Day 57 - Health Issues

Though the weather seemed cloudy, bleak and very cold, I still decided to go for my run. Yes, I am always motivated - before my run. I tried out my New Balance pair. The shoes hurt near the toes, that is, suppose one stands on her toes, the place where the shoe would bend is where it hurt with every step. It got better when I started jogging, and after the first mile, I did not care about my shoes, I was just very cold and breathless. By the way, I also realised that I cheat on my workout. The second half mile of my run consists of running down quite a steep hill, which I happily complete, so I shouldn't actually be taking the credit of completing a 3 mile run, it's more like a 2.5 mile run :(.

After returning, while flipping through the Health and Medicine section of an old US News magazine, saw an article on a triathlete. She moved to triathlons when she got bored with running marathons. The reporter also interviewed a Harvard doctor in the article who had studied Boston Marathon runners for years. According to him, moderate exercise is good for your health while marathon running is too much of a good thing. He, at one time, had studied 60 marathon runners bafore and after the race, looking at their heart rhythms and their blood for signs of heart damage. After the race, 40 percent showed evidence to indicate damage, though it reversed within days. The runners with less training showed most damage. The stress of running that long can promote systemic inflammation and blood clotting.

Now, even before coming across this article I was a little worried about the effect of all this on my body. I am obese and do think about the amount of work my poor heart has to do to pump blood to various parts of my body. I have told myself time and again how much more easier a run would be if I were just a little lighter, but my diet control is negligible and it seems that running a marathon is not motivating enough a reason to move to a healthy and balanced diet. I know, a sad story here.

Caroline, could you talk a little about your knee injury and what caused it. Also, I would like to request all long time runners to write about the lessons learned during their frequent running. What kind of health mistakes did they make and what could they have done to avoid the same, what negative health effects do they see on their body due to all this running. No, I am not demotivating anybody or going to be demotivated, I would just like to learn from other people's experience. Wise men learn from other people's experience, men learn from their own experience, fools never learn. I would rather be a wise guy in this case :)