Hi folks, welcome to my thoughts on training as an older athlete with some aortic issues! The real trick to training with a health challenge is to understand your condition, modify your activity for the better (safer) as best you can, and get on with that which you enjoy, as safely as possible. I'm going to use my situation, the issue of cycling with an abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft extension into ... Read more
Ironman: Art, Science Or Suicide?
Hi folks, another lovely day! Life, in addition to being wet and dynamic, is dangerous. Just the way it is, but should we court danger for no good reason? What is a good reason? Such thoughts cause my brain to return to the story of the terrible doom. Here it is in brief, as I best remember it: "A young king was born in a country far away, and as he grew to maturity he started to fear death. He decided ... Read more
A Dream Of Running And A Dead Mouse, plus “Remember, just say no to statins!”
Hi folks, welcome! If this blog post doesn't make a lot of sense, it's because I'm still in a post-surgical drug-induced fog. Maybe I should try reading Ulysses again, right now? Yes! I'll give it another try. Thinking of dreams, fantasy and the like, I just enjoyed another important guiding dream, which went as follows: "I was heading out on a run, feeling strong, light and flexible, and I found that I could ... Read more
Weight Lifting, Weight Training, Aortic Disease, And Quality Versus Quantity
Hi folks, welcome to my meandering thoughts! If you have an aortic aneurysm, with or without a stent or graft, I recommend that you consider weight training rather than weight lifting. This means confining your workouts to as little as a 5-pound weight, but with some imagination you can give yourself a serious, risk-free workout. The real trick to a happy life as an athlete is to let go of your ego, focus ... Read more
Is It Safe? Training With An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Or Other Serious Health Challenge, Revisited.
Hi folks, welcome! From time to time I'm asked directly for advice on exercise with an aortic aneurysm, and here is such an example, provided as a excerpt from a comment stream on the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Awareness Facebook page. Ranjit: “There's this gentleman I played golf with once. He was my age 64yrs and very well built. I was not aware that he had been treated with endovascular surgery/stent for an ... Read more
Pain Can Be A Wonderful Gift Or It Can Tear You Apart
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain. Hi folks, welcome to another day on planet Earth. A while ago I wrote a blog post entitled, "How do we become aware of that which we are unaware?" As I am setting out to write a book on my journey into increasing emotional and physical awareness, I was reminded of this post. I concluded that the ... Read more
FitOldDog Visits The Cleveland Clinic, And Enjoyed The City Too! Which Cleveland Do You Believe?
Hi folks, welcome! When my sister in Spain, Marian, learned that I had been invited to the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, to have a life-saving repair to my abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft, she kindly forwarded a link to the first video below concerning the city of Cleveland. Now, I'm a glass half-full person, and I just didn't believe it, so I made my own Cleveland Video. There's good and not so good in every ... Read more
Practice Makes Perfect When It Comes To Living With An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm – Watch That Abdominal Pulse
Hi folks, welcome! I am fortunate, or maybe you would say unfortunate, to be monitoring a growing abdominal aortic aneurysm for the second time in my life. It will be fixed soon, I'm sure. How do I monitor my aneurysm, you may ask? By intermittent ultrasound checks, and daily by watching my abdominal pulse. I sure noticed increased strength of this pulse whilst swimming yesterday, so I abruptly stopped after only ... Read more
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