Road races

[mooha34]

Haven't competed in a road race in nearly 18 months, but it's been almost a year since my surgery and have been getting some excellent workouts in considering the past year. I have been slowly getting over the feeling that I could drop any second while running, but was wondering how risky is it to train harder and harder given my heart problems in the past? Am I at greater risk than I was before? I feel fine when I run - even better the farther I go, but I don't want to push it if it is going to kill me...

 

[Freddie]

18 months eh??? Good for you on doing so well.
But i would check with your Doctor - he/she will know best.
Good Luck,
Cheers,
freddie

 

[SumoRunner]

As others have said, it really depends on what your MD thinks. I had no restrictions on me but I waited about 6 mos before running another one. By 18 mos out I had run over a dozen races from 5K up to 15K whereas I had run two dozen the year before my surgery.

I seldom ran very hard after OHS. Stopped doing intervals but I still occasionally run a track mile. Never did another half-marathon, keeping to 15K maximum in races although I've gone well beyond 13 in training many times. The year before AVR my 5K was 21:36, the year after it was 25:24. That was the early 90s. I've run another 150 races since, but never ran fast again.

 

[kodi]

I definitely agree with the others about checking with your doctor. As mentioned, we have no idea what your surgery was and your pre-surgery condition. I for one am now 15 1/2 months post-surgery. I have run a few 5Ks, one hilly 10K, three 1/2 marathons(one this past weekend) and one full marathon. Unlike SumoRunner, I still do track workouts, usually once a week and a longer run on weekends. I try to run 4 or 5 times a week.

 

[mooha34]

Well, it was last February that I had my bicuspid valve replaced with a St. Jude mechanical as well as an aortic aneurysm repaired. Before then I would run about 20-25 miles a week. I had run a half marathon the September before in about 1:40. Nowadays, I can run 5-8 miles with no problem, but it's usually on a treadmill. I dont feel any pain, but I cant get the whole heart thing out of my head....

 

[SumoRunner]

I dont feel any pain, but I cant get the whole heart thing out of my head....

And you never will get it out of your head but you can learn to live with it and thrive despite it. Learn to embrace it. I had the aortic valve replaced in July of 1991 and I'm still here every day talking about it.

In 91 there was no similar support network, the internet as you know it now didn't even exist and specialized forums such as this were ten years in the future. I knew of only a few others who returned to active lives after OHS. We talked, we corresponded, but mostly we experimented on ourselves. I never returned to hard training again because I had no one else to tell me if it was possible much less a good idea. We can't tell you how to handle your situation but we can tell you how we managed.

 

[tprice54]

Run!

Run!

Assuming you have the okay to run, as you aready have been running on the treadmill, feel free to get out on the road and try some races. Many of us here have been able to get back to running. You may not be able to stop thinking about that heart surgery, but if you do a good workout, especially a race, you will stop thinking about it for a few minutes anyways! As a side benefit, think of all the other heart patients that may be inspired to get into shape because of your racing!