The Running Man

Let me just talk about someone else today instead of talking about myself, which I could take a break from anyway.

My dad has really gotten into running.  He started a few years ago, just running a mile at a time.  Let me point out two facts:

• He started running at about 62 years old, after not running, really, his entire life.
• In doing so, he has lost about 70 lbs., ridding himself of all kinds of medications including some because he was borderline diabetic

Clearly this picture is AFTER the weight loss.  

When I was hurt almost two years ago, I had three registrations to races that would be going to waste:

• The Shamrock Shuffle 8k - one of the largest around and Chicago's kickoff to the racing season, with about 40,000 runners
• The Soldier Field 10-miler - on the lakefront and you finish on the 50-yd line of the field where the Bears play, seeing yourself on the giant Trinitron - really cool
• The Chicago Marathon

The Shamrock Shuffle was a week after my accident.  Rebecca ran under my bib along with a whole bunch of supportive friends with shirts they made that said things like "TEAM BATTOE" and "RUNNING 4 CHIP".  It was really cool.  My dad mentioned that he wished he could have run with the team.  He went out to see if he could run 5 miles, which was the farthest he had run at that point.  

       

      I said, "Hey dad, why don't you run under my bib number for the Soldier Field 10-miler?"
     "Um... don't do that to me, Chip!  I have never run more than 5 miles!"

     "Well it's up to you.  Just saying, the bib is going to waste if you don't use it.  Rebecca wants her own bib for that race."  I think I said something else to get his goat like, "You have to run because I can't."  I knew that would do the trick.  

He ended up training for and running the race, going twice as far as he'd ever run before that.  It was almost 2 month after my accident.  At the age of 63.  He is a champ.  Also, I finished the last mile or so with him, with some help from Leah, Rebecca and Stephen.  That's Leah pushing me there.  I am hiding the massive brace underneath my sweater.  You can see the front bar of it kind of pushing through.  That was really, really cool to do with my dad and friends!

Since then, he's gone on to run many other races, join a running group in Louisville, and in general become addicted to running.  He runs miles a day with our dog Tucky.  Last year he ran the Triple Crown of races in Louisville, which included a 5k, a 10-miler, and a half-marathon.  

This year, he has decided to once again tackle the Triple Crown.  Saturday was the first race, the 5k.  He has been training in the cold to be ready for the race, which is really no big deal for him, anymore.  Before the race, he felt some pain in his chest.  He made some circles with arms and shook it off.  Not long after, the race started.

He said in the middle of the race he still felt "funny".  But he kept running, anyway.  He went faster than normal, breaking his personal record for a 5k.  Go dad!

At the lunch after with his running team, someone pointed out that he looked kind of pale and sick.  She is a nurse, so asked if he was okay.  "You know, I felt funny before and during the race.  Not sure what's up."  She asked a few questions as she was trained to do.  Next thing, he was rushed to the hospital.  

It turned out my dad had had a mild heart attack either before or during the race.  Naturally, he went on to heedlessly finish the race like the wild Battoe man that I know and love.  

After some tests, they considered him to be pretty stable.  So he was kept there in the hospital for days waiting to get a heart catheterization, while over and over again, more urgent cases were prioritized ahead of him.  Yesterday about 4pm, he finally went in for his.  They found two large arteries on the left side of his heart with 90% blockage.  Those received stints.  The rest of his heart was remarkably undamaged from the heart attack.  His color quickly returned and he said he now feels better than ever, aside from bruising and soreness from the surgery and laying around in bed for days.

The doctor attributes the great results to his increased physical fitness.  There is a rehab program prescribed to him for the next 6 weeks or so, which apparently for him is just procedural, since it is less intensive than his usual workouts.  Everyone else is suffering from obesity or other causes commonly found alongside heart disease.  

So I am very proud of my dad for learning new tricks as such an old dog.  Starting running several years ago - and I will reiterate IN HIS 60'S! and overweight - could have possibly saved his life this weekend.  Nice work dad. I love you.  

Dear Lord, thanks for my dad and for watching over him this weekend.  Thanks for Rebecca, too, and for my whole family, that always comes together in times of need.  Thanks for keeping us calm and bringing others together in prayer for something like this, so that we can handle it all knowing that Your Will will prevail, and that regardless of what happens, it is supposed to happen.  Thank You for this life.  Never let me lose gratitude for it.  Keep me humble.  Give us all strength and healing.  Thank You for everything.  In Your name.  Amen.

Call your mom or dad if you haven't recently.

Much love,
Chip