DEAR DR. GOTT: I’m a 69-year-old male and have been diagnosed with a diastolic heart murmur. As I understand the explanation from my primary doctor, as a result of the murmur my heart doesn’t relax quickly or fully, particularly when exercising. This results in an inefficient cardio function and shortness-of-breath.

I jog three to five miles four to five times a week and have been doing so for four years. I run at around a 13.5 minutes per mile pace and can’t seem to make any improvement in the pace, even when I run a 5k race. Due to the diastolic murmur, is it unrealistic to continue to try and better my running pace? In my easily sixties, I easily ran at a 10 minute per mile pace in the past but after a few years layoff due to an autoimmune issue for which I’m now symptom-free, I found I could not get close to that pace again for more than very short distances. Various training techniques to try and run faster have not helped. Is this just natural due to the aging process or is it also affected by the heart murmur?
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