Here are a few things I found interesting, either about heart health, running, or the intersection thereof.

This has been a big week in reading material. Let’s dig in.

If you needed a reason/excuse to either not shovel snow or, better yet, move to a better climate, here it is:

BREAKING NEWS: exercise is good for the heart:

Some interesting data from strava about most popular running routes in the biggest U.S. cities.

This is, on the surface, an article about Lebron James. However, there is some interesting information in here about impact of rest, travel, alcohol, performance, and even heart health:

Mancias said a lot of players are worried about heart health, knowing that a tremendous number of retired players have had fatal heart issues. Fourteen-year vet Sean Rooks, 46, died of a heart attack during the NBA Finals last season. Longtime NBA forward Anthony Mason died of a massive heart attack on Feb. 28, 2015, at the age of 48. In the 2015 calendar year, NBA veterans Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins and Jack Haley all died at age 60 or younger due to heart-related ailments.

“That’s No. 1 right there,” Mancias said. “We have to worry about these guys’ health over the long term. … Right now, we’re seeing some stuff with retired players and sudden cardiac arrest. We want to see, what is the heart doing? What are the strains?”

Apparently second hand smoke isn’t as bad as we thought. I’m still not looking to be around it.

Sugar is killing us. This is rehashing previous reads, and is very frustrating to know that much of what we think about the fat/health relationship was funded by the sugar industry buying a few researchers.

There have been several articles this week about the coming financial burden of CVD. Nearly 50% of people will have at least one problem related to heart disease by 2035, which will cost $1.1 trillion. Links to AHA and US News reads about this.

For those following Nike’s sub 2 hour marathon effort, aka Breaking2, a look at the team involved.

This Runner’s World article about a masters runner (Melody Fairchild) kicking some ass has a few personal connections. I saw her run my senior year in high school at national indoor championships, and I remember watching her race more than I remember participating in my own. She completely obliterated the field in the 3200m, to the point where she had a standing ovation. There is also a reference to a master’s runner from LA whose name rings a bell as I’ve seen her in a few local races I ran while living there.

Some weird things in here that I did not know can contribute to heart disease. Stress, sure, I’ve read that. Being fat shamed or altitude of residence? I have not read that. Shoulder pain appears here, but mine came after, not before, heart issues.

Two counter discussions about benefits of Vitamin D. I list this as this is the only supplement I take. Time says it can protect against Cold and Flu. Close Nutrition, a new find, says it’s more complicated than that.

A read on heart damaging drugs.

This is specifically about Americans’ stress levels increasing, but not relationship to heart disease, but is still worth a look.

This news is creeping closer to home, both figuratively and literally. Three patients in LA infected by Mycobacterium chimaera. I recently received a letter from my hospital, and I was also exposed to this (as 60% of all patients for open heart surgery world wide were).

Finally, a good read about a person suffering cardiac arrest during a UK park run.