All Means All - Part 2 of series on my journey to discover what is up with my heart/health

Those that know me know I sift everything through the filter of the Bible.  I know this is not for everyone and also know that while the Bible addresses everything in life it does not always give direct answers but often gives principles and direction – both are important.  In this post I want to address how this current health issue aligns with God’s promise in Romans 8:28 and then will put a rundown of what I have found this week health and training wise.

 

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  Rom 8:28

 

When it comes to looking at health issues – for that matter any event or occasion – that is pretty universally seen as “BAD” the question arises about where is God in this.  For so long the Gospel has been sold as a “get out of hell” card as in a board game or marketed as a life enhancement addition.  When God and the Gospel are presented, or saying it in a more crass way Sold, this way many do not know how to respond when life seems to throw one what seems to be a curve.

 

To be honest while we may want to figure out why something happens at the end of the day a Believer simply has to have faith it is in God’s will as it is possible you will never know till Glory.  This does not mean we do not work to deal with issues or situations but do so knowing that God is sovereign over everything and knows what is best for us and what will most glorify Him.  Yes bad, from our perspective, can be good for us and how we deal with it will for sure speak to our relationship with God.

 

It is also important to understand that God is God and we are not and as Isaiah 55:8-9 says:

 

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

 

Due to this often we simply have to trust in God and do as He leads.  Again, this not only builds ones faith but shows the world we truly follow God even when things are not going as we may have planned, understand or the world sees as beneficial.

 

With what is going on with my health I will admit I am bummed but that will pass.  But, being bummed does not stop me from seeking to see where God wants me in this.  While the obvious place is to seek him for healing be it via medical intervention or divine intervention – well even both – but there is the issue I dealt with in a post a short time ago about asking myself if my actives were an idol -  Is it an Idol.  Let’s be real while I want this to turn out great and can go back to normal – well a revised normal I was aimed at before this started - it could go a different direction.  In reading The Haywire Heart Lennard Zinn, and have heard this from others, had to change what he did.  He could still ride but not race or go as long but in this still found enjoyment and realized he had time for other things as well.   If my outcome is more like Lennard’s than those who go back at it then so be it and all to the Glory of God.

 

Often in the midst of what we do as Christians we claim we do “ALL” to the Glory of God but as have not been faced with an alternate reality are not really tested to see if we really mean “ALL.”  I shared Romans 8:28 to start that says that in God’s sovereign plan “ALL” things work for the good of the called of God.  Again there is that word “ALL.”  Yea in scripture the word “all” does not always mean everything as can mean “all kinds” but here it is the all inclusive “ALL.”  So, when what seems not so great, or even bad, to the world we often have to check our faith and see that we really do see that God means “ALL.”  Yea, we have to work with our emotions and human nature and will maybe struggle but that is fine.  Just as with most athletic endeavors we gain more when we struggle and it strengthens us and so it is in our walk with God and thus all part of the “Good.”

 

For me there is a big question mark as to what is ahead.  The one thing I am assured of is God will be with me in all that is ahead and my identity is in Him and not riding, running, rowing or any other activity.  Are they important to me – for sure – but not the most important and not even 2^nd or 3^rd when am honest.  While I want to come out of this so as to be active – as see that as part of being healthy and being able to do all I need to do – and even be able to do some racing if it does not go that way I will adjust and give God the Glory. One thing that came to mind – as I tend to enter the longer events offered.  I wrote a blog post - It’s OK to Want to Only Run 5K’s: Or any other Distance for that Matter!! – that applies to riding and running and basically asks WHY do we always seem to want to do the more extreme events when even the so called lesser events are even extreme. I think Unbound is a great example as if you tell someone you did that race they will ask about the 200 miler and often not even contemplate the 100 miler in such a manner that 100 miles – a long way – gets minimized and it should not.  Bottom line is to know your why for what you do.  If in my case it means if I want to race in the future I have to do the shortest race/ride then so be it and I will do it to the glory of God.

 

Again, I know that some who may read this will not share my view on God and the activities of life but I see God involved – be it directly, indirectly or simply taking His hands off – in all things.  I also pray that no matter how one may view God that He will be seen as central to my life.

