Debunking The Running Myth

An article that appeared in The Star (by a friend that is a journalist) was featured on November 10 under Two-Fit. She has interviewed me before for an article about being a father and working adult, and how I am balancing my life with these passions (of Swim, Bike and Run). I somehow lost that article featuring me and another friend.

In case you missed out on the article about how running is bad for you, it is here. It did create a buzz, which actually help with the daily hit on the online version of the paper as running community beheaded her for her comments. But of course, she mentioned that she is entitled to her own opinion, which I fully agree. 

So, why am I writing this? I was requested by a few friends on my take or opinion on this. Do take what I will share with pinch of salts; take a spoonful, perhaps a cupful if you want. After all, I am not a certified personal trainer, let alone a podium finisher in any races. But one thing for sure, I am a mileage junkie and I spent almost 7hours/week covering no less than 180km on the swim, bike and run. This is my opinion and my mind dictating my fingers to type (i better slow down, as Osteoarthritis may strikes due to the frequent finger landing to the keyboard motion)

The writer's article in italic and my reply in Blue (because I like the color blue) below.

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Here are four things to consider before you hop onto the marathon-running bandwagon.

IN case you’ve been living under the rock, we are currently in the middle of a running boom.

Over the past five years or so, large numbers of folks have been pounding pavements, trails and treadmills, all in the name of getting fit, losing weight, and increasingly, to attain the holy grail of completing a marathon.

Conquering these long-distance runs has well and truly incited the fighting spirits of runners everywhere.

For many, a finisher’s medal is a hard-earned totem of success and a significant personal achievement.

While marathon-running folk continue to flood my Facebook feed with their best times and short shorts, here are a few things to consider before you head out for a new pair of running shoes.

The running boom has been in existence since the 1980's. I remember standing by the road outside my home in Ulu Kelang and watching runners passing Taman Permata, which was the route of the KL Marathon in the 80’s when MRR2 was not even built and Kampung Klang Gate was a Kampung. I remembered clearly, men in short shorts, pounding the pavement, grabbing the sponge and drinking water as they ran past. I had no idea what was happening until my mum told me they were running a race. At 8 years old, I had no idea that I would one day be just like these people. 

Many people I know run not because they want to complete a marathon, let alone calling a marathon a holy grail of any runners. Many run because it is the cheapest exercise, ever. All you need is a pair of shoes and no membership to any gym was required. It only get expensive when they progressively move towards swankier gears that they believe will make them run better, or faster, or beat the next person standing at the starting line by looking better.

Holy grail of running is being able to run in world class prestigious races – one that requires you to QUALIFY for it, where even if you can pay for it, you will not get a spot (unless you are a celebrity, but that is a different matter altogether). So, if we are talking about the Holy Grail of :

1.    Marathon – Boston, where qualifying for it at Men Age 80 requires you to run a 4:55 marathon (that is a full 42.195km) of which myself at 37, could not even qualify. So, yes, that is a Holy Grail.

2.    Ironman Triathlon – Kona World Championship where the qualifying simply meant you to come up top of your age group – and that usually meant racing at no more than 14hours for the oldest age grouper category. This also meant, myself, with my PB of 15hours, are not even qualified if I am 55 years old (and above). By the way, Ironman Triathlon is a 3.8km swim, 180.2km Bike and 42.2km Run. Yes, you can brag for the rest of your life after completing it in 17hours.

3.    Ultra Trail Marathons – Too many to name, but it goes from Badwater 160km to the insane Ultra Trail Mont Blanc, which again you have to either be invited or to qualify and CHOSEN for it.

So, really, when someone tells me that running a marathon is a Holy Grail for them, I say aim higher. Standards keep moving and don’t be satisfied with just a mere 42km run, and since running will kill you, better go for higher glory. 

Noted that many people, including myself do flood the Facebook and Twitter timeline with our timing for (say) today’s run where they did a significant workout that they can be proud off – very much like how a weight lifter would be proud of their additional 1kg of 1RM (rep max).

