I did it! heart surgery patient, reaching 200W FTP

General Discussion
1

I’m 41 years old, 230 pounds, and a heart surgery patient. When I was 36 I had open heart surgery to replace my aortic valve, which required months long recovery and has had a years-long impact on my physical fitness.

I started Zwift at the beginning of last year (2021).

When I started my FTP was at or below 100W and I really struggled. But I kept at it, increasing my stamina one ride at a time.

Today, after completing a 14 mile ride in under 45 minutes (Castle to Castle on Makuri), Zwift told me it has detected an increase in my FTP from 198W to 203W.

It’s a huge personal milestone, I felt like bragging about it :slight_smile:

2

That is awesome. Congratulations on your success and admiration for your perseverance.

3

Good on ya Peter… brag away, thats awesome.

A bunch of heart related “food for the soul” in this thread too…

4

Congratulations, and thanks for sharing. It’s always great to hear about personal milestones like this

5

Peter, that’s a great achievement well worth bragging about. Keep up the good work, slow and steady gains win the day in the long run.

6

yes yes! Go Pete!

FTP of 220 next?

7

Thanks so much for the support! I think my next milestone is to see if I can climb the Alpe du Zwift in under 90 minutes, so far I’ve made it up three times and my best time so far is 109 minutes, so I’ve got some work to do!

4 Likes
8

Welcome to the forums @Peter_Amstutz and great work, keep it up!

:ride_on:

9

Great effort. An inspiration for those who tread the same path as yourself.

10

Hey Peter
Great recovery. Sounds horrendous to go though that. Keep it up, your soon be pushing past 250 watts.

11

Congrats dude, keep up the great work!

12

Nice to hear such good news.

Ride on :ride_on:

13

WOOHOO!!! :tada:

Well done Peter, welcome to the forums, and RIDE ON!!!
:grinning::slightly_smiling_face::smiley::blush::grinning:

14

Well done Peter! A huge achievement, hold your head high. In 2017 at 52, I had open heart surgery to receive a quintuple bypass. Take it slowly and build. You’ll nail the Alp in 90mins I’m sure. Ride on.
PS: If you’re on Facebook there is a private group called Cardiac Athletes, support, guidance and just go stories to read. For anyone that has heart issues.

15

Good for you. Well worth bragging about. Ride on!