all uphill, with varying degrees of steepness! ) and then a steep, fast, 1/2 mile descent back to the car. I was pleasantly surprised with the nearness of a PB upon completion however, as I knew I had been running quite slowly! Maybe I am was making progress!!

So, into no running for nearly 3 weeks!
Firstly - WORK!!! up until the 11th Dec, work had comprised of 2 weeks on holiday, 2 weeks brand training in a local hotel, and 1 week helping out in our shop in another town and some management training. The reason for such a relaxed 5 weeks is simple, our store was closed for a massive refit!
Cue 6:45am on Dec 11th, and work started on refilling the shop with fixtures, fittings and stock! That first day I worked from 6:45am until 10pm, with a 30 minute break all day, a tad busy! the following 3 days were to be of similar hideousness, 8am until 10pm though with a longer break! I had previously agreed to only work 10 hour days, as I didn't want to push my limits and possible make myself ill...the best laid plans and all that! Please note I was told to leave after 10 hours each day, but i couldn't knowingly leave my colleagues working for another 4 hours each day!
On the 2nd day I also had to go to the hospital in Newcastle for a check up and to see the Transplant Cardiologist. Though this might sound like a reprieve of sorts, but it means a 4:30am alarm in order to be at the hospital for 7am!
The visit went OK, blood was taken, I had the usual X-ray and ECG and then went for breakfast! The only issue came with the blood pressure, even though I know I am doing OK, being at the hospital always raises it, and I had a 'visiting' Doctor, so there was much ado about nothing really!

Upon the completion of the massive week at work, and the hospital visit adding to stress levels, it was back to business as usual at work, 8-9 hours a day! On the 3rd day back however I had an incredibly sore foot again, resulting in a limp and grimace!
I was put in touch, via twitter, with Daniel Gerber ( @GlasgowOsteo ) who helped me discover that it wasn't actually a problem in my foot, but in my shin. Basically a tightening in the front of my shin muscle was pulling on the internal parts of my foot, causing the pain. Using a foam roller and 'The Stick' I have been able to release the tightness, and my foot has returned to a pain free running tool!

I'm currently in the throes of manflu however, added to my suppressed immune system it has put me on my arse, so still no running!

Looking forward however, I have a few goals for 2013!

• Run on New Years Day, no matter how long or short, otherwise I will actually lose the plot!
• Run at least one stage of the Bob Graham Round every month
• Run 21 miles on the 21st Anniversary of my Heart Transplant on May 10th (anyone who wishes to join me is more than welcome)

So there we go, a crap end to 2012, but i'm relatively healthy, still love running, and i have a few things to look forward to completing in 2013!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Better Me Than Someone Else

Hello!

Firstly a big thanks to those who read my first blog post! The feedback was pretty good!! Most people were a bit shocked at the extent of my medical history, which brings me to today's headline!

My stock answer for any questions about how I cope with my history is 'better me than someone else' and though I understand that there are certainly people coping with worse, I wouldn't wish my situation on anyone. I'd rather suffer the hardships and issues that accompany the highs of transplantation, than watch a friend or family member go through them instead. I've met people who have faced a hell of a lot more, and truly don't understand how they still smile everyday!

Today I ran a relatively flat (564ft ascent) 6.75 miles on the local roads around where I live. It wasn't particularly fast, but a solid effort all the same! The biggest achievement of today was saying no to the inner demon that we have all heard at some point during running - "just stop and walk for a bit"

Those 7 words haunt virtually every run I do, usually in the first 15-20 minutes and on any uphill sections at any time! The reason for the thoughts in the first 20 minutes are due to the physiological side effects of the transplant. Obviously when they removed my heart and plumbed in the new one, all the nerves were severed and not re-attached. What this boils down to is a period of around 20 minutes at the start of any exercise, where my heart doesn't realise I'm exercising, in turn leading to screaming legs and some very heavy breathing!! As any fell runners will know, most runs start with the running up a mountain! So I struggle to start with, usually reverting to a power hike and running the less steep sections.

After the first 20 minutes or so my heart goes into overdrive for a few minutes, as the demand from my body finally kicks in, and it tries to overcompensate. Once this has happened it generally settles into a pretty nice rhythm and I can plod along at about 10 min/mile pace for a good while. 

Since my first run back in April 2011 I've logged a lot of miles both on and off road, but for me, being in the mountains is where I love to run. I'm very lucky to have been born and raised in a little town just outside a National Park in England called 'The Lake District' and although I have left twice to live in the US and in Sheffield, I have always been drawn back here. With over 300 mountains to run on, and a plethora of lakes, reservoirs and tarns to cool off in, there is never a day where you couldn't find a new route to run!

So that's the end of today's blog, a little more insight to me, and a bit more about what's really important...RUNNING!

