In Their Shoes

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RUNNING’S GOOD FOR YOU. It increases stamina, improves strength, boosts energy and enhances focus. But the high-impact exercise also creates aching joints, shin splints, lower back pain ... and sudden death. It’s rare, but it happens.
    Dr. Paul Thompson, director of preventive cardiology at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut, is the author of a recent American Heart Association statement on the potential dangers of strenuous exercise. “There’s relatively little doubt that physical activity reduces the risk of heart disease,” says Thompson, “but it’s not going to be a panacea.”
    Jim Fixx, a New Yorker who helped make fitness running popular in the United States, became a runner at age 35. He quit smoking, lost 50 pounds, and ran for 17 more years until he collapsed from a massive heart attack. He died right after a run.
    “About an hour after a run is the most dangerous,” says Thompson, “but it was well known that Jim Fixx had symptoms of heart disease. He just chose not to pay a lot of attention to it.” Fixx had actually lived 10 years longer than his father, who died of the same cardiac event at 42. Even frequent, long-term exercise, it would appear, can’t override your family’s heart history.
    Thompson explains that when you exercise, your heart beats faster. Then your coronary arteries expand and contract faster, and if they’re thickened and stiff, he notes, they’re “like a rubber hose. If you bend it too much,
it’s going to crack.”
    This isn’t cause to abandon trail running in favor of futon-lounging; 10 percent of the heart attacks seen at Hartford were due to extreme physical exertion by extremely unfit people. Unexpected physical challenges will arise, and you’ll be safer if you’re in shape.
    To avoid less-frightening yet painfully annoying joint aches and shin splints, John O’Sullivan, athletic director at Sacramento’s Capital Athletic Club, recommends you build muscle. Stronger muscles work harder and flex better, absorbing impact that might otherwise wear on bones. If you’re still miserable, consider a non-weight-bearing elliptical machine.
    As for your heart, “the biggest risk factor for a heart attack is being older,” says Thompson. “Once you get to a certain age, just about anything you do, physically, is a risk.” Running can help you, but it won’t solve all your problems. “Get out there and do it,” concludes Thompson. “Just keep a lid on it.”

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