Damn - just as I thought - this calls for a celebration:
A fast-emerging body of scientific evidence points to a conclusion that's unsettling, to say the least, for a lot of older athletes: Running can take a toll on the heart that essentially eliminates the benefits of exercise.
"Running too fast, too far and for too many years may speed one's progress toward the finish line of life," concludes an editorial to be published next month in the British journal Heart.
I've got a bottle of whiskey around here, somewhere, but I just can't find it,...
I never run because I'm too lazy to do any strenuous exercise, so this makes me somewhat pleased about my indolence. Pass me some whiskey please (if you do find it.)
ReplyDeleteI can't stomach whiskey (long story involving my first "rock concert" and a bottle of Old Crow, but I digress) -- but I'll gladly hoist a beer to this!
ReplyDeleteSadly, many friends have gotten on the running/marathon kick upon entering their 30s/40s/50s. Most of them were relatively chubby and out of shape in youth, and were unfortunately I think they are trying to prove something (or they finally caved into the propaganda or whatever). It isn't just their physical well being I worry about -- it's like a ...well, a cult.
PW
*don't get me wrong, I firmly believe in staying active and interested in the world -- but let's be real about time spent, effort capability, and goals expected...and how everything you put into one area of your life means you are taking away from other areas
Now, I don't know the answer to this, but consider, what would happen if, as a natural product of consumption, byproducts were produced that are toxic to the system (such as carcinogenic, etc)? The exercise makes it so you consume more, produce more toxins, etc.
ReplyDeleteDante, how about it's just that your body at 40 just isn't as young as it used to be, and you should tone it down a notch?
ReplyDeleteThat's something our grandparents and great-grandparents (and in my case, my parents) understood (hell, illiterate people in third world countries understand it too). Of course, they led much more active lives than most teenagers do now (because they had work to do), but still -- if you'd suggested to my Gramps to take up jogging in midlife he'd have looked at you like you were crazy.
PW