MARATHON

additional procedures, and she ultimately stayed in the hospital for a month or so.

But “a rough start certainly doesn’t mean a rough life,” she said.

As an immunosuppressed person, Ogg spent much of her strict pandemic quarantine getting in shape. She got outside and hiked a lot before deciding to begin training for the Slacker earlier this year.

“After a lifetime of being left behind physically, Ogg has spent the past ve years focusing on her health and tness, counseling others who are pre- and post-transplant, and checking o bucket list items, like the country’s “highest downhill half marathon,” said Cheryl Talley, director of communications and public relations for the Denverbased Donor Alliance.

Exercise is easier with a healthy heart, but there are still challenges. For example, when Ogg’s original heart was removed, it was separated from the vagus nerve, the main nerves of a person’s parasympathetic nervous system. For the average person, this nerve system ensures the heart knows to beat faster during