Dear PE’s (Pony Espresso members, or “Ponies” for those of you new to this group):
Thirty years ago I started distance running to build my endurance for my great passion of the time- tennis. However, something magical occurred during my very first run on the beach in Del Mar, California. I ran approximately one mile and stopped to stretch at the cliffs near the Del Mar race track. At that moment, something I still can’t describe or explain, resonated within me, and it just felt “right”. I finished my run and it was not until 18 years later, that I again picked up a tennis racket! As with many new to the sport, I quickly became enamored and shortly thereafter, hooked up with Thaddeus Kostrubala, MD, author of the best seller The Joy of Running who, thanks to the gods and muses of running, just happened to live around the corner from me. When we first met, I related the story about that special “resonance” which occurred at he cliffs, and he smiled and informed me that those were the very cliffs when the “cliff dweller” Del Mar Man was found. He was thought at the time to be 25,000 years old, making him the oldest hominid found in North or South America. His age was later reduced to 8,000 year by more accurate carbon dating techniques. To Thad, those cliffs were a sacred shrine. Thad took this as a sign that I should be one of his disciples as he had long held that running brought us back to our origins as hunter-gatherers. This was the reason it felt “right” and accounted for increased awareness of our surroundings. He was criticized for “unscientific” reasoning and mocked for his theories. Now, fast forward 30 years. Several important papers published in peer reviewed journals such as Sports Medicine, Current Anthropology, and The Journal of Experimental Biology, have all dealt in a scientific manner with the concept of Man as an endurance animal who was able to outlast wild animals on the run, and ultimately make the “kill” when the animal collapsed with exhaustion! Now, a national best seller Born to Run written by Christopher McDougall and published this year by Alfred A. Knopf tellls the story of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, renowned for remarkable distance running achievements (and games). The Tarahumara were always a favorite of Thad’s! An abstract of an article published in 2004,by the Journal, Nature, dealing with this issue is reprinted below:
Endurance running and the evolution of Homo
Dennis M. Bramble1 & Daniel E. Lieberman2
Abstract
Striding bipedalism is a key derived behaviour of hominids that possibly originated soon after the divergence of the chimpanzee and human lineages. Although bipedal gaits include walking and running, running is generally considered to have played no major role in human evolution because humans, like apes, are poor sprinters compared to most quadrupeds. Here we assess how well humans perform at sustained long-distance running, and review the physiological and anatomical bases of endurance running capabilities in humans and other mammals. Judged by several criteria, humans perform remarkably well at endurance running, thanks to a diverse array of features, many of which leave traces in the skeleton. The fossil evidence of these features suggests that endurance running is a derived capability of the genus Homo, originating about 2 million years ago, and may have been instrumental in the evolution of the human body form.
I have dealt with innumerable distance runners over the past 30 years (not the least of whom are the Marathon Maniacs whose “craziness” or “links to our forebearers” depending on your perspective can be seen at their informative website www.marathonmaniacs.com ). As a sports cardiologist with some knowledge of orthopedic sports medicine as well, and as an observer of the scope of ages, sizes, running mechanics witnessed at more than 125 marathons and more than 300 half marathons, I can uneqivocally state that most individuals can train and successfully complete the marathon distance. This is not to say that it is easy or a quick process, but it can be done. Just look at the thousands of previous marathon virgins successfully trained by groups such as Team in Training, Joints in Motion, USA Fit, and a myriad of others such as local track clubs. So, if your horizons have been limited to 5K’s, 10K’s and half marathons, think again. For the individual who prefers not to engage in a group endeavor, there are many books and on-line resources to give guidance. Just remember, if you have not been continuously active (without symptoms) since your high school or college days, a visit to your health provider for an pre-training evaluation is a must!
Happy trails,
JRB