Not feeling too bad post Ice Age. I have decided to heat train this year after a positive outcome last year. Most days I have on a stocking cap, along with two long sleeve shirts, and topped with a hood jersey. Sure...friends think I'm a Cretan, but whatever. I'll control the world with my weather machine. It gets a little soggy in there, but you get accustomed to it. I must say I have had 2-3 people let me in on that apparently this is as good as training at altitude. I'm not trying to increase my red blood cell count. I have Polycythemia Vera (PV). Which basically means the cancer cells take over in the bone marrow and crank out red blood cells that are larger and at a faster pace. Normal life expectancy is 10-15 years, so being past that I'm doing all I can do to increase that second number. Don't panic. I live a normal life. I get analyzed and treated every month. I'm solid as Sears. When I was first diagnosed my hematocrit was 69%. Think about that. Any way, for the rest of the story ask me sometime when I am running with you.
Eero Mantyranta was a Finnish skier (CC) who competed in four Winter Olympics. He won three golds, two silvers, and two bronze medals. He was also the first Finnish sportsman who tested positive for doping in 1972. I found this interesting because he also had PV. When I was first diagnosed I signed up for the PV and related support list. Not to sound above it all, but there was so much negativity and such that it had no place for me. Currently we aim to keep the hematocrit below 45%. There is a lot more to it besides hematocrit, but I can't stress how important it is to stay on top of testing. The human body is doing stuff at certain times you really can't explain. Chronic diseases like this never improve out of no where. It's really about making the adjustments and going on as usual. I will answer one question. Do you think it ever helped you individually with your ability to run? At one time the answer would be yes.
