Graduation!

No, it's not high school graduation! It's my graduation from the Providence Hospital Cardiac Rehabilitation Program. Thursday, May 14, I finished my 36th (12 weeks) session at the facility and I tell you, it was worth every dime (actually thousands of dollars) Blue Cross/Blue Shield had to pay. I can't begin to tell you how important it was to me to reach my rehabilitation goals which were to gain my weight back, improve my stamina to participate in the Alaska Heart Run, build up some upper body muscle mass, finish the program having run a 10K distance, and overall being "subsistence fit." I accomplished all but the 10K distance...my longest run was 5 miles and not 6.2 miles.

The commitment and patience the staff (Hal, Jennifer, Christine, Marie and others) exhibited was top notch. It was amazing how they were always in a good mood and eager to answer questions. Don't get me wrong, they were tough when they had to be, especially if someone was goofing off too much or distracting others. Every Wednesday there would be a 30 minute presentation before our session covering a wide variety of fitness topics to help make our life more healthy. NOTE: I always seemed to arrive late for the presentations ... must be the semi-retired person coming out in me. A special thank you goes to Hal who provided me encouragement when I was in the ICU and PCU, coached me during my first short walks in the hospital hallways, and supervised my full recovery during the 12 week rehab session. Thanks again!

I lost track of how many folks I met over the 12 weeks. All types of professions were represented: policeman, writer/editor book publisher, nun, retired Air Force officer, real estate agent, tile craftsman, oil field workers, city vehicle maintenance supervisors, and city, state and federal workers. It was most interesting to hear the stories told by the many Anchorage sourdoughs who went through the program. Stories about the Great Alaska Earthquake in 1964, political scandals, hunting expeditions all around the state, fishing adventures, personal tragedies, and stories about how Anchorage use to be before all the development.

This week marks the first week since the January 13 operation that I truly feel like I am on my own, and I welcome it. Now I am totally responsible for keeping up my weight training and cardio work outs and having to schedule sessions around family activities and my part time work at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. My plan for 3-to-4 days a week is to head to my local hole-in-the-wall gym (Polaris Gym) and weight train for an hour. I'll be able to run 4-to-6 miles at noon each day I work at the Corps, which is 3 days a week. I hope to run a long route once a week on the weekend. I don't work on Monday or Friday so I'll use those days for lots of things, like playing golf, maybe some tennis, doing chores, and planning family adventures.

If all goes well, I should be in good shape to seriously start planning my 2010 European Trampathon by summer's end. I'll continue to use this blog site to "tempt" others to join me on my European adventure...hopefully some of you will allow yourself to be tempted!