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Marathon running and cardiac arrest, efficacy of morning vs afternoon aerobic exercise, running shoes... how many pairs do you own?

💭What I'm thinking:

I. Hot take: Most people run marathons for clout, not for the love of running. Prove me wrong.

II. Run by 'feel’ is elite talk for people with years of experience. Beginners need structure, not vibes.

III. Somewhere, someone, is searching to be you in every workout they do. You might not think so but your movement is inspiring other's.

📖What I'm reading:

Marathon Running & Sudden Cardiac Arrest: New Study Reviews the Findings of the Last Decade

"South Africa is a nation passionate about long-distance running, with a deep-rooted history in endurance events. In 2024 alone, the country hosted 129 officially sanctioned races, including 106 standard marathons and 22 ultra-marathons (56 km or longer). These events drew a combined 121,480 finishers, with the Comrades Marathon (17,305), Cape Town Marathon (16,351), and Two Oceans Marathon (10,178) ranking the most well-attended races.

While the physical and mental benefits of distance running are well established, the sport also carries inherent health risks, particularly cardiovascular complications.

Marathon running has been associated with an increased likelihood of medical encounters (MEs) during races, including sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). The incidence of SCD in long-distance races is estimated to range between 0.3 and 5 per 100,000 participants, while SCA occurs in approximately 0.54–2.5 per 100,000 participants"

KEY POINTS:
1. Cardiac arrest incidence in long-distance runners has increased slightly since 2020, with male marathon runners at the highest risk.

2. Despite this rise, the risk of cardiac death has declined by 49% since 2010 due to improved emergency response, including bystander CPR and AED use.

3. Most cardiac arrests occur in the final race quartile, often linked to increased exertion, with coronary artery disease as the leading cause of mortality in these participants

Read more:

DOI: 10.1001/jama.2025.3026

(Kim JH, Rim AJ, Miller JT, Jackson M, Patel N, Rajesh S, Ko YA, DiGregorio H, Chiampas G, McGillivray D, Holder J, Baggish AL. Cardiac Arrest During Long-Distance Running Races. JAMA. 2025 Mar 30:e253026.)

Kim JH, Rim AJ, Miller JT, et al. Cardiac Arrest During Long-Distance Running Races. JAMA Published online March 30, 2025.

Click here to read full article

Sadly, another athlete added to this statistic at the Two Oceans 2025 Half Marathon.

Please guys, no one needs you to be a hero, if you are sick or unwell, do not train or take part in a race, no matter how prestigious the event may be or how much you've trained for an event.

There is always the next race or next year. This is becoming too frequent, look after yourself.

Efficacy of morning versus afternoon aerobic exercise training on reducing metabolic syndrome components: A randomized controlled trial

"A supervised intense aerobic exercise program improves the health of individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetS). However, it is unclear whether the timing of training within the 24 h day would influence those health benefits. The present study aimed to determine the influence of morning vs. afternoon exercise on body composition, cardiometabolic health and components of MetS."

What is metabolic syndrome (MetS)? Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that together increase your risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and stroke. It can lead to other health problems as well, like conditions related to plaque buildup in artery walls (atherosclerosis) and organ damage.

KEY POINTS:

The effect of exercise time of day on health promotion is an area that has gained interest in recent years; however, large-scale, randomized-control studies are scarce.

People with metabolic syndrome (MetS) are at risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases and reductions in this risk with exercise training can be precisely gauged using a compound score sensitive to subtle evolution in each MetS component (i.e. Z score).

Supervised aerobic exercise for 16 weeks (morning and afternoon), without dietary restriction, improved cardiorespiratory and metabolic fitness, body composition and mean arterial pressure compared to a non-exercise control group.

However, training in the morning, without changes in exercise dose or intensity, reduced systolic blood pressure and insulin resistance further compared to when training in the afternoon.

"Thus, high-intensity aerobic exercise training in the morning is somewhat more efficient in improving the health of individuals with metabolic syndrome."

Read more:

DOI: 10.1113/JP285366

(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38015017/)

(Morales-Palomo F, Moreno-Cabañas A, Alvarez-Jimenez L, Mora-Gonzalez D, Ortega JF, Mora-Rodriguez R. Efficacy of morning versus afternoon aerobic exercise training on reducing metabolic syndrome components: A randomized controlled trial. J Physiol. 2024 Dec;602(23):6463-6477. doi: 10.1113/JP285366. Epub 2023 Nov 28. PMID: 38015017; PMCID: PMC11607890.)

Click here to read full article

🤍 What I'm liking:

If you recently took a break from running, this is a must watch for you

I say this all the time and it so simple and basic but makes so much sense.

Enjoy your next run.

Video Text - "If you recently took a break from running and you're feeling slow, sluggish, having higher heart rates on your comeback runs, dont panic.

Here's whats actually happening to your body and why it maybe a good thing. After just 1-2 weeks off running, you may feel like you've lost months of your hard earned fitness gains.

Your pace will feel way slower, your heart rate spikes and even an easy jog feels like such a grind. This is because short breaks cause what's called "Detraining". So your muscles, lungs and heart become less efficient.

But here's the good thing, the drop in fitness is actually very short lived and completely reversible. In fact there's something thats called the "supercompensation" effect. Where your body not only returns to previous fitness but actually overshoots it, leaving you stronger and faster than before.

Here's exactly how you approach your comeback. For the first week, completely ignore your running pace and go off feel. Your only goal is to keep easy runs, relaxed easy and controlled. If that means slowing down by 20-30s per kilometer, embrace it. Step 2 is to not rush back into highly intense sessions immediately. Start gently and prioritise consistency over intensity. Step 3 is to trust your body's quick adaptation. After 7-14 days in your in your seconf week comeback, suddenly your runs will feel a lot easier, your heart rate will drop back down and your normal pace during intervals will return naturally. So remember, feeling slow after time off is completely normal. Your body know how to exactly adapt back and trust me, it will happen faster than you think."

🎧 What I'm listening to:

Podcast: The Fuelled Runner with Sian Secc - How to choose running shoes with Polly Gordon Spence

46mins - How to choose running shoes with Polly Gordon Spence

Running shoes are a BIG topic and I’m very lucky to be joined by the incredibly knowledgeable Polly Gordon Spence to talk all things biomechanics, advances in shoe tech and what you ACTUALLY need to know and do.

Polly has so many interesting insights and useful tips- you can find her on insta @pollygspence

Apologies again for the slight issues with the audio but I promise it gets better and we will be back to usual quality next week. Hopefully you will still learn lots from Polly!