Well, I certainly didn’t expect my couch to 5k experience to include a trip to the emergency department by ambulance but that’s what transpired last week.  I now have a number of firsts I can cross off my bucket list.  Among them a ride in an ambulance, a stress test and an overnight stay in the ED for observation.

I went through the ordeal alone but I had a peaceful calmness regarding the whole matter.  I’m sure my personal religious faith had everything to do with it.  I jokingly said to a relative, “I’m considering this a spiritual prayer retreat!”

During my stay, I had numerous tests performed.  The result: all indications are I have a healthy, undamaged heart.  My blood pressure on the other hand needs to come down.

While I wrestle with whether or not to participate in a 5k fun run in the future, I am dead serious about shedding the excess weight I’ve been carrying around.  If my cloud of trouble has a silver lining, it’s the 19.5 pounds I’ve lost.  Until then, I’m eating healthy and walking my butt off (pun intended).  A wise woman once told me, “Bill, you can never outrun (as in exercise) your fork!”