Millions of years of genetic mutation and adaptation have produced a singular animal whose body, mind, and spirit are primed to sprint as if life depended on it. That animal is you. So why are you just standing there?
via Yes, You Were Born to Run : Run For Weight Loss : MensHealth.com. I love this notion, and this article, because I’ve wondered why I’ve had this persistent (many years worth) desire to run although I’ve never managed before to run seriously except for one stint in my 30’s. Why have I kept coming back to it?
A few more snippets that will whet your appetite to read the full article, which you need to do.
Why do 11 percent of Americans and tens of millions of people around the world tie on running shoes and clock their weekly miles? The three most recent presidents of the United States have put in time as runners (and earlier this year, one candidate, Mike Huckabee, trained for the Boston Marathon while campaigning for the U.S. presidency).
Early humans didn’t have fire to cook meat and release its nutrients until 250,000 years ago. They didn’t have the bow and arrow until 20,000 years ago. “But we know that people have been hunting for 2 million years. The best weapon they had available to them was a sharpened wooden stick. I’m not exaggerating. How the hell are you going to kill an animal with a sharp wooden stick? It’s incredibly dangerous. You have to move close to the animal, which means the animal can kick you or gore you.”
And the alternative? Simply run the animal for 5 or 10 miles until it’s dying of heatstroke, and then knock it over with a feather. “That’s it. It’s amazing. It’s so easy.”
And thus, after finishing the couch-to-5k program I created another plan using the Runner’s World Smart Coach. It’s another 5k training program but 16 weeks long and culminating in 10 mile runs on the 3rd day of the weekly training cycle. Here it is: Smart Coach 16 wk 5k plan.
(old site) Musings of Captain Justice 
Gil,
Those early folks out running down bison or woolly mamoths had a life expectancy of around 30 years so maybe they needed to use their brains to mechanize parts of that process.
OK, yes I used to run. Miles and miles in the middle of the night in London, Paris, and Zurich when there on business with a screwed up body-clock. But… a few years ago my knees firmly advised me that I needed to find another form of vigorous aerobic and load-bearing exercise.
Your knees will most likely tell you the same thing some day.
What really matters is finding, as we age, was to get that vigorous, load bearing exercise. Include that bike in your execise regimin as it will give you the aerobics and load bearing without the damaging impact that running always includes. Do some of each so that when the time comes, your skills and muscle tone will include those required for serious cycling. At some point you may even want to consider transitioning to a pedal powered machine that is more stable than a bike.
But… whatever you do, keep that heart pushing and those muscles and bones stressed enough to keep them working. You have really done well on the C25K program and I am glad you are going to push it farther along now. When we had lunch a couple of weeks back, you looked 5-10 years younger than when I had last seen you in person. Way to go!