10 Month Dr Visit - Hoping for half marathon approval

[IronmaninTraining]

Next Tuesday I go in for my 10 month visit from surgery. This past week I ran my longest run of 6 miles going to 7 this Saturday and feel great. I am averaging about 20 miles a week.

I am happy to be finally back on track. Between my last visit end of October and February I'm not sure what happened, but I just couldn't get into it. My motivation level was really low and I was worried about every little awkward feeling. I got a really bad cold/flu that I thought was endocritis and moving some concrete bags one week I noticed that I felt dizzy and weird for a couple days. Between the two blood tests and constant blood pressure monitoring I eliminated those concerns. Part of what really helped getting back on track is the pulmonary doctor commenting I gained some weight. Fully dressed I tipped the scale at 197 and I've promised even at 6'1" I would never go over 200. Since that visit in March I'm back to 183 and I feel great. I do hate getting passed running, but I know that my pace is consistent and will only get better.

I am hopeful that my visit next Tuesday will get the okay for a half July 19th and a full marathon in mid September. Have any others been able to get approvals like this a year and a couple months from surgery.

As a side note...On this site I've read many posts that detail depression and heart surgery. I never thought I would experience this, but I will say it is a fact of the surgery especially for someone at 30. For me I never thought the regular checks since I was younger would show a change. When it did change it hit me hard and I being in great shape for the Pittsburgh marathon to doing nothing prior to the surgery. Afterwards I became very motivated, but for some reason I got off track once i left rehab. The constant monitoring at rehab gave me peace of mind. My wife wanted me to talk to someone, however, I believed i could work it out myself. At this point since surgery I feel like i did work things out, but I'm sure it would have helped and gotten me back on track much earlier.

 

[edfagan]

Good luck, sounds like you are doing great.

 

[camgough]

I'm sure you will get approval for whatever training you want to do. Depression and sad feelings are very common and experienced by many. I had many of the same feelings as you after my first surgery. Since surgery #2 I've felt great! Good luck!

 

[Bean Counter]

I did my first half marathon 8 months post op (with Cardiologist approval) and did not have any issues... I went all out during the race and had a great time. I did get permission to train for a full, but put that on hold to hit the weights for a bit. I have since done 2 full marathons since my surgery and starting to ramp up training for another full this fall.

 

[contarius]

Good luck! I hate getting passed running too! Just have to be patient and get faster. I was approved for a full marathon 4 years post (second) surgery. It took a long time for me to get into running shape. I've done marathon distance 4 times since then, though, and I have another planned this fall.

I heard a lot about the possibility of depression before my first surgery, but for some reason I was certain that it wouldn't happen to me. It hit me really hard, a few weeks into recovery at home. It's been a recurring battle since then, but staying active (running and cycling for me) is the best treatment I've found.