I did a pretty vigorous 50 mile run last Saturday and had a routine blood test on Tuesday. My liver function enzymes were elevated quite a bit, but I guess that's a well-known result of ultramarathons [1]. What's not clear to me is whether these numbers jump up a little and even back out, or whether I'm doing serious damage to my liver and maybe some other organs [2]. I love pushing the limits and finding out what I'm capable of, but does anyone know if long-term training at this level is going to do irreversible damage? Can you adapt to this level of exertion, or is this just how the body reacts?
[1]
http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/10/2711.pdf[2]
http://runtrails.blogspot.com/2009/08/erik-skaggs-hospitalized-for-renal.html