Carrie Lehtonen and two companions set out for a thrilling 60-mile bike ride across the scenic Colorado Rockies, eager to embrace a day filled with adventure. As with any strenuous activity, they anticipated some discomfort, including sore muscles and breathlessness. However, on this particular July day, Lehtonen’s experience took an alarming turn. At just 31 years old and an experienced cyclist and triathlete, she found herself struggling to keep pace with her friends. Symptoms like dizziness and nausea hit her unexpectedly, mimicking the feeling of indigestion. Pain radiated through her shoulders and neck, and despite taking breaks and enjoying lunch, the discomfort returned with a vengeance as she resumed biking. About ten miles from their starting point, which were primarily downhill, a strange pressure began to build in her chest.
When they eventually returned to Keith Guastella’s home in Longmont, where they had embarked on their journey, Guastella—a colleague of Lehtonen’s—was taken aback by her ordeal. They watched some of the Tour de France on television as Lehtonen tried to alleviate her stomach discomfort with a fizzy drink. After a lengthy absence from the gathering, Guastella grew anxious and knocked on the bathroom door, asking if everything was alright. Lehtonen’s uncertain reply prompted Guastella to open the door, only to discover her curled up in pain on the floor. Immediately, he recognized that something was seriously wrong.
At the hospital, physicians ran a battery of tests, initially suspecting either gall bladder issues or gastrointestinal problems, but all tests returned normal. However, the doctor soon noted Lehtonen’s family history of heart disease, something she had never considered in this context. As memories of her grandparents’ heart troubles and her father’s heart attacks in his 40s flooded back, she felt tears welling up. A follow-up blood test, prompted by this family history, revealed signs of potential heart issues. When the on-call cardiologist arrived, Lehtonen was quickly taken to the cardiac catheterization lab for further examination.
The cardiologist discovered that Lehtonen had suffered a heart attack caused by a blood clot in her coronary artery. After breaking up the clot and placing a stent to restore proper blood flow, the doctor warned her that without immediate medical attention, she might not have survived the night. Lehtonen spent three nights in the intensive care unit and another night in a regular hospital room before being discharged, with clearance to return to work the following week. Due to her young age and overall health, her doctors deemed cardiac rehabilitation unnecessary. Lehtonen resumed workouts quickly and even completed another triathlon the next summer, though she experienced occasional dizziness, likely a side effect of her medications.
A year post-heart attack, Lehtonen’s life took a new direction when a co-worker introduced her to a representative from the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women program. This encounter sparked her interest in pursuing a career as a health coach, in addition to exploring yoga and mindfulness practices. “I came to realize that I needed to manage my stress and mindset better,” she reflected. “My near-death experience illuminated the need for change in my life.” By 2011, two years after her heart incident, Lehtonen sought a less demanding job, trained as a holistic health practitioner and yoga instructor, and adopted a vegan lifestyle. Eventually, she launched a side business focused on health coaching and yoga classes, starting to lead yoga retreats globally in 2015. She married in 2017 and, in 2018, made the leap to leave her corporate job to fully devote herself to her burgeoning business, now based in Evergreen, a picturesque mountain town near Denver.
At 47, Lehtonen remains active in cycling, particularly mountain biking, while also enjoying hiking, cross-country skiing, and paddle boarding. “I keep my
