See the Doctor

Happy New Year everyone! I'm not going to blog about my 2010 goals/resolutions now because I haven't made my list yet. haha. Yes I know, I'm behind but I'll get to it eventually.

I will let you know that I went to the Mariah Carey concert this past weekend and it was AMAZING!!! I love MC and have been a fan since I was in middle school (more so of her older songs than the newer ones). My husband bought the tickets as part of my Christmas gift...probably one of the best gifts he has ever bought me. We were 19 rows away from the stage!!! I swear she smiled and winked at me, although I'm sure my husband thinks she was smiling and winking at him!

Annnnyyyways, I wanted to write about the importance of seeing your doctor. As athletes, we sometimes forget to go to the doctor for a regular checkup. We feel fine when we run/swim/bike so what's the use in seeing the doctor right? WRONG!

Just because you can exercise, does not necessarily mean that you are 100% healthy. I experienced this first hand three years ago. I started experiencing terrible cramps after I would run over three miles (back then the most I was running at a time was probably 4-5 miles). I told my father, who is a doctor, about my problem and he told me "Stop running". This was NOT a possibility for me, so my mother, who is a nurse, told me to go see a doctor. The doctor checked me out and thought I had a hernia. This turned out to be wrong (I saw a specialist who verified that I did not have a hernia- thank goodness). My after-running cramps turned out to be caused by the foods I was eating and thus resulting in runner's trots :-( Anyways, during my checkup with my doctor, he also noticed that I had a slight murmur in my heart. And so I went to see a cardiologist.

Heart problems run in my family, especially my mother's side, and the types of problems are those that are hereditary. I never thought I needed to have my heart checked out. I was young, in good shape, ate healthy and always had good cholesterol levels. I was totally wrong. After doing multiple tests and wearing a heart monitor for a day, it was determined that I had mitral valve prolapse. Thank goodness it was not serious and my murmur was a slight one. However, I have to monitor it and check in with the cardiologist once a year to make sure its not getting worse (and hopefully getting better).

Before training for MCM, I made sure to make appointments with my regular physician and cardiologist. Once I got the okay from both of them, I knew I was healthy enough to start training. Before any of us decide to take on a new physical challenge, whether it be a 5k, marathon, triathalon, ultra, etc., we should go see the doctor. There is a reason why (for those of us that are fortunate) have health insurance, so make sure you use it. Also, I don't want to get into politics or healthcare reform talks here but millions of Americans do not have health care coverage. Don't take yours for granted and waste it. Use it. An hour long visit at the doctor could save your running career or even better, your life.

Peace, Love and Healthy Running!
~Michelle