S01E15 - Tom Kietur, Heart Attack Survivor (How CrossFit helped save his life)

HERDFITUSA welcomes Tom Kietur @tkietur, heart attack survivor, who talks about his experience with a heart attack after a WOD and how he was able to survive and recover.

A twenty-one year Air Force veteran and successful small business owner @readycleancontracting, Tom is a stalwart @crossfitbison member. We witnessed Tom experience a "widowmaker" heart attack at the gym during a workout a year ago. Overcoming death-defying odds, Tom was able to recover and continues as a CrossFit athlete, inspiring us and others around him with his fortitude, hard work, and positive outlook on life. We learned a lot about overcoming adversity working with Tom over the past year, and he shares his amazing story with us today.

You can find more information at our website, HerdFitUSA.com, and make sure to like and subscribe wherever you watch or listen to our podcast.⁠

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@crossfit #crossfit #fitness #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #agoq #crossfitgames #crossfitgames #clean #fitness #crossfit #heartattack #heart #hearthealth #heartattacksurvivor #crossfithealth

S01E15 - Tom Kietur, Heart Attack Survivor (How CrossFit helped save his life)

[00:00:00] David Syvertsen: All right. Welcome back to the Herd Fit podcast. We are here. I am David Syvertsen, coach Syvertsen and I'm here with Dr. Sam Rhee and we have a very, very, very special guest with us today. He's a staple in the CrossFit bison community. There's also a story to be told today. That's going to be, it's really special to us. 

Obviously very special to him. We'll, we'll get into. Something that happened just, just over a year ago. But this is a Tom, Tom Kietur. Tom Kietur. Tom Kietur I knew  

[00:00:26] Tom Kietur: you were getting there. I was waiting for that. Okay.  

[00:00:29] David Syvertsen: So Tom K is what I write on the whiteboard, every time I write his scores. 

So that's just what I'm going to call them today. Tom, welcome to the herd fit pocket. Happy to be here. Thank you. Awesome. Tom, before we get into why we have you on today and what we can learn from you, what you've inspired, both Sam and I and countless people here at bison. Tell us just a little bit about yourself, your background, because I think it's going to help kind of clear the picture out a little bit. 

Once we get into what we're talking about.  

[00:00:53] Tom Kietur: All right. I'll take it back just to a couple of years. I'm the 21 year air force veteran. I joined the air force back in 1992, retired in 2013 and then hit the civilian world. And that's a, that's a pretty statement, but I served all over the world, Oliver station and Jeremy for nine years, middle east, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, you  

[00:01:15] David Syvertsen: name it. 

And here we are on nine 11. And just, you know, before we get into anything, just thank you for your service. Big time, you know, that's something that we should always be overly thankful for. Now. In regard to Tom and health and fitness. Can you give just some background on, you know, how long have you been doing cross it, but even further back than that, you know, kind of comparing what kind of condition you're in now to where you were, you know, 10, 15, 20 years ago when you were in the air force. 

Yeah, I  

[00:01:44] Tom Kietur: mean, taking it to high school and stuff I wrestled and that's about the extent of it. I was never really an athlete. Anybody that knows the air force, especially the earlier years. Fitness was definitely not a, a big picture. Right. We had a an annual test and all this test was, is you got on an exercise bike, they measured your heart rate. 

And if it went up to a certain rate and didn't go too high, you passed. So it was really, and that was it. Wow. So you could see fitness in the air force was not, not a big thing. And there was a general. You know, in the late late nineties that said, this is, this is ridiculous. We had the most unfit force. So they started the whole PT program, PT testing, a mile and a half under nine minutes type thing, 60, 60 pushups into minutes, 60 sit-ups and a minute, you know, they, they actually measuring your ways. 

They actually kept you going. So it wasn't until probably. 2000 that fitness actually started playing a role in my life and in the air force.  

[00:02:40] David Syvertsen: Interesting. Yeah. I mean, you could even see across multiple agencies with police, FBI, military. They have all increased or altered their approach to fitness testing, you know, and I think that, that the fitness industry over the past 20 years has become more performance centered. 

Meaning what can you do? And I think that yeah. I hear this a lot is that people that are in their forties and fifties are so much, they're in much better shape now than they were 20 years ago, because of just more general understanding of what fitness is all about.  

[00:03:12] Tom Kietur: I, I, I think a big thing for me 2010, I decided to quit smoking and that was 2010. 

Yeah. I mean, I smoked for 20 years. Wow. Two packs a day. It was disgusting. I couldn't even, I couldn't even think about it now, but 2010 is probably my big shift because then I started trying. I ran three marathons, countless halfs, you know, you know, I just. Kind of changing the way I viewed things. 2014, January, 2014. 

