17 years....
I've been in the triathlon game for 17 years.....which seems like a lifetime ago from that first race at White Sands Missile Range in December of 1999.
I couldn't even guess at the number of miles, hard workouts, races, and dollars spent chasing PRs that have come and gone in that time.
But very recently....I could count something.....the number of heartbeats in pursuit of that goal.
My downward slide started (in retrospect) in the Summer of 2015. I had just come off a big and unexpected PR at the Buffalo Springs Lake Ironman 70.3. I clipped over 20 minutes off my best time, even having done the Olympic distance race on the same course the day before. I was riding high....
As I prepped for Ironman Boulder I was certain that this was it....I was finally set to break through on a new 140.6 PR and put Ironman behind me forever.
But...that didn't happen.
Boulder was a disaster for me.....finishing in over 15 hours and struggling to stay upright on the run (walk). My visions of a PR came crashing down within the first 2 miles of said run. No matter...I slogged my way thru to finish....as if there were no other choice.
I never really bounced back from Boulder however. I signed up for races because I thought I should do them....but without any of the passion I formerly had. Most of these races ended up being DNS efforts as time and again I found a way not to get to the starting line. Some legitimate...some not so much.
My health was affected during this time....I was beset by a myriad of problems including anemia, low hematocrit, an out of whack thyroid, too much CO2 in the blood, etc. I took thyroid meds and iron for almost a year from 2015 into 2016 and have never felt worse. There were days that I literally could not stand up from the couch....and would sit there for hours because I couldn't summon the energy to move. I had little strength or motivation to train...much less race. Finally in October of 2016 I went off my meds a month prior to my annual physical. After seeing my doctor and having my labs done....my system seemed to have fixed itself...as most of my measures were right in line with where they should be for a guy my age. Mentally, I was thankful and excited....physically....I still had no real desire to train or race.
In a desperate attempt to motivate myself to train....I registered for the 2017 Ironman Galveston 70.3 in April of this year. I probably did enough training to finish the race.....but even that would be a stretch. Between a lack of discipline, motivation, and my disdain for riding my bike on the roads in and around Albuquerque, a legal finish was about the best I could hope for....up until 3 days prior to race day.
That Thursday I was teaching a sales training class in Houston when near the end of the seminar I suddenly had an acute and burning pain right in the center of my chest. I mentally acknowledged that something was going on as I continued to talk to the class. In seconds the wave of pain and burning radiated outward through my entire torso. I remember thinking "Shit, I'm going to drop dead in front of this class....what a way to end the day". I was forced to sit on the table at the front of the room while I continued talking....and within 30 seconds the pain, but not the fear, subsided.
This had been the 3rd instance of this similar issue in the past few months and I made the decision not to race. I came home and told my wife what had happened.
I made an appointment to see my primary care doc and during the time he was listening to my heart he stopped....stood straight up....then resumed listening. He called his MA in administer an EKG which showed my heart had an abnormal beat every 4th stroke. These PVCs or premature ventricular contractions are about the most benign cardiac issues you can have (if you're going to have one) but they can be very painful....and when you don't know what's going on.....very scary.
I was directed to see a cardiologist and underwent a stress test, 2 abdominal ultrasounds, I wore a Holter monitor for 24 hours, and waited for the results.
The good news is, PVCs on their own probably won't kill you. I went thru a 4 day period where it felt like my heart was going to push out the side of my ribcage, and was wracked by pain in my chest more or less constantly. The Holter test showed my heart threw off about 4500 extra out of time beats in 24 hours that it wasn't supposed to.....but the threshold for treatment is 20,000-30,000 per day.
That's the good news....
The bad news is....I probably did this to myself. The years of continued long distance training...with too much racing and too little recovery have built up scar tissue on my heart. That scar tissue impedes the electrical signals that tell the heart when to beat and in the correct sequence. My cardiologist could not say with certainty that this was the complete cause of my issue...as age also plays a role, but he also could not say it wasn't the cause.
I've been released to full activity with no restrictions.....although that surprised me.
PVCs tend to improve with exercise. Now, if I were to go back to what I did for the past 17 years, I'd probably continue to damage my heart to the point of creating more and worse issues....but I'm guessing they don't think a 53 year old guy can continue to keep up that pace until I reach 70....so age is going to naturally limit how much more damage I can do.
This all comes to light as more and more research points to the fact that extreme endurance training is doing us no favors. Many of the endurance athletes I know in my general age bracket are now beset by some form of cardiac issue. My cardiologist related a recent study that showed one single marathon does as much damage to the heart as open heart surgery does. What we see as making us better is also making us worse.
Why are we just finding out about these issues now? My theory is that ultra endurance racing didn't really hit the mainstream until the mid to late 90s when Ironman became the drug of choice for so many athletes. We simply didn't have the sample size prior to that to see such a concentration of cardiac damage. Now the chickens have come home to roost and we can see what athletes have done to themselves.
I'm not preaching here. Please do whatever it is that you want to do.....but understand the risks. Had I been satisfied with 2 Ironman races rather than 9 (with 2 DNFs) and probably 25 half irons.....I might not be where I am today. Hindsight, of course...is almost always 20/20.
So....I'm clear to train and race again...and truth be told, I'm embarrassed to do it. I'm almost 20 pounds over my racing weight and frustratingly slow in all 3 disciplines compared to where I was 2 years ago. I'm so far removed from the time and shape I was in when I "enjoyed" racing....that I'll probably have to learn to "enjoy" something else about it....or risk never doing it again.
All of this I have done to myself....and I am not seeking any pity....or even understanding.
My tale is merely one of caution....use it as you will. Everything in moderation is not only good advice, but it might be a lifesaver.
I'll get out there and flounder around on a race course sometime soon.....and it ain't gonna be pretty. But then again....that's just how I started 17 years and 60 pounds ago....so maybe, just maybe...this is a new beginning? That sure seems like a better option than a certain end.
Peace....
