Susan Michaels I have been happily married to my highschool sweetheart for almost 31 years. I have a beautiful grown daughter and I am a grandmother to a gorgeous 7 year old who is the best thing in my life besides my daughter of course. I am a housewife and I enjoy taking care of my husband. I don't like sounding like a broken record but a lot of my running friends know my story but I will share it with you all. I developed atrial fib in 2006 which means my upper and lower heart get out of sync from time to time. I have it controlled by meds that make me very fatigued and not feeling so well most of the time. I am blessed that my husband is very understanding so when he comes home and I am on the couch with nothing done he knows I didn't have a good day. My husband and I decided to join RunnersWorld group in 2007 and never have ran before in my life I thought what in the world was I thinking. I was a little leary in running because of my heart condition but Kathy assured me that it would be possible for me to do it. I began training like all newbies running to one lightpole at a time and then eventually I was able to run longer distances. I do have to keep my pace slow because of my heart but I get from point A to point B still. I have done numerous 5K's which I enjoy doing and I have done 2 half marathons. Last April I did the OKC half marathon and it was pretty rough for me and I pushed myself a little too hard and later that day it caught up with me and I passed out. I was down for awhile from putting so much stress on my heart. I thought for sure I wouldn't be able to run again. My heart dr. changed my meds and told me to take it easy and just keep my mileage down to 5K's for now. I am now training for another half marathon in Scotland in May but I have learned I have to take it easy and listen to my heart so that is why I have decided to try and do this 1/1 method to see how that system works for me. The 1/1 method is you walk for a minute then you run for a minute so we will see how it goes. I don't know how my heart dr. would feel about me doing another half marathon but we won't tell him ha ha. Since joining RunnersWorld I have met so many new friends we are like one big family. I enjoy cheering for all the runners and helping out in anyway I can. I even love helping crew runners doing 100 mile races. I am a member of the TATUR trail running group and love helping out at the trail races. Kathy & Brian are awesome at what they do to help runners and give great advise. I am so thankful that I am part of this running family. I hope I can keep up with my running for a long time if my heart lets me. This is my second time at being a run leader. I enjoy it and hope I can help someone to accomplish their goals. I am a little nervous about it this time because of my health I may have days I can't make it out but I hope you all will understand and keep on going knowing that I will be with you in thought cheering you on. |
