[Musket]

IMHO people are just over doing it. Would primitive man run for 3 hours straight? Or a solid hour or more every day or every other day? I don't think so. I tried the running lifestyle when I was younger. It didn't take me long to get shin splints and sleepless nights because my heart wanted to jump out of my chest. I decided then that - regardless of what the so called "experts" were saying - this can't be any good for me. Oh I still exercise when I feel the need - usually to address a specific muscle problem with lifting and streching, but not to the ridiculous prolonged extremes that most modern exercisers do. Just my 2 cents.

[Our man in washington]

Musket wrote:

"IMHO people are just over doing it. Would primitive man run for 3 hours straight?"

You make a good point. I trained for and ran a marathon last year. I was doing some serious mileage--20+ mile runs on Saturdays with a few 7-9 milers during the week. I felt tired and cranky a lot of the time.

Since the marathon, I've switched to shorter runs (3-5 miles) and have just been loving life. That's enough to get the endorphins going, but not enough to wipe me out.

[My Dog Likes Me]

I agree that there is something intuitively wrong about stressing your heart, lungs, legs, and feet on daily punishing runs in preparation for some meaningless marathon. We've all seen these people running around town in the morning or evening with a grim determination in all kinds of weather. There is nothing to admire about the "joggers," in my view. They seem addicted to a high they get when they run, supposedly. They need counseling.

They're all going to become a real fiscal drag on our health care system when they hit their 60's.