More good news

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Talk about relieved and happy. For years my pulse has been around 100 to 110 beats a minute. Until recently I thought the norm was 60 to 80 and I felt there was something wrong with my heart though, like a typical male, I didn't do anything about it except worry.

Last month I googled about heart rates and found out that the norm was actually 60 to 100, and also that at 110 I may have a slight tachcardia. More anxiety. WELL, this morning while getting that all checked out at the VA Clinic, during my EKG I was happy to find out my pulse was all the way down to 71!!!


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Wow, what a difference! I'm so surprised that 3 or 4 months of running would have such an effect on my cardiovascular system. Can you imagine what getting up to marathon level would do? Right now my longest run has been 9 miles. 26 miles, wow, I will be able to exert myself like a freight train!
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The Gut

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For decades I have been plagued by the Gut. My body shape was inherited from my father. I remember as a child remarking several times to myself how big his Gut was and how it just stopped at his beltline as if all his fat suddenly stopped by a very strong strap of leather.

Well, I was fortunate enough to gain the same body shape. Lovely. I remember a pregnant gal at work who was 8 months along looking at me one day and saying, “You look more pregnant than I do.” A lovely young lady.

Years later another gal, this time a friend of mine, remarked on the Gut, saying, “It seems like it's not really a part of you.” Now there's a truly lovely gal (no irony this time). It's an accurate statement, my arms are very skinny and my legs are nowhere near fat. It's just that this big Gut hangs on the front of me.

Well, now that I've lost 17 pounds and am training for a half marathon, when I see my dwindling Gut in the mirror I say, “I'm gonna get you, sucka!”

In fact, the other night, I was lying on my back in bed and noticed that for the first time my belly was nearly flat with gravity sucking it in. Wow, I can really lick this monumental appendage to my body, I began to think.

Tonight I examined my body's profile in the mirror and saw that instead of bulging in a complete sphere the Gut actually had a flat aspect to it, after the initial bulge. I squinted my eyes at the mirror.

“I'm gonna get you, sucka!”
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