For the record, I used to lift too, and thank goodness I’ve stopped else you will see be bragging about my 17 inch arms and my ability to squat 350kg free weight on an easy day. After all, having a thigh the size of  my wife’s waist is an issue when it comes to buying pants - and don't forget about being in denial and mistaken high bodyfat for "unconverted muscle mass".

It wrecks your knees

The knees are prone to injury and damage to begin with. They bear the brunt of your body weight and are subject to daily wear and tear.

The way you stand, walk and move can have an impact on the health of your knee joints.

Agree on this. So does playing contact sports, court games. Badminton players casual or otherwise suffers from more leg related injuries than any runners I know. Pulled hamstrings, torn ligament, dislocated shoulder are a norm for semi-competetive badminton playing folks.
On the other extreme, I know a friend that busted his knees doing house work. No wonder many are getting lazier. They are after all, saving their knees.

Point taken on this. Even cycling is bad for your joints when you hammer on the largest gear trying to outrun that bulldozer going at 60km/h. Sense of achievement eh?
How about weight lifting? Many do not know that every time they lift a weight half their own body weight, they are putting 50% stress on your joint repeatedly - that is like jumping with a 34.5kg back pack (in my case) everytime I go for a run. It is as damaging ain't it? 
So rather than generalising that running wreck your knees, many other things will as well; and that including doing rowing as part of the warming up before powerlifting. 
The writer failed to raise the awareness that the key to an injury-free workout is how you do it. Form is important – and many are lifting weights as wrongly as those that run wrongly, which is why I had a whole blog entry about running correctly. Heck, make that TWO entries. 

The problem with activities such as running or even walking is that every time your feet move up and down and touch the ground to propel your body forward, your joints are jolted and stressed.

Now, imagine doing this repeatedly and regularly for hours on end.

The repetitive stress on your knee joints can, over time, cause its ligaments to tear and its tendons to swell.

Osteoarthritis can take hold and eventually ruin a perfectly good set of knees.

In this world of borderless information, I goggled for Osteoarthritis and found out (and educated all in 5minutes) about it. It seems that it is a degenerative diseases. I then scrolled through and found little proof that running is the main cause of this – in fact, age was the first in the line of cause, followed by sex (as in gender, not how often), then bone deformities, then injuries OR accidents, then obesity, then occupational, and lastly other diseases that contributes, like gout. I felt it to be wrong to be putting blame on running to be the main cause of bad knee. If anything at all, read my reply above on sports injuries. 

I’ve helped many saved money from going through painful and potential wrong diagnosis by doctors that think all knee disorder are caused by someone running. Most of the time it is bad recovery after a hard run and it causes issues such as ITBS. This is often characterized by tugging pain on the outer-upper part of your knee. The ITB muscles pulls the knee cap upwards and outwards, causing the uncomfy feeling. Yes, it is a muscular-nerve cause, not joint. But if in doubt, go get it checked with a proper doctor; and that at least look like he exercise - not with one that tells you to exercise but he looked a good 10kg overweight. 

You could drop dead

Early this week, a 25-year-old Singaporean woman reportedly died after participating in a 10km run.

Goh Kai Lin, who worked in an engineering firm, was said to have collapsed before she reached the finish line.

May she rest in peace. Truly, she could have had a congenital disease that she did not know. I lost two friends because of running too – but their condition are more because of blocked arteries due to lifestyle (may they rest in peace). Remember your Facebook and Instagram where “runners” loaded up on food before a “big run” with “bigger plate of food”? Well, that would probably kill you faster than running multiple marathons or performing endurance sports. Problem with people doing sports or exercising is that they justify their workout with food; and most of the time they replenish/refuel with crap. We complain of our cars not being in tip top condition if we put in Ron95 right? What many are doing is probably feeding their body with Ron80 type of fuel. No wonder many suffer the long consequences of bad eating habit.

OK, you may lose all your toe nails, but hey, that’s a rite of passage like how bodybuilder get stretch marks by eating too much in the name of bulking and losing it all by starvation and fat burners.

A review of research on endurance exercise conducted by the Mayo Clinic found extreme endurance exercise, such as marathons, “iron man” distance triathlons and very long-distance bicycle races, may cause structural damage to the heart, causing “scars” to occur. These scars were found in almost one in 10 of marathon finishers.