I started CrossFit up in Massachusetts. So that was, that was that was the, my start of, of CrossFit. Okay. So  

[00:03:43] David Syvertsen: you're, you're seven years in now. Yep. That's awesome. Cool. All right. So, the, the story we wanna tell I'm going to give my perspective, Sam will give his, but the perspective we all really want to hear as yours and just over a year. 

We were still in the, kind of towards the tail end of our gym being shut down indoor operations. We were allowed to, they the state allowed us to start working out together outside. I think it was just after Memorial day and the eight late, late may, early June. So a couple months in, in August we were, we had a Saturday partner workout. 

And we had been working out in our parking lot, all summer nasty, nasty, nasty heat, but we were so thankful just to be around each other after not being around each other for so long that, you know, we kind of didn't care. All right. But I think at some point you're like, all right, this is kind of brutal. 

You're on the pavement, but it was a typical Saturday partner workout. The intensity was really high. The volume was really high and you were with a partner more often than not, that increases the intensity. And we just, you know, Tom and I just worked out in the same class and it's pretty, pretty typical that in classes after that. 

So a few people, if not many people are rolling on the ground after the workout being dramatic,  

[00:04:58] Sam Rhee: I mean, and I want to chime in before that we've known Tom ever since. You were here at bison? Yeah.  

[00:05:06] David Syvertsen: 15, 20, 15. Yeah. Like years only. I think our second year in business, you were there  

[00:05:11] Sam Rhee: and you know, you're the real deal as an athlete, right? 

Like, you know, we've known him and his performance and everything that he's been doing  

[00:05:18] David Syvertsen: and his effort always is high. Like Tom, I don't think I can ever remember ever Tom coming in a, with a bad attitude. Never. And we're not just saying that because he's here, Sam and I have said this about you with several times. 

Is never a bad attitude, but you never have like low effort either. And obviously you're a human being there's days where you probably felt like crap, something kind of  

[00:05:39] Tom Kietur: hurt. I got a broken rip today. So did, oh wait, you have one. I felt right. So today's workout. If you want me to skating today, I was taking the hottest guy  

[00:05:49] David Syvertsen: still. 

I don't know if you're taking it easy. It's a little different than other cities, but we bring this up because Tom, a pleasure to be here. Because he brings energy into a room whether he's trying to attack the workout or he has a broken rib. But he always, always, always goes hard. That was like a reputation. 

For himself over the first few years, he was one of the guys that almost after every workout you were on the ground, just like smoked, got up smiles to keep up with Sam. And he would leave saying with a big smile on his face saying, see you tomorrow. And you're a fit  

[00:06:19] Sam Rhee: individual. I mean, I remember there was a layoff for awhile where I made. 

Your business and you were starting and then you came back and you were like, oh, you know, I really needed to, you know, maybe it was like a couple months and then you came back and then you got after it again. And you know, so you've always been, like Dave said is someone who chased after it, who had the best attitude, regardless of what the workout was, how you felt  

[00:06:42] David Syvertsen: and you were fit. 

Yeah, very fit. Now we bring that up because after this workout that we were talking about outdoor Saturday in the heat partner, high-intensity Tom is on the ground, rolling around the ground and we see this multiple times every day. All right, Tom's tired. You know, he'll, he'll get up. And then all of a sudden you can start hearing him say, like, you know, Get Sam or someone else. 

It might've been Susan saying, get Sam, get Sam. Sam's a doctor. And that immediately threw like a pit into my stomach personally, that like everything around us just froze because Saturdays are very hectic here. Like you have another class coming in the parking's a mess. Right. And all of a sudden everything just stops. 

Get Sam. Kathleen was there too. Also a doctor. And that was, you know, a really nasty pit in the stomach feeling that something was genuinely wrong with you. We couldn't tell what it was. Whenever someone grabs their chest and says there's pressure on my chest. You know, the, the worst starts to go through your head. 

So Sam, take it over from your perspective. So you were the one of the first or the second to go over to him? Yeah, well, I had just  

[00:07:52] Sam Rhee: finished the workout too. So I was sitting in my own little personal role, recoveries, you know, on my knees, like just kind of dripping and. You know, you know, and it was hot outside. 

So everyone after finishing kind of was in the shade inside. And so I didn't actually hear Tom at first, which is why Susan or someone else was like yelling for me, which is why that's when not, when I came over and saw Tom and Kathleen had come over at the same time. And  

[00:08:21] David Syvertsen: both of you guys were trying to get a hold of his pulse, right? 

Yes. You had your hand around his wrist. Yeah. And what, like, just before he gets into what was actually going on through his head, that point, what was your initial, not prognosis? What was your initial thought on? You know, what was it going on with him?  

