Okay, Eddie2. I am about to kiss my old job goodbye on March 31. Yes, Retirement. But I want to be as active as possible. Remember I just had a coronary event, but I had a stress test afterwards with results “within acceptible limits”. I am open minded so I thought I would let you help.
I cannot walk two miles without resting. It’s that pesky left foot. My brother married a sweet young thing and we all “raced” around Patriot Lake on Sunday. Grrr. I had to ask her to slow down.
He is a marathon runner:-) For real - he runs several a year.
I have a great picture of him, that my son loves, where he just crossed the finish line, and his jersey is COVERED by crimson drops of blood (all from his testing during the race).
@Eric2 is one of the most amazing diabetics I know - an extraordinary example, and one of the most good-hearted too. One in a million.
So, let’s start slow. Are you allowed to walk? Did the doc clear you for that?
Has he given you limits to what your heart rate is allowed to be when you exercise?
It’s a little tricky because one of the points of cardio exercise is to elevate your heart rate, but you will need to make sure it’s within safe ranges.
Would you be willing to invest in a watch that lets you see your heart rate in real time? That helps you stay in the right zone. You can set an alarm on them that tells you if your heart rate is going too high, or if it drops below the rate you want for your exercise.
So, let’s start by getting a heart rate zone from your doctor, and a watch that let’s you see it. I can send you watch recommendations.
Let me back up. What is the point of walking and getting my heart rate up ? To do anything well I like to see where I am going. Where am I going ?
For example, I do not wish to run any marathons… or 13.5 half a marathons… ever… in my entire lifetime. I think the marathonjng young Greek soldier that did that originally was motivated by a large Persian invasion of his country.
Your heart is a muscle. Exercising your heart is the same as exercising other muscles. By increasing the demand on it during exercise, you make it bigger and stronger. Just like doing pushups.
A bigger and stronger heart means it can push blood easier. If you exercise for 30-90 minutes a day, your heart has an easier time for the remaining 22.5-23.5 hours in the day.
Exercise boosts high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or “good” cholesterol and decreases unhealthy triglycerides. This will help your blood flow easier, and reduce the risk of future cardiovascular disease.
Exercise can aid in weight loss.
Exercise will give you more energy and improve your metabolism.
Exercise will make it easier to fall asleep at night.
It will improve your respiratory system. You will be able to get oxygen to your muscles easier. If a walk to the mailbox or walking up the stairs used to make you feel winded, that feeling will improve over time.
Exercise induces your body to increase your mitochondrial density. Mitochondria are cellular structures that function as power plants in the cells. Mitochondria burn carbs and amino acids and fatty acids for energy and give ATP which is the cellular form of energy which is used by cellular processes throughout the body. More is better with mitochondria.
Capillaries supply blood and oxygen to muscles and remove waste. Exercise can lead to increases in capillary density and improved capillary function.
Having an exercise program will keep you from driving your wife nuts after you retire.
Exercise will improve your mood.
I will help you with everything but the motivation, because finding it yourself works better.
It impresses me that you run the marathon and check your glucose while you run. That seems impossible to imagine for myself. You are my diabetic hero.
I llike the part about splotches on your running shirt. I have DNA samples all over my car and my chair. The cops might think there had been a massacre.
I just got back from walking Cosmo around the block. We do once around my block, once around the other block, or the long walk. The longest walk is around four blocks, a little less than a mile. The pace is slow, with periodic pauses.
Our dog will want to sniff each tuft of grass where other dogs have been. We stop for that. Sometimes he stops to tinkle. Once during the walk he will want to do number two.
Cosmo does not get along well with other dogs, so if we meet another dog on a rope ( or not on a rope ) there is the task of controlling Cosmo. We have Plan A - turn around and walk the other way to avoid the other dog, Plan B - run forward to avoid the clash with other dog, or Plan C - duck and cover, by hugging Cosmo’s neck so he cannot attack the intruder.
I say that to say this. That is as much exercise as I ever get every day. Cosmo gets two walks per day. My wife and I play bocce ball in our back yard, when it is nice, but that is not cardio.
I set up a ladder, climbed the ladder and raked the wet leaves off my roof and climbed down and stored the ladder; doing that winded me. I am a mitochondrial mess.
I hope after March 31, that I will have more time to swim laps. That would be cardio without the pain of putting pressure on my broken foot.
Next doctor visit, see what heart rate they are comfortable with for you during exercise. A lot of times after a cardiac event or surgery, for an exercise program they will simply take your resting pulse rate, and then tell you that your beginning exercise heart rate should be your resting pulse plus some number.
For example, if your resting rate is 90, they might tell you to add 30 to it, or something like that, so you’d be exercising at 120.
Swimming is good exercise, but it’s a little tougher to keep an eye on your heart rate. Most of the watches with heart rate monitors flake out in the pool.
Like anything else, it’s just practice. I made a few things that make it easier. (I’m not opening up a vial of strips and trying to take one out, that wouldn’t work!)
I spent hours looking at this line. Language issues of course. LOL. @Eric2 do you usually check heart rate with a device? or is it enough to check it manually? Im curious. As you know im new running. Still having some issues but so far liking it.
I have a heart rate monitor that I wear for training reasons. There is a lot of information that you can get out of your heart rate that helps you get better, such as looking at the ratio of your pace to your heart rate over the course of a long run or as you speed up. That helps you determine what limiting factors you have and the areas you need to work on.
But for just keeping it simple, doing it manually is fine.
If someone is just starting out and is working on building their fitness in the early stages, heart rate is a great way to govern the effort. It is much better than using speed.
There are a lot of guidelines that are used in running that help you with metabolic efficiency (burning fat instead of carbs), and they are based on heart rate. So heart rate is really a great thing to use.
Like I said, manually is fine, but watches with heart rate monitors are pretty cheap, and they can be setup to alert you if your heart rate becomes too fast or too slow. That’s what makes them a great tool to use.
thank you 
