In early June 2009, Devra Freedma, 60, participated in the Guelph Lake One Triathlon. She swam 1,500 metres, cycled 40 kilometres and ran 10 kilometres. The winner clocked in at just over two hours. Freedma finished with a time just under four hours.

“The race was good, but the aftermath was bad,” she said.

After completing the triathlon, Freedma felt ill. Later that night, around 2 a.m., she suffered a heart attack.

“It took me about 10 minutes to realize what was going on,” she said. “I know all the signs of a heart attack, so I knew.”

Devra Freedma found herself lying in a hospital bed, with her Blackberry in hand, messaging her friends and family, updating them on her status. Her life had taken a hit, forcing her into rehabilitation.

Devra Freedma spent most of her adult life in a classroom teaching English to high school students within the Toronto District School Board. She became head librarian at Agincourt Collegiate, where she retired in 2002.

After she left teaching, she hired a personal trainer to help her prepare for marathons. With the trainer’s guidance and supervision, she would achieve her optimal fitness level.

“You become injury-prone when you begin doing marathons and running,” she said. “When you begin sport-specific training, I think personal training, where you work one-on-one, improves times, and keeps it under control.”

Since 2002, she had 15 races under her belt. After Guelph Lake, doctors diagnosed her with coronary artery disease. Her coronary artery was 50 per cent blocked. Now Freedma finds herself taking four different cardiac medications a day. Freedma claims she went from a marathon athlete to almost a “cardiac cripple,” as she puts it.

Dr. Heyu Ni, a research scientist at St. Michael’s Hospital said that a heart attack is the result of the artery walls thickening as lipid cells build up.

A heart attack becomes nearly inevitable for someone with 50 per cent blockage of the coronary artery, such as Freedma had.

“During a race, the heart is pumping extremely fast, and this is where the atherosclerotic lesion ruptures,” Dr. Ni stated. “(An) atherosclerotic lesion rupture is the most common thing that leads to a heart attack,”

Determined not to let the heart attack ruin her life, Freedma turned to her longtime personal trainer and friend Jared Valentic, whom she had trained with since 2002.

Although Freedma was eager to get back into the gym, Valentic stopped her initially because the hospital had ordered a rest.

“I wanted to get back into the gym because my fitness level was so high,” she said.

After returning to the gym, Freedma began a three-week rehab routine designed to ease her back into competition-ready shape.

“Her goals changed considerably. We’ve had to de-tune a lot of things we’ve done in the past,” Valentic said.

At first Freedma wasn’t allowed to push any weight above her head. She did her cardio on a bicycle instead of a treadmill. She wore a heart monitor throughout her sessions. Valentic never allowed her heart rate to go higher than 145 beats-per-minute.

“He monitored me constantly,” Freedma said. “I think I made him a nervous wreck.”

Valentic used to spend one hour a week with Freedma. Since the incident, he has cut her back to 30 minutes.

Doctors put Freedma through a stress test in September. They monitored her heart before and after her physical test to assess her condition. She recalled running on a treadmill in the hospital almost tripping several times over her gown.

“She was told that she probably wouldn’t be able to race anymore,” Valentic said.

However, this assessment did not discourage Freedma, who simply extended her rehab phase to four weeks.

“I personally think (doctors) were conservative, and that she can race again,” Valentic added.

Soon enough Freedma found herself back in her usual spinning class and back into the swimming pool.

“(Now) I am able to do all of my workouts that I’ve done before, but I haven’t gotten back to running yet,” she said.

All Freedman feels she needs now is the challenge of another race.