I never knew

A saw this link off of Scott Dunlap's post earlier this week. It is an article from the San Francisco Chronical about ultra athletes.

Unfortunately, I could only read a portion of the story online. But, what is fascinating are the comments. You have got to read them!

I learned that I am no different than a drug addict, that I will not be able to walk in 25 years, that I can't have a normal relationship, etc.

I know it is mostly ignorant individuals spewing hyperbole, but some actually defended their ignorance (although, they didn't acknowledge their ignorance).

My favorite comment is
"One point nobody touched on - in order to fuel these kinds of excessive workouts, you have to eat a crappy diet. There's no 2 ways about it, since you can't get the calories you need unless you eat processed food - bagels, pizza, cookies, breads, pasta - all the crap food that we are discovering causes insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. The effects of excessive exercise can't really "undo" a bad diet. And high calorie diets strain the body, as the longevity studies have shown. And many of these athletes probably have very little dietary restraint."

I would love for this person to meet Stu Mittleman. It would be a fun conversation to watch.

I contemplated doing an in depth post on this, and directing those readers to it identifying all of the midwest ultra runners I know who are also great family people, eat healthy diets, and are not plagued with injuries.

I guess opinions have now replaced facts in our society.