 

As an update to how things have been going here is an update for the past week:  

 

I did 5 rides on Zwift this week and in general kept them easy.  Did have one ride that I stopped early as HR went up more than it should have but then at end of the week while tired did a couple rides where watts were significantly higher and HR was fine.  Did get my new Frontier X Plus HRM that takes ECGs this past Thursday and so far have not seen anything during rest or riding as have done a number of ECGs.  Did not get it early enough to see what might have been there on the ride I stopped.  That said I did have it on overnight once and while felt strange a few times nothing abnormal seemed to show on the ECG.  Am in the process of wearing it for 24 hours with a 2 hour ride at the end of it to see what shows up. Right now just collecting data to give to the doctor when I visit on July 8^th – thinking he might be a little surprised as pretty sure he does not get a lot of patients with all this info ready for him.  Starting to wonder if this is AFIB or something else as can have other issues that seem like AFIB or even cause an AFIB event.  Then again might be early on in AFIB where events are not as frequent - we shall see.  Plan for this week is to just ride about the same – will try a 2hr easy ride on Monday but then no more than an hour the rest of the rides for the week.

 

Monday (6/15/26) – Banded Hour Zwift Ride

Watts – 96W Avg, 102W Normalized, 247W Max

HR – 92Avg, 130Max

Felt tired but HR fine, one jump but went down quickly

 

Tuesday (6/16/26) – Planned 30min to 1hr Easy Flat Zwift Ride

Watts – 107W Avg, 110 Normalized, 156W Max

HR – 116 Avg, 144 Max

Stopped early as HR went up once early but came down then went up near end and while not supper high was not going down.  HR was overall high again for the effort.

 

Thursday (6/18/26) – Super Easy 30min Flat Zwift ride

Watts – 101W Avg, 104W Normalized, 128W Max

HR – 112 Avg, 128 Max

Easy ride with no HR spikes and went up when ending.  HR is higher than normal for a ride this easy and still a little tire

 

Friday (6/19/26) – 1HR Flat Ride on Zwift

Watts – 173W Avg, 184 Normalized, 435W Max

HR – 94 Avg, 126 Max

Started using new HRM that takes real ECG - Rode harder - 184w normalized - and no HR spikes. Even did about 30 seconds at over 400 and only went to 126. Nothing showed up on ECG

 

Saturday (6/20/26)  - Easy 1HR Zwift ride with a Couple hard efforts

Watts – 174W Avg, 192W Normalized, 674W Max

HR – 102 Avg, 133 Max

While no heart issues did feel off a little and legs felt a little tired but have not done much so not quote right. In two sort hard efforts HR did not go too high at all.

 

More to come:

Part 1 

Part 1B 

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

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What I meant to add to Part 1 – Part 1B of Series on Journey to see what is up with my Heart

Was planning on a post a week, well till my Cardiologist appt in early July, but had some more thoughts after post #1 – thus why I call this Part 1B.  I want to make sure people take the info I hope to provide and look at it in their context and then discern what steps to take or not take.  I am not a doctor and don’t play one on TV but I do know how to read and think and that is key when dealing with one’s health.  Far too often we put all the onus on the Dr. but they are not only often limited by their training but are very limited in knowing your physiology, knowing who you are.  When you can take the information available and study it, digest it, ruminate on it then apply it to yourself you will be able to not only ask the best questions but make the best decisions.

 

One of the first things I want to bring up – related to one of the first thoughts I had when advised to read The Haywire Heart - is to recognize that how one trains can both positively and/or negatively affect one’s health.  I say and/or as there is a place where one can do something with negative long-term results but short term seems just fine.  So, when I first saw the book I immediately went on the defensive as did not want to admit that what some may see in me as grit and hard work was in fact stupidity – with a dash, well maybe more than a dash, of PRIDE.  While we do live in a world where comfort is king and those people need to get out and move we also have a segment – often where I live – that looks at pushing through pain as some sort of badge of honor.  One of the mainstays of David Goggins selling his books is his ability to push through discomfort – and injury.  Hey, if we are honest the guy is as tough as they come but when you read his books, especially the first one, it’s hard to say that toughness led to good health, far from it.

 

While I have not completed he Haywire Heart yet I have listened to a podcast with a couple of the authors and the issue is more a combo of what one is doing – Endurance Activities – and how one trains for it – often too hard too often.  Many will still want to deny that their health, and specifically heart, issues relate to how they have trained and deflect and place the blame on a host of reasons – heredity, physiology or some other co-factor.  While it is true one can be predisposed to heart issue via ones DNA, seems to be true in my family, that does not negate the fact that how we use – or in too many cases abuse – our body simply compounds the issues.  We need to step back and recognize the body we have been given and work with it and not attempt to ignore or pound our way through possible issues – rarely works.

 

What I want to make sure people understand is endurance activities care good for people but needs to be done in context of one’s own physiology and in an intelligent way.  We need to realize boundaries and be wise when approaching them.  Hey if you feel that success now with possible negative health issues later is worth it that is your choice but just own it.  I also want people to know that this is not saying one should not - when appropriate – push through discomfort.  The point being we need to make sure we understand reality and work with what we have.  We need to learn when to back off and when to push through. We need to realize that while our bodies are a miraculous design they are not perfect and while we have built in healing mechanism, they can only do what they were designed to do.

