A wake up call....................................

As a post marathon treat I went and had a live blood analysis done last Saturday. It was really cool to watch my blood cells swimming around. Unfortunately I also saw a few fungus cells, and a couple of uric acid crystals from undigested protein in my blood stream. All in all, I fared pretty well on the test and with a low carbohydrate, IE:no white flour, sugar, mostly green leafy veggie diet I can easily turn that around. Oh! Ya! And chew my food better. My youngest also had the tests done, and it totally cracked me up when her answer to the question, "Do you chew your food well?" was EXACTLY the same as mine: "Probably not. I am always grabbing something and shoving it in as I don't have time for a real sit-down meal." Something to work on...

Besides the blood analysis, we also had another test done that measured the way our heart is pumping the blood, and the rate at which it flows through the arteries.

I am in great shape right? One can't be in too bad of shape and complete a marathon right? Well, not exactly. According to the test, I have the arteries of a seventy (70) year old. Twenty (20) years difference.

One can look back on my diet and lifestyle and see times in which I didn't care what I put in my mouth. Still, for the most part, I have had a fairly healthy diet, at least in regards to most Americans. The really shocking part is my youngest has the arteries of a thirty-four year old (34), and she is ONLY eighteen (18)! She has always ate a great diet, and is also thin and in great cardiovascular shape. So what's up?

The family tree card is a big part of it. My father died of a stroke at age sixty (60), my brother had a massive, fatal, heart attack at age fifty-two (52), and my sister had a heart attack at age fifty-five (55). Okay! They all smoked, and the guys drank pretty heavily, and we don't, but it still means we are going to have to work harder to avoid going down the same path.

What does this have to do with running. Well, for one thing I am REALLY glad I didn't have this information before the marathon. Especially on the heals of the news that the Chicago runner's death was heart related. Would it have stopped me? Of course not, but it might have added to my worries. The other thing it has to do with running is knowing that I would be in much worse shape if I had not started running. I almost wish I had a comparison test to see what an improvement I have made over the past three years.

Another interesting thing I thought I would pass on is that my blood cells showed that my lymphatic system was a little sluggish (my youngest's was worse than mine. I run more). This is the system that flushes toxins out of the system, and who wants their blood sitting in toxins? Yuck! Anyway, the recommendation for this problem was to bounce on one of those little mini trampoline/rebounders for fifteen minutes a day. Apparently the lymph system needs to be shaken up with the up and down motion to get kicked back into gear. Since it can't hurt me, I will give it a try and see if it helps.

Good health tends to be one of those things that we take for granted until we don't have it anymore. Most of the time a runners wake up call comes in the form of a running injury that takes them off the road/trial. I am grateful that my wake up call will not take me off the road. I received it before suffering any permanent damage, with time to reverse the trend and stay on the road for many years to come. One more of my many life blessings.