it is just running for cripes sake by LL

From: lazarus lake
Subject: FW: running mythology
Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 13:10:33 +0000

it is just running for cripes sake.

it is what we are designed to do.
we have been doing it for something between 3 and 6 million years....

MILLION.

100 years after the popularization of the automobile
we have come to treat running as an almost supernatural accomplishment.
we actually fear running.

starting up a cross country team has been at times maddening.
before we even reached the total of 3 miles a day in a practice we had parents fearing that running "such distances"
would permanently...

PERMANENTLY

injure their children.

we lost runners whose parents will always believe they narrowly averted crippling injuries.
thank god that all the girls quit.
everyone knows distance running will make a woman's uterus fall out.
it would have been awful having our track littered with all those uteri.

the latest fear is "dead legs"
i am not sure what "dead legs" is but we have parents convinced that running will cause it.

"distance days"
which are really almost days off
strike terror in the hearts of our parents.
the kids are equally terrrified
(they learn it at home)
none the less we had worked them up to slow 5-milers.

last week we did a 6-miler.
and we are not talking about a hard 6-miler.
times ranged from 50-61 minutes.

one kid's dad held him out of practice that day.
running 6 miles he feared would give the kid "dead legs"
and ruin his basketball and baseball seasons.

i decided it was better not to tell the guy
that during most of our practices we covered anything from 4.5 to 5.5 miles much of it at fast speeds
(which is much more difficult than running 6 miles slowly)
it is just broken down into smaller pieces.
apparently almost no one can do math.

i do try to explain that exercise as counterintuitive as it might seem makes you stronger not weaker.

you are laughing at these people aren't you?

let me point out that last week.
last week i saw the hundred thousandth post asking for advice on what to eat during an ultra.
and we are not talking about a multiday.
this time it was 50 miles.
the next time it will probably be 50k.

the sane advice is "if you happen to get hungry you can eat something to make your stomach feel better.
it is not necessary to constantly fuel your body to run."

the advice that caught my eye said "eat the SAME THING YOU EAT DURING TRAINING."
eat during training?

what for so you don't get "dead legs?"

between 1836 and 1869 about 400 00 people
traveled 2 00 miles from missoura to oregon.
most of them walked.
they had no idea that they must eat every 45 minutes.
they had no concept of bonk.
they had no gu.

it is just running.
we have been doing it for millions of years.

MILLIONS.

laz