I'm 61, and have been running almost 50 years, with close to 100,000 lifetime miles. Last week I had a "cardiac event" (or events, as it turns out). AKA, a heart attack.
It first happened about 5 miles into a planned 6 mile run. My chest suddenly felt funny -- not pain, not pressure, just not right. I was alarmed enough to stop and walk the last mile in, which was pretty unusual. I wasn't in distress but I was worried.
My wife pleaded with me to go to the ER, but I didn't seem to have any other standard symptoms of a heart attack, and the sensation gradually reduced during the day. So the next 3 days I just did short, cautious runs, but on the 3rd day the run felt terrible and after the run I felt just awful, with more strange sensations in my chest. We went to urgent care (I still couldn't be convinced to go to the ER), which did an EKG and immediately sent me to ER, which immediately sent me for a cardiac cath. All the time I was protesting: "but I CAN'T be having a heart attack -- I'm a runner!"
Long time runner, no family history, skinny, never a smoker or drug user -- none of that mattered. I had a clot in an artery & now have a scar in my heart muscle.
I was in the hospital 4 days, and am now home. I'd feared my running days were over, but my new cardiologist advises me I can build back into it gradually -- VERY gradually, starting with short, easy walks. Taking a walk right now seems scary; doing a run, unimaginable.
Honestly, right now I'm scared of any sensation from my heart; I obviously failed to detect the appropriate symptoms previously. I don't know what is OK and what is not. I'd always thought my heart was one of my best assets; now it is one of greatest vulnerabilities. It's a huge mind-shift.
Does anyone have any similar stories and/or advice?