John's Posts

Loved reading your story John.Just over 2 months since my MV bovine replacement. Back in the pool doing 2k of my normal 3k sets of IM/ free. Back on my bikes for shorter than normal distances. AND last week got back to my "age in burpees" (70) in 15min. Recovery is slower than I expected, but I can see the end of the tunnel!

Congratulations on your achievement John! I was pretty fit for a 67-year-old before my mitral valve repair 2 years ago. I have run 7 marathons, climbed all of the volcanoes in the Northwest, bicycled from Seattle to San Francisco, etc. I was running 6-8 miles, 3 times a week just 6 months before my surgery. Now, 2 years later, I can barely run 2 or 2 1/2 miles at a very slow pace before I have to stop due to shortness of breath and leg fatigue...this despite doing aerobic activity 3 times a week and strength workouts another 3 days a week. I have had stress echocardiogram and pulmonary stress tests and everything in the heart and lungs is good. My cardiologist says that my heart and the mitral valve repair are perfect. I have been discouraged and thought that I would never get back to the fitness level I had before surgery. Your post inspired me. If it took you 5 years to get to the triathlon level, then maybe I just have to stay at it for a couple of more years. If you have time, I would appreciate any more detail on what exercise program you followed to get to where you are now and any hurdles that you encountered on the way. Again, congratulations! Fantastic achievement. Stephen Berry

Hi Steven, I love taking about this kind of thing so, sure - I was frustrated at first and thought they messed something up in there they weren't telling me. It took me 13 months to jog one block without stopping and I'd be too wiped out to try again the same day. I just kept walking 3-4 miles at a time until I could jog and then would jog a block and walk a block, that kind of thing until eventually I could keep going at around a 12+ minute mile. I biked around the neighborhood at around 12 mph and worked up from there. Also did strength training at a gym about 3 days a week. Went back to swimming at probably 2.5 years out. Swimming is my strong point and when covid came along I got a swimming wetsuit to swim in cold lakes and that was the start of the path to triathlon. When gym closed for covid I started using the Nike workout app (it's free) - on there are lots of strength workouts that are also aerobic. I'm still using that and only go to the gym for swimming now if not going to a lake. There are four strength workouts on there that I cycle through. My first 10k was about three years after surgery and I extended that to a marathon a few months later. I'm still making gains. My Garmin watch says I'm at a 53 VO2 max and it's been saying that for six months though I'm faster than I was back then. I was at about 45 VO2 max when I got the watch 18 months ago.

Hi John, Thank you such much for sharing this information. My cardiologist said that most patients plateau in aerobic improvement about 1 1/2 years after surgery, but I don't think you and I are in the standard group given our previous high aerobic fitness. Maybe we just take a lot longer to get back to our previous level....and have to keep working hard at it. I also could only do about a mile walk-jogging for the first year after surgery and was wiped out after. Two years post-surgery I can now run 2 1/2 miles at a 12:30 pace but hadn't seen any improvement in the last several months. Having written that, for the last couple of weeks, I have not felt nearly as bad after my run. I used to feel tired for the rest of the day, but now actually feel energized after I take my post run shower. Your story makes me think that I may be getting to the same point you were in your post-surgery recovery. I thought I would never be able to even do a 10K again, let alone a marathon. You are evidence that is possible. I will continue to run three times a week and do strength training 3 times a week. Unlike you, swimming is my weak point, but perhaps that would be an area I could also work on. Thank you for sharing your exercise routine and the use of the Garmin. That might be a good investment for me as well. Best wishes on your continued triathlon success! Steven

Thanks Steven. Another thing I've been doing the last year or so is short bursts of high intensity. Started with going all out running for like 10 seconds and then recovering and doing it again. I think that's helped me improve quite a bit. The Garmin watch will suggest things like that and that is usually where I'm doing less than it recommends. I've also used Inside Tracker to look at blood biomarkers. Found quite a bit I could improve on there. For example, my ferritin was 9, which is very low (maybe from daily aspirin) and I've since brought up into the 30's and I don't get as cold as I used to.

I really appreciate your sharing all of your experiences and work out routines. I also have a low ferritin level (and am taking a daily aspirin). Will be interesting to see if I can get the ferritin up higher. Can't tell you how hopeful I am now after reading your story. Thanks!