[00:08:37] Sam Rhee: Well, okay. So first of all, I am a doctor, but I'm a plastic surgeon. 

So that means I'm not really a real doctor anymore. It's been a while, more than us though. It's been awhile. But the first thing when I saw Tom was, oh shit, he does not look good. Okay. Yeah. You are in a considerable amount of discomfort, more than I've seen probably anyone you know, post short of, you know, being in a hospital in the ER or some sort of trauma. 

So that was my first thought was  

[00:09:11] David Syvertsen: Tom does not look very good. Yeah. All right. Now Tom, take it over.  

[00:09:16] Tom Kietur: I'll back it up from running in. Yeah. And that's, that's really, I, I barely remember the work and I know it. Rolling overhead rowing, running, running, and the run was the last part in. And I remember running in and turn the quarter into the driveway and that's when I said, Ooh, I pushed it hard because that was the end. 

And I was having problems catching my breath. And this is probably going to get emotional. Sorry.  

[00:09:41] David Syvertsen: It's all right, man. It's okay. That was, that was a, that was a, it was a tough day for all of us, man. Take your time.  

[00:09:50] Tom Kietur: So I couldn't get comfortable. I remember just kind of hanging on the fence. I was sitting on the side of the building, just trying to, you know, I think at that point it's like, you don't know what's going on and it's kind of like denial because you're not, you know, there's just no way I'm having a heart attack. 

Cause it's just not gonna happen. It just, it just got increasingly worse. And I went And I, and I laid down and that's just, it just really all started to fall apart. But the nausea was, I, like, I had no idea what my body was just doing its own thing. I had no control kind of curled up in some kind of position. 

And I tell you at that point, I don't know a lot about what happened at that point. Right. Just because. I think you're, you're going to your mind is just in this other place. I mean, there's voices around you. And I do remember this though. When. Valley got here. Yep. And the guy's like you're having a heart attack and I was mad. 

I was mad. I was mad. Meaning, meaning in what, what, because I knew things would never be the same. You know what I mean? It's right there. And I knew I'm like, I'm never going to be the same. Wow.  

[00:10:54] David Syvertsen: And it was a solid 10 to 15 minutes, right.  

[00:10:58] Sam Rhee: Longer than maybe 20, but I would say, so the first thing always, right. 

You know, and pretty much anyone who's taken any sort of basic life saving training knows. You are on the floor, you are breathing, you are responsive. So, you know, Those are not, you know, so it's what airway breathing, circulation, all those things are in place. So you don't have to do anything, but, but you're not doing well. 

You arriving, you weren't, you couldn't sit still. You were in so much pain. You, you are constantly, nobody can get a control. That's a really bad sign. So, so you always get help first. Right? So the first thing is you get someone to get help. So we said, you know, Kathleen, and I said, call 9 1 1 right now. So they called 9 1 1. 

We're sitting with you. Trying to comfort you. We would, there are no other supportive measures for us to do at that point. The defib machine I was thinking about was on the wall and I was thinking, do we break it open? And like, just to save us time in case or not. And I said, I think that's just going to scare  

[00:12:01] David Syvertsen: people. 

That's all. Yeah, it's funny. We, so our first three months of being open, we didn't have an AED and it was typical. First-time business owner, dumb mistake. And we didn't, it just, we didn't think about it. And then someone said, you guys need to have one of these and it's like, oh wait, how much is it? Like, you know, looking back on it now. 

And if anyone ever opens up a gym, it's gotta be the first thing you buy because you know, but we've never had to actually knock on wood, break it out. But that was the first time we were like, break that up. Again, same thing me have knowing ideal. No, I didn't know if he had heartburn or if he was having a serious heart  

[00:12:37] Tom Kietur: attack. 

That was a question, right? I mean, that was one of my questions. I think I asked you. Right.  

[00:12:42] Sam Rhee: And you can tell other than the fact that your pain was so out of proportion to anything else. Right. But. To open up the AED and set it up is literally two minutes. And it was sitting right there. So I was like, why, you know, you don't need to break it open. 

It would not necessarily save us a lot of time if you've ever, if you've never used an AED, they're dead simple to use it. It tells you everything. It goes through the whole thing verbally on you, you know, where the slap, you know, the pads on and all that. So, so that wasn't really the issue. So as soon as valley came though, and they hooked up the leads and they put it on, like, I haven't looked at an EKG. 

Yeah. I mean really analyze an EKG in a long time, probably decades where I've really had to figure one out. And I looked at the squiggle, you know, and you know how it goes, right. Normally you could use like up, down, up down, and one of your leads was like up, down, whoa, up down Noah.  

