On Tue, 9 Nov 1999, Ward Nicholson wrote:

> What's really interesting here psychologically, I find, is that just
> because people *say* they are into running (or anything else for that
> matter) predominantly for health doesn't mean they behave accordingly. What
> people say may at times not mean much. In things where ongoing behavior is
> involved, one has to look at what people actually do and give that the most
> weight.

Well, "health reasons" is a term that itself covers a lot of
territory.  In some cases it may denote fear of illness, which is
a very similar thing, but not exactly the same.  Fear-driven
behavior can be more obsessive: If one takes up running to
"prevent a heart attack" one might fall into the trap of thinking
that more miles means more prevention.

> There are people who say they are into running heavily for health reasons
> but then proceed to go ahead and train their butts off until they are
> overtrained; or they don't take enough easy runs or easy days between the
> tough workouts, so their immune systems get beat down and they are coming
> down with colds too often; or half their discretionary non-work hours in
> life revolve around running; this type of individual is really just kidding
> themselves.

It's rather like an exercise counterpart to anorexia, I guess.

> Out of curiosity, I wonder where this idea that running (or aerobics,
> really) is *the key* for health traces back to historically? I would guess
> maybe Kenneth Cooper of "Aerobics" fame back in the late 1960s or early
> 1970s or whenever he first gained prominence. (Of course, even he has been
> emphasizing other aspects of health now for a long time as well.)

I give him credit for having the integrity to admit that people
who run more than about 15 miles/week are running for reasons
other than health.  That is, he eventually recognized that the
evidence shows that more is not better, and a lot more can be
worse.

> Also
> maybe Dr. George Sheehan, someone you mentioned earlier, "the running
> doctor," who also gained prominence in the 1970s. I can still remember back
> in the late 1970s when I was doing the most running I ever did, there were
> even those claiming that if you met a certain standard of mileage or
> running fitness it would absolutely prevent or "immunize" you against heart
> attacks. That one, of course, lasted only till Jim Fixx the running author
> died of one, unfortunately, from atherosclerosis due to other aspects of
> his lifestyle and pre-existing disposition (family history of coronary
> disease).

There are still plenty of people who believe the cardiac
immortality idea, I think, who manage to rationalize Jim Fixx's
fate in some way.

Todd Moody
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