Vintage Check Ups

Oldie
I have reached an age where the NHS wants to check-up on me.

This is the opposite of what the DoT want to do with my old cars which is to abandon the MoT test for them.

So the Health Service wants to check if I am still roadworthy but the Transport Department reckons I am mature enough to do a health check on my old cars myself.

June Date
Went for my check-up in June and came back with the following figures:-

• Weight - 68Kg
• BMI 23.8
• BP - 105/69
• Bad cholesterol - 6.1, good cholesterol 2
• Waist 80 

Death Ratios
Long chat with doc about significance of the statistics that the machine produced from this information. Apparently I have a 1 in 5 chance (20%) of dying from a heart attack in the next 10 years. A reduction in cholesterol level by 1 point would only change this to a 1 in 6 chance (17%).

We agreed that the major factors were age, time and inherited genetic - some things no medicine or treatment can do anything about. So, agreed NFA.

That I had nearly been killed on a zebra crossing walking to the surgery rather put this into perspective.

Jogging
Better than medicine - continue with the exercise.
Maybe time for me to seek a new benchmark?

Benchmark

Blogging Blow
Why won't blogger let me load pictures anymore? Because it only works in Chrome.

"A falcon, towerging in her pride of place,
Was by a mousing owl hawked at and killed" Macbeth, Shakespeare

Man Flu

Symptoms in the Attic

My Thursday and Friday:-

• Explosive sneezing
• Hacking cough
• Rasping sore throat - indeed feeling as though it is being rasped by a saw
• Vice across the bridge of the nose - or a G clamp
• Dizziness and Nausea

Almost every bone aching:-

• Legs
• Hips
• Head
• Jaw
• Knees

Unable to breathe.  Unable to sleep - but hallucinatory dreams.
Smell of good food cooking - induces retching.  But gut aching from hunger.

These are the symptoms of Man Flu.

A Problem Shared
Except it is not just me who is suffering from it. But Milady's symptoms are slightly different. More coughing - less paranoia.

Paracetamol ran out yesterday - so had to go out and get some more.
Short walk to shop - but exhausting.

Virulent Virus
As a pensioner I no longer get contact with the popular viruses going round the schools and workplaces of the country - so my natural defences are as out of touch as I am.

Vitamin C
Which is probably why my intake of fruit including oranges has no effect.

Running Training
You are joking!

 Anticipation - or Prophecy?

I've a head like a concertina, I've a tongue like a button-stick,

I've a mouth like an old potato, and I'm more than a little sick,

But I've had my fun o' the Corp'ral's Guard; I've made the cinders fly,

And I'm here in the Clink for a thundering drink and blacking the Corporal's eye.

Cells - Rudyard Kipling

Injury

“Ouch!” - ET

It has happened - my first injury.

Has rather made a mockery of my new training plan published at the weekend.

Last week I did my first run more than 13.2 miles / 21.2 Km. Completed in under 2 ½ hours. Hence my confidence in my ability to complete the Bath Half Marathon in March.

Not so sure now.

Monday morning went for a shorter-faster run. Was to have been Figure 8 route 4.7 miles in about 42 minutes. On a straight slightly downhill bit where I was pushing the pace I got a sudden muscle spasm in my left calf. Thought it was "just" cramp so stopped and massaged it for awhile before continuing at a more circumspect speed. But then got more a severe pain at the farthest point from home. Stopped running at 2.44 miles / 3.93Km and walked home.

Had my phone with me so could have rung for a taxi.

Reading the Family Medical Encyclopaedia the symptoms suggest it could be:-

• Cramp - caused by a temporary lack of blood flow associated with severe exertion
• Peripheral vascular disease - in which blood vessels in the legs are narrowed
• Compartment Syndrome - pressure that limits blood supply.

The third of these occurs most often in athletes who have well -developed muscles. So it won’t be that. The second is a bit worrying as it could be associated with high cholesterol levels and narrowing arteries. Warm baths, deep heat and resting already seem to have reduced the pain to dull ache so maybe it is just the first of these three.

Time for Rest and Recuperation (R&R). Re-assess and revise plans - be realistic.
And maybe some therapy? Better ask Sam on the Runners Forum.

Good timing - it has been sheeting down with rain ever since.

“Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs Ch 16 v18.

 R&R - head down and hard at it. 

Medical III

Just before the Christmas holiday I visited the doc again.

This was the moment of truth - finding out what effect four and a half months of regular exercise and disciplined eating - a little bit of bread and no cheese - had achieved.

A great deal.

1. Blood Pressure - down by 20 points on both measures to within normal levels
2. Weight - down 7.5 Kilos (that is about a Stone in old money)
3. Height - unchanged
4. BMI - down 3 points to a more satisfactory score appropriate for my age and build
5. Cholesterol - down on all measures - minus 1.1 overall. Still not low enough for Government purposes but on the way there.

The doc admitted that Statins would only reduce cholesterol levels by about 1 point - the amount that I had achieved using diet.

And this progress achieved by a gentle jogger not an elite runner.

I think she was impressed.

