A year ago today

Today is my anniversary.

Exactly one year ago to the day (almost to the hour), I had my heart attack in front of UW Hospital while riding my bicycle to work. So much has changed, all for the the better. My heart attack has been perhaps one of the greatest blessings of my life, forcing me to refocus on things that are important and catalyzing changes that I needed to make but was having trouble getting motivated to make.

From a physical perspective, I've lost a little over 80 pounds. A year ago I weighed 305 lbs. This morning I weighed 224 lbs. My rate of weight loss has tapered significantly in 2010, down to perhaps a couple pounds per month. Ideally, I'd like to weigh in the 170's, but I'll be glad when I get below 200.

For the entire month of May I doubled my bicycle commuting mileage. Instead of going 1 direction per day--18.75 miles--I'm now commuting both directions, morning and evening, four days a week -- so 150 miles a week. I've had to adjust my sleep schedule so that I go to bed a little earlier to get more rest and also because I get up earlier so I can get into the office early. My appetite has increased but I've tried to keep it in check so I would lose weight, the results have been less than stellar. I've learned not to get too discouraged, just keep plugging away.

About 2 months ago I had a full work-up: Nuclear stress test, catheterization, ECG, and blood work. The nuclear stress test had some results that caused some concern, so they went in for a look-see just to make sure everything was ok. It was. In fact, my atherosclerosis has receded and everything looked wide-open. My heart function (ejection fraction) is now in the normal range. And even my HDL's were in the low 40's. They attributed the concerns on the stress test to be a false positive -- an expensive one, at that!

I've been commuting to work on the titanium bicycle I built up during the winter time. It's a very light weight Merlin mountain bike that I've equipped with Shimano XTR components, exotic alloys and carbon fiber, and with high-pressure road slicks to reduce rolling resistance and increase speed. Between the new bike and my improved fitness and strength, my one-way commute times is right around an hour and ten minutes, down from an hour twenty. And my average speed is up from around 14 mph to over 16 mph, and even higher when there's a tail wind. I can make it up Brickyard road now at the end of my commute without having to shift into my lowest gear. Over the winter I purchased a nice Polar heart rate monitor with GPS to combine everything that I was using a cheaper model heart rate monitor and Garmin GPS unit for. It's a simpler, lighter, and more accurate setup. If you want a good heart rate monitor, Polar is certainly the way to go. I tried three different Garmins; couldn't get a heart rate to register on any of them.

According to the cardiologist, my new maximum heart rate is 220 minus Age (43) times 80%, which puts me just over 140 bpm. Over time, it's gotten harder and harder for me to hit that max. I can still do it, but I'm exerting myself at a level that's too intense to maintain for very long. My lower heart rate is also due to some of the medications I'm on: Metoprolol and Lisinopril, which also lower blood pressure. I'm also still taking Plavix and a statin for cholesterol. (My total cholesterol was below 100 when it was checked during the last round of tests.)

I'm planning to participate in the Tour de Blast ride (www.tourdeblast.com) on June 19th with some friends. My wife keeps calling it a "race." But it's really just a "ride." It's just over 80 miles with over 6000 feet in elevation gain. Should be fun and scenic going up Mt. St. Helens.

Because I'm spending so much time on my bicycle now, I'm putting my beloved motorcycle up for sale. It's only been ridden once or twice since my trip last August. No reason to have it collect dust in the garage. So if you know anyone looking for a 2002 Honda VTX 1800R with only 28,000 miles on it, in very good condition with lots of "extras", send them my way.