When you are 38 (as I am) and someone else who is 38 has a heart attack in the water during a tri it gets you thinking, especially on solo river swims like the one I was just on.
This is great for the media who as we all know, love to splash sensationalism all over the place but is our sport really dangerous? Three deaths from heart attacks in sanctioned USAT races so far this summer.
You take a cold ocean, anxiety, a tight wetsuit and a weakend heart and mix them together, someones gonna die eventually…right? I just dont like it when a few incidents come across as “the sport itself is dangerous”.
Thoughts?
It is certainly a tragedy when this happens but it is not unique to triathlon and it is still an extremely rare happening. Personally, I don’t think tri is any more dangerous than other aerobic sport activities. If an unfortunate incident happens in an IM it does become a ‘bigger’ deal because it happened during a long event that always gets pub.
This is great for the media who as we all know, love to splash sensationalism all over the place but is our sport really dangerous? Three deaths from heart attacks in sanctioned USAT races so far this summer.
Well, the whole “Obesity and Death” coverage was sooo yesterday…
I personally will take the “risks” of an active livestyle over a senditary (sp?) lifestyle anyday. But, I try to always be aware of my risks and try to limit them whenever possible. The only exception is the risk of shark attacks during my ocean swims. Well, I do make sure I don’t have any open wounds
The sport is dangerous but so is walking outside of a Target Department store. I was hit and run on my bike last year on a back, non-traffic, straight, wide road on a training ride and almost killed. I think about death everytime I go out on my bike now. It has been unfortunate that we have seen recent reports of deaths during the swim leg of a triathlon. I have always felt safe during the swim legs of races that I have done. This has included larger races like IMFL and St. Anthony’s in St. Pete Florida. I still choose to do the sport because of the health benefits and because I enjoy the sport. There are much riskier activities out there in my opinion.
and don’t think that if you have a lean body, you are safe from heart attack. nothing is further from the truth. many autopsies of lean and somewhat young folks has shown quite large amounts of occlusion in heart arteries.
the only thing that somewhat protects your from heart attack is a ‘lean’ diet …
I think there is a level of risk of dieing all around us. I have worked hard to just accept that at any moment I could go next, so I’m going to live it up!
Looking at statistics I think there is probably a better chance of being injured/killed in a car crash traveling to a race, than while competing in one…
The truth is that (forgive the cliche) life is just really short and you never know what could happen so you might as well just be in the moment and enjoy it.
Some of this is a result of the media coverage and our sensitivity to it because we participate in the sport. If the media ran a story every time someone was injured or killed in a car accident, we’d never want to drive again.
Deaths in triathlon are indeed rare, but they seem less so when each one makes it into the news. Just remember that almost every weekend during the summer thousands of people safely participate in triathlons all over the world.
Yes, the sport is inherently dangerous, and yes, as other’s have noted, most everything is, to some degree. Open water swims and riding out on the road are significantly more risky, though, than swimming at the Y and taking a spin class.
Smart people minimize the risks by not doing dumb things like riding without a helmet or doing solo river swims.
Tragic as this is, it’s a fact that people will die. It’s also a fact that people will die doing just about anything. In running events, skiing, on airplanes, at work, in cars, walking down the street, etc. It just happens and no amount of planning or legislation will change it.
What the media does is take an unfortunate event like this and sensationalize it. Rather than just accept the fact that people die, they want to find something or someone to blame it on. Sure, this guy didn’t have to be doing a triathlon, but that’s not to say he couldn’t have had a heart attack and died while doing something else. It happens all the time - every day people die from heart attacks.
For some reason in triathlon most people die during the swim. Perhaps many of these people are not properly trained. However some people have died after having been in the sport for many years with more than adequate training. It happens. Even requiring physicals or pre-race testing will not keep if from occuring. Maybe it would lessen the chance of death happening during a race, but will it keep these people from having heart attacks doing some other activity in their daily lives? Are triathletes or just athletes as a whole less prone to heart attacks than the general popultion? Most likely just the fact that people are doing someting to keep in shape will keep them alive longer than doing nothing, but it will not totally prevent death - especially if they have a family history of heart disease or other health problems.
Situations like this are always sad. I feel badly for the family.
As a 36 year old with a family history of heart problems and being a weak swimmer, these incidents get my attention. In fact, I went to a cardiologist to get the ok and I always make sure I am aware of the signs of trouble and make sure to scan the lake to see where the lifeguards are. Little precautions make me and my loved ones fel better.
As others have brought up, I feel that that sitting on my rear will put me in the grave sooner and in a lot more painful ways than with the active lifestyle I live now.
