Is cardio good for you? (marathon runners and heart attacks)

Visit PaNu for an interesting article on some research linking marathon running and an increased risk of heart attacks.

It appears oldish (57) marathon runners are more likely to have experienced myocardial damage than sedants (a word I just invented meaning sedentary controls).

Now, this recent post is just as interesting as it appears that researchers in the US have not only been able to replicate the results, but get statistically significant results. And those results indicate that marathon runners have an increased risk factor compared to people who were going in for this specific heart scan. That is, people who have decided or been told that they should get this scan - obviously that isn't a control group one would expect to have the healthiest results.

Of course, it might not actually be the cardio that causes the increased heart problems, there are many factors which could correlate. For instance, it could be the lifestyle of marathon runners and Harris points this out towards the end of both posts.

The only marathon runner I've read about is Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. I am fairly certain in his book What I talk About When I Talk About Running (which I loved) he discussed eating only a small amount of red meat, sticking predominantly to vegetables, rice and fish. And as anyone who has spoken to me in the last year will attest this isn't a diet that I believe can be backed up by research.

I also wonder if running, as a high impact sport, causes more inflammation than other long distance cardio. Perhaps this extra load on an athlete's body could have an effect on heart health? Thus, further studies on long distance cyclists and swimmers would be enlightening; I imagine they have similar lifestyles yet use different muscle groups, and, if my wild assumptions are correct, suffer fewer joint injuries.

The National

will be releasing a new album in May.



I remember a moment listening to The National when it occurred to me that they're a mature band. Their lyrics are about adults in depressingly realistic situations. Getting too drunk, feeling as if you've betrayed yourself - but dealing with it, and then the coming of age tale that is the song linked above. In a somewhat novel twist for music it's about the coming of age that occurs in your 20s or 30s though.



Back in 2008 they played one of the most noisy, sweaty and rocking shows I've seen.

The hidden pizza restaurant

was apparently about Yellow Pages... well I missed that. I thought it was about pizza and I even went to the website.

Anthill does a terrific job of explaining what a terrible marketing campaign this has been. And how ultimately anyone that ventures to the Yellow Pages will be disappointed by its woeful search performance.


For instance, I just searched for 'Pizza Restaurant' in my suburb. Most of the results were for surrounding suburbs and it failed to list the pizza shop that is a 5 minute walk up the street. I know the place is listed as when I searched for its full name yellowpages was able to find it. I have to admit Google didn't fare much better as all but one of its results were for suburbs even further away (the one it got right was quite close). I think Google's poor performance shows that the collaborative web only works when there are people. That's understandable though, I expect Google to struggle in my unique outer-northern Melbourne suburb. I don't expect the yellow pages to fail to even show the one result in my suburb. That's what people pay for!

Cancellara

For two weekends in a row Fabian Cancellara has smashed Tom Boonen. (and everyone else) His power output is so impressive. Last week he just sat down and pedalled away. He didn't even leave his seat!

Flash on Lucid Lynx

If you're running Ubuntu 10.04 and have noticed that myspace doesn't agree with your version of flash then this is the solution:

Edit: This doesn't work any more... don't bother

XXC Magazine

Good mountain bike magazines are hard to find here in Aus. To the detriment of the articles and photography most are really equipment focussed. I understand that people love equipment sports and that advertisements pay for each issue, however, I knew there must be a magazine with an alternate and intelligent focus.

XXC is that magazine. It focuses on extreme mountain biking (long rides) in unique environments all over the world. The stories are well written and without trying to sound patronising I was surprised at the calibre of the journalists (I did some googling). The photography is also great as you can see.

It always feels as if the people were motivated to travel, motivated to pedal and then motivated to write. Whilst I've never spent more than a few hours on my bike I find myself captivated by the amazing endurance and commitment described. One day...

Also, It's on $2.99USD for an electronic copy!