Survival of the Fittest
A hat tip to my friend Deborah for sending me a link to this fascinating piece in the Wall Street Journal that should give older athletes some pause when it comes to training hard after training for so long.
And even though the research focuses on older runners, a younger professional triathlete is mentioned for repeatedly passing out during competitions and requiring "acute medical attention" and a please from people to consider a career change. "Instead, after undergoing in-depth study at a Connecticut sports-medical clinic, she was told to triple her intake of sodium during races. Yet she was also told to slow down, advice that helped her this summer complete—without passing out—her first Ironman-distance triathlon."
What the new research suggests is that the benefits of running may come to a hard stop later in life. In a study involving 52,600 people followed for three decades, the runners in the group had a 19% lower death rate than nonrunners, according to the Heart editorial. But among the running cohort, those who ran a lot—more than 20 to 25 miles a week—lost that mortality advantage.Others in the article question whether data is being manipulated to prove a point, but I keep thinking anecdotally of men who die of heart attacks during races, including one exceptionally fit man who was well known to many here.
And even though the research focuses on older runners, a younger professional triathlete is mentioned for repeatedly passing out during competitions and requiring "acute medical attention" and a please from people to consider a career change. "Instead, after undergoing in-depth study at a Connecticut sports-medical clinic, she was told to triple her intake of sodium during races. Yet she was also told to slow down, advice that helped her this summer complete—without passing out—her first Ironman-distance triathlon."
