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Today's post is from Danielle Maglinte, one of our Run with Heart team members! Take it away, Danielle!I never knew my grandfathers. My PopPop McGraw died of a heart attack at the age of 43. My Lolo Maglinte died of a stroke when I was a toddler. Unfortunately for me, heart disease runs in the family. Both of my uncles have survived heart attacks and bi-pass surgery. My mom and aunt have had high cholesterol and my dad has had high blood pressure for as long as I can remember. I was 6 years old the first time I had my cholesterol checked, after my uncle has his first heart attack (he was 34). Even at that young age, my cholesterol was elevated. Genetics had given me brown eyes, dark hair, and high cholesterol.
By the time I was 30 years old, I was overweight, my cholesterol was over 270, and I exercised occasionally. At the recommendation of my doctor, I tried prescription cholesterol medications. However, I experienced side effects and had to stop taking them. The medications that my parents, my aunt, and my uncles relied on to control high cholesterol were not an option for me. 34 was looming, my cholesterol was rising, and it seemed inevitable that I would experience a heart attack.
But I decided to fight back against heart disease. I started by joining Weight Watchers. With their guidance, I began making small changes to my eating habits. After talking to my doctor, I started taking natural supplements, like fish oil. And I began to walk or do water aerobics for exercise. Slowly, my cholesterol started dropping and I started losing weight. By making healthy lifestyle changes, I lowered my cholesterol by half, lost 50 pounds, and have lowered my risk of heart disease significantly.
With the encouragement of a friend, I started running about a year ago. I started small with local 5ks. Over time, I started running longer distances - first an 8k, then a couple 10ks. One day my friend asked if I wanted to run a half marathon. I was scared to say yes. 13.1 miles seemed like a long distance to run. But after running a 15k (9.3 miles), I decided 'What's another 4 miles?' and I told her yes!
My running partner and I decided to run the Indy Mini Half Marathon and got a group of friends from Chicago to join us. I grew up in Indianapolis and have gone to the Indy 500 since I was a kid. The idea of running 2.5 miles around the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway sounded awesome! I still have family in Indy, so it was easy to figure out logistics. Plus, friends in the running community had told me the Indy Mini was a fun race.
When I decided to run a half marathon, I knew I wanted to run to support a charity. I have cheered my husband and friends running half and full marathons, and I always found the charity runners very inspiring. With my family history of heart disease and high cholesterol, it was an easy decision to run for the American Heart Association. Funds raised for the AHA will be used to fund research and education efforts to help prevent heart disease. I know from my own experience that it is possible to make small lifestyle changes and fight back against heart disease. I hope that by example, I can inspire others to make small changes to improve their heart health.
Now, it was time to start training. We picked a 12-week training program and started training for the Indy Mini in February. Who knew that it would be one of the snowiest winters in Chicago? Just a few days after the February blizzard hit Chicago, my running partner and I were bundling up, putting YakTrax on our shoes, and heading out into the snow to run. If it was dangerously cold or too icy, we would meet at the indoor track and run tiny circles until we became dizzy. 4 to 5 times a week, my running partner and I would meet up and run. Slowly, we increased our mileage according to the plan. Some days, it felt great to run and I would finish feeling ecstatic! Other days, I would run just to get it done. Together, my partner and I pushed through and had fun together!
Before I knew it, it was race day - May 7, 2011. Surprisingly, I wasn't nervous about the thought of running my first half marathon. I had done all my training runs and felt confident that I could run 13.1 miles. Instead, I wondered if I would enjoy it. My group of running friends met up early and drove to downtown Indy for the start of the Indy Mini Marathon. After a quick pre-mini group pic, it was time for the start! The running partner and I waited in our corral with 2 other friends. With an estimated 35,000 runners, it took us about 30 minutes after the starting gun before we actually crossed the start line. Like many newbie racers, we started off running too fast. The music and crowds are infectious and you just want to run! But I didn't want to tire myself out too quickly and not have enough energy for the whole race. The running partner and I let our 2 friends run ahead, and we slowed into a comfortable pace. Throughout our training, we have always followed a plan of run/walk intervals, and we stuck with our usual run/walk intervals throughout the Indy Mini.
The Indy Mini was a great first half marathon! There were tons of entertainers throughout the race course - a bagpiper, small marching bands, a steel drum band, teen garage bands, DJs from a variety of music stations playing rock, hip-hop, and country music. There were belly dancers, line dancers, and polka dancers. The next group of entertainers was usually just half a mile down the road! And we cheered for them all!
Half-way out, we hit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I had a blast running around the track! As we ran, I gave my running partner the guided tour: this is where my family sits, this is the start of pit lane, this is the historic yard of bricks, etc. Instead of musicians, there were cheerleading squads cheering for the runners as we ran around the track. It was pretty amusing listening to the cheerleaders turn their typical cheers into running cheers - "Go! Fight! Run!" And we made sure to clap and cheer for them as we ran by!
So far, the weather had been perfect for running: cool and cloudy. There had been an occasional sprinkle of rain, but I barely noticed it as I ran. Unfortunately, as we left the track and hit mile 9, it started raining. And this was an annoying, steady rain. Some of the musicians and dancers stopped entertaining, and we were starting to get tired. So we took a couple of slightly longer walk intervals and kept on chugging along. When a band was playing, we cheered extra hard! When a good song came on our iPod, we would start singing aloud! Anything to keep our energy up!
Fortunately, the rain stopped about mile 11 and the sun struggled to peak through the clouds. We knew we were in the home stretch! About 3/4ths of a mile from the finish, we took one last walk break. Then we pushed ourselves to finish strong. Sure, we were tired, but we knew we could do it! We started passing people who were slowing towards the end. But we tried to speed up! The finish line appeared and got larger and larger. As we reached the finish line, I grabbed my running partner's hand and we crossed the finish line together like champions!
5 years ago, I thought I was destined to have a heart attack. But I made a choice to fight! I started eating healthier. I lost weight. I lowered my cholesterol. And with the encouragement of friends, I started to run. Today, I've run a half marathon and raised over $2,000 for the American Heart Association! Please help me fight heart disease by making a donation here!
What's one choice you can make today to improve your heart health? 28 Jun, 2011
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Source: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/run-with-heart/2011/06/all-in-the-family.html
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