HIT Workouts Not Good For Me.

HIT (High Intensity Training) workouts such as fast runs, sprints, doing three sets of five burpees in two minutes lead to minor bleeding that shows up as pink sputum.  If I persist for several weeks the sputum becomes blood red, and looks pretty scary.  My doctor says I was smart to give up HIT workouts.

I first noticed this phenomena about December 2018.  I spent 2019 and spring 2020 experimenting with different running programs to see if I could "sneak" around this issue. August 2020, I finally accepted it, shifted my workouts to the range of what is called aerobic heart rate, for me about 110 - 120 beats per minute, and the bleeding issues ended.

8 pull ups today!

I've been hovering really close to it for a couple of weeks, this morning I made 8 and really, really close to 9!

Over hand grip.

Pull-ups, Sprints and Breathing

Last Monday, March 14, I did 6 pull-ups.  I basically work out 1 day per week for pull-ups. Most weeks I usually do one set of max dips in the middle of the week.

I pedal 20 second sprints in < 2.5 minutes on a stationary bicycle. Resistance turned up high enough so that the pace begins to slow at about 15 secs due to my fatigue.  This used to drive me to the point of feeling like I was suffocating, but the last few months, I just feel "out of breath," but not the fright of feeling as if I can't get enough air, no matter how hard I breathe.  This is good news for me! 

Two Chinups

Last Saturday, a week ago, I did my first chin-ups since surgery! Two of them!

I spent several months working up to it doing "walk the plank" negatives once a week per the advice of  this Pullups For Total Beginners - Scooby's Home Workouts. 

Running and Walking after Thoracic Surgery

I started walking about 1.2 miles from the train station to my job each weekday last December. One day a week, usually Sunday, if the temperature was above 30 degrees Fahrenheit, I would do my own version of the 3 mile run sprint work out on page 130 of the "The Complete Guide to Navy Seal Fitness" 3rd edition. My version is run, walk with all the distances cut by 1/2.

I can run 1/8 mile, but I still feel like I am suffocating if I go too fast. This is a terrible feeling, like I am drowning in the park standing on the trail.  I had to cut back the last few weeks because I was beginning to develop plantar fasciitis  in my heels, and it has been very cold. This go worse when I tried a new pair of shoes for the daily mile walks back and forth to work.

I quit running, or high speed walking for three weeks. My plantar fasciitis  has faded. I started back in this morning with chart 2 of RCAF 5BX plan, supplemented with a few hanging knee lifts. Feels good, and I was impressed with my endurance, top of the chart in all categories except sit ups. I'll move back to chart 3 my next workout.

Last week, October 28th, was one year since my surgery.


I will be 60 before the end of this year, I weigh 173 pounds (lost 40 pounds the year before my surgery by dedicated calorie control).

I can walk two miles in 29 minutes. I found that it is faster for me to walk, vice run 1/10th of mile, walk and then run again because after running my walking pace is so slow that I end up losing time on the two mile course that I mapped out using http://www.runningmap.com/beta/ .

I am 20 days into the beginner's work out from the book named "The Complete Guide to Navy SEAL Fitness" by Stew Smith, http://www.stewsmith.com/linkpages/cgtnsf3.htm.
The title is scary for an "old guy," but the work up program is really very good for me.

I don't know if I will be able to do the chin up's listed in later workouts, but it we'll see. I'm missing my left latismus dorsi muscle since it was used to fill the empty space where half my left lung was removed.

I can support myself, arms only, on the parallel bars at the local playground. I can hang from the ladder bars with both hands. I can do 30 pushups, lots of sit-ups and crunches.

If I do 20 second sprints, I feel like I am suffocating because no matter how hard I breathe I cannot get enough air. Very scary feeling. But I am getting better. I used to feel this way, a month ago, during my 1/10th mile runs during my 2 mile walk.  I don't feel that sense of suffocation anymore during my walk/runs.

I can swim 25 yards free style, a month ago it was only 12 yards. Then I roll over on my back and I can finish 500 yards in 22 minutes.

What has the last year been like? I'll cover more details later, but I finally stopped snoring after about 10 months, the first 6 months or so I had to get up to pee every couple of hours during the night, I still don't use an alarm clock because I need to sleep a couple more hours that I used to - 9 to 10 vice 6 to 8 hours.  The last couple of weeks I've had a couple of 6 hour nights and woke feeling rested and ready to go. Usually it is closer to my "normal" 7 hours before I wake up.

I wasn't able to work a full 40 hours in a 5 day week until some time in May. That would be 6 months since my surgery on 28th Oct 2013. I didn't work at all for the first two months. Then worked online (thank goodness for bit and byte shuffling jobs) for one month, and was able to start commuting by driving myself after 3 months. Working a full 8 hours was difficult, so I filled the needed hours on Saturday and/or Sunday to get the minimum 40 hours each week. (Forget about 60!).

I don't cough any more when I exercise in cold weather! First time in DECADES!

Recovery Status 11 months after Surgery

My health is very good now, much better than before my surgery.

I don’t cough all the time now. My surgeon has released me to the care of my pulmonary doctor. He is checking my pulmonary function every 4 months. I’m below average in pulmonary function, but given my medical history, that is to be expected. I take Spiriva inhaler once a day. 

I am still working to recover my cardio-vascular endurance. I can’t run more than 1/10 of mile at a stretch, but I can walk/run 2 miles in 33 minutes!

I can also swim 500 yards in 23 minutes. 

I can’t do pull ups on a chinning bar anymore. The latissimus dorsi muscle under my left arm was used to fill the empty space in my chest.

So I am getting back into shape slowly.