 Myself and friend Greg atop England's highest peak Scafell

Myself and friend Gem atop Skiddaw in knee deep snow last week

A Brief History Of Me

Hello Readers!

Most people reading this will have probably followed me here from Twitter, where I have somehow amassed a brilliant troupe of followers! So this first blog is basically going to introduce me in a more in depth way, give an insight into my history, and a look at what running means to me! So let's go!!

My heart transplant is obviously a big part of my life, so i'll start here, and how I came to need a heart transplant!

When I was born, it was pretty obvious I was going to be trouble, I wasn't screaming and I was a strange shade of blue, I was diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot , in simple terms, oxygenated and non-oxygenated blood were mixing in the heart, and then being pumped around my body.
At 9 months old I underwent my first surgery, a Waterman Shunt. They took arteries from my right arm and used them to 'fix' the defects in my heart. This was a stop-gap surgery, carried out purely to give me a chance to grow a bit and become strong enough for further, more complex surgery.
At 2 years old I went under the knife for a 'full fix' to complete repairs to the heart and give me a normal lease of life. The surgery was initially successful, but 6/7 days later my natural pacemaker stopped working, deemed to be from the surgery. So I went under the knife again that week and had an Artificial Pacemaker fitted.
Surprisingly I was pretty well for 5 years! growing and developing normally as a child should. Just before my 8th birthday, on a routine hospital check up, the pacemaker needed replaced. It is effectively a battery, and it was out of juice! So the next day they fitted me a new pacemaker and I was good to go!

All Going Wrong

Shortly after my 9th birthday, it became apparent that things weren't quite right. I had no energy, very little appetite and basically wasn't myself. After a particularly lacklustre summer holiday my parents took me to our GP, who had me admitted to the local hospital. After 3 days in hospital, they decided nothing was wrong, perhaps I had a virus.
Not trusting the diagnosis, my parents took me to The Freeman Hospital in Newcastle (where all my surgeries took place) I was immediately poked, prodded and x-rayed, and then the bad news came.
My heart was 3 times larger than it should have been, and was operating at about 3% (pro athletes run at about 40% - its an odd measurement!) what they didn't know, was why.
They assumed that the pacemaker had malfunctioned, and determined it was its proximity to my heart. That the signals had somehow become 'confused' and gone awry! I underwent another pacemaker replacement, and it was placed in the now common place of beneath the skin in the front of the left shoulder.
Sadly the replacement didn't solve any problems, my heart was done, I was dying.

Transplant

The choice to undergo a heart transplant was mine. The Dr's told me the facts, I had less than 12 months without it, and possibly an extra 5-8 years if I had one. The choice was simple, and in my head, it was just another surgery! So I was assessed and placed at the top of the transplant list, I was the worst case on the list, so I would get first dibs on any heart that became available.
1 week later the phone rang - they had a viable heart. Cue mad panic and lots of tears! An ambulance arrived and off we shot on the 90 mile journey to the hospital. On the way there however, the call came in that the heart had died on route, and they wouldn't be able to restart it.
Another 6 weeks passed and then the phone rang again, they had another viable heart. We made it to the hospital and started the pre op routine. By midnight I was being wheeled into the theatre, very drowsy, but still awake.
8 hours later I woke up in intensive care, the op was a success and the heart had restarted first time. I was the 21st child recipient in the UK

A massive amount of thanks goes to the donor family, the donor was only 12 years old and I wouldn't even know how to imagine how harrowing that would be, to then allow the organs to be used for transplantation defies understanding, all I know is that I am eternally grateful to them. (In all, 8 people received organs from this donor - truly amazing)

And Now?
Fast forward almost 21 years to now, and its 2012! The 5-8 years I might have got from the transplant have turned into something more than anyone at the time would have thought possible! Obviously I am not the longest post op transplant recipient, there are people who are almost 30 years post transplant but it still feels pretty good to be this far out!
Pretty much since my transplant i've tried to live a life that would hopefully make my donor and his family proud that I was the recipient. Nowadays, I use my running to help with that!

I started running properly in April 2011, 7.5 miles (bearing in mind I ran maybe 2 miles once a month before hand!) over 3 local mountains. It took me about 4 hours, I was covered in cuts and bruises from slips and falls on the trails, I was caked in mud, ridiculously dehydrated and fairly peckish! I had no idea what I was doing! That same night I experienced DOMS for the first time in my entire life! Every time I sat down, I struggled to stand up again! And staircases were a massive no-no!

So that's a fair old chunk of what makes my internal engine tick! In future blogs i will delve into my running more, and how living with a transplant affects me and what i've done since that night in 1992...


Questions welcome
Follow me on Twitter @xplantrunner

Thanks for reading!