Saturday, March 22, 2014

Michael's Story -Part one of ....um...a bunch


Some day in the future, I'm gonna look back and question how I ever told myself I needed 'more' content...this, however, is not that day. My poor lil blog now only has two postings, and one is complaining about only having two posts.

So, it has been suggested that I explain more about me, why I'm here and why you should read another word. To that end, I present to you a brief-ish version of my purpose, at least the first installment.

Why is Running Arts here? Well, I run, and not too fast either. I'm almost 40, but I promise this is not another 'over-30' runner's blog. This story starts way before 30. I played at sports all through school, but finally found success with surfing, and ultimate frisbee at Flagler College. What I discovered most was that I was patient when it came to sports, I had infinite patience in waiting for a better wave or the perfect disk throw. In running you have to be patient, because running a 5k takes awhile; you're mind wanders and the pay-offs are miles away. Coupled with that, I had my 'life-changing event' when I was only 28.

I woke up one morning and my heart was ….well, gurgling! Generally I have no problem super-gluing a cut back together, or just walking-off a broken rib or two, but I'm not a total idiot! So into the Jeep and off to the hospital my little gurgling-heart went.

Atrial Fibrillation is a horrible phrase to hear before age 60. Without binge drinking or drug use, my cardiologist informed me that I fell into the small one-in-sixty-million people under 60 that have it. Basically, the four chambers talk to each other and synchronize through a bundle of nerves hidden in the middle of my heart. However my 'stick it to the man' style of nerves don't play well with others. Evidently, some of my chambers were on a 4/4 beat, and the others had more of a free-form jazz thing going on. End result, 4 days in ICU and a huge desire not to die!

I explained to my amazing doctor, after he saved me and the oxygen mask was off, that I had things to do still, and that one of those things was to run a marathon! He said that one day I probably could if I behaved in the mean time. I'm patient, but I hate behaving. Three years of his care, lots of ramping up and down of heart meds, and I started to trust my body again. Then, one of my best friends asked if I wanted to do a 5k mud run.

So thus begins my slow and patient training to run and not to die. That first run, The Champions Mud Bash was quite lacking in mud and bashing, sad, however I was able to finish really strong. Then came another, then another, then street 5ks and then my first half-marathon. Eventually Ill be more prolific in my descriptions of all those, and more, but for now it sets the stage for a slowly percolating dream, and an odd bunch of coincidences, including a naked and wet actress at my Boy Scout camp, and a freaky fortune cookie!

Running Arts is also not going to be another story of a guy with a heart problem and his over-coming adversity blah blah blah.....$%#@&# ... they are already out there!!! You as a runner don't need any more, you have your own problems! You are single Moms, Veterans, and Survivors and I have no desire to compete; I'm patient, not an idiot.

So Running Arts will be about an average guy, who's family was struck by reality on the same day that he got the message that The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, 'Team Fox' after this, released applications to fund-raise and run the NYC Marathon.

That’s where our story will continue. Eventually...

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