Runners Live Longer

Maybe I'm the last to notice this interesting piece of research - It was big news last August, but I just found it today after chasing a very short description on CNN this morning. Bottom lines:

• Middle-aged to elderly runners live longer than non-runners, and
• They also have fewer injuries of all kinds, including knee injuries.

The Stanford University study included 284 runners and 156 similar, healthy people as controls. All had similar socioeconomic backgrounds and all were at least 50 years old at the beginning of the study.

After 19 years, 15% of the runners had died compared with 34% of the non-running control group. Furthermore, runners also suffered significantly less disability.

Well we knew this all the time, didn't we? It adds a third meaning to the bumper sticker "Marathoners Do It Longer."

Here are some references:

• MSNBC Article about the study
• More detailed report on the study
• Study abstract

So keep on running! We do keep on, don't we!


Today, Sunday, Jan 04:

Just one mile today. I intended to run eight miles on the track at the club, but my right quads hurt from Thursday’s 200 m sprint. I ran the one mile (8:51) to see if it would go away, but it only got a lillte worse. So I stopped. I don’t believe in running on pain unless I’m sure that I’m not going to do additional damage, and I was not at all sure. It feels like the pain of muscles pushed just a little beyond their ability. If I wait until the pain is gone, the muscles will be better for it.

This turned out to be a great opportunity to do resistance training instead. I’ve been letting that slip lately - not today.


Dinner: Wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon, organic vegetable mix with slivered almonds, organic blue-corn chips with flax seeds.