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| Triathlons too wet for me, so I did the Mildenhall Duathlon instead! |
IN the same week that East Anglia’s fittest woman Chrissie
Wellington quit full-time sport, there was another scare story in
the media about people who overdo exercise.
The two things were not related of course. Chrissie was quitting purely to take up fresh
challenges in her life, and not because she’s clapped-out from thousands of
miles running and cycling.
She announced on Monday she was retiring as a professional
triathlete at the age of 35, bringing to an end an incredible career devoted
entirely to the ‘Ironman’ discipline. She won Ironman world titles four times,
remaining unbeaten at the distance and clocking the four fastest female times
on record. Not bad for an ordinary
working-class girl who grew up in the sticks (that’s ‘boondocks’ for any
American readers, and ‘Back o’Bourke’ for any Aussies).
She went to school in the unremarkable little town of
Downham Market, and lived in the even less remarkable village of Feltwell. In recent years the only time I’ve had
occasion to visit those two places was in the wee small hours, towards the end
of the annual Round Norfolk Relay. Being weary and irritable from lack of sleep,
I barely noticed them at all, let alone looked upon them as places where an
elite endurance athlete was made.
Being a bit of a ’townie’ myself, it’s tempting to suggest
that growing up in a quiet place like Feltwell would be enough to prompt anyone
to run/cycle as far away and as quickly as possible. But that would be out of
order. I’m sure Feltwell is a very interesting place. For example, here’s an
interesting fact about Feltwell: It’s
village school headmaster for 20 years was called Mr. Don Feltwell. Yes,
really!
If you don’t believe me, ask Chrissie Wellington, because he
used to teach her! And Mr Feltwell had
other star pupils too, including TV weatherman Jim Bacon and two members of Katrina
and the Waves. I told you Feltwell was
quite interesting, didn’t I?
And there’s more. Mr Feltwell of Feltwell was a wireless
operator during the Suez crisis who played football for the likes of Downham
Town FC into his late 40s. And when his school opened its new swimming pool he
showed he was no ordinary headmaster by leaping in fully clothed to entertain
the assembled crowd. Dull in Norfolk?
You must be kidding.
But I digress. The main
topic of this week’s blog was supposed to be those scare stories mentioned earlier
about the effects of intense exercise - i.e. the sort of thing Chrissie Wellington
did every day until last Monday.
According to the report published by a group of cardiologists,
fitness fanatics should restrict themselves to only the odd one or two marathons
or full-distance triathlons in their life-time, because over-exerting the heart
for years can lead to long-term damage.
They reckoned repeatedly asking the heart to pump massive
volumes of blood can lead to an array of problems - overstretching the organ’s
chambers, thickening of its walls and changes to electrical signalling. These
could trigger dangerous rhythm problems.
Their warnings were directed at those of us who exercise hard
for long periods, often repeating their training programmes over many years. They
cited the example of ultra-runner Micah True, the hero of the 2009 book Born to Run by Christopher MacDougall. Micah
died earlier this year in the USA aged 58, collapsing during a 12-mile run on a
remote trail, his body undiscovered for several days. Micah routinely ran a
marathon a day, sometimes more. An autopsy revealed heart problems, although it
was not immediately clear whether this was genetic, or whether his extreme training
did the damage.
The cardiologists insisted that most people should limit
vigorous exercise to 30 to 50 minutes per day, only tackle the odd marathon or
two, and then proceed to “safer and healthier exercise patterns.”
Many news outlets ran the story, and, predictably, it was
not universally well received. Ultra-runner John Storkamp, one of my 'Facebook friends’,
responded angrily:
“And what oppressive tax shall be levied on our spirit
should we become stagnant and quit running out of fear? Running is one of the
most natural acts most people will ever do. My dad gave me this article and
said it was very interesting. No, it’s
bullshit! Even if it were true, it’s
bullshit and a waste of paper and ink. Don't they have anything better to do
with their time? When the time comes, I’ll be happy to run into the woods, have
a heart attack, die doing something I love and will be honored when the ravens,
turkey-vultures, hawks and eagles pick my bones clean so I am reincarnated in
all of nature. The other alternative is to quit running, get old and sick in a
nursing home and die a long, drawn-out, painful death. ”
Basically the cardiologists want mileage freaks to become
more moderate and circumspect. But I’m sure
I’m not the only ordinary club runner who has many friends and colleagues unable
to stick to ‘moderate’ levels of competition and exercise. These people need
new challenges and new adventures so they can stretch themselves to the limit. Ageing and injury are just occupational
hazards.
In the case of your Clapped-Out
Runner, my marathon days seem to be long gone thanks to knee trouble. Runs of around one hour – and not too many of
them – are my maximum these days.
And my pitiful efforts over the years in the swimming pool have
always ensured I’d never be able to complete a full triathlon. Way back in 1989
I did manage a desperate 25 metres at a pool in Stowmarket. The sheer bizarre spectacle
of it stopped everyone else in their tracks and led to huge cheers when I finally
smashed into the far wall. I wasn’t able to join the celebrations due to my
innards being full of chlorinated water instead of oxygen. I had simply been
too low in the water to breathe for the entire 25-metre journey!
My claims about having ‘heavy bones’ and ‘dense muscles’ and
therefore a seriously-compromised buoyancy have always raised a laugh. But I’m
sure there must be others out there who have the same genuine excuse? Aren’t
there?
* Rob Hadgraft’s five books on running now also available as e-books
for Kindle at just £4.99 each. Go to: Rob Hadgraft's running books on Amazon
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