Sprinters outlive long distance runners

That title sounds like a metaphor, but it's not. I read an article about that recently (running, not metaphors). Somebody studied whether the wear and tear on the body of long distance running outweighed the health benefits. The answer was, more or less, yes. Still, it said any kind of running is better than nice old-fashioned couch-sitting. Then there was that odd but true revelation: Sprinters live longer than people who run marathons.

This was great justification for abandoning my hopes of running in a marathon and just plain not running for the last few months. Aside from the tired/cold/lazy arguments, I was not running for my health. Ok, so I wasn't sprinting either, but, well, sprinting's hard.

Yesterday, though, I decided to give running a go again, having not gone since about November. The last time I went, I ran along our street, intending to run through the trails in a park about a mile away. But by the time I got to the park, I thought I was going to throw up. So I turned around and walked home. This time, I made the smart decision to run slowly. It was more like running at the pace of walking for the distance of sprinting.

I actually made it to the park and ran around some trails and ran most of the way back before deciding that, in the interest of living, I should walk the rest of the way.