[00:13:41] David Syvertsen: I remember watching you watch, like you were studying that. 

Yeah. And I was like,  

[00:13:44] Sam Rhee: wow, it's been a long time since I looked at an EKG, but. It doesn't look right. That looks like one of the really bad ones. And the, and even the paramedic at the time was like, You're having a heart attack and you could tell it was it's called tombstone and, and that's that. And I  

[00:13:58] David Syvertsen: had to look at all this stuff up again, but  

[00:14:00] Sam Rhee: basically it's when you have you have leads across the heart, right? 

And when it shows you the position of the electrical signal and the ones in the front showed this big S T elevation, which is part of the EKG, which showed that there was a huge infarct or cardiac. Event on the front part of your heart, which is where the left ventricle is. The biggest part of your heart, the one that actually pumps all the blood from the heart into your circulation. 

And, you know, that's, you know, we talked about, this was that's called a widow maker. The, the mortality rate for for that sort of heart attack is literally 90%, 90%. And and they basically bundled you up, took you straight to the valley right after that. So do you remember what happened at that time? 

[00:14:53] Tom Kietur: I remember going into the ambulance. And I remember thinking the, the trip from here to valley was the longest, because I knew for that 10 minutes, that's probably what it was seven to 10 minutes. Yeah. Nothing, you know, nothing can be done. You know what I mean? What can you do in an ambulance? Really? I was so thirsty. 

I think when you're having a heart attack, you sweat. I mean, it's just like I was soaked,  

[00:15:16] David Syvertsen: plus you jet  

[00:15:17] Tom Kietur: just got done with the work, so that, that didn't help. They gave me a nitro to stick under my tongue. Fast forward. It wasn't until the cath lab that actually I got enough saliva in my mouth to get it out from under my tongue. 

So the nitro never hit me. I don't know why it was that dry, but that, that 10 minutes, you know, from here to valley, what was the longest. And then when I got in there things move pretty quick. And I, I, what I remember most is laying in the cath lab, you know, you're, you're still in tremendous pain. 

Those guys are going through my groin. You know, and all of a sudden he opens up a balloon and it was like, boom, like things are brighter. The pain is a hundred percent gone. Everything's back to normal because he just opened up that that was led. Yeah. The left  

[00:16:02] Sam Rhee: anterior descending  

[00:16:03] Tom Kietur: artery. Yeah. So I mean, that, that was huge. 

And then they stuck two stents in, and from that. You know, I was, I was alive at that point. Yeah.  

[00:16:12] David Syvertsen: Yeah. Mindset changed  

[00:16:13] Tom Kietur: at that point. Yeah. Yeah. It was it was exhausting, but yeah, at least I knew at that point I was okay. It was, it was a rough couple of days. How long were you in the hospital? Seven  

[00:16:21] David Syvertsen: days. 

Yeah, it was a while. I remember. Yeah, I remember, I think I want to check my phone. I think you messaged me that night or the second night that we were.  

[00:16:33] Sam Rhee: So you showed me your angiogram, they showed it to you, right? And you saw that lad was completely occluded and that blood vessel supplies over 50% of the blood to that left ventricle. 

And it was completely blocked, which is why the mortality rate is literally 90%. And the fact that you were able to get to the cath lab with them. You know, a reasonable amount of time, the fact that they were able to unblock you, like if it had been in. Two hours or three hours, you know, or  

[00:17:11] Tom Kietur: be dead. 

[00:17:12] David Syvertsen: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I remember you telling me that and this is yeah, August 30th. You said here's her text. She goes, that was some scary shit. 100% blockage. Thank you for everything. I'm really sorry. I messed up classes.  

[00:17:26] Tom Kietur: I didn't  

[00:17:27] David Syvertsen: get, sorry, if you want to know who Tom is and what kind of person he is. 

There you go right there. I'm sorry. I messed up class. Unbelievable. But, yeah, I mean, so you were in the hospital for a week at that point and coming back and Tom's is a small business owner, owns a cleaning company. And I think the dude works as much as anybody, anybody I know. And can you kind of go into just some, I mean, what did you have to do? 

What was the protocol for you coming home from the hospital in regards? I mean, we can get into working out later. Into everyday life. I  

[00:18:03] Sam Rhee: remember visiting you in the CCE in the cardiac was  

[00:18:08] Tom Kietur: really nice. Listen. It was, it was, it was a nice surprise. Yeah. I  

[00:18:12] Sam Rhee: mean, I have privileges at valley. I worked there, so I know no one can really like very few people can visit you also with COVID actually last year. 

