born to run?

It's time for a science moment.

I came across some really interesting reading, courtesy of my beloved husband. This is worth sharing.

First and foremost, this little article describes how humans are essentially designed to run. We can outrun almost any 4-legged critter out there, over distance. We are so good at it, in fact, that there are people in the world who still hunt by running their prey to exhaustion.

You read that right.

Outrunning an antelope over 22 miles in 100 degree heat is how people get food in Africa.

The cool part? They do it at speeds of 4 to 6 mph. Not Olympic pace. Human pace.

Ok, maybe you might have to put down that big mac to go catch yourself an antelope, but your body knows how to run, and it knows more than your brain. How cool is that?!

Many animals have tails they can use as counterbalance. We humans don't have tails - we have gi-normous gluteal muscles instead. It's true -- my big ass is good for something! We have lots of other useful features that make us exclusively designed for running - like a tendon in our head that helps us track, and big thick tendons in our legs that are only good for one thing. And a tremendous ability to dissipate heat. That puddle under the spin bike after a spin class, case in point.

Dontcha just want to print this article out and hand it to every person who has said "running isn't natural" while they're eating another bag of cheetos? Yeah, me too.

To further illustrate the brilliantness of the design of the human body, I give you the Man Vs. Horse Marathon in Wales. Turns out this race was based on a bet (like other good races I know) between some guy and an innkeeper in Wales. In 2004, a man won the race. OK, he was faster than the average runner - but he won.

A man. Outran a horse. In a 22 mile race.

Not only are we born to run, we're apparently highly efficient at it. This little article lays it out in terms I understand:

If humans could run on gasoline
1 gallon of gasoline = 31,000 calories.
Human body: 300 miles per gallon
Human on a bicycle: 1000 miles per gallon
Your car: not even close.

Are we born to run? I say hell yeah!

And bike too!

The swimming I'm not so convinced about -- but I'm working on that...