Nagoya Management Junior College

Some recreational runners participate in consecutive races within a short period. A high frequency of participation may not allow for sufficient recovery time, leading to overreaching. This case study reports on the training load, physiological variables, performance, and psychometric status of a male recreational runner during the 16-week marathon season. The runner completed 4 marathon races in a period of 8 weeks (6-14 week). Training load was quantified based on the cumulative time spent in 3 intensity zones (zone 1: < ventilatory threshold, zone 2: between ventilatory threshold and respiratory compensation point, zone 3: < respiratory compensation point) using heart rate monitoring. The Hooper questionnaire was completed every morning to quantify sleep, stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. The runner performed 4 identical treadmill running test over the season. The coefficient of variation for maximal velocity and physiological variables was 1.0% and 1.8‐5.2%, respectively. Pearson correlation showed significant relationships between training load and stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. There was no significant relationship between training load and sleep. In conclusion, it appeared that this runner was able to complete 4 marathon races without overreaching. These findings suggest that the training load and Hooper questionnaire are practical tools for monitoring of recreational runners during the marathon season.

Safety and efficacy of combination therapy of pitavastatin and fenofibrate were examined in consecutive case series with fasting serum triglycerides ≥ 150 mg/dL despite receiving pitavastatin 1 or 2 mg daily for over 2 months and additionally administered micronized fenofibrate 67 mg daily for another 4 to 16 weeks. Such low doses were selected in consideration of safety, and normal liver and renal functions were incorporated in inclusion criteria. In result, a total of 56 cases were examined. The addition of fenofibrate 67 mg to pitavastatin 1 mg/2 mg yielded a 36.8%/35.6% reduction in triglycerides and 6.4%/12.4% elevation in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, respectively. Almost 70% of the patients achieved triglycerides <150 mg/dL. Statistically significant elevation and decrease were observed in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, respectively. Laboratory tests for liver, renal and muscle function statistically significantly elevated after starting fenofibrate co-administration, which were considered comparable to the effect of fenofibrate alone. No myopathy or serious adverse events were reported. In conclusion, while the safety and tolerability need to be further examined over the longer term, and careful monitoring is still needed, this regimen could be considered as one of the treatment option for hypercholesterolemia associated with hypertriglyceridemia.