In a five-kilometer race Thanksgiving morning, nike free run, Ralph Foiles finished first in his age group, earning the 56-year-old Kansan a winner's medal.A fast-emerging body of scientific evidence points to a conclusion that's unsettling, to say the least. For a lot of older athletes: Running can take a toll on the heart that essentially eliminates the benefits of exercise."Running too fast, too far and for too many years may speed one's progress toward the finish line of life. " concludes an editorial to be published next month in the British journal Heart.Until recently, the cardiac risk of exercise was measured almost exclusively by the incidence of deaths during races. For marathoners, that rate was one in 100,000—a number that didn't exactly strike fear. Moreover, data showed that runners generally enjoyed enormous longevity benefits over nonrunners.What the latest research suggests is that the benefits of running may come to a hard stop later in life. In a study involving 52,600 people followed for three decades, the runners in the group had a 19% lower death rate than nonrunners, according to the Heart editorial. But among the running cohort, those who ran a lot—more than 20 to 25 miles a week—lost that mortality advantage.
Asked if he ever runs a five-kilometer race for time, he said, "Not for the past three years. After age 50, pushing too hard is probably not good for one's heart or longevity."

Meanwhile, Dr. O'Keefe's corresponding author on the upcoming Heart Paper, Carl Lavie, continues racing at speeds slightly above what their editorial recommends. "I did a turkey day five-mile race in 38 minutes," said Dr. Lavie, a cardiologist at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, cheap nike shoes. "I train slower than I race, and when I race I know the risks. That's all we're trying to do: Let people know the risks and make up their own minds."

The conflict between pursuit of health and of athletic glory is particularly acute in Meghan Newcomer, a 32-year-old professional triathlete who in recent years passed out during several races, requiring acute medical attention and prompting her loved ones to ask her to slow down or retire. She has a promising medical career, after all: Why not quit competing?

Instead, after undergoing an in-depth study at a Connecticut sports-medical clinic, she was told to triple her intake of sodium during races. Yet she was also told to slow down, advice that helped her this summer complete—without passing out—her first Ironman-distance triathlon.

The idea that serial marathoners may earn no cardiac strength over couch potatoes will surely amuse serial viewers of "Seinfeld" reruns. However, don't expect the running boom to grind to a halt. Optimal health isn't necessarily the Holy Grail, even for aging athletes.
"Even if I knew for sure that running fast had an element of risk, I don't know that I would back down," said Foiles, nike free run australia, the 56-year-old runner who lives in a Kansas City suburb. "To finish at the front of my age group, yeah, that's an inspiration."