For as long as I can remember, I’ve enjoyed all aspects of physical activity. As a young child, my friends and I would play football in the street right through the day. Not even the early darkness of a Glasgow autumn and winter could stop us, the street lights replicating the floodlights at our favorite team’s home stadium.

We would also organize individual and relay races around the block, running the roughly 400 metres route in our grossly inadequate ‘gutties’ – gym shoes!

In my very early teens, I joined the famous Garscube Harriers athletics club and for the next ten years or so would compete for the Club all over Scotland.

I would also go on to play amateur football for several years … until sadly, a knee injury put paid to both sports at the age of twenty-three. Twenty years later, I took up tennis and continue to play to this day.

Better than that though was my tennis club expanding about twenty years ago, and two gyms, aerobic and strength, were created. This was the proverbial manna from heaven!

Since then, I have been probably one of the club’s most frequent users of the facilities – both on my own in the early hours of morning, before work, as well as within small but keenly committed groups of similarly minded fitness fanatics. Twice a week we would have supervised Circuit Sessions, which could be a bit on the brutal side, but such fun!

Although I’d had to give up competitive sport on medical advice, I kept myself fit through home exercise and forty years later, I decided at the age of sixty-three, I wouldn’t be needing my knees for quite so long, and I could afford to chance running again.

Over the course of a year from my re-start, I shaved my 5k time down to 23 minutes … and continued to get quicker.

Unfortunately, in late April of this year, I suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest! I’m absolutely fine now, but the upshot was sixteen days hospitalization and an ICD (defibrillator implant) being fitted.

I’m now allowed back in the gym, though I probably won’t go back to the Circuit Sessions – certainly not ones as intense as before. Neither will I go back to chasing times with my running. I think it’s time to ease off a bit.

My cardiac arrest happened about five minutes following a short, easy run in the countryside. However, the cardiologist consultants have categorically stated that it was not brought on as a result of my physical exertions.

Indeed, they say had I not been so fit, then there is every chance you would not be reading this post right now.

And that, dear reader, is THE CIRCUIT OF LIFE right there. 😉

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