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> my cardiologist said that everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage from the excessive training. This strikes me as either your

> my cardiologist said that everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage from the excessive training. This strikes me as either your cardiologist being wrong or you misinterpreting what they said. Can you damage your heart doing endurance events? Most certainly. I’ve seen at least two cardiac arrests during events where the person did not survive. Does everyone who does an event suffer heart damage? No. There have been quite a number of studies mentioned in ultramarathon journals that contradict your claim. Additionally, I have run so many marathons and ultramarathons I’ve lost count. I just recently had my own extensive (and expensive, despite insurance) cardiology work where they observed no such damage. I asked them whether endurance sports cause heart damage, because I’m old and thinking of starting up again and the summary of their answer was “as long as you’re training properly, you’re good”. That said, certainly these events put short term (~weeks/~months, depending) stress on the heart. The article mentions new medical technology and techniques as increasing survivability but I also wonder if better training and awareness is also a key. When I started running ultras particularly, it was just a bunch of nutcases. But now you have “hobbyists” like soccer moms running them (and I’m thrilled about that) and doing well at them because there are sets of extremely good training knowledge out there.

jimbob45 2y ago
What’s your marathon PR though? (Fudge the numbers if you’re willing to share them or someone might be able to doxx you)
- runjake 2y ago
  My PR is ~3:40, but to do that, I dropped a lot of weight (~30 lbs) and did a lot of dedicated training with a, let's say, reputable marathon coach. 3:40 is slow by "serious layperson" marathon standards, but it was about the max I could get with my at the time 40-ish yo body and ~6 months of serious training, starting from a solid baseline. I am slow, so my average marathon normally hovers around 4:00. I am not fast by any measure, but I do have ridiculous endurance.
9283409232 2y ago
> Does everyone who does an event suffer heart damage? No. This is not what they said. Your doctor said that “as long as you’re training properly, you’re good” but I've trained with a lot of other people and most people don't know what properly means. They just go hard.
- phs318u 2y ago
  This. "training properly" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting here.
- runjake 2y ago
  This is what they said and I quote: > my cardiologist said that everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage from the excessive training
  - 9283409232 2y ago
    > everyone who trains hard for a marathon > Does everyone who does an event suffer heart damage? These do not mean the same thing. Everyone who trains hard for a marathon is not everyone who does a marathon.
    - runjake 2y ago
      OK, I'll keep playing. There's no evidence I've seen that "everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage". Can you point me to such evidence?
      - 9283409232 2y ago
        Whether or not it is true has nothing to do with my point. My only point is that what you claim the OP said is not what the OP said.
texuf 2y ago
When doctors say “everyone” they mean “the statistically average person”
- milesrout 2y ago
  No they do not. That makes absolutely no sense.
ekianjo 2y ago
> cardiology work where they observed no such damage How do you observe such damage without a biopsy?
- rhyperior 2y ago
  An EKG or EKG stress test, for example, will tell you a lot.
  - runjake 2y ago
    The EKG stress test portion was fun. "We want you to run until you feel tired." (I forget their exact wording, but that's the spirit) "Uhm, we're going to be here for hours." "OK, get it up to 145bpm and then stop whenever you want." "I never get up to 145 bpm!" "We'll get you up to 145 bpm". And indeed they did. An aside: their treadmill goes steeper than mine at home does. :-P

jimbob45 2y ago

What’s your marathon PR though? (Fudge the numbers if you’re willing to share them or someone might be able to doxx you)

runjake 2y ago
My PR is ~3:40, but to do that, I dropped a lot of weight (~30 lbs) and did a lot of dedicated training with a, let's say, reputable marathon coach. 3:40 is slow by "serious layperson" marathon standards, but it was about the max I could get with my at the time 40-ish yo body and ~6 months of serious training, starting from a solid baseline. I am slow, so my average marathon normally hovers around 4:00. I am not fast by any measure, but I do have ridiculous endurance.

9283409232 2y ago

> Does everyone who does an event suffer heart damage? No. This is not what they said. Your doctor said that “as long as you’re training properly, you’re good” but I've trained with a lot of other people and most people don't know what properly means. They just go hard.

phs318u 2y ago
This. "training properly" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting here.
runjake 2y ago
This is what they said and I quote: > my cardiologist said that everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage from the excessive training
- 9283409232 2y ago
  > everyone who trains hard for a marathon > Does everyone who does an event suffer heart damage? These do not mean the same thing. Everyone who trains hard for a marathon is not everyone who does a marathon.
  - runjake 2y ago
    OK, I'll keep playing. There's no evidence I've seen that "everyone who trains hard for a marathon has some level of heart damage". Can you point me to such evidence?
    - 9283409232 2y ago
      Whether or not it is true has nothing to do with my point. My only point is that what you claim the OP said is not what the OP said.

texuf 2y ago

When doctors say “everyone” they mean “the statistically average person”

milesrout 2y ago
No they do not. That makes absolutely no sense.

ekianjo 2y ago

> cardiology work where they observed no such damage How do you observe such damage without a biopsy?

rhyperior 2y ago
An EKG or EKG stress test, for example, will tell you a lot.
- runjake 2y ago
  The EKG stress test portion was fun. "We want you to run until you feel tired." (I forget their exact wording, but that's the spirit) "Uhm, we're going to be here for hours." "OK, get it up to 145bpm and then stop whenever you want." "I never get up to 145 bpm!" "We'll get you up to 145 bpm". And indeed they did. An aside: their treadmill goes steeper than mine at home does. :-P