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REAL Wellness Pays Off: Don Is "Born Again" (In A Secular Way, As Don Put It)

Beginning around 2007, Don noticed that his ability to maintain his usual running pace (six minutes per mile in 5K races) had evaporated; he could not come close to that kind of pace, even for shorter distances. As the months and years passed, Don's ability to run continued to deteriorate. In his few attempts to race, Don could not maintain even a nine minute per mile pace, dreadful for him, only recently a top age group runner.

Don tried denial for a long time but finally, at his wife Carol's insistence, he visited an asthma specialist. Exercise induced asthma was suspected. Testing was done and inhalers were tried but no abnormalities were found (other than the obvious - Don was getting old!) and no improvements in performance were realized. Later, Don's GP put a set of electrodes on Don's chest. As soon as he looked at the printout of the electrical pattern, he told Don, "You have a problem. I want you to go to a cardio specialist - now!" It turned out Don had "atrial flutter," an abnormal heart rhythm, resulting in a rapid heartbeat. This condition prevents the heart from pumping blood efficiently when beating too rapidly. When blood is not pumped well, vital organs, such as the heart and other working muscles during exercise -- and the brain, do not get enough oxygen from the blood. Thus, Don could not maintain a decent pace and worse, the risk of stroke was higher than normal.

Given the option of taking a blood thinner for life (stroke risk reduction) or having an ablation (don't ask!), Don elected the latter. The procedure was done on June 29 of this year and took three hours. However, it worked - the flutter was gone. In a few days, Don resumed mild training; within two weeks, he entered a small community race held during the National Wellness Conference in Stevens Point, WI. Don ran the 5K in 21:20 - and told his wife he took it easy (as the doctors had urged).

* On June 26, 2009, Don won his division in the national sprint triathlon championship in Newport Beach, CA and gained a spot on the US Team to compete in the World Triathlon Championship on the Gold Coast of Australia on September 13.

* On September 13, 2009, Don won the world sprint triathlon championship.

Don's good fortune did not extend only to a dramatic recovery from a heart problem. At the opening ceremonies, a drawing was held for one of the greatest bikes on the planet, a Teschner SL9. Each of the 6000 athletes from around the world was given one entry. Maybe you can guess where this is going—hard to imagine but it's true: Don's name was drawn. He won the bike—and rode a Teschner in winning the world sprint triathlon in his division a few days later in the championship event. Amazing.

* Don also participated in two other, much longer distance races - the National Olympic Distance Championship Triathlon in Tuscaloosa, AL on August 29 and the World Duathlon Championship in Concord, NC on September 26. Don won silver medals for second place finishes in both these races.

Don's back!

Don's Race Results Post-Ablation (June 29, 2009)