Yeah. Yeah. So, and in the CCU, so, you know, and I, I wanted you to know. I mean, I know you've got a million messages from people and everything, but, and I also, I mean, honestly, there are some curiosity on my part because I've, I've seen a lot of sick people in a lot of different situations that was that was eye opening for me to see someone who had, had such a severe heart attack and then survive. 

Just the way the textbooks say, like you should get kept within, you know, an hour, you should do this. And and then to see you in the CCU, I mean, you look, I mean, honestly, you look like hell that first day, like you looked really bad, but you looked but you are grateful and you are positive, which is really amazing. 

Like most people, I don't know, I think they would, there'd be a lot of different emotions. I can imagine people having, but you. Were so positive, which was really weird. Like, I mean, inspiring, weird, not like weird, weird, like, like something wrong with them. Yeah. No like, wow. I mean different. Yeah. 

Different like very very inspiring to  

[00:19:24] Tom Kietur: see that I know. Over the, the, you know, the, the six months after that, I said a lot of things like, oh, they, they said to come back, I'm going to be back a hundred percent. Yeah. And I think a lot of that was the, just talk from the doctors. And I don't know if it was just talker or they just didn't know, you know, and I think that's really what it was. 

So. I think I remember saying, oh, I'll be back in two weeks. You know, I'll be back in two weeks. Right? Well,  

[00:19:49] Sam Rhee: they don't know because that time that the blockage happened, heart muscle dies. It's not getting oxygen for that time. And then once they unblock it, the oxygen is going back. But X amount of muscle has already died because of that time, the heart muscle can't survive very long without oxygen. 

So they, no one knew you, you know, everyone, it was a guess what your heart muscle. Recovery was I think at the time when you talk to you were, you were, you were scared because you didn't want to become what they call the cardiac cripple. Right? Where, where the heart muscle was so weak and not, not doing well. 

And, and no one could give you a good answer. How did you feel about that?  

[00:20:30] Tom Kietur: It was awful because nobody, I think it was unique for me was I wasn't sure. A certain level of, of shape, you know, I, wasn't a seasoned shape, a very decent shape and that's probably  

[00:20:41] David Syvertsen: pair too. I mean, again, we always talk about this. 

We can't just compare what you see here. There's a class going on right now. I can hear them drop a bar. In relation to who they see in the hospital, your top 1%.  

[00:20:52] Tom Kietur: I bet. Yeah. They, they, they did not know what to do with me in rehab. They didn't know what to do with me. The director not used to seeing somebody that's in shape and, and as young, I mean, all, all, everybody around me was in their seventies. 

It was a completely different, so. Now I lost what you just asked me. So  

[00:21:10] Sam Rhee: were you scared when they were telling you about your prognosis or the lack of knowledge?  

[00:21:14] Tom Kietur: That's what it was. Nobody had really any idea. So I think that's why they, I wouldn't call it misinformation, but they just didn't know. Right. 

And I couldn't get enough knowledge. I know I had asked you if there were any cardiologists right. For sports related and, you know, because I just wasn't getting the answers. All they want to do is medicate me. Maybe that helped, maybe it didn't. I still don't know today. I mean, I'm looking  

[00:21:37] David Syvertsen: at a message in December. 

You were saying that December nine. So this is a few months, three months after  

[00:21:44] Tom Kietur: that's right after I finished rehab right  

[00:21:46] David Syvertsen: around there. So, you know what, before we get into that, let's talk about rehab. Okay. Just kind of like what they were doing and,  

[00:21:51] Tom Kietur: you know, yeah. Rehab is neat. They, they, they hook you all up so they can monitor your heart while you're in there. 

And it's basically. Going through, you know, walking out of treadmill. So day one, and I have pictures of my progress, cause it's so goofy. Like, you know, you're, you're doing wads and throwing around weights and all of a sudden they're like, okay we'd like you to walk at 1.5 miles an hour for the next 10 minutes. 

Wow. You know, we're going to watch your heart. And you know, by day two, I was already playing. The end, you know, like RX plus by the time, by the time I finish, I'm running, you know, nobody is running in rehab and I'm running and you know, cause I'm like, I'm never going to get better. I'm never going to push myself. 

If, if I just sit here and walk, you know, at a, at a 1% incline and we  

[00:22:38] David Syvertsen: weren't a bison shirt,  

[00:22:40] Tom Kietur: I'm sure it did. I'm sure it did. I, I, I have pictures of him, especially on the last day because yeah. That's that's my inspiration. This is where I wanted to  

[00:22:50] David Syvertsen: get back. Absolutely. Yeah. So in December, you know, you said they had wanted to discuss my, my return to CrossFit. 

And you were basically under the mindset that as long as you kept your heart rate under 1 61, you'd be pretty comfortable with your return that were  

[00:23:05] Sam Rhee: those, the guidelines you were getting.  

