However, there is another side to this story. While drinking alcohol may increase your blood pressure temporarily, it also increases nitric oxide production, which relaxes the walls of the blood vessels and improves blood flow. Nitric oxide is produced when you exercise, which is why you feel relaxed after exercising. Drinking alcohol may actually help keep your cardiovascular system healthy.

Agerelated changes in km ultramarathon running performance
Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the participation and running performance trends at the “100 km Lauf Bienne” race in Switzerland during the last decade. We also wanted to compare the age-associated changes in running performance between males and women. For both sexes, we found that the percentage of finishers significantly decreased for the 18–30 and 30–39 year age groups, while it increased for the 40–50 and 50–59 year age groups over the studied 10-year period. From 1998 to 2009, the mean age of top ten finishers increased annually by 0.4 years for both females and males. Running times for the top ten finisher remained stable for females, whereas they significantly increased by 2.4 minutes per annum for males over the same period. There was a significant age effect on running times. The best 100-mile running times was observed for those aged between 30 and 49 years, for males and females, respectively. The running performance declined with increasing age until 60–64 years, when it became similar for both genders, but was greater for women compared to men after 65 years. Future research should investigate the lifespan from 70 to 80 years to better understand the gender differences in performance.