After a long wait, I have a change in my meds, reducing my beta blockers to 12.5 mg once a day. On Friday, I had a follow-up appointment with the cardiologist who did my ablation on April 1, 2024. After 16 months, I was hoping to be med-free. My last afib breakthrough was late January. I have been getting random Supraventricular Ectopy readings.
Beta blockers reduce blood pressure and heart rate. A reduced heart rate means that less oxygen is reaching the working muscles. I’ve noticed that when running the evening FARC track meets, my maximum heart rate is 20 beats per minute (bpm) higher than during morning runs, immediately after taking medications. The track meets were 12 hours after taking a dose versus 90 minutes. I was taking 12.5mg with breakfast and dinner.
I was disappointed that I was seen by the nurse practitioner rather than the doctor. It wasn’t easy convincing her to reduce my meds. However, after she talked with the doctor, I’m taking 12.5mg with lunch. Thus, a morning run is 18 hours after a dose. The question I did not ask is, is the 12.5mg doing anything?
Saturday was the first day I changed to a single daily dose. Eighteen hours later, I started the Devil’s Den 10 Mile.
Since 1996, the Fredericksburg Area Running Club has hosted a 10-mile race in late August. The club’s objective was to provide a long-distance race event for runners training for a fall marathon or other long-distance event. They were first held in Hartwood, now in Culpeper, since 2017.
The last 3 miles of the race are on Route 666, and without cloud cover, they would be hot in full sunlight. Thus, the Devil’s Den 10 Mile was born.
Any finish time would be good. Since the aid stations were 2 miles apart, I wore my single-bottle belt with an initial mix of UCAN Energy. I planned to drink during the first walk break, after finishing an odd-numbered mile, and refill my bottle at mile 6.
I did a ten-mile training run last Saturday. Using a 2-minute walk and 4-minute run plan, I completed the course in 2 hours and 9 minutes. As FARC treasurer, I needed to be around at the award ceremony to handle the prize money checks. Knowing people did not want to wait around for me to finish, I asked the race director for an early start. Early starts are possible for those who have done extensive volunteer work for the club and have compelling extenuating circumstances. I meet both criteria. Also, it gets me on route 666 before the sun starts beating down.
Wanting to start 45 minutes early (6:30 am), I got out by 5:35 am and arrived at the Culpeper Sports Complex at 6:20 am. After a quick dash to the bathroom, I took off my overshirt, strapped on my bottle belt, and headed to the start line. By 6:28 am, there was enough light that cars no longer needed their headlights. Looking at my heart monitor, I was at 128 bpm.
At the start, the weather was 70 degrees with a 69-degree dew point and partly sunny skies. The high dew point is typical, but the clouds may help mitigate it.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my blue FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 22 shoes.
I needed to warm up my running muscles, including my shoulders and neck. I set my countdown timer to 6 minutes. For the first 6 minutes, I alternated between 30 pace runs and 60 pace walks. Then, each time the timer alarm beeped, I walked for 2 minutes and ran until the next alarm.
I think my actual start time was 6:28 am, 47 minutes early.
I finished the first mile in 13.35. My heart rate maxed at 168, and I was not breathing hard.
The course only has 240 feet of elevation gain. Most of the uphills are not severe. This course is flat. From mile 1.3 to 3.7, the road was freshly paved with a nice, smooth surface. During a walk break on this road, my Garmin lost contact with my chest strap and reported a heart rate of 40 bpm. I was not experiencing any issues and assumed it was a problem with the device rather than me.
My second and third miles were 12:30 and 12:20, with an average heart rate above 150 bpm and a maximum of 168 bpm. My legs were feeling better than they have in a while, and the higher heart rate was not affecting my breathing.
My fourth mile was 12:24. I grabbed a cup when I passed the water table. I figured I was 15 minutes ahead of the general field and thought I would be caught in the next 2 miles. A key consideration with the early start is that I know I’m on my own for water and safety until the field catches up with me.
My next two miles were 12:14 and 12:28. I went through the 5-mile mark in 1:03:05. I stopped at the water stop about 200 meters before the 6-mile mark. This station is where I topped off my bottle with water. I had drained it before reaching the aid station.
Based on my calculations, with a 47-minute head start and the lead runner running under 6-minute miles, he should catch me shortly. The low point of the course is between miles 6 and 7. During each walk break, I glanced back to see if I could see him coming.
As I turned onto Route 666, the lead cyclist and front runner, Stephen Harrison, passed me. We went through the 7-mile mark seconds apart. I asked him for his gun time. He responded, ’39 minutes.’ I calculated that they started on time with my 47-minute head start. My seventh mile was 11:40,
The subsequent two runners were only about 100 meters behind Stephen, who we could easily see in his bright shirt.
To keep hydrated, I started drinking on the first walk break after every mile.
I was feeling good during my run segments. My eighth and ninth miles were 11:56 and 12:13. There was one hill in the ninth mile that gave me issues, and I walked to the top. The first female had not passed me.
My final mile was 11:28. The first female passed me just before turning back into the park.
In the final three miles, my average heart rate was 165 bpm, with a maximum of 177 bpm. Compare this with the last three miles of the Fallen Heroes 5-mile on July 4, where my mile pace was 11:10, my average heart rate was 145 bpm, and my maximum was 160 bpm. I felt more comfortable today. The 20 bpm is the impact of the beta blockers.
My finish time of 2:02:53 was 9 minutes faster than in 2024, good for 96th overall, 60th among males, and 7th in the Male 60-69 age group. I’m pleased with my consistent mile splits, especially in the race’s second half, when I should have been fatigued. My second half was 59:48 with a 3:17 negative split.
They gave an excellent finisher’s award, a bottle opener.
I have a 65-race active finish streak in the Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix. Up next is the Downtown Mile on September 6. This race was the seventh in the 2025 GP series.
My four and six-mile runs on the two days following the race have felt wonderful. I’ve been able to run longer segments comfortably. I’m crossing my fingers that afib won’t come back. If the beta blocker issue is resolved, I can start working on regaining my conditioning to where it was in 2022.