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.
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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 8th 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 8th 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:
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 -
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.