People die working on model airplanes and knitting too. But you never see this make the news. Thats not to say some things in tri aren’t a little dangerous or the attitude/personalities often associated with the sport. For example, I was supposed to do 8 miles in the hills at lunch today in 95F degrees and 70% humidity. Got through 5 miles and considered stopping because I was dragging and miserable. Of course, what do I do? I think HTFU, do 1 more mile than get smart and call it a day. Perhaps the smart thing would have been to bag the workout or head to the Y and do my workout in A/C on a treadmill.
My thoughts are that you are absolutely correct Sir Jeff, our sport is inherently dangerous. -Says so in all those waivers we sign. We might die. Some of us do.
There is a choice to be made: Accept (and embrace) the risk in return for the possibility of a good experience -or- decide the risks are too great and decide to do other things.
It is a concious choice though, one that cannot be transfered or “waivered” away. Bottom line: The moment you toe the line or head out to train you, by virtue of your actions, have accepted to take the risks either knowingly or unknowingly.
I raced at Tupper a couple of weeks ago and some weird shit happend to me.
I looked at my wife at the swim start and got the feeling that I was gonna die and not see her again.
The gun went off and I was planning on drafting the swim leader and coming out 2nd.until I got kicked.
After I got kicked my whole world and race collapsed . I wound up treading water and looking for a boat to abandon the race.
I didn’t find a boat so I swam to shore best I could ,the whole way thinking I was dying and was not going to see my wife again. I got out in one piece in like 16th place and felt pretty safe on land and like I could at least finish , which I did.
A week later I went out for a TT at 6:00 am. I warmed up , and went… 2 minutes into it as my heart rate approached my LT ,I freaked out again. I felt like I was tripping,like things weren’t real. I tried to shrug it off ,but as I tried to increase my intensity ,shit got more weird.
I bagged it ,went home and had this huge sensation that I was gonna die again that didn’t go away for a couple of hours.
Thinking about these incidents I’m trying to find answers. The only way I know how to race is really hard, and I don’t know if I can do it anymore . The shame is that I’m fitter and faster than I have ever been. I’ve been doing this for 10 years now.
I just think I’d rather be safe and spend a long life with my wife and kids.
I don’t think I want to die of a heart attack at some race,but then I don’t want to die at all.
So , I’m kinda glad that other athletes think about this kind of shit too.
I don’t know where I’m at? I’m gonna take it one day at a time,but I’ll say this.
Every time I toe the line I’m gonna make my peace with the world around me, and put my faith in God ( who ever she is ) that
she will let see my loved ones again in some sort of after life,and that there is an afterlife.
If I knew that these things were going to happen after death , I wouldn’t be so afraid of it, and man would I go really hard in races. LOL
Whoa. I have no idea what might be causing your issues, but there is one clear message here: take a break. Even if you will lose some fitness, it’s better than losing your bearings. Take some time off and you’ll likely come back mentally refreshed.
Taking a break won’t change anything, I’ll still think of the same shit when I’m doing other things.
The point I was trying to make is that there is all kind of ways you can die and in a tri might not be the best place to go,but it’s not the worst either.
You have to make peace with the world around you and just hope for the best I think in what ever you do, weather it’s a tri or going to work in the morning, and that’s a hard thing to do if you aren’t really sure about things.
I agree with Greg, any of us can die of a heart attack regardless of how lean we are if we have a family history of heart disease. If it happens in a tri, it is going to be at the swim start.
I’m closing in on 42. For this very reason, regardless of the length of race, I now try to do a long swim warmup with many sprints before the start so that my heart is already pumping before the cannon fires. Nothing worse for the heart than going from zero to 180 bpm in 10 seconds with only limited opportunities to breath (every second stroke at best) and getting clobbered by people swimming over your back.
sounds like midlife crisis. It is what it is. Make peace with it.
Also - why don’t we see coverage about “LARDO DIES EATING POPCORN ON COUCH THIS WEEKEND” - because nobody cares. It’s not interesting “journalism” and remember, journalists were those folk at college who managed to get to ALL the parties ALL the time (I envy the b@stards, I admit!) and didn’t have to think too hard. Look, they write for the masses. The masses are stupid. Therefore, they think “Hmm Triathlon = Hard, Person = Deadm, therefore we have a story! Triathlon = Dead!”. And yeah I don’t watch TV anymore, fed up with the media. It’s all lies anyway. Hmmm, I guess maybe I have an opinion on this?
Live, Love, Laugh, and Race. It’s all good. Enjoy what you can, who you can, when you can - because tommorow we may all be gone.
