The other day I was thinking about how GREAT running is. As I was swimming endlessly up and down the lanes at the Pullen Aquatic Center, I was trying to nail down exactly WHY I love running so much. I mean, I like swimming and cycling, and yoga is cool too. In fact, I usually look forward to these workouts when I CAN run... but stick me in a pool and/or on a bike for 3ish weeks without running, and I go INSANE.
Then a swimmer in the lane next to me "caught" my attention (okay, I swallowed a mouthful of water because they were flailing about in the worst imitation of the butterfly that I have ever seen). This got me to thinking that maybe the reason why I like running so much is because, as the song says, humans were "born to run". I mean, we certainly weren't made for swimming (save Michael Phelps)... no webbed feet or hands, no gills, etc. And obviously, no one was born riding a bike. So, I decided to do a little research on my theory at lunch the other day (far more interesting than reading the ingredients in bread, I assure you).
So, I found out that, as a whole, humans were actually "born to walk". Compared to other animals, humans have much longer legs, which aids in efficiency and endurance. Having an Achilles tendon also helps. Looking only at the human population, some people were "born to sprint", and have longer than average toes (or alternatively, short heels) and a unique ankle structure. Others were "born to run insanely long distances", possessing minor variations in the NRF2 gene. Either way, robots will have a lot of work to do to catch up to us!
I hope you have enjoyed Running Biomechanics 101. This "lecture" will count for 3.14hrs of "continuing education credit"... I'm just kidding, I'll try and tone down the dorkiness of tomorrow's post! #20
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