The Myths of Marathon

Running a marathon is often seen as the epitome of fitness and the ultimate show of endurance. I understand the drive that pushes many athletes and weekend warriors to compete in these strenuous events — but when you examine the research it becomes clear that doing so may put your heart at risk.

Does your heart  gets protected in your quest of being a marathoner?

Does your heart gets trained to be on short burst excersion followed by periods of rest? The second best heart killer will be impatience if not for a marathon 🙂

You’ve likely heard the stories about fit marathon runners who die suddenly in the middle of a race or later. There was Ranjan Das CEO of SAP who died of cardiac arrest being a marathoner. Excessive cardio like that performed during marathons or triathlons is likely not much better at improving longevity than being sedentary!

When i meet or notice any marathon runners in person i get reminded of concentration camp victims? Have you ever wondered why marathons are considered “healthy” in our society yet the first man that ever ran collapsed and died immediately after?

What Makes Marathon Running So Dangerous?
To put it simply, it puts an extraordinary stress on your heart, one that your body was not designed for. In various studies globally, researchers found that during a marathon more than half of the segments in your heart lose function due to an increase in inflammation and a decrease in blood flow.

Marathon Vs Weight loss
The more miles you run, the more fat you will lose. seriously a wishful thinking.

Often, the more miles you run, the hungrier you get and 1) the more you will eat, or 2) the more you believe you “deserve” to eat for having survived the killer routine. Unfortunately, rewarding yourself with a 600-calorie carb rich drink can quickly erase in a few minutes the 600-calorie deficit you generated during your workout.

The effects of exercise on weight loss are complex and unclear—and depend on the 24-hour cycle every body goes through. We know among people of different ages, their daily energy needs vary about the same despite adding an hour of exercise.If that being the case how can your nutrition be the same? How could that be? A person who napped more will naturally be less active than the rest of their peers. Be sure to pay attention to your whole day’s activity level. For sure, hours of running does not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle and bad nutrition.

Normal people Vs Marathon
I think the issue here is that normal people don’t think that they can run marathons, when they actually can. A marathon is like any other goal: you start small, and improve slowly. Don’t you prepare yourself for your grad exams months in advance? If you’re training for your first marathon and are able to run about 2 miles easily, pick a race 25 – 30 weeks away from your start date.

Marathon and Carbo loading
Carbo-loading the night before is a bit of a myth.Training your digestive system takes as much attention as training your body call it body building or training for marathon or a sport. long distance runners these days are plied with sports gels and sports drinks, which have the nutritional profile of a candy.  These gels and drinks can help you run long distances, when your body otherwise runs out of glycogen reserves and can benefit from a short-term burst of sugar.  But in the long run, these sugary sports products may wreak the same havoc on your system as candy does.  Only, you’re eating a whole lot more of it.

Diet and nutrition are a very important part of marathon training.Consult with us to know about the Marathon beginner’s training guide, and cover more miles away week by week.

Always separate exercise and weight management, Never put them together in one bag as a goal. Yes, you should run for health, fitness, stress relief or else clearly exercising too much will be a blow to your health.

Bewell,
Vivek

Trivia

  • I am sure this term will get googled from now on “Phidippides cardiomyopathy”.Pheidippides was fit too, specifically selected for his job as a herald due to his speed and distance running ability; do note those era didnt have a word called sedentary or couch potato.
  • Man was not designed for movement at a chronically sustained high intensity aerobic pace.
  • Long term problems caused by training for marathon;Tendonitis and  Debilitating osteoarthritis, Recurrent upper respiratory infections, Loss of bone density and most importantly Increased oxidative damage (free radical production)
  • Common high refined carbohydrate intake during marathon training or even during  exercising promotes a dangerous level of continuous systemic inflammation.
  • Never think that training for a marathon or triathlon will for sure melt away your body fat. Once again that certainly will be wishful thinking  not a meaningful and practical one.
  • Don’t dilute your sports drink concoction with water, frankly it defeats the purpose of the drink.
  • Stop caffine or coffee at all cost before or during your run. Caffine promotes enhanced performance for short burst training not for long distance miles per gallon training methods.
  • If you’re going out for a long run, ask a friend to join you! Running partners hold you accountable, support you, and will help your mental endurance, as well as physical strength.