 

Took me far too long to get this and may be paying he price now but will work to correct and move forward.  I have shared about Polarized Training before and will again in future posts.  The main idea is to make sure a majority of my training and activities are in Zone 2 in a 5 Zone model – when I talk of zones it will be in a 5 Zone model - and then have approximately 20% or so in Zone 4 and 5.   What I think has led me to where I am – and I shared some of this in the first post – is that I spent a lot of time in high Zone 3 and that is often called the grey zone.  I call it the danger zone as it is easy enough to allow myself to stay there too long but hard enough that it negates the rest/recovery we are to get in Zone 2 rides.  Again, I will share more on this later but bottom line make sure you ride, run, row or whatever it is you do easy for a large portion of your training and then when you push it do so but make sure you get the rest needed.

 

One last note on training since my last post.  I did a banded ride – a ride in Zwift where as long as you pedal you stay with the group – which is a good way to control my HR.  The ride started out at about 125 then settled down to 90 or less, near the end it did go to 120 but then back down.  However, the next day I just did what was to be an easy 30 minute ride and again started out at 126 but then back down to 100 or so and stayed there.  At about 26 minutes in it went up to 137 with no increase in effort so called of the ride as did not settle down.  In looking back I had a spike to 144 at 17 minutes but did not see it and if had would have stopped sooner.  Will be good when I get my Frontier X Plus HRM as it does collect data to see not only the HR but other issues so will be able to see what is going on.   Will just be the way things go till I see the Dr and then maybe after for a while.  I will keep an eye on my HR as RPE (Rate of Percived Exersion) does not seem to work untill it is too late and will just have to stop when things get wonky.

More to come.

 

 Here is Part 1 

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

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Plans Change - Be Ready for them: Part 1 in Series on Possble Heart Issues

While things have not really gone as planned I did have a number of races in the mix:  Coast to Coast 200 in June, The Dust Bowl 100 the end of July and the 150 miler at Gravel Worlds the end of August.   While things did not go well at The Applacian Journey the beginning of April I had hoped things would get sorted out - well those were my plans but not not all plans go "WE" plan.  The following is a start of a series brought on by some issues I should probably have recognized for some time and for any number of reasons did not.

 

 

Some History

Those that know me know my background but I will repeat it here as is important – well I think it is for context.  I have been active in sports since I was very small playing football (the real kind were you actually use your feet on the ball) until I started HS in Tucson Arizona in 1973 where it was removed as a school sport and had to make a choice.  While I tried Tennis and Baseball – had played baseball for many years as well but in HS just did not work out – I ended up in Cross Country and Track as wanted to avoid PE at all cost.  From then till college I ran and while not very good early on in school I did run pretty hard and by time I started University was up to 60-70 miles a week.  In college – University of Arizona – I upped that to 100 miles a week quite often.  While that was a lot of miles what probably was the most damaging was the effort I put out doing it as we were a very good team with a number of All Americans and basically every work out was a race for me just to stay up.  Sadly, the coach, and I get it as I was not a scholarship guy – focused on the main runners and never encouraged me to maybe back off when I was to run easy.  During this time I ran a 2:30:52 marathon when 19 and numerous long trail runs and did pretty well while just filler on the Cross-Country and Track team.

 

 

After 3.5 years of college I just figured it was not for me and dropped out and moved to Seattle to focus on my running but my direction changed as while I still ran I did start to ride some – even on the Velodrome. When things did not work out in Seattle I came back to Tucson where after some knee issues took up bike racing and basically did pretty well but for sure rode pretty hard a lot of the time and – well it worked as I improved but more on that later.  Right when I was maybe going to get a break riding I got hit by a car and hurt my knee and then came back to quick and that about did it as was never quite the same.  All that said I still trained hard quite often and with all the good cyclist in Tucson back even in the Mid 80’s it made hard rides really hard.  If you have ridden or heard of the ShootOut, we did that before it had a name, it made for a lot of hard riding.  My nitche was TT’s as seemed to be able to push my own pain threshold – not quite the same as suffering the pain another rider can inflict – just different for me and in hindsight the ability to ignore pain might also have led to the issues I now face – again more later.

