Trotting For Family Health: Susan and Steve Howard

In November of 1966, my father, who had just turned 42, had a massive heart attack. I was just six years old. Luckily, he survived.  It was determined that he had clogged arteries and in those days, they didn’t have modern medicine like stents to fix it. He quit smoking, and they put him on a 500 calorie-a-day diet and prescribed bed rest. Very slowly, he was able to start walking, and he educated himself on heart disease and what to do. He bought a book by Dr. Kenneth Cooper, called Aerobics and studied it.  By November of 1970 he was jogging several miles a day. He had quit smoking and lost a lot of weight. He decided that he wanted to run the 3rd annual YMCA Turkey Trot in Dallas that year (1970) so we loaded up and drove down. (We lived about 20 miles north of Dallas). I remember it was sunny and chilly that day. After the race, I asked him if he won. He chuckled and said he wasn’t trying to win; he just wanted to finish the race. He did finish the race that day, and jogged for many years after that.

Fast forward to 2019. I had spent a lot of my 20s, 30s and 40s exercising but as a woman in my late 50s, life had happened and I had gotten out of the routine of working out. I had begun to smoke and was generally not healthy. At 58, I too had a heart attack. I was also very lucky and survived. I had two arteries that were 99% clogged and my doctor fixed them with stents. I quit smoking and started in cardiac rehab. I embraced the exercise and incorporated it into my life. l now eat healthy food, have lost weight, and exercise daily. I had always thought that I wanted to run the Trot like Dad. So this year, even though my knees and back don’t let me run anymore, my husband and I are going to walk the virtual 5K. It just happens to be 50 years to the day from when my dad ran the 8-mile race around Whiterock Lake. I was ten years old that day in 1970. I just turned 60. I’m living proof that it is never too late to begin a healthy lifestyle.

Attached is a picture of the certificate my father earned that day. He was super proud of it and had it framed. It hangs on the wall in my home, next to the certificate I received from graduating from Cardiac Rehab in June 2019. I honestly think that, in a way, having a heart attack was the best thing to ever happen to me. I’m now educated on and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

- Susan Howard