Exercise: The Miracle Drug?

I was talking with a friend the other day about my medical woes. It seems that if I stop running for 10 days or more, two things happen. First, I catch a cold. I noticed this connection four years ago or so, after I had been running and triathlon training for a couple years. Since then I can say it is without fail... if I stop running, I catch a cold.

The second thing that happens has me a little more concerned, body pain! And I don't mean a little ache here or there, I mean full fledge writhing, pop Ibuprofen every three hours, OMG what's happening to me, kind of pain. I am now certain that exercise is doing a lot more than keeping a cold at bay... and it's actually a little scary.

I am pretty sure the body pain goes along with my other autoimmune symptoms, which I won't go into. It's just a little disconcerting to realize you *can't* stop running, or you really will feel terrible. Before I've done it because I wanted to, I wanted to be fit and strong; now I feel I really have to.

So my friend and I were talking about this, and I wondered aloud what impact it would have if *everyone* was forced to run or do some cardiovascular exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, and eat healthy. Seriously, after a year, I bet pharmaceutical companies would lose half their sales! And what they lose would go to Nike, Asics, Mizuno, local gyms, etc... and orthotics companies!

This reminds me of the blog I wrote about the effect of exercise on Alzheimers, "Healthy Body, Healthy Mind". It's not just the brain that benefits from rigorous exercise, it's virtually every aspect of our bodies. I know I am outrunning something, and I'm not goint to find out what! Just do it!