Thomas Schmitt, 47, thought he could outrun heart disease, but it caught up with him.

A slim, fit distance runner who was a Division One star in college, he knew the disease lurked in the family gene pool, but thought that running dozens of miles per week would keep it safely in check. But just when he turned 40, his father had symptoms of a heart attack and ended up needing a quadruple bypass. That worried him enough to go in for his own check-up.

The news was not good. Not only did Tom have heart disease, but it had been developing for years. His doctor advised going on medication. Still, he wasn't that worried. In fact, after taking the medication for a couple of years with little noticeable change except for annoying side effects, he stopped. Within a short time, he experienced such symptoms as tiredness and difficulty breathing when running. He just didn't feel right most of the time.

One day at the start of a run he felt even worse than usual. His wife urged him to go in for a check-up. This time, he saw Dr. Brian Strunk, a cardiologist at Marin General Hospital who, despite Tom's attempts to dissuade him, immediately recognized a far more serious problem. Dr. Strunk put Tom on bed rest until he could do a procedure.

What Dr. Strunk found was a blocked left anterior descending coronary artery (better known as the "widow maker"). The procedure to reopen it to allow placement of a stent was lengthened and complicated by heavy calcification, requiring a high speed diamond tipped drill.

"Dr. Strunk sat me down around Easter and told me how serious this was," the father of three said. "It was the wake-up call I needed. My 25th wedding anniversary was coming up, and it finally sunk in that if I wanted to continue to take care of those I love, I needed to make dramatic changes in my life."

Tom jettisoned his job in the South Bay which had consumed three hours of daily commute time. He found something in San Francisco with a relaxing half hour commute via the Larkspur ferry. "Work and stress don't cause heart disease," he says, "but they do provide the distraction and excuses to avoid taking care of yourself. I wasn't getting the exercise or sticking to the diet I needed and the job let me off the hook."

At 6 ft. tall, he had previously weighed in at about 170 lbs. Now he is a super-lean 147-148 lbs. "I used to think my diet was pretty healthy-I'd eat meat a couple times a week, vegetables and a fair amount of fruit," he says. "Now I'm a complete vegetarian. I stay away from processed sugar; I stick to low carbs, low fat, granola, salad, fruit, brown rice and black beans." He still runs 6 to 7 miles a day, then does 5 miles cycling; and finishes with core exercises and calisthenics.

One reason Dr. Strunk was so effective at getting his attention is that the cardiologist-also lean and fit-explained he faces the same issues of genetic risk and must work just as hard to stay heart-healthy. A Princeton graduate who completed his cardiology fellowship at Stanford, Dr. Strunk's obviously disciplined approach to staying fit-he's a dedicated cyclist--was motivating and inspiring to Tom, as was his "cautiously blunt" admonition about the need to take action.

Tom says that Marin General Hospital was a great experience. "The amount of technology in the operating room was overwhelming and impressive, " he says. "It made me feel very comfortable that they could handle anything that came up. When I was admitted I felt really vulnerable and out of control, but they took great care of me. After that experience, I would never go anywhere else."