I recently watched The Nature of Things "The Perfect Runner".
The episode talked all about the evolutionary significance of our ancestors ability to run long distances. The way our body sweats to cool down and the make up of our legs and feet to accommodate terrain.
It also talked about the best runners in the world coming from rural (and often impoverished) roots. Groups of people who run to herd their animals and don't have a shoe to help manage the rough terrain.
I know as a runner I suffer from some old injuries I just can't shake. Knee swelling and hip aches as well as a bit of chronic heal pain are some of the background annoyances that I'm sure all runners struggle with.
This program inspired me to give the science a try and see if I can gently retrain my feet to not rely on a runner to absorb a shock wave that still runs through my body but let my body land in a way that best minimizes the shock.
This program also made me marvel at the human body. We are capable of so much. Runners can push their lungs and legs for distances unthinkable to me at this point in my life, hikers can climb to heights vehicles can only dream of, hunters can chase down antelope and waltz right up to lions and take their prey, we can map the human genome, push our way into space and birth perfect delicate babies.
Take some time to marvel at your body. When you move; envision your movement in slow motion and compartmentalize its actions. Your lungs heaving and your blood shooting through your veins dispersing oxygen into your cells. Your muscles violently and vigorously contracting and relaxing with each forceful movement drawing you forward. Your feet intuitively grabbing the ground to propel you. Your heart pumping with deliberate powerful pulses. This body takes you everywhere you go, this body keeps your cells supplied so you can move and connect with your world.
What a marvel your body is.
http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episode/the-perfect-runner.html
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