Cross Runner's Heart

As the year 2020 comes to a close, I would like to invite you to a New Year's Day challenge -- The Heart Warrior Half Marathon.  Enjoy this latest blog post and if you haven't done so already, sign up for the free virtual running/walking event on the  Cross Runners Heart home page . If you have already signed up, invite a friend!  It was a crisp, 62 degrees on a sunny Fall day.  My feet felt light on the flat blacktop of Ohio's Richland County B&O trail-- a frequent running route for me.  My mind drifted from topic to topic.  Noah's upcoming second open heart surgery was at the forefront of my thoughts, while my lungs sucked in the cool air.  My mind shifted to think about why I had started www.crossrunnersheart.com. Asking "why" can be such a powerful question.        My Fall running in Virginia (not Ohio, but you get the picture) As I trotted the path that day, a flight of ideas came rushing in. Suddenly, I realized there was more fuel to add to what I h

Sign up for the New Year's Day free virtual running/walking event on the Cross Runners Heart home page With this post, we would like to especially thank the University of Michigan  Congenital Heart Team.  Post #14 Waves of Hope Noah loudly cries out.  After 30 minutes, I'm at a loss as to how to console him.  I have tried everything, but why is he still crying?  Just then, Jana comes in the room and we decide a nice "stroll" around the unit may help.  To this point, his labs and numbers have "normalized" with discharge studies pending.  Not bad for post operative day five.  We would like to think Noah is one tough boy, but we also know the contribution of the medical staff at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital has played in his success.  We have received world-class care here and are very thankful.  The second open heart surgery (HemiFontan Operation) recovery has been a little easier on us - perhaps we are just used to the tubes, w

This is the first guest post... "Juliana Part 2".   Part 1 here .  This post is written by my wife, Jana ( Post #4 The One I Love ) as letter to our daughter.  The Cross Runner's Heart journey is about #faith #family and #running.  I hope you find meaningful ways to relate to our posts and are inspired to deepen your relationships, dive into a fitness goal, or do something else amazing!   Juli Girl,  Growing up, I never really had an urgent desire to be a mom. I knew that one day, it would probably hit me, and therefore I wasn't in as much of a rush as most people my age. As life goes, things happen when they happen, and the day came when I had you. I was 29. You see, I had prayed to find the husband that I would build a life with, and when I did, it wasn’t long before you came along. Jeremy provided the peace of mind and confidence that had been the missing link for me to feel "ready".  The day you came into the world was the day that changed my life foreve

Many of you have seen the video of Noah's first run ( see Noah's Heart Facebook page ) It was a family outing where I got to push Noah in the running stroller while my wife, Jana, rode the bicycle.  In that short video clip, the one with the most enthusiasm was the two and half year old girl being pulled in the buggy behind Jana. This post will highlight that joyful little girl named JULIANA NOELLE RIEHM.  Juliana is part of our quartet that makes up the D' RIEHM (pronounced: "reem") team.  (A little 1990's USA basketball spin off) Here is how her story began. Juliana is named after two of her great grandmothers-- Julia and Anna.  Being born close to Christmas, we decided Noelle was as a perfect middle name.  She arrived on a cold and snowy day in December of 2017 with just 12 days to go until Christmas.  In contrast to  Noah's  birth, Juliana's hospital course was relatively uncomplicated.  We brought her home just two days later.  While Noah came hom

Noah is working really hard to establish oral feedings.  Because of his heart condition, he fatigues easily.  Someone told us that his feeding challenges are similar to an average person stepping out to run a 5k with no training.  Our medical team does not want him fatiguing past thirty minutes to get his full three ounces every three hours.  Sometimes he is able to gradually consume the whole amount, and other times we are faced with the decision to connect his nasogastric tube for the rest.   Fighting to feed As Noah works to improve his feeding efficiency, Jana and I are striving to find a balance with our time.  Yes, I am still running.  Sometimes fast and sometimes slow.  We are both trying to be more proactive while taking time-out for "mindfulness" in our own ways.  I'm trying to remind myself to use the creative portion, or right side, of my brain as mentioned in the  About Me  section of  www.crossrunnersheart.com  .  Music would be categorized as a right s

