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«In my beginnings, all my relatives accompanied me to an Ultra Trail of Mont Blanc and, among them, my sister-in-law, who is a doctor.

After the 100-kilometer race, they gave me an anti-doping control, she reviewed the results of the analysis and told me that I had the white blood cell level of a person with a serious hematological disease, of a person with leukemia.

I got goose bumps.

I am passionate about ultradistance, it is where I feel most things, but I am aware that

it's insane.

The tute for the body at the organic level, not only at the muscular level, is exaggerated, "he acknowledges.

Tòfol Castanyer

and no one better than him to open the debate.Castanyer, 48, was a mountain runner before trail running existed, the roommate of a

Kilian Jornet

He was a teenager, he was champion of the World Cup in 2010 among other successes and now through experience he observes the boom of long distances with concern: «Before running 100 kilometers was already a lot, now if you don't do 170 kilometers you are nobody.

Respect for distance has been lost and that is not good. ”In the last decade, fans have multiplied who challenge routes far beyond the marathon, who travel hundreds of kilometers by bicycle or who complete the audacity of an Ironman and His fervor has forced doctors and researchers to address a question: Where is the border between the healthy and the unhealthy?

"The nervous system and the brain slow down"

The limit will always depend on the physical state of each one, but curiously all the experts questioned answered that, although the athlete is in top shape, even if he is very prepared for the effort, there is a moment when he does or does start to punish himself: when he overcomes 10 or 12 hours of continuous effort, that is, more or less when night falls. “From that moment on, the body begins to collapse.

Although hydration and nutrition have been perfect throughout the race, the nervous system and brain slow down, there is a significant drop in the immune system ... And that continues for days.

For example, after a test of this type, it is normal for the athlete to drop things from their hands or for them to catch a good cold, "he explains.

Pedro Luis Valenzuela

, a researcher at the Department of Systems Biology at the University of Alcalá (UAH), who a few years ago conducted an interesting study in this regard.

Keco matey

He had proposed to travel more than 500 kilometers around Azuqueca for a charitable cause and he decided to accompany him in the pre, during and post to analyze the effects of the beating.

“I had scheduled the last test 72 hours after the challenge because I believed that the improvement would be considerable, but the nervous system, for example, was still very fatigued.

It was still pending for me to study how he recovered a week or a month later to know if the effects are more lasting than we think, "says Valenzuela and names the great fear of lovers of ultra-distance every time he asks whether what they do is harmful: atrial fibrillation. For years, studies and more studies conclude and contradict themselves on whether prolonged sport can damage the heart and, although the controversy is constant, there is evidence that everyone admits: it increases the risk of an arrhythmia called thus, atrial fibrillation. Ultra runners, long-distance cyclists or Ironmans triathletes can suffer from excessive growth of the atria - especially the left atrium - and this can make the heart pump go crazy with the consequent danger.

"Body protectors are enough"

«There are cases, but we are talking about athletes with many years of very intense exercise behind them.

The incidence is low.

A single ultramarathon or a similar effort fatigue the heart, can cause edema, but then it recovers.

In most cases, the body's protective mechanisms, such as fatigue or overtraining, are sufficient to avoid these extreme risks, "he explains.

Alexander Lucia

, professor at the European University of Madrid (UEM), who together with other researchers such as doctor

Araceli boraita

, head of the Cardiology Service of the Spanish Agency for the Protection of Health in Sports (AEPSAD), have analyzed this ailment through data from thousands of athletes. For them, atrial fibrillation is a threat to control in athletes resistance professionals, but only a few amateurs are exposed.

“It is true that there is a boom in ultradistance and that there may be those who are exercising more, but there are still millions of people who exercise less.

For me, that's the real danger.

All in all, the benefits of exercise will always be well above its losses, "concludes Lucía, who thus solves the question opened by Castanyer. According to experts, the border between healthy and unhealthy exists.

After 10 to 12 hours of continuous exercise, temporary damage to the brain and nervous system occurs and even the heart can be affected forever.

But very few make it there.

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