 

 

After racing in the Southwest I moved to the Redmond WA area in about 1987 to run a bike shop and race bikes on the road and track.  About 2 years later I moved to Long Beach CA to work for Univega Bikes and race in So Cal.  I did that for a while but once I got married I raced for a while but ended up going back to running as hard to get in the training riding being married with children.  Running went well as my knee seemed to get strengthen by the riding and while not super fast was regularly running 16:00 5ks in my 30’s and still under 3:00 in the marathon so working out hard quite and probably too often seemed to work still.  During this time I did still ride when I could as just enjoyed it and often did longer rides which seemed to be good for me.  

 

 

After a stint in Nevada, right below Lake Tahoe, we moved back to So Cal and still rode and ride but maybe not quite as much but still tended to run or ride hard when I did so.  I did some running races but did not do any bike races but did some of the local So Cal rides which are often as hard as many races.  Over the years I kept up a mix of riding and running till we then moved to Kentucky.  Once in Kentucky it may have been the least I ran or rode but after a couple years and quite a few pounds I started to run again and then over the years added biking back in.  This puts me where I am now where I usually ride or run 5-6 days a week.  Till this last year I pretty much rode or ran hard to often as this year I had decided to focus more on polarized training to make sure I was not over training.  

 

 

One other thing to share that while not seemingly endurance related is that I do have issues with passing out when I get sick and also often get light headed when standing up.  With a resting heart rate of 40-43 always blamed it on that.  I do know  - not sure how long this has gone on but noticed it recently – that when I go up stairs or a hill just walking I feel tired even though when I get warmed up feel better so again had a reason, even if not a good one, to pass on it being an issue.

There are some more things but will share them as go along this journey

 

 

This gets me to the last 1.5 – 2 years

 

 

 

Recent Events

Over the last 1.5 years, really probably longer, I have just not been feeling right and often quite tired.  I chalked it up to over-training and lack of sleep so backed off some from training – even though compared to the past few years I was actually doing less due to trying at least to do a more polarized training regime.  The things I had been feeling were times where when I rode or ran fast I had spells of not being able to catch my breath.  When this happened I thought it was an Exercise Induced Asthma (EIA) event as I have had it since I was young but usually very sporadic even though could not exactly pin point the cause.  Looking back these episodes over the last year or two were really not like the past EIA ones as not really wheezing but couldn’t get my breath and thus drastically slowed down.  When it happened in a 5K in November of 2025 I blamed it on the cold but then realized had the same issue earlier in the year in a road mile and it was not cold.  Also, after the November 5K I broke down and got an inhaler to use when racing or hard workouts.  The thing was I never really noticed much help but again just figured was not used to it.

 

Link at bottom of post

 

I than got sick the beginning of the year so still felt tired but again just figured was lack of sleep due to being sick and the sickness itself was the main issue.  I started riding more to get ready for a 100 mile gravel race in Virginia called The Appalachian Journey.  During this time sort of just felt off and in my last longer gravel ride before did OK but not my usual self.  Then in the race in Virginia I just felt off from the start and had a couple times where when pushing a steep gravel climb it was hard to get my breath but again chalked it up to EIA and as I had forgotten my inhaler could not even try that.  The whole race was a slog and took 10.5 hours and even with 12,000+ Ft of climbing that was the slowest I have gone for 100 miles on gravel ever.  After this the episodes seemed to be more often but again just blamed it on being tired.

 

 

This issue has even cropped up on what are normally very easy runs where I usually average about 8:00-8:15/mile but even at 9:15-9:25/mile was tired and on one of the runs had a spell with my breathing.  Again, when my HR spiked at 170 I blamed it on my HRM.  But should have realized when it did not go down when adjusted the strap it was not a HRM issue but just what I did.  Also, had noticed my HR was sort of high on other runs after this but again with allergies, the heat and not running much I had an excuse.

 

 

This all culminated this past month as I did two rides at the Horsey Hundred – a 130 miles then 48 miles the next day – and in both of them just felt tired and in the 130 miler had a couple times where I could not catch my breath.  I then took an easy week and about 2 weeks ago did a ride near Bowling Green which has hills but have never had an issue with them in the past – even though thinking back I did have some issues last year in it but still rode faster – so as a comparative ride was much slower with what seemed the same effort.  Also, on the ride I had two events where my HR went up and had a hard time catching my breath.  The first one went to 160-170 at about 10 miles and lasted 30 minutes, it got down to the 130’s then back up again on any inclines even though riding slow. Once I got to the first stop at 22 miles it went back down  and stayed there till about 45 miles on a hill and where a dog come out and my HR shot to 170 with same issue of not catching my breath and stayed there – did not go below 150 but once but mostly at 160 – till about 52 miles at the next stop.  From there on it stayed pretty normal but was for sure tired out from it.  This was the ride that had me call my DR.  

