Running 140 miles in a week

[Erud]

Re: Running 140 miles in a week

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ATH</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Erud</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Hey ATH,
If you get a chance, could you expand a little on this? I've never heard of any potential heart issues so I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on it. I'm nowhere near your league running-wise, I typically do 30-50 miles a week and my resting HR is in the mid-50's. Thanks for any info and keep up the beastly runs!

Erik

</div></div>

I'm not a doc and haven't researched it completely, but all aerobic endurance events cause enlargement of the left ventricle. However, unlike pathological causes, it is a positive adaptive response to training to make the heart stronger, rather than a maladaptive response of the body trying to make up for a heart that is not functioning well. On an X-ray the two appear similar, however, so it's important to let your doc know you're a runner or from a chest Xray they may think you have chronic heart failure!

The low pulse that results is also fine, but my understanding is that as someone ages it can cause some issues if present in combination with other age-related changes in the heart. One may need a pacemaker to make sure their pulse does not get too low as a result. My friend who is currently having problems, they're unsure how to properly manage his problems because his pulse rate is below what they normally deal with.

Now I mentioned Peter Snell and I must retract that comment. I read into it in order to write this post. It turns out his issues do not appear to be related to his running. Not only that, but I could not find any RELIABLE work demonstrating a link between elite runners and heart issues later in life...only docs quick to point to ANY heart issue in a serious athlete and use it as an excuse not to exercise vigorously, despite no proven cause-and-effect link.

This week I did a 6 mile workout at 5:28 pace and an 18 mile long run that averaged 6:14 (started 6:42 pace ended 5:30 pace). All those miles in December are starting to pay off. </div></div>

Interesting, thanks for following up. I will definitely have to look into those potential issues.

Thanks,
Erik