8 months and a Busy Summer

The lack of posts is due to everything that has been going on.  Since my last post, I finished a 10k, I did Bay to Breakers, I went back East for the first time since November, I took two business trips, my good friend got married, and I spent a weekend in Vegas.  I finished the 10k in 1 hour flat, which is about a 9:55 min/mi pace, and Bay to Breakers took us just under 1 ½ hours.  Just yesterday I ran 7 miles in 1:09.  The longest I’ve gone since the stroke is 16 miles (2 ½ hours) and I’m on track to finish the Chicago marathon in October in 5 hours or less.  Gibson comes with most of the time; he’s up to 14 miles and does great!  I got him a backpack to carry his own food and water on long runs and hikes.  He’s gotten somewhat bigger; he’s gained 12 lbs from the time I adopted him, but it’s mostly muscle.  He’s fully housebroken and knows lots of tricks now.  He’s a great companion, and his first birthday is next month (hint hint).  Oh, by the way, the Nevada Humane Society, where I adopted him from, is raising money through its annual duck race.  I adopted a ducky to support them, and I highly encourage you to adopt one:

http://www.nevadahumanesociety.org/duckrace.htm

I’ve enjoyed several hikes around the Tahoe area, and have had the luck of making a number of new friends.  I’ve been enjoying my freedom from Coumadin, too.  In early August, I went to Mammoth, CA to attend Bluesapalooza, a 3-day beer and blues festival.  It.  Was.  Amazing.  My drinking abilities are not what they used to be, but I’m happy to enjoy a few brews and the occasional bourbon without having to worry.

In October, a couple weeks after the marathon, Larcker is getting married in Philly.  And I will be there in my 4” heels.  I’m back to wearing heels like I used to; and the more precarious the shoe (like the 5” platform wedges I bought), the more trouble I have, but I feel comfortable in 3-4” heels.  I know she was worried about that, so rest assured I will be dancing the night away in my high heels.

Training at the gym is going well; we’ve progressed a lot.  Now I do intervals: I do a set of exercises
(squats, lunges, etc) then instead of resting I sprint on the treadmill for 30 seconds until I’ve done 3 sets.  Then we move on to intervals with a different exercise.  I think rehabilitation-wise, I’ve achieved all of my goals.  But I’ve lost 15 lbs since January, and I really like the results, so I continue to see Anthony 2 times a week.

Physically, in case you can’t tell, everything is almost normal.  I’m running just a tad slower that my previous pace, and I’m doing everything else within reason without problems.  The only hurdle I haven’t gotten past is jumping.  I have a mental block about jumping up onto something.  Jumping down is no problem.  But as soon as I brace myself to jump up (even if it’s a low platform), my brain says, “oh hell no.”  So that’s my next challenge.

My speech is coming along.  I went to UNR for speech therapy all summer, and plan to go back when the semester starts later this month.  My speech still is not anywhere near what I want it to be, but 8 months out I’m talking a whole lot faster and it’s more intelligible.  It’s sounding more natural too.  I’m betting within another year it’ll be close to normal.

I think it’s getting near time to go back to the rehab hospital and visit all the wonderful doctors, nurses and therapists who put me on the road to recovery.  I am a medical miracle, after all, and they need to see how their care in the first 2 weeks post event made such a positive impact.