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Almost the first sentence in the article set a bad tone: Even nature’s best animal distance runners — such as horses and dogs — will run similar distances only
by noelwelsh 15y ago
Almost the first sentence in the article set a bad tone:
Even nature’s best animal distance runners — such as horses and dogs — will run similar distances only if forced to do so
This sentence is meaningless. When does a dog do anything uncomfortable without coercion? It's not like a dog will voluntarily, say, go without food because it needs to lose weight. Similarly, humans don't spontaneously run marathons. There is a huge psychological build-up required, of which this article is a part. It's notable that most Kenyan marathon champions don't continue running once they retire. They get plenty of physical activity on the farm and don't have the Western obsession with endurance sports.
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This article does not exist in a vacuum. There is a whole barefoot running / endurance running movement that is taking over conventional sports shoes at the moment. The general premise is:
- humans evolved to run without shoes, so you should (or better, with expensive shoes with minimal heals)
- humans evolved to run long distances, so you should
I don't disagree with the statements, but I think it's oversimplified. I say this as someone who wears Vivo Barefoot shoes. In particular, persistence hunting (the form of hunting that relied on long distance running) was not widely used outside of some specific niches (really hot places, for instance) and a lot of humans have adapted away from endurance activities (which is obvious is look at a Kenyan marathon runner next to a Scandinavian strong-man competitor).
- ars 15y ago> When does a dog do anything uncomfortable without coercion? I think it means a dog won't run a long distance for a positive reason, only for a negative one. I.e. it won't run far to get food, but it will to avoid pain. But a human will run far to get food which no other animal will do.
- AkThhhpppt 15y agoUm... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_hunting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endurance_hunting
- ars 15y agoUm yourself. That page doesn't exactly scream "reliable", and doing both a regular google search and a google scholar search of "Cursorial hunting" doesn't come up with a lot. At best that term talks about animals that chase prey over distance rather than try for quick attacks, but that's not in the same category as endurance hunting which can last an entire day.
- AkThhhpppt 15y agoIt's all endurance hunting; it's a question of how quickly the prey is exhausted, not how long the chase goes on. See the difference between spotted hyenas (endurance) and lions (ambush). http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mammals/hyena.htm http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/animals/mamm..., as well as plenty of other references.
- tomelders 15y agoId say that running without shoes is only a good idea if you plan to die quite young, and therefore wont be needing your feet, ankles and knees in old age.
- jd 15y agoNobody advocates running barefoot on asphalt. And yes, running can wear out your joints, but even if you wear running shoes.
- patricklynch 15y ago"Nobody advocates running barefoot on asphalt." Here's a Harvard professor who advocates running barefoot on asphalt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=7jrnj-7YKZE#t=329s http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...
- tomelders 15y agoThey will certainly wear out faster without shoes, no matter what you're running on. Evolution is somewhat limited in what it can do. It must build upon things that are already there, over very long periods of time through subtle genetic mutations. Just because evolution didn't grace us with air cushioned soles and decent bridge and ankle support doesn't mean it's no good for us. Evolution had a lot less to play with and did the best it could. Humans made it better. I do find it odd that some people like to look back at the way humans did stuff in the past and somehow arrive at the conclusion that it's better for us. They invariably neglect to take into account the pitifully short lifespans our ancestors had. We also lived in caves, but I don't see many people eager to do that these days. And then there's stuff like the Palaeolithic diet which is absolute nonsense that ranks up there with Hal-Al and Kosher butchering. That became a rant... I had no idea it bothered me so much.
- bane 15y ago"In particular, persistence hunting (the form of hunting that relied on long distance running)" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting Here it is in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=826HMLoiE_o