re: RUNNERS: 16 Year Old Teen Dies After First Half Marathon

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Know your limits.

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This!

Gradually increase your mileage and speed. Listen to your body. People complain that running "hurt" them. Most of the time, it is just the fact that they did too much too soon. Would I love to go bench press 400 lbs at the gym? Yea, but if I did I would kill myself until I trained up to that (I know. I know. Beta). It's the same thing with running. Don't get off the couch and try to run as far as possible.

ETA: Spelling

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I dont think distance running is healthy. A couple miles is one thing but tge human body wasnt designed for this marathon shite.

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Nah brah. It's all conditioning.

Life is fragile. Don't think about it too hard.

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Am I going to die?

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There's a good chance

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Doesn't seem like a long time- but I am not a distance runner.

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For an athlete with a decent cardio "baseline", nine weeks isn't out of the question as long as you're not looking to set any records. I think 11-15 or so is more standard, though.

Disclaimer, also not a distance runner. I do four miles four times a week and am happy with that. I did one 10K and hated it, and started to train for a half marathon but decided it was fricking stupid.

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If you run long distance chances are to name a few:

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So, bro-science...

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You aren't overweight

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bullshite. There are so many people that are overweight that I see "running" long distances at half marathons, marathons, 5k, 10k, etc. The elite long distance runners are extremely skinny, however, your average weekend warrior is still technically overweight.

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You have low blood pressure

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sufficient muscular exertion can produce the same beneficial decreases in blood pressure

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You have a low resting heart rate

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not necessarily. When I was running a shite load, my resting heart rate barely changed. So anecdotal evidence to disprove your bro-science.

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Your good cholesterol is high and your bad cholesterol is low

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not due to running. this is directly correlated to adipose levels, so again the elite, lean runners benefit from being naturally lean, not from running

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The differences were highly correlated (r = 0.80) with the theory’s predictions (ie, the HDL-cholesterol differences predicted by applying the regression slope for change in HDL-cholesterol vs. change in adiposity to the average differences in adiposity between the runners and sedentary men). These analyses suggest that comparing long-distance runners to a reference population suitably matched for adiposity, and adjusting for adiposity by ANCOVA may each seriously underestimate the contribution of the runners’ leanness to their HDL concentrations. These results suggest that the elevated HDL-cholesterol concentrations of long-distance runners are primarily a phenomenon of reduced adiposity.

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LINK

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You are less stressed

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Um, what? Needing to get in all those training hours, etc. Need to purchase new shoes. Damn, late for work today, gonna have to run tonight. Can't do it tonight, because have to pick up kids. Now I have to wake up super early tomorrow to get in those miles... Stuck in traffic, not gonna make it to running club in time...

Something that takes away hours of your week is not, at least to me, relieving stress.

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You sleep more soundly

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When I was doing 6 hours of training a week, I slept fitfully and sweated like a motherfricker (most likely due to the body processing all of those toxins released by extensive aerobically powered muscle contractions)

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All of this things will help prevent any serious illness as well as promote a longer life.

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Any repetitive motion will eventually cause issues. Now that life-expectancy is in the 70s and 80s, those injuries that we might not feel as 20-40 year olds will rear their ugly heads the older you get. Furthermore, sarcopenia is the natural loss of muscle tissue with age. Running long distances trains your body to lose muscle mass and improve the efficiency of muscles (look at elite long distance runner, scrawny as hell), so as sarcopenia begins, you will be wasting away even faster.

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I will say a lot of this may be just due to a healthy diet.

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Bingo

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However speaking from personal experience, the more I am running the more I want to eat healthy. It completely changes my mentality about my diet when I start to increase that rate at which I run.

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Actually, running ramps up your appetite and more often leads to breaking of diet regimens as opposed to improving them. It is much easier to not over indulge on calories if your body is not craving them

I am not saying that running does not confer some benefits, however, the potential risks and injuries do not make the benefits worthwhile in my opinion. Also, there are much safer and less time-consuming ways to reduce fat, build muscle, and increase you health status.

For more anecdotal evidence, I workout ~15 min/week and I am in better shape now then when I worked out/ran >6 hours per week. Now I have more time for skill training, e.g. driving range and sprints (for increased speed in intramural sports), am less stressed, sleep more soundly, have less fat and more muscle, and my recent physical saw that I was in perfect health (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) aside from some genetic presents from my parents.

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The first guy who ran a Marathon died. There's your answer.

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truth hahaha

bike racing is way more fun.

plus it doesnt take but a couple months to get conditioned to the point you're able to go 100+ miles without difficulty.

plus the change of scenery is much better over long distances.

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if you are trying to get in shape or "stay healthy" running is a waste of time and most likely doing more harm than good.

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listen to your body

if you get dizzy/light headed stop fricking running

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I have done this several times during races - including this year's NOLA full. Wow, was it hot and humid that day. Had to run/walk to finish.

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Is there a way to check if you have a heart defect (such as an enlarged heart) or would that require surgery and isn't very feasible

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Cardiologist orders up a heart ultrasound. It's a easy way to see the heart in action and measure flows, valves, rhythms etc. Ridleys mom did mine in Natchez.