Being a runner has its ups and downs. I have spent my fair share of time on the injury bench at various points in my life as a runner. Some as a result of running, but most not!
When I started to up my mileage in 2007 in preparation for my first half marathon, I decided to also join the gym for a bit of cross-training in the form of a pilates class. I thought the gym pre-joining checks would be a formality, however I was soon to learn some things about myself which I am only just now really dealing with properly.
Turned out my blood pressure was high. So high Rocci took it several times, thinking there might be an issue with the monitor. Unable to get a reading that didn't cause him concern, he wouldn't sign me off to join the gym, and recommended I get myself checked out ASAP with my GP. I was still relatively unperturbed by this, thinking that probably it was just his machine or I was having an off day or something. After all, I was getting myself fit again and losing a bit of weight and just didn't really believe that I had a problem. So I went along to my GP, who to my surprise advised me to take a break from exercising and referred me to a cardiac specialist for some tests.
Thankfully I had private healthcare through work, so I thought I would just get this all out of the way and sorted quickly, and get back to my running.
Before I knew it I was having a whole load of tests. Ultrasound, 24 hour BP monitoring, 24 hour ECG, a barrage of blood tests, urine tests and eventually, my first MRI. I seemed to have some sort of doctors appointment each week! When I went to get the results from the MRI, the news was so unexpected and surreal I thought the doc was joking - turns out I only have one kidney! Well that explained why we could only find one on the DVD I had been given and had snuck a peek at on my laptop. It also explained why I had been in the MRI machine for a lot longer than I was told I would be - the cardiac specialists words to me were 'How to freak out an MRI technician'. And so began a whole new raft of tests with a kidney specialist. All the while, I was still not running and my fitness was fading further and further away.
Most frustratingly, at the end of all of this, the decision from all the specialists was just to do nothing. I was told to continue with my exercise and weight loss and they would monitor my blood pressure. The 'mono-kidney-itis' as it has become affectionately known in our household, is from birth and has thus far caused me no issues, and the hypertension is probably just hereditary as they could find no issues with any of my bloods or other tests they ran.
On that note I set out to run a 5k race for life around Dorney Lake that I had entered some months before, and found it incredibly hard. I only just finished it, and I felt sick at the end, despite it being a slow time. It was a massive knock in my confidence with only a few months to go before my first half marathon. I just couldn't see how I would ever be able to do it.
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