Fascinating thread here. I too have been going through a recent cardiac scare, which started with some fluttery palpitations and devolved into a self-perpetuating mortal terror of impending death. All tests for me so far are normal, but this distracting new obsession and hyper-awareness of my heart has ruined every workout. It’s led me to a month of nothing above tempo, which is both disappointing but also strangely enjoyable. My main takeaway so far is that as endurance athletes, we train ourselves that every feeling of weakness is something to push through, and the sudden fear (whether rooted in truth or not) that this feeling is a potential sign of danger and a reason to slow down is extremely dispiriting. Even when I receive an all-clear, I think it’ll take some mental work to get myself to trust my own abilities again, and to learn not to immediately associate the feeling of a pounding heart with a crippling existential awareness of my own mortality.
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