There was a time in my life when I’d classify myself as a runner.  During that time I trained for, and ran, two marathons and a Sunday wasn’t a good Sunday until I’d put at least 10 miles on the road with my favorite training partner.  I felt better and looked better than I had in a long time because exercise was finally a consistent part of my life.

The thing about running is that it often doesn’t play a transient role in people’s life the way it did in mine.  I’ve never met anyone more tenacious about their exercise regime than a runner – and especially a runner in training.  Sick, hurt, it doesn’t matter…the running must be done!

Every year millions of runners take to the streets.  For some, the local 5K is their goal.  For others, perhaps a 10K or a half marathon.  But for a growing number of runners, especially new runners, the goal is to run a marathon.  Proper preparation and training, especially for newbie runners, often takes more than 20 weeks.  And, for the majority of those weeks, total weekly milage exceeds 30 miles.  But, is all that running good for you?

When I was living in RI, and running a ton, I knew several runners would train for 2 marathons per year, one in the spring and one again in the fall.  Their days were scheduled around their running, they usually ran every day, and often for longer than 90 minutes.  And, strangely enough, they were often some of the most injured and chronically sick people I knew.  At the time, I couldn’t figure it out.  They were exercising, often despite their injuries and illnesses, and they seemingly ate well.  What was going on?

This article, posted today by Women’s Health, sheds some light on what may be going on inside the bodies of endurance athletes and is based on research published in several studies by the British Journal Heart, European Heart Journal, and the US journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.  This article answers questions like, how much running is too much? And, if running a marathon is one of your New Year’s resolutions (or just something you’ve always wanted to do), how to train and increase your health instead of putting yourself at risk.

Running may not be for everyone, but exercise most certainly is.  Exercise shouldn’t take hours a day…if fact, it shouldn’t!  Read here to find out why.  Today is a new day and a brand new opportunity to start your journey to better health.  Now go out and GET SOME!