By the way, its Ironman, not Iron Man. We are in endurance sports, not a movie. Tony Stark is nothing without his suit, i doubt he can even swim, cycle and run and still look good like many of us in the sports.

The word extreme is too strong to be used here. Bearing in mind that these are subjective and superlative. Perhaps if someone never ran a 10km and went on to do a 42km, that is extreme – and signing their life away. But for someone that has been training in a correct structure, dedicating their time and effort to do it right, that is expected. Very much like lifting weights with progressive load, proper compound exercises, they too will feel curling a 60kg barbell for their biceps to be a “once a week affair”. But if a newbie were to walk into a gym and started ego-lifting (aka carrying more than they possible could), they too, are being extreme and will kill themselves. Weight lifters and body builders, I am sure they too have damages to their heart; weightlifting increases your blood pressure, and that alone is dangerous as you may rupture a blood vessels and die a horrible death.

Yeah, I was just joking with the last statement about horrible death. Mayo clinic actually did say that weight lifting is dangerous though. The risk as is the same for runner, bodybuilders, weightlifter, cyclists, divers, swimmers and even the man that has not done extreme couponing if we read it generally enough. 

While cardiovascular (cardio) exercises can help you prevent or manage a wide range of health problems, including heart disease and stroke, experts point out that exercising between 30 and 60 minutes a day (depending on the intensity of your workout) is ideal, and beyond that would lead to “diminishing returns”.

Here lies the problem. This is again subjective – and this is where many perceived their work out to be of “quality”. Exercising 30-60minutes a day is a long period of time. I for one do at least 30mins/day and boy it is sure tough. Don’t believe? Go and check my 4th week Ironman training. That is a good example of commitment to 30mins/day, every day. I do not go to the gym, lounge around looking at people, talk rubbish and pretend to lift weight. Spending 30mins gawking at the babe next to you or 60mins checking out the body infront of you is not my idea of a good cardio workout - no matter how much my heart beats or where the blood flows.

How about diminishing returns? Since we are on the matter of death by exercise, how is this for death by lifting? But of course, we can argue it's 1 in a million chances this happened. Likely a freak accident. Nothing some common sense won't solve.

Or how about this from Discover Magazine where it quoted sources from a hospital where researchers found that out of 31 people studied lifting weight,10 dies 24hours after the last hard work out. That is an astounding 33%!

Now, compared that to running via a medical paper conducted by doctors that noted within a 10 years period and 3.7million marathon runners, 28 deathoccurs. Working out the math, That is less than 0.0001%. Still scared? Yes I am, more so after reading this writer's article. 

It could ruin your sex life

You may be decreasing your testosterone levels with your long-distance running. A study by the University of British Columbia found that male runners who ran over 40 miles (64.4km) per week had distinctly lower testosterone levels than their short-distance running counterparts.

Testosterone is a hormone that helps you increase lean muscle mass and bone density. It is also primarily responsible for sex drive in both men and women.

Low levels of testosterone can lead to increased risk of obesity, depression and a faltering bedroom experience.

You can combat this by incorporating strength training into your workout. Studies show that lifting heavy weights can boost testosterone, which in turn, enhances your muscle growth. Opt for full body, heavy exercises such as squats, deadlifts and bench presses for optimum results.

I know of many men and women that does long distances races. Sex seems to be the least of their worries. Exercise, in this instance, running, will not lessen your testosterone. Howewer your choice of food such as you eating those chicken injected with growth hormone, or you binging on soya bean drink and those fatty sinful food that will actually makes you fat, grow man-boobs, puts you in depression and make you a dead fish in the bedroom. 

I believe the incidences of weightlifter and bodybuilder taking anabolic substances are higher compared to say runner. Yes, you can argue that the Famous Lance is the cheater. He was. No doubt about it. But do remember that at the level of professional bodybuilding where heavy lifting is concerned, many of them struggles with testesterone deficiency as they relied on substance (abuse) to beef them up. 

I know of some men that have turned to endurance sports to change their sedentary lifestyle, and in return last longer, pound harder and are way happier compared to those that do not exercise, and by that, i meant those motion on the road and in the bedroom.

