“Time goes slowly, but carries on”; great line from a great song – “Laughing” by the Guess Who. In my case, time does NOT move slowly, rather it moves at the speed of light it seems. Today marks one week to Christmas – ONE WEEK!?!?! That’s insane – it feels as if I just took down the Halloween decorations and put them away a day ago. Yet here we are.
I am doing the panicked package shipment status check almost hourly now; I have over twenty gifts either not yet shipped or in transit. I need to add a relevant piece of information though; we will not be heading to Miane for Christmas 2.0 until after New Years. My oldest grandson as a major tournament the weekend after Christmas and it is a long way from home so we would not get to see him at all. We’ll wait a week and head up the following weekend after the holiday instead. So that helps offset some of the pressure of shipping for at least some of the gifts.
As to my health, what gives me confidence that there is nothing fundamentally wrong with my heart is my hiking. My split times continue to hit levels I haven’t seen in a long time. I always aimed for 20-mins per mile split times. I usually miss that mark but it is a goal I’ve always set for myself. And on a typical hike I’d have 21-23 minute splits and maybe hit 20 on a mile here and there. But of late I am hitting 20 often, and even 19’s and though rarely, 18’s. I think I even hit 17 once. And I am finding the same hills on the same hikes that literally stalled me out to a dead stop last year and earlier this year, are now climbed with less effort than I recall in a long time, and more importantly, I am not stalling out to a dead stop on them. So there is no doubt but that my heart and cardiovascular fitness are better than before, and continue to improve.
Speaking of hiking, I had set a goal of 500 trails miles for myself this year. When the treadmill test went terribly bad and I was hospitalized I figured that goal was shot. I became bedridden on June 18 and at that point I was at 251 trail miles. Of course once I found out I needed a quadruple bypass I figured my shot at hitting my goal was gone.
But hiking is great cardio rehab and I really love hiking, so as soon as I was permitted (sooner actually), I got back to hiking as often as I could. And per my records, I am currently at 495.8 trail miles for this year! With two week left in the year I have no doubt that I will be able to hit my goal. My hiking app – AllTrails – already has me above 500 miles for this year but there are a couple of records that don’t truly qualify as hikes to me; they were basically walks during the first weeks following surgery. I recorded them with the app just in order to keep my streak of a hike every month alive in July but to me, those miles don’t count. At this moment I plan to hit that goal on Saturday during the winter solstice.
I have also walked since surgery. In fact, walking was without a doubt critical in my recovery. I was walking four miles a day at least five days a week. Once I resumed hiking, the days I walked of course dropped. And once we began babysitting again, and once the days grew short, my walking came less and less frequent. But since surgery I have walked over 263 miles. Now by walking, I do not mean walking around in the yard mowing the lawn or that sort of thing. I often hit 7-10 miles in the yard doing yardwork but I do not count that as walking. To have true cardio fitness impact, in my opinion, you have to walk at a brisk pace for at least an hour straight. And by brisk I mean getting the heartrate above 110. I began aiming for 18-minute miles and over time have gotten to 15-minute miles over the four-to-six-mile walk. And with hiking and walking I am currently over 507 miles total since surgery!
Today is Christmas Day – I never got this latest message posted but will do so today. As a brief update, I did get out for the Winter Solstice and had a wonderful 12-mile hike, thus achieving my goal. Currently awaiting the arrival of my daughter, son in law, and grandkids. Sadly I have four presents that never arrived in time for Christmas even though I ordered back in November. But that aside, it has been a memorable Christmas season and a wonderful Christmas Day. And more to come as we’ll head up to Maine for the first weekend in January to see my son, daughter in law, and grandkids.
A final thought – six months ago today – Wednesday June 26 – I was on the table getting cracked open like a frog in biology class! Six months almost seems like a lifetime to me now! Such a difference!! I am so blessed to be here. Stay well dear reader and Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays!!