It is February

I know I have been MIA on the blog. Just been busy. You may want to know what is going on (or not) so I will give the brief synopsis.

Running - recovered from minor foot injury noted in my previous post. I believe that my Nike lightweight trainers were contributing to the injury. It seems that the hurt would flare up almost every time I ran in the shoes. Solution - don't run in those shoes. I have been training...getting in some long runs...getting in some fast runs. Now it is a couple of days until I get to do a long fast run. The Mercedes 1/2 marathon is Sunday and I think I am relatively ready. What I am not sure on is the status of my speed. I have done a couple of 10 milers on a hilly course in about 1 hour and 12 minutes. Not blazingly fast; however, I think on a flatter course with proper warmup, I would be running a lot faster. Plus, I have been running with my kids because they are now both running the race. Last weekend was our last long run. We ran in my neighborhood (extremely hilly) and I got in 16 miles. The problem is that my calves were tighter than a drum for the past couple of days. Last of all, I am just getting over a cold and still have not hit a 100%. Now my wife and son have strep....

Heart - been pumping regularly. I have had increased amounts of flutter and finally went back to the cardiologist. He has me on 500 mg of magnesium twice daily and 7.5 mg of blood thinner. He told me to stay off the alcohol and come back in a month to discuss beta blockers. I tried everything but the alcohol and did not notice a lot of difference. That was 2 weeks. So I have not had any alcohol for the past 2 weeks and have noticed quite a reduction in the flutter factor. I really don't want to go on the beta blockers, but I am sick and tired of dealing with this flutter that comes and goes at will. He said the blocker will knock my heart rate down and basically I won't be able to run as fast. I really don't like that idea since I am not a real speed demon, but a reduction in what speed I have will be depressing. I go back next week to see the doc and figure out the next step.

Other - busy, traveling, doing kid stuff, dealing with wacky weather, going to church, etc. I will try to spend a little more time on the blog and less time doing something else.

Note to slowtwitch - coping as best I can with the flutter. Just a fact of getting older (in my case). I am trying to figure out what I can do to minimize it.

See ya soon!