I looked back at my goals for 2024. From my 2023 year-end post, “On to 2024, my goals are resolving my A-Fib issue, completing all 12 Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races, all 4 Stafford Series races, running or walking at least two miles daily, and my 17th Historic Half. If my heart allows, raise my consecutive year, finishing a marathon or longer race streak to 32 years. A non-running goal is to earn QuickBooks Online certifications. My final goal is to write my 2025 goals at the end of the year.”
Starting the year in persistent A-Fib and on beta blockers, I had difficulty running more than a minute at a time. An early January visit to my cardiologist resulted in a 2-week monitor and echocardiogram to determine the extent of the issue and potential solutions. It took until April 1 to have a cardiac ablation, which should eliminate the A-Fib and blood thinner requirement,
During the wait time, I procured a Garmin heart rate monitor and watch and opened a Garmin account.
Did all of this stop me from running?
In a February half-marathon, I finished. However, my knees wobbled in the first 45 seconds.
I finished a 5km a month later.
For 2 weeks post-procedure, I was limited to walking with my heart rate below 120. I could run for the following 4 weeks with my heart rate under 126. After the initial 6-week recovery, my heart rate should stay under 140, but higher would not be forbidden. Staying on beta blockers did keep the rate down. They wanted me to stay on beta blockers for 6 months post-procedure.
I walked a 5 km race 12 days after my procedure.
The Historic Half was 6 weeks after my procedure, and I figured out a pattern to finish within the time limit and heart rate restrictions.
Not being able to run more than 10 minutes without stopping, I joined a Couch to 5km training program intending to run the Deuce Braswell RATV 5km in September without walking. I reached that goal and ran five more 5km races without walking. My last 5km before my issues started was 27:24. Now, I’m striving to break 33 minutes.
By 6 months, all internal heart scarring should be healed, and beta blockers can be stopped. On a run right at 6 months and still on beta blockers, I maxed out at 161 and went into A-Fib for 17 hours.
There may have been an area in my atrium that had not healed or is still open. My cardiologist gave me an option of a second ablation or an anti-arrhythmic drug to take if I went into A-Fib. Also, we cut the beta blocker to half dosage. Since then, I have tried to keep my heart rate under 140 on daily runs and 150 at races.
Being out of consistent long mileage training since November 2023, either my leg strength has not recovered, or lower heart rates have slowed me down and reduced my endurance. Usually, it takes me 15 minutes of walking with short runs before being able to run 10 minutes without walking. Being on a half-dosage beta blocker has made my daily runs feel better.
Mid-summer, I set a goal to run the Richmond Marathon in November. I ran 10 to 14-mile long runs on Saturday mornings. When the price increase deadline approached in September, those long runs were not doing well. I was getting a sore back 5 miles in. Still, I kept up the training. When the A-Fib issue hit in October, I decided Richmond was a no-go. Thus, my 31-year marathon or longer race streak came to an end.
In February, I won my online poker league quarterly National Tournament and the $1000 prize. Not bad for a freeroll. A stipulation was that I needed to use the $1000 prize as a buy-in to a WSOP tournament. In August, I went to Cherokee, North Carolina, to play in that tournament without additional success. In September, I won another freeroll and the $500 prize. I’m good online but not so good in person.
The last time I painted anything was in 1976. My shed’s paint was peeling, and the wood had some rot. I didn’t want to spend the$1500 to get it painted. So, I tried. In August, I scraped a lot of loose paint and waited until the air temperature dropped into the 60s when the humidity was low. I waited a month. The result looks good for me. And I know how to paint in patches when future issues appear. It was $300 and a few blisters,
I finished the year with 1255 miles compared to 1752 for 2023.
My Garmin account doesn’t know of my running before 2024. It keeps awarding me PRs.
I finished 18 in-person races. I continued my finish streak of Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races, now at 58.
The 18 in-person races are six less than 2023 and include four half-marathons, ten 5km, a 10km, and ten, five, and one-mile races.
As a non-running accomplishment, I passed the QuickBooks Online ProAdvisor test and was field-tested to become a World Athletics Level B course measurer. When the FARC Treasurer could not complete his term, I took over the position using my QuickBooks skills.
I made it to my 50th high school reunion at the end of October.
I reached four of my goals. I want to say A-Fib is behind me, but I’m still worried about running all out.
On to 2025, my goals are completing all 13 Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix races, all 4 Stafford Series races, my 18th Historic Half, and running six days per week. A non-running goal is to use my QuickBooks Online certifications for personal gain. My final goal is to write my 2026 goals at the end of the year. Goals are best when written down and published. On On!.