If you start running for health or because it is on your bucket list (or to lose baby weight like I did, seven years ago), the first question, real or in your head, is always “are you going to run a 5K?” Once you’ve done that, the question becomes “how about a half?” and when you’ve […]

Today is the third anniversary of the day that I ceased to be me, just me, and became me, the survivor. And what’s extraordinary about today is that it was totally, in every way, ordinary. I worked (at home; no childcare today). I made breakfast and lunch for my boys. I escorted a tentative new […]

There are about two hours left of my 30s, and while my husband has been gleefully rubbing it in all day long, I wasn’t thinking much about it until I had some alone time in the car tonight (running errands and dropping off/picking up kids, natch). And mostly I was thinking about what I will not miss […]

Last September I was invited to give one of the keynote addresses at a conference about wellness at my church, Gloria Dei Lutheran in St. Paul. I’m very familiar with telling my story, sharing facts about heart disease, and educating women about risk factors, signs, and symptoms. But this one was different — it was a […]

Go Red for Women celebrates its 10th birthday this year. In the 10 years since Go Red for Women and The Heart Truth began raising awareness of women’s risk of heart disease, more than 330 women per day were saved. That’s almost 14 women per hour, per day, for 10 years. Women’s awareness of the […]

I get it. Really, I do. I want this disease to go away too. I wish it never happened to me. It isn’t fair. I don’t deserve this. Neither do you. The worst part: I can’t control it. I can’t control my body. I can’t control my life . . . anymore. (More on that […]

Put on shoes, step on porch is my brother‘s mantra for getting himself going on a training run. That’s all you have to do, he says — put on your shoes, go outside, take a couple steps. No matter how long the run is, it always starts that way. When I had my second heart […]

I love reading year-end top-anything lists – the top news stories, top photos, top tweets, and, if I’m honest, the “51 times Jennifer Lawrence was awesome in 2013” on Buzzfeed. I like taking a little time to remember all that happened, good or bad, in a year. 2013 was a very big year for me […]

I’m not one to turn down an opportunity to talk about heart disease for the cameras, so just across the finish line after the TC 10 Mile race on October 6, I was happy to do a live 30-second TV news bit and tell whoever was watching that I, and my teammates, were running for […]

September 9-15 is “National Invisible Chronic Illness Week,” and this meme — 30 Things About My Invisible Illness — is making the rounds of many online communities. Here’s my contribution to making heart disease more visible. 1. The illness I live with is heart disease (heart attack, coronary artery disease, endothelial dysfunction, microvascular disease). 2. […]