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