What do you do after heart surgery? Live life carefully? Or embrace life’s challenges?

In the fall of 2016 Leonard found out that he had to have open heart surgery again to remove a ridge attached to his subaortic valve. His heart was working too hard as the valve was leaking therefore the operation done ten years ago needed to be repeated. He knew this was a likely possibility and had been monitored by the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) with yearly examinations.

Growing up active

Leonard walked into the operating room fit and otherwise healthy thirteen year old. He is the youngest of three active, athletic boys and has been in all of the Nakkertok Ski Club programs from mud monster to his current program, on the racing team. Summer vacations from a toddler on have been outdoor adventures, starting with games and active play in the woods at the cottage and canoe camping at Lac La Pêche in Gatineau Park and progressing to multi day kayaking trips on Georgian Bay and tackling mountains in the Rockies.

Recent Adventures and CRAZY goals

In the annual checkups Leonard was told that he could continue his outdoor adventures without restriction. Therefore, following his brothers’ ski strides:

• He entered and completed the 160km Coureur du Bois (CdB) Bronze skiing from Buckingham to Lachute over two days in the 2015, rain-forest version of the, Canadian Ski Marathon (CSM) in February 2015
• In June 2016, he cycled the Rideau Lakes Tour century from Perth to Kingston and back.
• In July 2016 he ran his first trail half-marathon, 21km of up and down the escarpment at Blue Mountain.

None of this is from either of his parents pushing him. In fact for the Rideau Lakes Tour it was completely his idea. After this set of adventures he decided that he wanted to attain the Canadian Endurance Award associated with the CSM completed in one year.

• CdB 160km ski
• Rideau Lakes 180km/day from Ottawa to Kingston and back
• A 42.2 running marathon

Open Heart Surgery

All of that was put on hold in the fall of 2016 as the doctor’s at CHEO determined that Leonard needed to have the ridge removed from the valve of his heart. During the full day operation, in January 2017,under general anaesthetic, his heart and lungs were shut down and he was put on a heart and lung bypass machine. A major operation. Thanks to the amazing surgery team at CHEO, the operation was a complete success and he was released from hospital a few days later.

Starting over: Doubts!

It is difficult to start up again after a major life event. You doubt. Everything is so much harder to do. You hurt. You can feel your heartbeat pounding in your head as your powerful heart is still compensating for the repaired valve. Running for 5 minutes is a tough challenge when you could run for hours before. You can’t complete a summer ski training session and you feel discouraged. You occasionally feel nauseous and have a splitting headache. You wonder, is it okay to exercise after my operation. Should I be careful?

Maybe, I will live safely and not take on adventures and ignore my passions ...

Starting over: Listening to your body

The cardiologists knew of Leonard’s athletic background and it definitely helped him recover quickly from the surgery. In consultation with them they gave no restrictions on his exercise as long as he listened to his body with the help of his parents. Leonard started slowly, getting out for easy walks and skis and by March volunteering at Thea’s ski race and entering in the fun, untimed, adventure race with me. His symptoms reduced over time and regular checkups and consultations at CHEO continued to give him the green light . Dryland training in May with Nakkertok was difficult as he often was at the back of the pack and had to stop early. Discouraging. He didn’t want to go out. With encouragement from his older ski racer brother Patrick he did go out and slowly got fitter and stronger.

Back to Adventures

Leonard and I entered the Rideau Lakes Tour Century in June again and had a blast, cycling behind MAFIA (Men Against Fat In Arnprior) for 50km at ~34km/hr on the route home. He also entered the Blue Mountain half-marathon again and completed it. He was disappointed as his time was slower than the previous year. But a half-marathon barely 6 months after open heart surgery!!! Hmmm! Why was he so tough on himself? Who else was tough on himself for not beating his time from the previous year in his trail race there? Dad?

Role models

At this point Leonard decided he wanted to work towards the Canadian Endurance Award starting with the i2P 50km trail run in August

Yes, 50 km for 13 year old. HOLD ON! So why does Leonard want to do this? What drives him? Who encourages him?

As any of you who know me would say, the apple doesn’t fall from the tree, he is a chip off of the old block and like father, like son. I have always been an outdoor, endurance adventure junkie, swimming 8kms at the cottage to complete a goal of swimming around all of the islands in one summer.. Or entering in ultras over the last few years, always looking for new challenges with my first 50 miler at the North Face, Bear Mountain event this past May. I also am a heart patient having a pacemaker installed at the Ottawa General Heart Institute in 2015 after unexplained fainting episodes and going flat-line for 15 seconds at the hospital!.\ Therefore, I can see one source of Leonard’s inspiration despite adversity :)

However it is far from just me who encourages Leonard. They include:

• His older brothers who have completed multiple levels of Coureur de Bois as young teenagers.
• His fellow Nakkertok athletes who while joking and laughing run, ski and do strength three times a week. They are also out at the Rideau Lakes Tour cycling for hours and entering in the CSM
• The coaches at Nakkertok who help build strong, confident young men and women.
• The bicyclists who let Leonard draft them for 50km in the Rideau Lakes Tour
• The volunteers, such as Ray Zahab and fellow runners giving encouragement and high 5s at races (Sereena Trottier!)
• The World Class
• Really, everyone in the outdoor sports community!

Summer (fun) training

His training base for the trail ultra this summer was an eleven days backcountry trip, split evenly between kayaking on Georgian Bay down to the French river and then hiking 80km around La Cloche Silhouette trail in Killarney with full packs on.

Based on how his body held up during that solid “training”, Leonard entered in the i2P 50km ultra for August 20th.

Canadian Endurance Award: STEP 1 - RUN A MARATHON

Sunday July 20th, 2017 - i2P 50km Ultra

It was a perfect day to run with cooler temperatures in the early morning with overcast skies. We ran the first 23km out and back from Breton Beach at Lac Philippe in the Gatineau Park to at a solid 8km/hr. Leonard overate and over drank a bit too much refueling after that so we slowed the pace down but kept on moving over the next 13.5km loop past Lusk caves. The final 16.5km section out to P17 near Wakefield required him to dig deep and we walked most of the way.

I know there were a few times where he thought of turning back but as he says about himself “I am stubborn”. He also reminded himself, when you are having difficulties, go through your checklist of coping strategies: water? Food? Cool off? Electrolytes? Change pace? Fix equipment? And once you get to the end of the list, start over again.

Along the way Leonard said something very interesting “I think that many of my teammates could do this”. I have no doubt he is right. It would take a lot of training, preparation, training and effort. They may have previous injuries, surgeries or anxieties to overcome. They would need to listen to their body and also learn to block out the soreness. But hey they have a role model for them :)

Next up for Leonard

• Hiking in the Adirondacks in September with the Nakkertok crew
• CSM Silver in February, 2018 for the 2nd stage of the Canadian Endurance Award
• Rideau Lakes Tour 2018. Third stage of Canadian Endurance Ward - Ottawa to Kinsgston and back. Yikes! I need my own training advice from my cyclist role models!!!