Attention all PM recipients who run. I haven't run in years, not seriously at least. I wan to run a half marathon late this summer. I think that will give me enough time to recover, heal, & train. My PM went in on the 23rd. I need to hear from the runners, what is the best way to train? I need suggestions & encouragement! (lots of it)
Thanks~
Jessi

 

 

23rd of which month and year?

 

23rd of February this year, I was 3 weeks post op Tuesday!

 

Jesi, seeing how you have had open heart surgery & a PM "installed" I wouldn't personally feel comfortable giving you advice on how to train for a marathon.
JMO though.
I'd talk to your Dr. about that. You know, get his advice.
Good luck with the marathon & kudos to you for doing it!!
Liz

 

Hi JessiWay,
I won't tell you that you should or shouldn't run a half marathon, as I don't know what heart problems lead to your needing your PM, but I will tell you how it worked for me. You should discuss this with your cardio or EP, and if he/she says it's ok for you to train and run, then GO FOR IT!!! If your doc says no, and you think he/she is being overly conservative, you can always seek a second opinion. Also check out the "cardioathletes" website.
I started running again about 6 weeks after implant, though I'd been a runner for 30 years -- I was 50 at the time, and am 53 now. I built up my mileage slowly until I was doing 5 or 6 miles, about 5 days a week. Three months before the half marathon I added one "medium" run, and one "long" run each week -- the medium run being 1-2 miles longer than my daily run, and the long run adding 1 mile more than that each week. So at week #1 I did 5-6-5-5-7 miles; week #2 was 5-6-5-5-8; week 3 was 5-5-6-5-9 and so on until I finally did a 12-mile training run 2 weeks before the half marathon. My time was quite a lot slower than the half marathon I had last run 10 years previous, but I didn't care at all. I had decided time was NOT important, only finishing it! It was hard, and I felt a little faint and had to lie down for 10 minutes shortly after the finish, but I did it (with my 19-year-old daughter, though she is much faster so didn't run with me) and was very pleased.
If your doctor says it ok, and you train gradually -- perhaps more gradually than I did, even -- there's no reason you can't do this!!! There are even folks on this site who have run full marathons!
Use the "search" box and type in "marathon" or "running" and you'll find lots of older posts on this topic.
Keep us posted on your training and progress!
Best wishes and take care,
Cathryn

 

Jessi,

I have never ever been a runner, but I do cardio walk, primarily hills and distance walker. I checked out the cardiac athlete website that Carolyn recommended and it has lots of good info on how to get started for training, etc.

I also came across this regarding people with pacemakers who run. Especially note the need to increase the upper limits of the pacemaker if necessary.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2497157/

Long-distance running is safe for athletes with pacemaker implants. Overall fitness and sufficient endurance training remain the prerequisites for maintaining the condition necessary for successful completion of a marathon regardless of medical status. In our study, it became clear that for patients who had received a pacemaker because of complete heart block, the upper rate of the pacemaker programme needed to be adjusted to 170 to 180 ppm to insure 1:1 atrio-ventricular synchrony during high atrial rates. It is concluded that there is no a priori reason for cardiologists to advise against long-distance running in athletes with pacemakers. Patients with known or suspected structural heart disease should be screened according the recommendations.

I wish you much luck in your running endeavors. Currently, I am up to 35 minutes walking on the treadmill at at 2.5 mph pace with a 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down and did almost 1.5 miles yesterday. This does not include all the walking I do throughout the day, but I don't walk at one sustained pace, but I did log 12,000 steps yesterday.

 

THANK YOU heartu for your post. I have been training to pass my PT test for the military after having a PM inserted 2 years ago. I used to be a good runner now I'm a jogger trying to be a runner again! I just can't seem to progress and was about to consult the cardiologist thinking I was crazy that I needed to be "tuned up a little higher" to get back my speed. Now I think I AM on the right track...thanks.