Another kind of runner's watch

There’s something contradictory and discouraging about having high blood pressure while exercising routinely.  Though I’ve run a couple marathons and a bunch of other races over the past few years, I still struggle with hypertension. Medication helps, but it’s not perfect. In all, I don’t pay much attention to the problem until I have a physical exam.  

I imagine other older runners (and my seasoned farmer friends) are on the same path. You think that the more you exercise, the less you need to worry about the "silent killer." That's probably not so smart.

A few years ago, the medical nurse at work loaned me a wrist monitor. When I have my blood pressure checked at the doctor’s office, it’s often high.  Using the monitor at home on the rare occasions I think I think to do it usually shows more normal readings—suggesting I suffer from “white coat” hypertension. I’ve learned that my blood pressure readings are highly variable, like the weather.  But you get a better picture of your status by taking the home readings. 

A running doctor recently advised me to buy an upper arm monitor, an Omron one specifically. He didn’t feel the wrist monitors are as accurate. Either way, wrist or upper arm, blood pressure monitors are a good way to keep track of this issue. They only cost from about $50 to $100, a wise investment in treating the silent killer.

The Mayo Clinic staff provides a good overview of home monitoring of blood pressure: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/high-blood-pressure/HI00016