—I thought I was special. There was an ICD, an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator sewed into my chest. There I was, still running marathons. More than that, I was feeling great. We were In Duluth, Minnesota, at Grandma’s Marathon a few years ago.
—The weather was perfect and I was running with my youngest daughter, her first marathon. We weren’t making great time, but she had an IT band issue and it was about my 17th marathon. I had nothing to prove. I was making jokes to ease her pain. I knew that an Elvis impersonator would be at about mile 18. I told her we would run until we saw Elvis, then we could walk for a while.
—Funny thing happened at a potty stop. Waiting in line, I started talking with another runner (about my age.) As we started edging around health issues and I was getting ready to mention my ICD, he told me about his heart transplant. Heart transplant? I thought it was enough to run with an ICD, to back up my cardiac rhythm.
—This guy had traded in his heart for someone else’s and he was still running marathons.
—Unfortunately, I never got his name or bib number. I would love to know how he finished. He and my daughter made me proud that day. She endured and so did he.

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—I learned the hard way a few years ago. Marathon training in Florida. Even with an early morning start, the heat and humidity was literally draining my body. Following the conventional wisdom of the time, I drank plenty of water. Hydrate! Hydrate! Then I got sick. Extremely dizzy and nauseous.
—Just before we headed to the emergency room, a neighbor suggested that my potassium was too low. In the drug store, my wife discovered that a sports drink was the most effective and speedy cure short of an IV in the hospital.
—As a fit runner, my cooling mechanism was very efficient. Water in, sweat out. The more I replaced sweat with water, the more I depleted vital mineral salts. My body lost its ability to maintain the necessary balance between water and minerals. In the extreme, losing that balance is dangerous. Cardiac rhythm, for example, depends on a sufficient level of potassium.
—Ever since, when I am working out, I substitute a sports drink for water. Sure, there’s a little sugar, but the amount is negligible compared to snacks or soda and it contains the mineral salts that my body needs. Be sure to check the label to see what your favorite drink provides.

The 1998 Nobel Prize for Science may impact runners and other athletes. Three scientists shared the prize that year for research that has earned little interest outside of the medical community. Surprisingly, it could have a subtle but significant impact on athletes.  

Their discovery was the role played by nitric oxide in the human body. The gas (not nitrous oxide) is produced in our body and has a number of beneficial functions: It controls blood pressure by dilating the blood vessels. Present in the mucosa of the sinus cavities, it is also toxic to many airborne pathogens, destroying them before they reach the lungs and the bloodstream.

Apparently, because nitric oxide is produced in the sinuses, we get its benefit when we breathe through the nose. For years, athletes have been told to mouth breathe in order to get the most oxygen during exercise. Although I know of no studies that confirm it, nose breathing may increases the level of nitric oxide, a vasodilator, in the blood resulting in more blood to the extremities. Runners—think about it! This can be good for us.

I am trying it. I still need to mouth breathe, but when I need to take a deep breath I try to fill my lungs through my nose. I can’t see a big improvement yet, but there could be a subtle change. Mentally it feels like a positive and my running always needs that!

For an interesting article giving 19 reasons to nose breathe see: www.breathing.com/articles/nose-breathing/

Runners are at reduced risk of going blind. A large study (31,000) of runners over a period of 7 years conducted by the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Lab found less incidence of macular degeneration and cataracts in runners than in the general population.

Although these leading causes of blindness are usually age-related, the findings are good news for runners old and young, crabby or not. Most runners know, instinctively, that they are doing the right thing for their health, but it is great to get a little scientific affirmation. For those who share our need to run, one more good reason to stay on the road, trail, treadmill or whereever you do it!

References to the studies can be found at Scientificblogging.com, Alternativehealthjournal and many other places on the web.

“You’ll never run another Marathon!” The cardiologist had just saved my life with emergency angioplasty. Then he added, “Maybe some 10k’s, but not a Marathon. Running didn’t hurt your heart, but it didn’t help it either!” I was a mere 55 years old and had recently completed my 6^th Marathon.

I was too sick to understand and I’m not the kind of person who pays good money for medical advice and then ignores it. But now I have to disagree. A 99% blockage of the LAD, the main coronary artery caused 5% damage to my heart. I am convinced that the damage would have been much more severe if I had not been in great shape. Without my years of running, I would have spent the rest of my life on the porch, in a rocking chair, watching the world run by.

Oddly, while I was still in the hospital they started me on rehab. Wait a minute! I can still work out? Exercise? Even after a major heart attack? In my mind, something did not compute. The following summer I ran a half-marathon. The next year, and each year since, I ran a Marathon. Twelve Marathons after I was told I would never run another!

So I became the Crabby Old Runner. “Don’t tell me what I can or can’t do!”