The afternoon of February 25 I had a heart attack. The effects were pretty mild: tight jaw, slight muscle pain. If my FitBit hadn’t shown a spike in heart rate (118) followed by a huge drop only 5 minutes later (62), I might not have even gone to the hospital. I’m only 47
!
For over a decade before, I’d been eating right, and had even dropped into my ideal BMI. I’ve dabbled in exercise enough to “look healthy,” but I had to get serious.
The 2 stents in my heart gave me enough boost in energy that 2 more days in the hospital and a month at home were torture. I knew what needed to be done–let’s get on with it!
As soon as the Dr’s cleared me for exercise, I was back in the pool. I hadn’t swum laps in 33 years! Over 2 months my total laps went from 4 to 72–a full mile!
My goal was to complete the BSA Lifeguard training at summer camp with my son’s Troop. I had also hoped to complete the Mile Swim, but the Lifeguard training was about 50 hours–there just wasn’t time to do both.
So, 4 months after the heart attack, I’m a Red Cross and BSA certified Lifeguard!