Elite runner at Goodwood

The Medical Exam II

The main reasons for my follow up medical with the nurse was to take the fasting cholesterol test and to measure any weight loss.

The good news was a loss of a couple of pounds - as intended.
The bad news - a few days later - was a high cholesterol score - so an appointment with the doc.

I am not very keen on medication. Unexpected side-effects appear to run in the family. The likelihood of aching muscles - how would I know if it is the running or the pills - does not fill me with enthusiasm. Also if my liver might get trashed - well I would rather do it the traditional way.

For a couple of months we are going to see what diet and exercise can do. So as well as losing the biscuits and cakes I now have to cut out the Cheddar, Wenslydale, Stilton, Cheshire and Red Leicester.

As the old slang for accepting bad luck has it - "Hard Cheese". 


Thought 4 the Day

If I had not made the decision to enter the Bath Half Marathon - and arranged for a check-up - would my high cholesterol levels have been spotted?

No lesson seems to be so deeply inculcated by the experience of life as that you never should trust experts.
If you believe the doctors, nothing is wholesome: if you believe the theologians, nothing is innocent: if you believe the soldiers, nothing is safe.
They all require to have their strong wine diluted by a very large admixture of insipid common sence.
Lord Salisbury - letter to Lord Lytton 15 June 1877.

Autumn Leaf Collection

Health and Safety

“Warning - Running can damage your health.”

Nowhere will you see such a statement. Public policy is that everyone should get more exercise. Yet every day someone somewhere incurs an injury through running.

In the days when I oversaw and investigated sickness returns at work the most common cause of sickness absences among the younger employees was a hangover - but the most common cause for longer absences was a sporting injury.

So why the apparently high incidence of injury for running - which is considered a safe and desirable activity?



High Impact - Low Risk
Death or serious injury whilst running can arise from:-

• Heart Attack
• Stroke
• Road Traffic Accident

These are all relatively rare events. In the 29 years of the Bath Half Marathon I believe there has only been one death from a heart attack.

Running or other exercise leading to improved fitness can reduce the risk of the first two, reduce the effect and can mean quicker recovery.

For the third the risk can be reduced by avoiding running on roads in the dark.

But most people die in bed. So don’t sleep in!

Low Impact - High Risk
Runners seem to be at risk of lots of pains and injuries through running.

Some of these are due to the impact on the feet, legs and knees when running:-

• Foot pain - inflammation of the sole and heel or in the arch or ankle
•  Achilles Tendonitis
•  Shin Splints - sorry but I don’t know what it means but runners report getting them
•  Runners Knee - apparently this is a pain in the shin not knee
•  Painful knees

 Some are due to sudden unusual exercise:-

•  Pulled muscles
•  Stomach pains
•  Chest pains
•  Breathing difficulties
•  Dizziness

 Some are minor:-

•  Blisters
•  Joggers Nipple

Others more serious:-

•  Groin strain
•  Numb legs

 What causes them? How to avoid?

  

Cracknell Syndrome

Runners are very competitive. And driven. They have to be better - faster - sooner.

Once I watched an Olympic athlete compete in something outside his discipline - Place The Bottle. He just had to place the bottle farther than anyone else could reach. If anyone beat him he repeated the exercise again to remain ahead. He could not - would not - be second. Even in a silly game.

I believe that it is this impatient obsessive competitiveness that causes injury to many runners. Pushing for ever more speed and endurance often against an unrealistic timescale - wanting it now. They do too much too quickly. Instead of easing off when in pain they press on - “no gain without pain” - and injure themselves. Then allow insufficient time to heal and damage the half-healed injury worse than before.

  

Over The Hill

None of the above means that I am not at risk of pain or injury. As a not-fit non-athlete my starting level for a potential injury or health problem is much lower. Indeed I need to take more care not to over-do it - but have to balance this against the improvements in speed and endurance that I must achieve.

So I cannot afford to be complacent or think it won’t happen to me.

  

Mmm - knee aches a bit today.

Elven Safety

 “Do not touch the water!” - Lady Galadriel

  

Drink beer.

Or cider, my dear,

If you’m from around ‘ere! - Anon

 Unlikely Light Ales

The Medical Exam

A condition of participating in the Bath Half is that one should be medically fit to run a half marathon. All the advice I have seen for new runners is to get a medical check up before starting to run. It might have been sensible to do this before putting in an entry. But by then it might have been too late to get in. "Sentence first, verdict after."


Appointment with Nurse:-

1.  BP 118 over 82 - Could do better
2. Weight 80Kg - Lose some
3. Height 1.69 - At least I have not shrunk since last check-up
4. BMI 28 - Overweight verging on Obese
5. Cholesterol - Not Yet Measured

As I said - not built for running.



Nurse turned out to be an enthusiastic runner and she recommended a good place in Bath to get running shoes.

Her advice included:

1.  Lose some weight to reduce impact on knees - cut down on the biscuits and alcohol
2. Do other exercise - such as walking
3. Seek out a running group & get advice
4. Go running with others
5. Enter a 10Km race before the Half Marathon.

Next health check next month. So first target - lose a couple of pounds in weight by then.