From Heart Attacks to Marathons: Running on Resolve

I couldn't let American Heart Month pass by without having a conversation with our friend Channing Muller. As long as I've known her she has been an advocate for heart health, and she was gracious enough to take time out of her busy schedule to talk to me about her story. Our conversation is below.

I appreciate you taking the time to sit down and speak with me. You and I first met a few years ago via Instagram and then in person at the Battlefield Races. Before we get into everything, I have to give you major props for revamping the website for those races. The site looks fantastic!

Was that race your first introduction to the Club? If not, do you remember how/when you first connected with us?

Thanks so much! The rebrand of the race and website was such a great project to work on. The half & full courses turned me into an endurance runner so the series will always hold a special place in my heart.

I think my first introduction to the club was through a turkey trot actually. As much as I love watching the Thanksgiving Day parade, and being from New Orleans I do looove a parade, getting in a turkey trot is such a fun way to start the holiday festivities.

I keenly remember the one in 2018 because I ran with my dog Sully and a pic of us landed in the Times Free-Press’ recap. That may have been my first official race with the club.

Do you have a favorite CTC event or events?

Oh that would definitely be the Signal Mountain Pie Run -hands down! No shade to the battlefield now, because it’s special, but when I heard about a race that passed out pumpkin pies at the end vs. a medal, I had to see it for myself.

As a former resident of the mountain, it was so nice to be able to run on the road with the BEST views of the foliage & valley without having to worry about cars so I could really soak it all in.

Now let's dig into the real reason we're here. I wanted to speak with you because it is American Heart Month and you are a strong advocate for heart health.

For those who don't know your story, will you share the reason you advocate so fiercely for this cause?

Absolutely! The reason is actually pretty simple and infinitely important: I am the unexpected face of heart disease.

When I was 26 years old, I experienced two heart attacks one month apart. A runner since college, I had just started training for my first half marathon when I woke up one morning & my heart took off racing without the rest of my body.

I immediately broke out into a cold sweat, had trouble regulating my breathing and could not get my heart rate to lower. After about 45 minutes of this and continually getting more worried, I knew I had to get to a hospital.

Thankfully I lived just 5 blocks from Georgetown Hospital in Washington DC so my roommate at the time drove me and rushed in to get doctors while I crawled through the emergency room door.

Many tests, two rounds of blood work, and hours on a heart monitor later the results came back: heart attack. I was then airlifted to another hospital with a cardiac care unit where I underwent every test you can safely put the heart under to figure out why a 26-year old runner, former vegetarian, nonsmoker had a heart attack.

During a cardiac catheterization procedure they found a blockage in my lateral anterior descending artery, commonly known as the widow maker, despite my cholesterol bloodwork reading within the 'normal' levels.

I was sent home with six prescriptions and an order for cardiac rehabilitation. One month later, on the day I was set to start cardiac rehab I had another heart attack. The blockage had gotten worse and they placed a stent to permanently open that artery.

Now I share my story as publicly and often as I can with the hope that by doing so it won't become someone else’s story too. Awareness is so important to prevent more people from walking the road I have.

Does your family have a history of cardiac disease or were your heart attacks completely unexpected?

Totally unexpected! I had been a vegetarian for over 10 years, no drug use, no signs of anything happening beforehand and no family history - at the time at least. I had been taking birth control so the doctors think I could have thrown a blood clot and that is what got stuck in the artery causing the heart attack. The other potential cause is that a piece of the blockage broke off and got lodged in the narrow opening. There is no way to know for sure though.

That still doesn't explain the blockage itself, especially since my bloodwork all appeared within normal ranges. For whatever reason, my body converts cholesterol into plaque so I have to keep mine even lower than “normal” to prevent any more blockages.

Have you made any specific changes to your diet since then?

I’m a big fan of the 80/20 rule for eating so I didn’t need to do a big overhaul to my diet, though I became much more conscious of what foods contain saturated fat. Examples: Egg whites only, mozzarella cheese over any other, more fish > land proteins, and healthy oils for cooking.

I had started factoring meat back into my diet post-heart attacks and my numbers all still look good for a while. Then about 2 years ago standards changed for what is desirable cholesterol levels in heart patients and rather than taking one more medication everyday to lower my cholesterol, I opted to go back to a mostly vegetarian diet —but with a little flexibility. No meat at home, which is where I eat most of the time, but I can have what I want when I dine out.

About 6-8 months after this shift my numbers had dropped to an acceptable level per my cardiologists recommendation and I avoided yet another medication.

What about your exercise routines or activity levels?

When it comes to exercise, well…a lot changed there. As I touched on earlier, I had decided to start training for my first half marathon. The heart attacks took my endurance to absolutely zero though.

I could not walk a block without needing to sit down and catch my breath, a fact that really messed with me mentally and emotionally. This experience took running away from me and the lack of control over my body only made me want it back even more.

In cardiac rehab I became known as “the girl who runs” because that was my singular goal - even when “run” was a stretch for the 1-min interval VERY SLOW jogs I was doing. It set the foundation though for being able to safely increase my distance & intensity without worrying about heart giving out on me again.

Within 6 months I worked up to a 10k, then eventually a half marathon and soon-to-be 15 full marathons after this next race on March 8.

Where did you go for guidance on those topics?

My cardiologist was my first source for information on the diet. I am very particular to get doctors who understand that I am an athlete and can give me advice tailored to that lifestyle as well as one of a person living with heart disease.

Soon after I became heavily involved with the American Heart Association and my knowledge of heart health and preventative measures really expanded.

Then when I got into marathons, I started looking for advice from sports nutritionists and combined their recs with that of my knowledge on cardiac health to find the right way to fuel for performance without sacrificing long term heart health.

As for the training component, cardiac rehab really did wonders for me to learn how to trust my body again and realize the difference between “this is hard because it’s beyond my fitness level ‘and “this is hard because something is going wrong again.” That level of trust & awareness of what is normal for my body was both a monstrous mountain to climb and so incredibly important as I got into marathons.

Thank you again, for sharing your story. If there is one thing you want people to take away from this, what would that thing be?

A few things:

1. Know your family history. I didn’t have any at the time and this still happened to me. If you do have risk factors the more you know NOW, the better you can adapt to avoid a similar fate.
   
2. Address any lifestyle factors you have that could affect your long term heart health.
   
3. Be grateful for every single run, no matter the pace or distance. Every urn may not be perfect, but the simple ability to do it is truly a gift that we tend to take for granted until it’s taken from us.
   
4. If something feels off, MAKE A FUSS! This is particularly aimed at the women reading please. So often we ignore symptoms of something odd or dismiss it as anxiety or “just stress.” But if something feels off, then go to a hospital. You know your body better than anyone else so please advocate for yourself until someone listens. It is SO Much better to be in a hospital and find out it’s nothing serious, than to dismiss symptoms as “stress” and end up in a worse fate at home.

Channing is an Entrepreneur, Keynote Speaker, Running Coach, Marathoner and Heart Attack Survivor. Find out more about her here.

- Ginny Bumpus