Click here for Noah's Homecoming PART 1 Part 2: Our milk bank July flew by.  Despite our medical backgrounds, it has been a constant learning curve.  Jana is filling up our freezer with breast milk and we now have a huge supply.  There was a special milk bank when we were at the hospital, a place where we could store excess feedings.  Now we have our personal bank at home.   The nasogastric tube (feeding tube) placement can be tricky, especially when you realize it has come out at 4 am. Imagine milk dripping into the crib and the tortuous device has to go back in your baby's nose, down into his belly before the next feed.   We are now in the interstage period (time between Noah's first two open heart surgeries).  There are a lot of details and precautions to constantly be aware of.  We send his daily heart rate  and oxygen levels to the cardiology team at Nationwide Children's Hospital through a monitoring device.  His weight is recorded nightly, al

As a father, I can remember being handed the scissors to cut the umbilical cord when our first child, Juliana, was born two and a half years ago.   As a young physician in training, I would hand off the scissors to the new dad who was excited to be involved in the delivery process.  Everything was different with Noah's birth on June 9th.  I was escorted to meet my wife who had just received her epidural.  I thought to myself, I've been in this room before.  I can smell my surgical mask and the sterile operating field.  At the front of the room an anesthesiologist looked over his monitors and then greeted me to sit at my wife's shoulder.  Yes, I had been in the operating room before, but not like this.  As I looked into Jana's piercing green eyes, I could read the emotion and fear but wanted to remain calm and know my place.  When I was in this room before, it would be me along with an attending physician.  I would use surgical retractors and anticipate the next step a

Me and my Dad It's Father's Day.  Time to remember our dads and father figures.  My Dad can be described in many ways; hard working, faithful, witty, kindhearted... and he certainly had a positive impact on me.  Surely you can think of at least one father figure that has made a difference in your life.  I didn't always obey my father, but yet he was one of my biggest supporters.  He is soft spoken, but when he does speak up, there is often something very powerful said.  Ok, maybe he has not always been soft spoken.  I can remember many of my cross country races where I could hear him with a loud cheer from nearly a half mile away.  He encouraged many, often cheering just as loud for my competitors.  That's just who he is.  More importantly, he has shown through example how to be humble and kind.  He mentored positive relationships within the family and with God.  He is not perfect (can't let his head get too big if he happens to read this) but he gave me a t

On Tuesday June 9th at 12:02pm our son Noah Lawrence was born!  As many of you know, this day was preceded by a flood of uncertainty.  There were emotions such as  "Afraid To Love" , which we overcame.  We knew the challenges of  HLHS  but we had also learned Noah had a more severe subtype of this condition, HLHS with aortic atresia and mitral stenosis.  On top of these obstacles, our family (like yours) was dealing with the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some prayers were answered as we stayed the course as best as possible.  The day before Noah was to be born, the  University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital  changed it's very strict visitor policy to allow both parents to be present during the entirety of the hospital stay.  There was a huge feeling of gratefulness with this decision as I'm able to be intricately involved in my son's medical care.  It's been about six years since I've done hospital rounds as a physician and it'

Have you ever felt "jittery" at the starting line of a race? Perhaps you have felt anxious or maybe just down right nervous about a challenge or next chapter in your life. As a high school freshman track runner, who was attempting to qualify for the state 3200 meter run, a teammate had asked me, "Are you nervous?" "No, I'm anxious", I replied.  This felt like the more confident answer.  I had to be confident because at that point it was going to be the most competitive field of runners I had ever faced.  We had a returning state champion in the race and I was the youngest runner by far.  With heavy rain, the track was water-logged but I ran without fear. With ambition, I keyed off of the top runner in the state as we blitzed through eight laps with wet racing spikes.  Unfortunately, my performance did not end with a bid to state, but an important lesson was learned that day.  I had ran the race with true heart and had given it my all.  Fourth place

     Why University of Michigan?  Well, just so you all know, I will always be a Buckeye at heart.  Yes, I did grow up in North West Ohio where there are some deep-rooted Ohio State Buckeye fans .  We were not far from the boundary line of the "state up north."  In a way, I am the "black sheep" of my family.  It seems everyone who headed to college, went to The Ohio State University.  Many of my family members also continued an agricultural pathway while attending Ohio State.   Me? --->  1) I went to a smaller NCAA Division I school in Ohio.  2) I studied something pretty different than most in the family.     So how did the University of Michigan first impact me?   Growing up, a common saying in my community was "my two favorite teams are Ohio State  and  anyone who beats Michigan."  With that mentality, I was out to beat any of the Michigan runners when I represented Ohio at the 1999  Mid-East Cross Country Championships .  However, I suppose my fir