Thanks for sharing your experience, Alan. You bring up the observation of high CAC in athletes. The jury is still out about the causes. I suspect, that the epidemiological viewpoint (across cohorts, as opposed to interindividual) possibly hides the fact that not all athletes respond similarly to the high training loads that define their athlete status. We know that intensive training triggers a temporary inflammatory response. That response might be detrimental to those whose training load exceeds their body's ability to deal with it. After all, maximum oxygen consumption, the benchmark for cardiorespiratory fitness, is to some non-negligible degree genetically determined. For the same training load, the individual who is less endowed may experience a more severe inflammatory response than their better endowed peers. But that's just a suspicion.