I’m fully aware that medical advise on such matter ought to come from a qualified Cardiologist. However, the fact is that my Cardiologist had for the past 20 years been dealing predominantly with patients with non-active life styles. To him, a 5km run within 30minutes is considered “intense”. Hence, I’ll like to seek broader views and experiences from this board.
A bit of background. I’m an age grouper 2 days short of 42 years old with some sports background in school and in the military. I started doing tri in 2008, trains about 8 hours weekly and had participated in four 70.3 races, 3 Marathons and several other shorter races. Last week as part of my annual medical check, some anomalies triggered a series of heart scans that revealed that my LAD Artery (one of the 3 main heart artery) is 70-90% blocked. This was confirmed by a 2nd opinion by another Cardiologist in another hospital. This caught me totally by surprise as I had not felt any discomfort during my training or races. Both doctors recommended an Angio Plasty procedure ASAP for stents to be inserted to address the blockage. Most likely, 2 to 3 stents will be needed given the length of the blockage. The procedure had been scheduled in 2 days time.
Its certainly a very disappointing news for me. I had just started a formal training program to do my first IM distance race in Arizona this November, and it seems like I may need to adjust that plan somewhat.
Can I check if any members of this forum have had heart stent(s) installed and had continued on training and racing for 70.3 or IM distance races? Any adverse effects from long term drugs such as Statin and Beta-Blockers? How soon after the procedure did you commence physical training and what was the ramp up schedule?
Thanks in advance.