This past Monday, my cardiologist put me on a seven-day monitor to see if I had any AFib occurrences. It’s been 5 1/2 months since my ablation and 6 weeks since I stopped taking Flecainide, a rhythm-controlling drug. With a successful monitoring period, I can stop taking blood thinners. I’ll still be on beta blockers, which affect running. However, I can take them once a day after running to reduce the effect.
On Tuesday, I went out for my current four-mile loop routine, which I’ll run uphill for 40 seconds within the first five minutes. That tends to elevate my heart rate above my desired high limit and causes some heavy breathing.
On Wednesday, I received a call from my cardiologist. “Dr. Talreja wants to see you. We’ve received some AFIB reports.” Aw shucks!
The monitor is connected by cell to send continuous EKGs to a bot. The bot read the EKG and sent a report to the cardiologist of what it thought was AFIB.
I first spoke with the nurse practitioner to determine when AFIB was detected on the EKG. We linked it to the time I was going up the hill. Her initial reaction was to put me back on Flecainide. However, we would wait until Dr. Talreja finished with his current patient to review the EKG.
Upon reviewing the EKG, he determined there were Premature Atrial Contractions (PACs) but not AFIB. The typical patient does not exercise vigorously while wearing a monitor, and the bot may not be able to understand what is happening.
The takeaway from the appointment was to continue wearing the monitor, not change drugs, and maybe slow my warm-up before running to reduce early exercise heart rate spikes. I was wearing the monitor during this morning’s race. I’ve tried different warm-up procedures, including faster walks rather than runs, in the initial mile.
My goals for today’s race were to finish, keep my heart rate under 133 bpm, and get back in time so as not to hold up the awards ceremony.
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.
With rain expected and starting early, I wore my double-bottle belt with an initial mix of UCAN Hydrate. I planned to drink a quarter bottle every mile and refill one of my bottles at the four-mile aid station with water. This belt had a pouch to carry my cell phone and plastic bags to keep my cell and monitor covered in case the forecasted rain came early.
Based on my recent half-marathons, I expected a finish time between 2:40 and 2:50. As FARC treasurer, I needed to be present 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 at least 60 minutes early (6:15 am), I got out by 5 am and arrived at the Culpeper Sports Complex at 5:40 am. Only a few people were there setting up the registration table. The timer had not arrived. After a trip to the bathroom, I took off my overshirt, strapped on my bottle belt, put on a headlamp and warning light, and headed to the start line. The timer was heading into the parking lot. They did not have any watches out, so they let me self-time. At 5:55 am, I started both my watches (Timex Ironman and Garmin) and began my race, walking. Looking at my heart monitor, I was at 115 bpm.
At the start, the temperature was 72 degrees, the dew point 70, and the skies were dark. There was rain in the forecast starting at 10 am. At daylight, I assumed we would have overcast skies.
I wore shorts over compression shorts, my red FARC singlet, a ball cap, and my Saucony Triumph 24 shoes.
I set my countdown timer to 4 minutes, planning to run 30 paces at each interval. At the end of the first interval, I switched to fast walking to warm up without pushing my heart rate to the limit. I was OK until I walked the first uphill stretch, when my high-heart-rate alert buzzed. I had not run a step.
I ran a short downhill segment before the first mile, which I completed in 16:47.
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. I ran a few times during this segment, mostly on flat and downhill sections. In the fourth mile, I had to make a pit stop, which added some time.
These three miles were 16:13, 15:54, and 17:21. As I was approaching the four-mile mark, the aid station volunteers were arriving. They were there in time to fill an empty bottle with water. I figured I was 30 minutes ahead of the general field and thought I would be caught around mile 7. 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 mile was 15:55. I went through the 5-mile mark in 1:23:01, on pace for a 2:45 finish. Before I reached this point, there was a brief light shower.
By this time, I had changed my approach from running every four minutes to looking at the road ahead of me. If it were going up, I would not run. If a section were flat or down, I would check my heart rate monitor, and if it were back below 120, I would run for 30 paces, sometimes more. While running, I never set off my high threshold alarm.
My sixth mile was a 15:08. Based on my calculations, with an 80-minute head start and the leader running 5-minute miles, he should catch me shortly. My seventh mile was a 15:17, and my heart rate stayed below the threshold. After the 7-mile sign, I glanced back and saw the lead cyclist approaching.
I figured the lead runner was at a 52-minute finish pace. There was a large gap until the next two runners and then another large gap before more. My eighth mile was 15:02, and the lead female passed me shortly thereafter.
I was feeling good during my run segments. My ninth mile was 15:28. There was one hill that didn’t help. During this mile, my Garmin lost contact with my chest strap and reported a heart rate of 56 bpm. I was not experiencing any issues and assumed it was a problem with the device rather than me. I pulled my chest strap up, and the display rose back into the 120 range.
My final mile was 15:45. There were a few inclines that raised my heart rate while walking, slowing me down. Also, it started raining. I reminded the course marshal at the turn into the sports complex that the flour arrows on the road are slippery when wet.
My finish time of 2:39:44 was 37 minutes slower than in 2025, good for 129th overall, 64th among males, and 2nd in the Male 70+ age group. I’m pleased with my consistent mile splits, especially in the race’s second half. I did a negative split in the race with a 1:16:02 final 5 miles. And I was not DFL.
They gave an excellent finisher’s award, a shot glass.
I have an active 78-race finish streak in the Coldwell Banker Elite Grand Prix. Up next is the Downtown Mile on September 19. This race was the eighth in the 2026 GP series.