 

 

Then this week really said I had an issue as was doing a Rowing interval set – 5 X 1000m w/2:00 rest – and as I knew I needed to not push too hard I worked to be steady.  For the first 2.5 intervals my HR for the interval was in the 130 range but then on the third one about half way through my HR went up to over 170 and I averaged 170 for the interval, about 3:50.  I probably should have stopped there but went on and on the next one I averaged 173 for the 3:50.  I think I saw 190 or so but blamed it on my HRM – what I had done on many of the other times I saw high HR’s but those were in the 160’s which is at my max but rarely go there.  I then did the last one and then I knew there was in issue I could not blame on my HRM as HR went to.  My stupidity had me finish the set but really should have not done so and would tell others in the same place to stop.

 

 

In all of this a few things all led to ignoring or at a minimum downplaying the issues.  One is I had an excuse for each event.  Then when you add on the fact that in endurance events one of the main things that helps get you through and succeed is to just push through pain and discomfort.  While that is not all bad in a world that is to bent on comfort there is a place where ignoring pain and discomfort leads to issues – where I am now.  The point is the years of pushing through pain and messed with common sense and that is never good.

 

 

Next Steps

In texting my Dr. he brought up the possibility of AFIB as it is not uncommon in endurance athletes.  He also had concern, I have less, about my CAC score of 103 thus they will check that out as well since if your score is over 99 they have concern – well some doctors do as in my reading a score as low as mine is still not bad.  So, I have an appointment for July 8^th but figure will take longer to get enough info to make a diagnosis.  That said after being told about AFIB and endurance athletes I did some checking and sure enough quite a few have had AFIB and while many are older this is not restricted to older athletes as found pro cyclist Sam Bennett had surgery for his and is now back racing.  

 

 

I did get a note from my Dr so I could cancel the 200 mile in Michigan the end of June – thankful I had the race insurance – and got refunds of the race and other fees.  Also, had to cancel the Dust Bowl 100 and as it is sold out they will refund my fee which is good.   I still have one race left – the 150 mile Gravel Worlds race in Lincoln.  Pretty sure I will have to cancel it but as I need a note on it for the insurance will wait till after my Cardiologist appointment.

 

 

My plan till then is to ride no more than an hour on Zwift and work to keep HR below 115 and did one ride and did good at that but still need to watch it.  As part of this plan I invested in a Fourth Frontier X Plus HRM that gives way more info than I would normally need.  They do have one below the one I got but as I got my race fees back and were already paid it covered the cost and the Plus gives far more info in looking to see what is going on and can even send data to the doctor.

 

 

Another part of the plan is to read and look up all the information I can so go into the doctors office knowing as much about AFIB as I can with regards to what it is – AFIB for athletes is not exactly like that in the general population.  May be similar in some things but the main cause is often different even though I may be predisposed to it as my mom and grandfather on her side had AFIB.  I do know I want to know what the options are as I am very anti-drugs as far too often the side effects are worse than the issue.  I do know blood thinners may be needed and I can see that but will have to decide if that comes around.  I also wanted to know the surgical options since in reading an Ablation is pretty common.

 

The plan is to do weekly updates – till my July 8^th appointment they may be less frequent but the goal is to get information out there and help people get the information so as not to overlook, ignore or neglect the issues I have had and am having.

Also, if you have had similar issues you can share them by leaving a comment or emailng me through the contact from on the home page

 

 

Here are the resources I have come across so far and will share more as I go through this process:

 

Books:

The Haywire Heart

The AFIB Cure

 

 

Web Articles/Papers:

HRS Guideline for the Diagnosis and Management of Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial Fibrillation and Physical Activity 

Atrial Fibrillation in Elite Athletes: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature

Effects of training adaption in endurance athletes with atrial fibrillation

Navigating atrial fibrillation in an endurance athlete - 

Atrial Fibrillation in Athletes: Mechanisms, Management, Future Directions -  

Pulse-Field Ablation 

 

Podcasts:

Too Much of a Good Thing? Heart Arrhythmias in Endurance Athletes

Cardiac Remodeling in Endurance Athletes

 

 

Tools:

The Kardia Mobile 6L MAX – this is a small device that can give an EKG picture.  There is a lesser version but gives less info and with what I have going on when with the 6L Max – 

 

FourthFrontier X Plus – This is a HRM that does more than check HR as can give lots more data on heart conditions.  Again as with the Kardia they make a less expensive – still not cheap – model that give more data than a regular HRM but wanted to get the most data to be able to give my Dr -   

 

 

As I get more info I will share it and at the end will put them all in one post.

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

To order Vespa you can go here and use coupon code - tkonvalin15 -   for 15% off.