Meet my new ‘best friend’.
This heart monitor and watch are going to be my new best friends for the next 12 weeks.
I was invited by my surgeon to be included in a university based study to see if there is a link between exercise and depression among cancer patients. I agreed to see if I was eligible, and I am. So… Wednesday I headed to the University over an hour away from my house. All was going well till I got to about 20 km from my destination. I say ‘about’ because that’s when the GPS screen went black and I panicked. It felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach and my legs began to shake. Thankfully, the night before I had studied the street directory diligently for about half an hour seeing all the various ways I could get there. And beside me on the passenger seat was my backup plan. I was familiar with the road till I got to a certain point, and on an A4 sheet of paper I had written in big letters: R – Wannaroo Rd, L – Ocean Reef Rd, R – Joondalup Dr etc.
I made it, and with enough time to let my heart rate and blood pressure return to a more normal reading. Then I met my supervisor, Greg, who started putting me through the physical testing phase. Height and weight measured, a body scan to assess fat and muscle ratio, a walk on the treadmill hooked up to a breathing machine. My cool-down time was spent filling out the 9 questionnaires. Then we headed for the gym where I walked as fast as I could around a 400 metre circuit, tested my upper body strength limit, and lower body strength. I discovered that I can leg-press almost two and a half times my body weight. Apparently that’s impressive, so I just had to include that bit of information :)
Today I filled in my first entry on my record sheet. I took the dog for a walk and managed to get my heart rate up into the target range by including a little jog. Knowing that Greg is going to call me twice a week for the next 12 weeks is motivation to get out there and do the exercise. It will be another 6 weeks before I go back to the University and repeat the tests. A 12 week exercise program sounds like such a long time…
DJ (c) DJ Stutley 2013
