Some Updates on Running Before Cross Country Season Begins

It has been tough getting posts up lately because of the constraints of a "real" job.  But I have been getting submissions from some of my lay interns and I have accumulated a few that update some previously expounded-upon topics concerning running.

• Maybe the bad heart effects caused by running have been overblown

Turns out that the plaques that build up in arteries of endurance athletes differ from those that build up in non-athletes.  And these differences may mean we don't need to worry as much.

• Running seems to help memory in the long term

Rats provide the subjects here.  Running wheels significantly altered neurogenesis and memory for the better.  I have always kept mice as pets, and they run more than I do.  Sometimes all night.

• Some Bozo says Treadmills are the "fast food of running"! 

And while he makes a few valid points on mankind's evolutionary propensity for running, I still fart in his general direction.  (Thanks to George McWilliams for this one.)