Born To Run

Born To Run explains the natural benefits of long-distance running, and how you can become a better runner too, based on several years of research, experiences, and training.

Compared to animals like horses, you might think your human body is pretty slow. But did you know those two legs of yours are capable of outrunning any animal on the planet?

When talking about sheer speed, many animals will win over a short distance. But where homo sapiens wins is endurance. On a hot day, someone who is fit can outrun a horse in a marathon. This is because human bodies are efficient.

Your body can regulate temperature much more efficiently than other animals through sweating. Most other mammals can’t sweat, so they are forced to release heat through breathing. They are much more prone to overheating and have to stop much sooner than us, or they risk heat exhaustion.

Another advantage comes from being on two legs. When four-legged animals run, they break into a gallop. It’s quick, but the movement of galloping legs compresses the animal’s lungs. Because of this, when these animals run fast, they can only breathe one breath per stride, which they are unable to keep up after too long.

Our ability to run on two legs, though slower, allows our chest to expand and thus enables us to increase air capacity. This means, unlike any other animal, we can breathe at whatever rate we need.

Lastly, our specialized Achilles tendon also gives us a leg up on the competition. As it stretches, the Achilles stores energy. When that power is released, it propels us forward. This allows us to use less energy per step than other animals.

By now you might have heard about the barefoot running movement, or maybe you’ve seen people doing it. No, they didn’t lose their running shoes-or their mind. Running barefoot is much better for your feet. As we’ve seen, our bodies have many evolutionary traits that help us run. Your feet also have natural gifts that are hindered by running shoes. Modern running shoes stabilize the foot too well. When we run, our foot rolls inward, which is called pronation. This acts as a shock absorber for our lower leg. Unfortunately, we blamed pronation for a common ailment called runner’s knee. Because of this, pronation-alleviation shoes flooded the market, though only 3% of people have a medical need for such shoes. For most runners, wearing a shoe is not unlike wearing a plaster cast around the foot. Like a cast, a shoe inhibits movement and causes the muscles in the foot to lose strength. Because of this imbalance, the rest of the body has extra stress on other muscles…