Sacramento Running News

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Everyone knows you slow down and get weaker with age, right? In fact the data shows that 37 percent of senior citizens have disabilities.

Well, how much of that is simply due to the unavoidable effects of aging, and how much of that decline is due to sitting around on our butts?

To answer that question, some smart scientists at the University of Pittsburgh conducted a study of masters athletes and discovered that there was a huge, enormous even, difference between older people who had been training diligently as they aged and those that did not.

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Running may protect that knee

As you know by now, I am always happy to write about scientific studies that support my existing bias.

Here is more science finding that, regardless of what my mother believes, running is actually beneficial to your knees.

Money quote:

In one study, Swedish researchers found that exercise, including jogging, may even be beneficial. Felson describes how researchers took one group of people at risk of osteoarthritis and had them engage in exercise, including jogging. The other group didn’t exercise. After imaging the joints of the participants in both study groups, they found that the biochemistry of cartilage actually appeared to improve in those participants who were running. Felson says that suggests that “running is actually healthy for the joint.”

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The lazy mouse is an old mouse

A recent article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that mice that exercised vigorously did not show signs of aging compared to mice that did not exercise.

The study used mice that were genetically unable to repair mitochondria and therefore aged rapidly. The New York Times article on the study reports:

By the time they reached 8 months, or their early 60s in human terms, the animals were extremely frail and decrepit, with spindly muscles, shrunken brains, enlarged hearts, shriveled gonads and patchy, graying fur. Listless, they barely moved around their cages. All were dead before reaching a year of age.

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Several years ago, I ran in the Heritage Oaks Bank Paso Robles 10Km, which was at the time the US masters’ national championship. I was struggling after a season of trail ultras and barely kept it under 40-minutes.

In that same race, Eddy Hellebuyck was having the race of his life (as a masters runner) and set a new American Masters record for the road 10Km. Finishing in an astounding 29:05, Hellebuyck was so far ahead of the 2nd place runner, they had a separate lead motorcycle for him.

A short while later, I was not surprised to hear that Hellebuyck had failed a doping test for EPO. Disappointed, but not surprised.

The December Runners World has an excellent article by John Brant wherein Hellebuyck finally comes clean about the doping allegations and gives some insight into why he did it.

The story left me with an uneasy mix of feelings about this runner. He cheated and stole other runners’ prize money. He’s also coming clean without being compelled to do so. If confession truly is good for the soul, there are many other prominent athletes out there who would do well to follow his example.

Today’s Wall Street Journal has an interesting article about endurance athletes over-doing it and failing to make it to the starting line.

Local trainer and ultra-running entrepreneur Julie Fingar, and other local runners are quoted extensively.

Most of us in this sport are driven to train. The challenge is to find that point where the training is having a net-negative impact on our lives and our performance. That’s often a tough call!

Thanks to Andy for the tip!

You may have heard the old (and by old I mean ancient) expression: A sound mind in a sound body.  Or, as the Romans said, way back in Roman times, Mens sana in corpore sano. Well, according to some recent research findings, it turns out the two really are linked.  An article in Health Day states:

People with the highest cardiac output for their body size (cardiac index), meaning those with the greatest blood flow from their heart, tended to have more brain volume, which generally indicates a healthier brain.

In fact, the researchers said that people with the lowest cardiac output showed nearly two more years of brain aging than did those with the highest cardiac output.

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