[00:23:07] Tom Kietur: When I had my stress test, I think like 1 61 was. You know, that was the limit, you know, but it's a bogus stress test because I was wearing a mask and you run uphill wearing a mask. 

I mean, that was really another thing I  

[00:23:22] David Syvertsen: thought fair. That's another thing I forgot about. What is he came back to cross it after a heart attack. We were wearing a mask at, in bison for four months. Like you have to come back to not only CrossFit, but cross it with a mask. Yeah. Wow.  

[00:23:35] Tom Kietur: It's quick. I always forget about  

[00:23:36] David Syvertsen: that. 

Yeah, I know it is. Yeah. So you kind of went through it in December and it looked like ended December into January. That's when I started getting, we started talking a little bit about your messages, about like you were, you were frustrated that you had to spend most of your classes, most of your workouts waiting for the heart rate to come down below a certain number. 

So you could start moving again, just to watch it go too high and have to like, let it, you know, talk about that. Just like. That in mindset for you,  

[00:24:08] Sam Rhee: you were wearing a heart rate tracker that you would look at  

[00:24:10] Tom Kietur: we're in it right now. Yeah, that's it it's on my phone or on my watch. That was, that was big. 

Yeah, that was, that was the hardest part coming in here. You know, not saying we're equals or you have equals, and I know you're not supposed to compare yourself to other people, but it happens. Yeah, absolutely. And I talk about all the time. Yeah. And I see people that I'm kind of like, Hey, we're on the same level. 

You just know it, and then you're, you're working out right next to that person. And it's like, holy crap. You know, I'm, I am one quarter of what they're doing right now. And that, that was the hardest part. I think the strength was there, but the heart was not there. You know what I mean? So to do whatever, you know, one dead lift or a push or whatever, and all of a sudden your heart rates up to one 70, it's like. 

Oh, this is just, this is just stupid. What's the point that getting past that, what's the point too? How do we make it work? That was a hard transition. And I think once, once I, once I figured that out and, and let it go or check the ego at the door type thing, I think that's when it that's when it. You know, to come back around  

[00:25:23] David Syvertsen: we're we're soon going to be recording an episode on just things you can't control and how you should respond to them. 

And, you know, we all have different factors outside the gym that are going to make us kind of will dictate some of our actions, decisions that we make inside the gym. This is a perfect example. The  

[00:25:40] Sam Rhee: being able to take that mindset from this is negative too. What can I do to make that positive? We deal with that. 

So many different things all the time, whether it's just a sprain or a massive coronary event, right. Those are  

[00:25:55] David Syvertsen: things to  

[00:25:56] Sam Rhee: deal with. So how did you, how did you's deal with that then?  

[00:26:03] Tom Kietur: Overcoming it? Yeah, I mean, I think there's always that little piece. And I just, you gotta run your own race. Yes. You know what I mean? 

And I think that's really, I just said it doesn't matter anymore. I'll never. I know it, my, my heart is screwed and my ETF is 33%. Okay.  

[00:26:19] Sam Rhee: And normal is usually around  

[00:26:20] Tom Kietur: 50. Yeah. And that, this is where it's going to be. I lost, you know, a third of my heart function, so I'll never, wow. I'll never be the same. 

Right. But that's okay. Because I'm fully functional, you know what I mean? Right. I'm okay. Right. Yeah.  

[00:26:34] David Syvertsen: Yeah. And things could always be worse. Right? Like the number could have even lower, you know, at, at some point I'm sure the thought did cross your mind. You'd never be able to cross it again.  

[00:26:45] Tom Kietur: Yeah. It's, there's so much, right. 

I mean, there's just so much among  

[00:26:48] David Syvertsen: other things, obviously. I know we're not just centered around cross it.  

[00:26:51] Tom Kietur: No, but definitely. I said even, even like right after rehab, when I was, when I was really kind of in the dumps, right. That's what I was thinking. You know, my mindset was, well, if I can't do that, then, then what's the point. 

Right. You know what I mean? Right. There's a whole lot more to CrossFit than just RX  

[00:27:10] David Syvertsen: and being the best  

[00:27:11] Sam Rhee: in the gym. And I think it's a good lesson for me because as I get older, there's certain things I'm never going to be able to do. I'm never going to be able to power clean as much as I did in the past, or I'm never going to be able to run my mile time as fast as I did. 

And for me to look at myself and say, well, That's a net negative is not the right way to look at it. Right. This is a more dramatic example of that. But I think again, all, all of us face that sort of realization that, you know, some things we do improve on and I'm sure there are certain things that you find in your fitness that you're making progress with and, and, and improving every day. 

