I'm not a big fan of long cardio, especially extreme bouts of cardio - i.e. running
marathons.
Just this past weekend a 41-year old man died running one of the Toronto marathons.
Last year, same thing. These are not the first, nor will they be the last men to
die running a marathon.
And for what?
To run an irrelevant distance for no reason at all. I don't see any logical reason
for most people to run a marathon. Particularly when you are a 40-year old father
of a young family. You can be fit and healthy with far less exercise time, as long
as you train with far better exercise choices.
Sure, you can say you are pushing the boundaries of your human performance...but
I doubt that is any consolation for the family of these two men.
No matter how "type A" someone is, or how driven they are to perform in
a marathon, simply being able to run a marathon proves nothing. And it can have
disastrous consequences. Not too mention the many smaller negative consequences
of:
a) A waste of hours of your life spent away from your loved ones while you pound
the pavement
b) Sore knees, chronic back pain, and blistered feet
c) Money and time wasted in the physiotherapist's office
d) An improperly trained body (i.e. weak back of the body, no upper body strength,
overuse injuries)
e) A level of fitness that has limited carryover to real world needs (carrying groceries
& other objects, outsprinting an attacker, manual labor, etc.)
So please, if you insist on running marathons, do yourself and your family a favor
and:
1) Get a full physical from your doctor. This goes without saying for anyone on
an exercise program over the age of 30, but running marathons is another reason
not to neglect your physical exams.
2) Pay close attention to your body during the race. Wear a heart rate monitor,
and exercise conservatively, drink the right amount of fluids (but not too much
as that can be the cause of death in long runs), and just plain be careful. A marathon
is hardly a reason to risk your life.
Now, here's more bad news.
Cardio has been killing fat loss programs for decades.
Why?