St George Marathon

[Pheidippides]

Absolutely. They are terrible for your joints and probably bad for your heart, too.

Spending hours and hours daily at a high blood pressure with very high metabolic stress while running cannot be a good thing. Anecdotally, we see a bunch of middle-aged marathon runners with terrible coronary artery disease despite their outstanding aerobic conditioning and cholesterol profiles.

I saw a study that showed a "greater than predicted" amount of coronary calcium for "extreme" endurance athletes. I think more and more studies will support that moderate exercise is good -- Marathons and Triathlons, not so much. You can have too much of a good thing.

My wife is running the Boston Marathon in 2 weeks. As usual, she thinks I'm full of crap.

Cardiac, this is very interesting to hear. I'm currently working on cardio by running three miles three times a week, but the whole idea is to be healthy, so I don't care if I can run a trillion miles at a time or not. How much is "too much"? I am a genetic superman as far as cholesterol and heart health, if that makes any difference.

[CardiacCoug]

Cardiac, this is very interesting to hear. I'm currently working on cardio by running three miles three times a week, but the whole idea is to be healthy, so I don't care if I can run a trillion miles at a time or not. How much is "too much"? I am a genetic superman as far as cholesterol and heart health, if that makes any difference.

I think that even up to 3-5 miles every day of running is great for your health, as long as your joints can handle it.

I'm talking about the people who train for 3+ hours per day at 90% of maximal heart rate.

With exercise, there is definitely a point where you begin to have diminishing returns. It's not definitively proven, but a lot of cardiologists think there is also a point where excessive exercise is not just unhelpful, but even harmful from a cardiovascular standpoint. I'll have to find that study.

[BigPiney]

Butter would be a hard thing to give up....maybe it's an addiction.

My name is BigPiney and I am also addicted to Butter. I also put cream on my cold cereal in the morning in addition to the 2% milk.

[beelzebabette]

My name is BigPiney and I am also addicted to Butter. I also put cream on my cold cereal in the morning in addition to the 2% milk.

If you mix in berries, that makes it okay. At least, that's the rational I've decided to go with. Berries would feel very utilitarian without a whipped topping.

[venkman]

If you mix in berries, that makes it okay. At least, that's the rational I've decided to go with. Berries would feel very utilitarian without a whipped topping.

Raspberries with Half 'n Half for me. Mmmmmmmm.

[ERCougar]

I think that even up to 3-5 miles every day of running is great for your health, as long as your joints can handle it.

I'm talking about the people who train for 3+ hours per day at 90% of maximal heart rate.

With exercise, there is definitely a point where you begin to have diminishing returns. It's not definitively proven, but a lot of cardiologists think there is also a point where excessive exercise is not just unhelpful, but even harmful from a cardiovascular standpoint. I'll have to find that study.

I've read several places that anything beyond 30 minutes per day average, or 3 hours a week, is for something besides better health, because there's just no additional health benefit.

I'm pretty convinced that speed work only benefits times, and may be slightly harmful to your health. If every person in America would make sure that they do 30 minutes of brisk walking every day, we'd make huge cuts into heart disease, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, back pain...the list goes on and on. But instead, everyone gets into these short-lived exercise fits that die as quickly as they start once the initial excitement wears off.

EDIT: There's another negative to speed work. Every case of sudden cardiac death in a relatively healthy person that I've seen has been an extreme athlete. My latest example was a PICU doctor who I knew well who died suddenly while he was out on a ride. He was a hard-core rider and as soon as I heard about his death, I didn't have to wait for the autopsy--I knew exactly the cause of death. Hank Gathers died from the same thing. Cardiac could give you a better opinion on this, but I'm betting that if these guys wouldn't have pushed themselves to the limit, their condition would never have "declared" itself.

[beelzebabette]

I've read several places that anything beyond 30 minutes per day average, or 3 hours a week, is for something besides better health, because there's just no additional health benefit.

I'm pretty convinced that speed work only benefits times, and may be slightly harmful to your health. If every person in America would make sure that they do 30 minutes of brisk walking every day, we'd make huge cuts into heart disease, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, back pain...the list goes on and on. But instead, everyone gets into these short-lived exercise fits that die as quickly as they start once the initial excitement wears off.

I'll be the first to confess I don't exercise for better health. I liked marathons for what they did for my mental stamina more than any physical reason--though I didn't mind the tone that came with it.

I think I have mentioned before that running fifteen miles is my favorite distance. Going with the average theory you mention, would it be harmful to run half an hour twice during the week and a 2-1/2 hour run on weekends?

[CardiacCoug]

Here is the abstract for the study I was talking about:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426850

[ERCougar]

I'll be the first to confess I don't exercise for better health. I liked marathons for what they did for my mental stamina more than any physical reason--though I didn't mind the tone that came with it.

I think I have mentioned before that running fifteen miles is my favorite distance. Going with the average theory you mention, would it be harmful to run half an hour twice during the week and a 2-1/2 hour run on weekends?

I was going more after the three 1-hour episodes. Anything beyond an hour depletes your glycogen stores and you're doing something your body isn't really designed to do. I can't give you a study for it, but that's my hunch.

Half-marathons are my favorite distance too, and I'm not saying you should drop them. I really doubt there's any significant harm to running half's, certainly not to the level of full marathons. I like the challenge of it, and the challenge keeps me motivated to run. There are plenty of hobbies that I have that are worse for me.

I was just pointing this out for the majority of people out there who think they have to run or bike or work out hard to be healthy. The change they need to make isn't all that big.

[ERCougar]

Here is the abstract for the study I was talking about:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18426850

Wow... that's interesting. I hadn't read that before.

[beelzebabette]

Thanks, ER.

[CardiacCoug]

Here's another interesting study. One of the authors (Pam Douglas) spoke here in Houston -- 24% average reduction in LV ejection fraction after you run an Ironman Triathlon!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10190525

[BigPiney]

Here's another interesting study. One of the authors (Pam Douglas) spoke here in Houston -- 24% average reduction in LV ejection fraction after you run an Ironman Triathlon!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10190525

Don't know what that means, but it is pretty easy to assume that doing an Ironman is not good for you. Having said that I still want to do one at some point. I can only image the sense of accomplishment of completing one ofthose.

Same goes for a marathon. I mean, it is named for the place that one guy ran to and then died after having run that far.

[CardiacCoug]

Don't know what that means, but it is pretty easy to assume that doing an Ironman is not good for you. Having said that I still want to do one at some point. I can only image the sense of accomplishment of completing one ofthose.

Same goes for a marathon. I mean, it is named for the place that one guy ran to and then died after having run that far.

Yeah, it's just common sense. But you would be amazed at how many people ask things like, "How could he have a heart attack if he's in good enough shape to run a marathon?"

[ewth8tr]

Is anyone registering this year? I got turned away last year, but I think we (my wife and I and 2 or 3 other friends) will try again. I guess they opened registration up to 7,000 runners this year, so our chances are up this time. The only downside is that I might actaully get a race ticket and will then have to get ready for it. I don't want another bonk like last year.

I've been thinking about registering, it would be my first full after running 2 half marathons. Would the SG or the ToU be better for a first timer?