Running with heart valve leakage

Yeah, same boat here, mild aortic regurgitation. Doesn't seem to affect my training, as far as aerobic capacity. The doctor told me to stay away from weights, eat healthy, etc. I used to me a miler/1500 guy, and I believe my ability to train middle distances has probably decreased. Now I race 5k-1/2 marathon. I would be curious to hear about marathoners with valve leakage.

Make sure you are checked up on at least twice a year, keep an eye on your blood pressure.

Would you drive a car with fuel line leakage?

Yes, I have run with a prolapsed mitral valve, diagnosed at 48 years old. 1:35 HM at the time, 40-50 miles per week. When a valve starts malfunctioning, it isn't noticeable, and I was getting older; slowing down. Anyways, I've asked four cardiologists the effect a leaky valve has on endurance training. They all said it depends on the severity and the effect is not good. One did say since the blood flow is not efficient, she would need a degree in hydraulics? to determine the adverse effect. I am 58 years old now. I received a mechanical mitral valve 1.5 years ago. I am trying to regain the fitness level I had pre-surgery, 5miles 40:22. Get yearly echocardiograms. I don't think they can't keep a valve leak from worsening, but they can tell when things have gotten bad enough for you to be at risk of having a major event.

In 2008 I was diagnosed with a bicuspid aortic valve with mild regurgitation after a heart murmur was found during a routine physical. I went through some tests with a cardiologist and got the clearance to continue training as long as I wasn't having any symptoms. I had annual checkups with echos and the occasional stress test.

Since then I've done Ironman a couple of times and have run about a half dozen marathons and a bunch of other races. I didn't notice any adverse effects on training and my race times were getting progressively faster. Last fall I hit PRs in the half marathon (1:16) and full (2:48) while running 50-70 miles a week with some hard sessions thrown in there.

In January I went to see a new cardiologist since I hadn't been in two years (wasn't comfortable with my old cardiologist). I had just started upping the miles and speed work again for a spring race and was feeling great. They performed an echo and found that the leakage / regurgitation had gotten severe and that my left ventricle was severely enlarged.

Fast forward to now and I'm about 9 weeks post surgery for valve replacement. My doctors have cleared me to run again (no hard training for now) so for the past couple of weeks I've been doing 3-4 miles a few days a week at a very slow pace. I've been told I shouldn't have any restrictions once the ventricle returns to a more safe size.

So to answer your question I was permitted to train hard and continued to do so and didn't notice any effect on my training or race times. That being said I can't help but wonder whether or not running and training led to my valve crapping out at age 31. My doctors never said that specifically so I'm just speculating. When first diagnosed I was told I would likely need surgery at some point but the timing would be different for everyone. I don't regret training and racing and hope I'm able to get back into it but like I said I can't help but wonder.

Some words of advice would be to stay diligent and keep up with your annual / semi annual checkups with your cardiologist. Just because you're not having any symptoms like I wasn't doesn't mean something isn't wrong. If your doctor doesn't give you any restrictions then I'd say train as hard as you'd like and keep it up.

Best of luck!