But there's certain things that we have to accept. We're just. Going to be able to do those things. And that's really, that's really hard, especially when it was taken away from you so abruptly. Did they ever tell you why they thought this was the case?  

[00:28:10] Tom Kietur: Possibly genetic? My great-grandfather grandfather both died early fifties of some type of heart attack. 

Genetics, they think maybe a piece of plaque or something burst and then it was instantaneous. I mean, I had, no, you literally just cut down on water. Yeah. I remember three quarters of the way through the wad. I started getting a little. And I think, but what's Hartford, you know what I mean? It doesn't happen to me often, but it happens often enough for me to go, you know, no, I'm not having a heart attack, but it happened. 

And, you know, at hindsight, something was probably happening right there at the end. Right.  

[00:28:49] David Syvertsen: And you're working to not finish the workout. I'm like, no, you should stop. Just knowing Tom's mindset, like it would take a mandation is not  

[00:29:00] Sam Rhee: to finish  

[00:29:01] David Syvertsen: the workout.  

[00:29:02] Tom Kietur: Well, if you think you're having a heart attack, you probably want to get up. 

[00:29:06] David Syvertsen: No, just knowing Tom's mindset. Like. Like a truck hitting him to stop a watt, you know, like, or a heart attack. But even that you  

[00:29:15] Sam Rhee: didn't, and our disclaimer is this is not medical advice. This is personal anecdotal experience from somebody please.  

[00:29:22] David Syvertsen: I don't want to get into trouble. Yeah. I mean, I have, I have a text. 

The last one I want to share is from April. And it was saying that that was the first, this is the first time I felt like I'm actually back what a great feeling, you know, and that was, I'm going to do some quick math nine months. Yeah. And just, I just want to say credit to man, because I think a lot of people would've given up or found a reason not to do it. 

Yeah. And you were finding new doctors and you went up like the ladder, like one step at a time and you probably wanted to, you know, in certain moments either get off a ladder or skip a few steps. But not, and now you're over a year in and yes, things may never be the same, but I mean, honestly, man, like I can't tell that much of a difference if at all, watching you work out now and being around you, like you bring energy to me when I'm coaching. 

Like when we get to see who's on our classes. Whenever I see your Tom couture now. Just kidding, Tom Kay. On my on my apps. And they were in, like, I know just like, there's very few people in the gym. If I see a person in the class, it's going to be an awesome class and you're one of them. And I think it says nothing to do with what you used to be able to do compared to what you could do now. 

It's the energy you bring into the room. And I think that's like a huge, like a thank you from us, you know, do you, do you still have a  

[00:30:31] Sam Rhee: hard heart rate limit at this point?  

[00:30:33] Tom Kietur: You know, That is, that is my limitation. I watched my heart rate and I push it until it says no more. Like I got after really, really hard on on, on row number 13 today. 

So nicely in my heart rates up to 1 77. I'm like, oh, you know, that's, that's it. I don't, I like to keep between 1 45. And one 60. So if I can dead lift, you know, 300 pounds and it's low. Great. If I can only get to 1 25, well then that's okay.  

[00:31:01] David Syvertsen: Pretty high. Yeah. I mean, that's a pretty high, I mean, that's pretty good. 

I don't think many people go that far. One 70  

[00:31:07] Sam Rhee: something makes me feel.  

[00:31:08] David Syvertsen: Awful. Yeah. Like we talked about that zone two zone, three training sometimes, and that's kind of like where you want to live.  

[00:31:14] Tom Kietur: That's that's the problem. It's so easy for me to get there. Yeah.  

[00:31:18] Sam Rhee: Right. Yeah. But now have you been able to maintain it and sustain it longer within that zone that you want to stay in at this point? 

[00:31:26] Tom Kietur: It all depends. Like when I, when I run and I'm out on the road and I actually ran five miles two weeks ago, just to kind of see how it feels, but still, you know, My heart rate was still at 1 45, 1 50, which is, which is really high for going out for a run. Should be, it should be 1 35  

[00:31:44] Sam Rhee: ish. How do you feel your conditioning has been over the past six months at this point? 

[00:31:48] Tom Kietur: Progress wise? Well, that's, that's tough because right now I'm busier than ever. Oh, right. Your work that's killing me  

[00:31:54] David Syvertsen: to get into next, but yeah. I mean, conditioning, physical conditioning. I'll compare it to even where you were like six months ago. What do you. I,  

I  

[00:32:02] Tom Kietur: think mentally I'm in a much better. I I'll tell you, I'm getting old quick. 

My, my shoulders don't feel the same, so yeah. But I will tell you how important it is, you know, to, to maintain a schedule. Because I think when I hurt and it's not that good hurt, it's bad hurt. I think that's because muscle strength is being lost and I, you know, that's how I think it's so important to keep, keep on it. 

