Elite athletes push themselves to the human body limits, of course it effects health.
I personally know one maybe not wide known figure skater, she is a young woman little over thirties, but she has terrible legs problem.

A prudent step forward that will establish a cardiac baseline from which you can move forward from as you monitor the potential effects of your training/competition (and other phases of life) on your health parameters. A wise move.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

And I just got the results and I had a calcium/plaque score of zero. So my doc said that's it, I din't need to retest for that issue again. One less thing. :)

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-Of course it's 'effing hard, it's IRONMAN!
Team ZOOT
ZOOT, QR, Garmin, HED Wheels, Zealios, FormSwim, Precision Hydration, Rudy Project

Caffeine and too much intensity is nothing to mess around with for sure. I now only use it for long endurance workouts and races where the heart rate doesn't go over threshold.

Still, I've had some weird pains (very light) around my heart and felt some flutters in the past, sometimes while on an easy run and sometimes while resting. I now take Q10 on a regular basis, just in case it is helping, though I feel very strongly that it is. At least, I haven't experienced any of those slight, but still worrisome issues since.

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-Bryan Journey
Travel Blog | Training Blog | Facebook Page

Excellent info. Appreciate the post! Congrats on being Master's Crit Champion! When the body says it might be time to "retire", it's always nice to go out on top!

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-Bryan Journey
Travel Blog | Training Blog | Facebook Page

Keep testing, increasing self-education, seeking qualified medical input and then, guide thyself appropriately.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

Yes, it was great to have that gold medal as the final culmination of my two year adventure...especially since the top of the podium was a mere 5 days out of the emergency room and only 2 days out of virtual last place at the time trial championship. I almost gave up after the time trial and of course, am glad now I listened to those that told me to give it one more shot.

I remain an adventurer so once my companies are sold this year, I am not sure what is next...but do know something is just around the bend.

Thanks for the kind words.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

Caffeine is a know trigger for A-Fib although the data is not conclusive for everyone. It is just one of the many possible triggers so if it is caffeine for you, avoid it altogether or simply drink less. When I was amidst my AF self-analysis, I went from a few espressos a day to one. Then, I concluded it was not a trigger for me but still felt better with that 1 (maybe 2) espressos so I have stuck with it.

Once conclusion I have drawn from the last two years and almost 20 years of world class athletics is that moderation is a dependable guideline.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

That is very interesting about A-Fib. My Palpitations were always at rest, of the type where an occassional heartbeat would almost skip, or come very late, but the next (late) heartbeat was double strong. I could feel it, either in my chest, or with fingers on the neck or chest.

Caffeine was a possible trigger for these types of palpitations too.

I was in the emergency room Monday and was finally cleared by my physicians on tuesday with the stipulation that I would restart my beta blockers. I was none too happy because beta blockers are known to reduce high-end heart rate; I had personal experience with this from March-July 2011 after which I knew they were reducing my high-end output and stopped them. However, it was either restart them or go against all medical advice I was getting and my family/friends were just not going to let me override everyone.

I race the TT on Wednesday morning. All physical vitals were "green" all morning. My warmup was normal and I felt good. Jay (coach) and I had set a race plan and I executed on schedule - during the first 1/3 of the race, all guages were "green". But, when approaching the turnaround (about 15ish minutes into the race), I felt the instantaneous heart palpitation (like a foot on the accelerator), looked down at my HR monitor and watched my HR jump in seconds from 145 to 190 to 230 to 257. Instantaneously, I knew my race was over (I had to take pressure off the pedals and mostly coast to the finish line) and two years of marching towards this race were down the drain.

I had lots of family and friends all around me for the next day. I was not despondent because all along I knew this was a super long shot. Fat, retired couch potato to National Championship in two years? Impossible. But, I was disappointed that I just did not get a "fair" shot. It was not winning or losing that bothered me but rather that I did not get to even step onto the battlefield. I just wanted my shot, win or lose, just step into the fight.

Jay (coach) and I talked at length as we analyzed my power files. We concluded that it was "just one of those things", a bad day. So, we concluded that I was ready to race if my heart would allow me. I am not a criterium rider by anyone's stretch of their imagination! However, the place we drew up was to ride it like a time trial - go hard from the gun, get in an early break and then ride until I dropped...hopefully, a few meters past the finish line!

