since its been 6 weeks of non-activity and sickness, I have decided that getting back my fitness level will need to be methodical and take a bunch of patience. In recent weeks I have not taken any chances with testing activities as normal. the 30mile ride with Stuart a couple of weeks ago resulted in a complete turnaround smack in the middle of the buffalo trail climb while we were barely moving forward. feeling in a complete state of exhaustion I had to go downhill to continue! I was in bed for 3 days after that! anyway I spent a great 3 days at the Bozeman Cabin last week( tying to add to my weak 32 Hemo level! Brook came up and we went for a nice walk in the woods. that in itself left me sleeping at the end( thanks Brook for checking on me and making sure I didn't die!) Now we are on the cape and again trying to rest a bunch. of course its been raining here for a month and still is as I write this. This is actually good, as long as I don't see a bunch of folks exercising it helps my mental state. I did read an interesting piece about Torborjn Sinabalde today, It turns out that Torborjn has the exact same heart condition that I was born with and he has now decided to retire from the sport of triathlon, he is much younger than me and has less of a leak or re-gurge than I do but in he will be forced with the same choices that I was faced with as he gets older.
Two-time World Long Course Tri champ Torbjørn Sindballe is calling an end to his professional triathlon career due to a heart ailment.
"After meeting with the doctors on Tuesday and sleeping on it," said Sindballe, "it was clear to me that I was going to end my career. The past two months have been tough as it has been both a very emotional time and a very complex problem for the doctors to advice on. There is very little hard science on elite endurance athletes with heart malformations, but after reviewing the general recommendations and whatever science there is, I feel this is the right decision as there is a clearly elevated risk that the malfunction will progress if I continue."
The Dane has known about an abnormal heart valve since 2005, and it manifested itself in the most recent Wildflower Triathlon. After the incident in California he has gone through extensive testing and evaluation with Danish experts. After considering their advice Torbjørn has decided to stop his career immediately.
“I am going to miss the lifestyle and the intense excitement of training and racing," wrote Sindballe in a prepared statement. "Of course I’m sad that I will not get to see the impact of the big changes in my training we have made this year and that I will not be able to compete for the crown in Kona. On the other hand I am very proud of what I have achieved. Two ITU Long distance World Champs and a podium in Kona, where I am really not suited to race, is something I will carry with me forever. I have learnt so much and feel very privileged.”
Torbjørn's condition is called a "bicuspid aortic valve." This is the most common heart malformation, found in 1 to 2 percent of the population. Instead of three claps there are only two claps in the one-way aortic valve. Most people with this malformation live their entire lives without ever knowing about it. In some cases complications develop, such as a tightening or a leak in the valve.
Torbjørn has a moderate leak, which means that 20 percent of the blood returns to the heart after each heartbeat. During work the leak drops to about 5-7 percent. It is possible that further hard training and racing would increase the risk of progression so that heart valve replacement would be necessary. Torbjørn’s aorta is moderately dilated, which increases the risk of dissection under heavy workloads.
Clone Report:
Dan Brewer and
Paolo Gerbasi finish Ironman CDA. 12:24 and 12:00 respectively, Dr Gerbasi racing on a broken foot!
Todd Vralsted finishes the Bighorn 50k in 6.5 hrs after spraining his ankle at mile 5! nice gut check todd!