Keeps it together,  

[00:32:29] David Syvertsen: right? Yeah. Right. Absolutely. Now outside the gym, you know, w were there things that, cause we we've spent a lot of time talking about your fitness in relation to what happened last year, you know, and you are a very busy, busy man and you do a very good job with your cleaning business. 

I remember when you started it, I mean, you took off pretty quick. It's grown  

[00:32:49] Sam Rhee: tremendously.  

[00:32:51] Tom Kietur: Unfortunate. Very lucky.  

[00:32:52] David Syvertsen: Yeah. You want a good job, but you've, you've earned there and there's a lot of work on your plate and I know, and Sam knows when the busier you are with work and you're trying to work out, you have a family, right. 

It's stressful. What part has anything had to shift within that realm to, you know, in regards to your heart  

[00:33:09] Tom Kietur: as far as work? Yeah. Uh there's there's no, no.  

[00:33:13] David Syvertsen: Are there any habits that you're trying to. Get ahold of struggling to beat right now, things that you've had changed. I'll  

[00:33:20] Tom Kietur: tell you, stress is a killer diet is always a killer. 

Yeah. I'm definitely not where I should be. Definitely not where I want to be. Right. And that's something that I that's something I like to take control of. Right. Okay. Things like that being more consistent coming here. I always, I always liked the four 15 class. I love the 6:00 AM class. Cause it always started my day. 

Right. I need to start my day even earlier than that. Yeah. But I always like the four 15 class because it, it, it helps me end my day. Right. You know, it's like, that's it everybody's get out of here. This is, this is my time. Yeah. And that's been harder and harder lately. The busier I get. Right. But I mean that's, that's something. 

I need to change because that's, there'll be also going to do it for me and nobody else is going to shut my mouth when I want to stick something good in it. Yeah.  

[00:34:07] Sam Rhee: Yep. So they always say, when people go through a near death experience, they, they appreciate things more. It changes their perspective. Like, is that true for you in terms of what you've seen in your life, how you  

[00:34:19] Tom Kietur: feel? 

I would say certain things. I, I, I still think a year later I'm still. Trying to figure it out. You know, I still, you know, there, there are certain, sometimes I say, you know what? You only live once. So this is, this is how it's going to be. And this is not going to get any better. I know it medically, this is not, so you just have to deal with it. 

So, yeah, I mean, I guess, I guess I am appreciative and I, and I that's just happy to be here.  

[00:34:48] Sam Rhee: I was about to say you're so busy with life now, again, that it's. Who you're not necessarily thinking about all the negative things that can happen. You just got right back into it  

[00:34:59] Tom Kietur: in spades. I think that's, that's what I said. 

I said, you cannot focus on a number that I was at the cardiologist two weeks ago and I had an echo and that's when they said, okay, your, your, your ETF is still 30. And I'm like, whatever I said, I don't care anymore. I said, I'm not gonna, I'm not going to just live my life by a number a year ago. I want, you know, an echo every, every month I went in for a cardiac MRI just because I wanted to really, really, really know. 

And I guess what, it's still 31 or it's still 33. And then I got to the point. It's like, it doesn't matter. It's just the number. Yep. Okay. I love that. Yeah, you can't, you can't let it run your life. Yeah.  

[00:35:40] David Syvertsen: All right. Well, thanks, Tom. You know, again, I want to echo what we said earlier, you know, we're, we're honored to just be a part of your life, you know, even if it's for an hour, a day, a few days a week. 

And you know, well, I will never forget that day. I'm sure you won't either. I want to  

[00:35:54] Sam Rhee: ask one last question. What advice would you give to anyone who had to go through what you went through? Like, what was the biggest lesson you learned? Or if you had to tell someone, listen, I went through this, this is what I can tell you. 

[00:36:09] Tom Kietur: You got to stay positive. I think that's the biggest thing. I know you mentioned it and I didn't even realize it in the hospital. You're going to get through it, stay positive and don't. You know, I got, I got corny shirts that, you know, saying that never quit and all that good stuff, but it is it's, it's, it's mental. 

And, and once you give up a quick story, there's a guy, when I lived in Germany, he retired after working 40 years for a company, he was 65 70. And I said, what are you going to do? It's like, oh, I'm going to open up a business. Acid, why I said, don't you want to relax? He's like, if I stop living, I'm dead. 

And it's the same. It's the same thing. If you have an event like this, like anything broken leg and you stop living, you're done. I mean, it's, you know, maybe you're not going to die, but there's no reason to stop  

[00:37:01] David Syvertsen: time. Thanks. Ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Awesome.