And, that is exactly how the race when down. Four laps into the race, Malcolm Hill and I broke away and rode together to the finish line. All the stars aligned and I happened to beat Malcolm in the sprint.

My file shows that it was the best day I had in two years - I was definitely "on". And, my average HR was the highest it had ever been but my RPE was manageable. So, all in all, the intensity of that day should have triggered my AF but for whatever reason, did not and I raced without any cardiac issues or effects from the beta blockers.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

There is significant clinical data that supports your observations.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

Skipping heartbeat? I have this too and in most cases, it is benign. It feels much different than Atrial Fibrillation!

I am not diagnosing you (no medical training on my part) but it sounds like PVCs. Google it.

You can wear a Holter monitor which will record these incidents. A cardiologist could then determine if that is in fact what they are.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

I'm no elite, but when I get ready for a long run, I find myself quivering and shaking in anticipation - kinda like a dog excited to go for a walk. And even though I am consciously aware of it, I can't control it. (I've never admitted this to anyone)

I know I'm quoting this one sentence perhaps out of context but this might have something to do with the whole issue. Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like you perhaps raced at a high level as a young man and then took a LONG time off, gained weight, but then made a big comeback in last two yrs. If I'm guessing correctly here and you trained very little for 10 or 20 or even 30 yrs, and gained a bunch of weight, it could be that your heart issues developed over those many yrs of relative inactivity. I'm not trying to sound like an "accuser" or anything but just trying to understand the facts of your situation. I see this a lot in Masters swimming, except that the guys/girls often don't lose as much weight since body weight doesn't have as big an impact in the pool as on the bike. So you see relatively chunky guys who can swim pretty fast, not at the Phelps level but still really fast.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Oh, I think you are definitely on to something. After retirement from world class cycling, I immersed myself with the same intensity into the world of business. But, the result of that intensity was way too much work and way too little focus on my health. I exercised a little (an old habit that was hard to break) but oftentimes would quickly sacrifice myself on the way to achieving business goals.

Now, I say all of this with a bit of embarrassment but at the time, in my young and highly competitive brain, my lifestyle made sense to me. But, in retrospect, while it was fun to compete in business, the sacrifices to my health were both short- but also, long-term. The wake up call came when my trusted internist told me - indestructible me - that I was a catastrophic health event waiting to happen.

So, with all that said, I agree that my AF might easily have been genetic, been developing because of several decades of a less-than-healthy lifestyle, developed as a result of the intensity of the two-year cycling adventure or it might have been "just one of those things" that happen in life.

At my age (58), I merely share many of my life anecdotes in case they might help someone - who is earlier on their life path - not to err the same ways I did.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

This has been my approach more or less. I sorta backdoored my way into IMs. I didn't even know what IM was when I had my first thought of doing triathlons to be in shape. Heck, I didn't even have a bike and had only done one 5k, which I thought was a death march!

Right, we can never know with certainty exactly what causes any given health issue and/or accident. My Dad died in a car accident at 44 and my Mom of a neural aneurysm at 67. We never know how many years we'll be here. I'm in the Air Force and have spent 38 months in AFG/IRQ where any given day could easily be your last. So, we have to live in a way such that we have no regrets at the end, no matter when that day comes.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Well said.

"An intelligent man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of other men."

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

Agreed. In fact, it could be argued that the media creates "addiction" by news junkies via sensationalism, hype and articles like this. (I think he term "addiction" is misused and overused by the media anyway).

Yep, I knew it was a form of palpitation, and PVC seems like the exact form. Thanks for that.

Ditto, I have not seen that quote before:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

Following my countless string of self-inflicted pain and failure, I developed it years ago and since then, have been diligently using it in my coaching.

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life's short. ride hard.
bill
mobile: 404-242-5966
rustylion54@gmail.com

Wow, that's very nice. Can't say I have come up with any wise quotes on my own. My signature line is a quote from the girl who was the first female ever to win the world billiards championship. She was only like 5' tall and none of the men took her seriously until she started running the table on them. I don't even play pool but stumbled upon an article about her in Sports Illustrated about 15 yrs ago.

One of other fav quotes is the one from Teddy Roosevelt about trying and failing. You've probably heard it???

"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."

I have it framed and sitting on the mantel over the fireplace. I first read in on the sports page of our local newspaper back in high school.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I disagree with that chart. I was able to quit nicotine but I'll never be able to put my caffeine habit down ;)