May 21, 2020
![0620 TE COVID-Getty Images.jpg 0620 TE COVID-Getty Images.jpg](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/bltabaa95ef14172c61/blt3d63dcb0c3f0e90a/6734b34bab58b58f9e5a7a77/0620_20TE_20_20COVID-Getty_20Images_0.jpg?width=1280&auto=webp&quality=95&format=jpg&disable=upscale)
Last September, during swim practice with my triathlon team, I suddenly felt my chest tighten and experienced difficulty breathing. My wife took me to the ER, where a cardiologist performed a heart catheterization, resulting in the discovery that I had advanced heart disease. This diagnosis despite my finishing three Ironman triathlons, nine half-Ironman triathlons and 40 other races of Sprint and Olympic distances within the past 10 years!
A few days later, at age 55, I underwent open heart surgery—a triple bypass. It would take me several weeks to recover and return to the office.
“You need to cut the stress out of your life,” Dr. Kenneth Towe, a fellow athlete, friend and my cardiologist told me. “Your condition wasn’t caused by poor ...
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