Myocardial fatigue in recreational marathon runners: A speckle-tracking echocardiography study

Prolonged aerobic exercise such as marathon running produces supraphysiological hemodynamic stress that can potentially affect the athlete's cardiac homeostasis. While cardiac structural and functional adaptations in professional athletes are well characterized, only a limited information is available for recreational runners undergoing this supraphysiological stress.Premarathon and post-marathon echocardiography was performed in 50 recreational...