No Shortcuts, No Secrets to Running Fast
I try to avoid reading the letsrun.com discussion boards because there is so much distasteful humor and contentious drivel. But I was browsing a thread recently and thought one response was very insightful (and funny), despite its deeply sarcastic tone.
One person stated his/her belief that the East African runners are so much better than the rest of the world because their feet are so much stronger. Such logic would suggest that if each of us simply strengthened our feet, we could be world-class distance runners. But more generally, this idea represents a belief that some have about distance running—that there are a few secrets that need to be discovered to explain running success, and somehow the East Africans know the secrets and we don’t. This actually may be true to some extent, but it’s obviously more complicated than that. Below is the statement followed by the response I thought was insightful.
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“Kenyan teenagers without a huge mileage base will probably do much better than runners from developed countries who have run more mileage, because they will have much better developed feet.”
——————————-“Right, tough feet. Or maybe it’s a higher vo2 max. Or better running economy. Or enhanced glycogen loading, probably from drinking chocolate milk. Or pure water to drink, not Coke. Or Ugali, no french fries. Or just 1500 calories a day, doesn’t matter what the #!@*^ they eat: Leaner is meaner. Or skinny calf muscles. Or lighter bones for flying over steeplechase barriers. Or better genes. Or an enhanced epigenetic environment. Or high altitude living. Or the motivation of money. Or cattle raising culture. Or many heroes to emulate. Or they hate soccer, so focus only on running. No, wait, they hate boxing, so focus only on running. Or warm, dry climate is great for training year round. Or lack of smog prevents exercise induced asthma. Few TVs, kids must play stickball in streets. No iPods, no one dreams of growing up to be Lady Gaga. No cineplexes, no one dreams of becoming Sidney Poitier. No high school and college running programs; we all know it’s the *^#!@ coaches and meet pressures that screw up American kids.
“Nah, come to rethink it all, any idiot can see it’s obviously the tough feet. That also explains why so many of those walk-on-nails-and-hot-coals dudes from India have run sub 2:06 in the marathon. End of debate.”
(http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=3561606&page=1)
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