As I found out recently, scoring well on a stress test does not necessarily mean a clean bill of health. I took a "fitness evaluation" program at a local hospital that did the whole works: echocardiogram, stress test, V02-max measurement (wearing a mask during the treadmill test), etc. i came through as expected with flying colors: normal EKG, 90th+ percentile for my age, etc. But due to having a pretty bad family history (on my dad's side) the cardiologist that I met with recommended getting a CT Calcium scoring scan that reveals calcium deposits in the coronary arteries, which is interpreted as a sign of plaque buildup.

Well, that turned out to be a lot worse than I had hoped and expected. So now my doctor is trying more aggressively to lower my LDL level (increased my statin dosage) and I've been less casual about my diet and BP readings. When I asked my doctor what good all this exercise has been if I'm on this path anyway, he said that without it I could well have had an event by now. And indeed, my younger brother -- who does not do any aerobic exercising -- had a mild heart attack at about 62 when he was 6 years younger than I am now.

On the upside, after all this medication adjustment, I ran a half-marathon last weekend in 2:10, which was only 10 minutes slower than my previous one a couple years ago when I was much better trained (and younger!).