40 THE QUEENS COURIER • HEALTH • FEBRUARY 6, 2020 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
National Wear Red Day
From heart disease to the NYC Marathon
BY LINDA FEINGOLD
My name is Linda Feingold, MEd, MS,
RDN and during my twentieth year as a
registered dietitian and personal trainer
teaching others how to eat and exercise
properly in order to prevent heart
disease, I ended up becoming a cardiac
patient myself.
Being in the health education business
for so long, I literally forgot that in some
people, a family history of heart disease
can override healthy habits. So when I
started developing back pain that would
sometimes radiate into my chest during
my long runs while training for the NYC
Marathon in 2018, I didn’t assume I had
a heart problem. Especially since only a
few weeks prior I had my annual physical
and was told my “ten year risk factor
for heart disease was .5-percent”. But
I couldn’t ignore the fact that my dad
had a massive heart attack and went
into cardiac arrest when he was around
my age. So I asked my primary doctor if
she could order me a stress test and she
referred me to a cardiologist.
Nine days aft er my 18-mile training
run I was in a cardiologist’s offi ce learning
for the fi rst time that I had something
very wrong with my heart. I underwent
a slew of tests and exactly one month
aft er that fi rst appointment I learned I
had coronary artery disease (CAD). One
week later I was in the cath lab undergoing
my fi rst stent placement for my
“widow maker” artery which was 99%
blocked. I was too sick to undergo the
second stent placement I needed for
another signifi cantly blocked artery and
had to wait an additional fi ve weeks for
that procedure.
I could have let all this beat me up
emotionally but I refused to do so. I was
weak from four months of being completely
inactive but I picked myself up,
wiped the tears of fear and frustration,
and powered through. I’m pretty sure I’m
the only person who has ever signed up
for a half-marathon in the middle of a
cardiac rehab class (If you don’t sign up
immediately for the Brooklyn Half you’re
not getting in!).
I ran that half-marathon six weeks
aft er graduating from cardiac rehab only
41 seconds slower than I did the year
before. And my dream of running the
NYC Marathon fi nally came true on
November 3rd, 2019 at 4:28:05 (my seventh
NYC attempt and second marathon
ever in 23 years!). In addition, in 2019
I earned a personal best in my 1M, 5K,
4M, 10K and marathon times. I guess it’s
true what they say — the comeback is
always greater than the setback.
In 2020 and beyond, I plan to continue
to educate others in eating healthfully
and exercising, with an additional
emphasis on being in tune with the body
and knowing when something isn’t right.
I plan on being as active if not more so
than before. Most importantly, I look
forward to more sunrises and sunsets,
and more time with friends and family.
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