It’s not the most effective weight loss method

Contrary to popular belief, cardio exercises such as running or bicycling, are not the holy grail to weight loss.

I agree. I lost 46 pounds not by running, but by eating clean and correctly. I then added structured exercise and took the opportunity to be stronger and better. It is a lifestyle change and sacrifices where getting out of the normal cycle of giving yourself excuse that it is OK to have that fast-food, or to binge on this or that. So, it’s true, running OR cycling is not the HOLY GRAIL to weight loss. Your diet is. Want more tips? Read my blog, or you can read Lyn Kong's book

While cardio exercises burn more calories than strength training during your workout, lifting weights actually torches more fat overall.

In a study published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, women who completed an hour-long strength-training workout burned an average 100 more calories in the 24 hours afterward than those who skipped the weights.

Muscles burns more kcal at rest. That is a given. Perhaps many would want to know what 100kcal looked like and believe me, many actually consumed this amount without a blink of an eye – one egg is 80kcal, that 1 can of isotonic drinks is already 180kcal. Let’s not talk about burning 100kcal extra when many just eat it back, most of the time, even more. Weight loss and maintenance is a matter of balancing the input and output of your food and exercise respectively.

Putting your body through the same routine regularly may also cause performance to plateau, because your body would have adapted to the repetitive training stimulus and is no longer challenged. When this occurs, your exercise programme is no longer effective, and you are not making gains from your workout.

This is actually correct. Which is why many endurance athlete do not do one sports – but the confused lots (like me) does all three. Life is too short to just stick to swim, bike or run…or lift weights, or just talk about it.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t run at all, but as with chocolates and wine, moderation is key to maintaining good health.

Actually, chocolate is one of the super food. Just make sure it is dark chocolate of at least 70% purity. 

As for wine, yes, perhaps. If your diet allows it, a glass once in a blue moon could help you with some blood movement – very similar to using caffeine pre-workout. But abuse these substance and you see no effect and it became negative. 

Moderation is again subjective. I used to have a friend that tells me he was “moderate with his fast-food intake”. I probed and he told me he goes to Joint A once a week. Then he tells me his routine that Monday, he goes to A, Tuesday is to B, Wednesday is to C…that is his “moderate” as he justify it not to be eating A, every day. Beat that.

So, is your moderation a cup of wine everyday? A block of chocolate once a week? A nasi lemak alternate day?

Varying your workout is also important in helping to prevent injuries and keeping your body structurally balanced, besides beating boredom.

Of course, there is room for running in healthy lifestyles. But I have yet to jog over to that point of view.

Do consider trying, it may change your mind. Oh, on another note, don’t. Here is why: I hate running, I still does – and this is perhaps why I keep doing it. God forbid one day I start loving it and I stop doing it, because I might had reached my Holy Grail of Running. 

In all seriousness, i did not feel angry or slighted with the writer's article. I see it as her not being exposed and aware enough to actually wants to run or pick up endurance sports. So, perhaps, this article will lighten things up. No need to be so serious and afterall, the column in the paper is about being "Fit". 

All exercises is good as it helps to combat daily stress and releases endorphin (happy hormones). I know many endurance athletes are addicted to the "runner's high" feeling. I wonder if weightlifters too experience the same happy feeling and not just DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness). 

Lastly, if my memory serves me right, Crossfit too requires a high level of cardio workout as it is seen as a more wholesome type of workout where you are not trying to be body-builder like, but to be functional Spartan-like. Can you imagine those Spartan armies not being able to run during the war? That would be a whole load of beef laying on the floor dead(fish, like in bedroom) with no function whatsoever. Also, Spartan armies are build eating Paleo food, not on chocolate or wine, no matter how moderate it seems. 

Cheers. 

Tri Stupe is not a certified personal trainer but he is passionate with his Swim Bike Run. He continues to do this despite having to juggle between marital bliss, a boss that is yet to find out what he does outside of office, confused colleagues wondering why he get tanned over the weekend and a whole load of friends that look up in his blog for a tip or two (of unverified training tips). His joints are fine, he is still alive, his bedroom is still hot and he has no issue with his weight management or bodyfat level.