Running Man

There's a theory out there that human evolution is as much linked to our ability to run as it is anything else.  The theory points out that the exponential growth in the size of our brainpans is synchronous with the emergence of homio sapiens from its monkey ancestors, and gave it the edge in its competition with neanderthals so much so that the later vanished from the tale.  To get the growth in brain, we needed a huge increase in protein intake.  We achieved this by eating animals we caught.  Regularly.  Almost two million years before there is evidence that we used tools to do so (or, for that matter, to do anything else).

How did we regularly hunt down sufficiently large animals to supply our growing need for proteins, without tools?  In the savannahs and grasslands that dominated the landscape of early humankind, so goes the story, we were able to take down animals that were bigger, stronger, faster than us by running them down.  Essentially, running them to death (apparently there are still existing cultures where this still occurs).  We could do this because humans are able to run for longer and further than any other animal.

Our bodies distinguish themselves from all other animals in several respects, all geared to allow us to run longer and further.  These include; sweat and essential hairlessness to cool ourselves down independently of our breathing; an actual pace length longer than even a horse's; a breathing musculature that allows for independence from the stride (unlike, say, a cheetah who's powerful legs act as a bellows for the lungs, one pace one super powerful breathing action).  We were made to run, says the theory, and all else followed.

This running man theory has been used to promote all sorts of ideas, from barefoot running to the naturalness of ultra-marathons.  Me? I'm simpler.  I've used it to explain why I seem to like running.   And the more I have run, the more I want to run.  It's a virtuous circle.

So much so that my pre-season training hasn't got out of 'running mode'.  I justify it by referring to the increase in my 'aerobic base', and make the most of it by tailoring into my running as much hockey specific conditioning aspects as I can.  Thus, 'hard running' and interval work takes place in the schedule alongside more traditional threshold and aerobic 'modes'.  The only real specific 'running' modality I do is the weekly 'long run' - an aspect of marathon training far more so than for hockey (in fact, a concentration on this 'running agenda' is contra-indicated for hockey players if taken beyond a certain point).

Perhaps the fact that I will be shifting back a gear or two in my running program in the months to come allows me to justify pushing it to the forefront now.

And, as a runner I'm pretty pleased with what I've achieved.  In the last week I ran a total of 28km, with the longest individual run being of over 10km one moonlit night.  It's been quite a journey!