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## Wednesday, September 26, 2012

### Long distance running - Next form of Evolution - Oxygen Intake!

Another aspect of long distance running that I wonder is this:  how come an individual evolve?   Why am I personally struggling to run long distances?  Is there a limit?  While the biggest factors are the motivation and mental elements, let us examine the physical factors.  The first of them all is Oxygen Intake.

As one runs more, the relative consumption of oxygen - called Volume Oxygen Maximal - or VO2 max, which is by nature a key determinant in terms of a person ability to perform during an endurance sport - which could be long distance running, rowing, cycling, climbing etc., among others.  We will avoid meandering into technicalities but some key observations.  I have sourced some from the experts:

 VO2 max peaks out after sometime vs Exerise Intensity
VO2 max (also maximal oxygen consumptionmaximal oxygen uptakepeak oxygen uptake or maximal aerobic capacity) is the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise, which reflects the physical fitness of the individual. The name is derived from V - volume, O2 - oxygen, max - maximum.
VO2 max is expressed either as an absolute rate in litres of oxygen per minute (l/min) or as a relative rate in millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of bodyweight per minute (ml/kg/min). The latter expression is often used to compare the performance of endurance sports athletes.
The Fick equation defines the same as:
$\mathrm{VO_2\; max} = Q(\mathrm{CaO_2} - \mathrm{CvO_2})$, when these values are obtained during an exertion at a maximal effort.
where Q is the cardiac output of the heart, CaO2 is the arterial oxygen content, and CvO2 is the venous oxygen content.
(CaO2 – CvO2) is also known as the arteriovenous oxygen difference.

Among many other reliable tests, this test called the Cooper test is used to measure the oxygen intake of long distance runners:
Kenneth H. Cooper conducted a study for the United States Air Force in the late 1960s. One of the results of this was the Cooper test in which the distance covered running in 12 minutes is measured. Based on the measured distance, an estimate of VO2 max (in ml/min/kg) is:
$\mathrm{VO_2\; max} = {d_{12} - 505 \over 45}$
where d12 is distance (in metres) covered in 12 minutes.

Elite male runners can generate up to 85 ml/kg/min, and female elite runners can generate about 77 ml/kg/min [8]. Five time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain is reported to have had a VO2 max of 88.0 at his peak,[9] while cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie measured at 96 ml/kg/min.[10] Dæhlie's result was achieved out of season, and physiologist Erlend Hem who was responsible for the testing stated that he would not discount the possibility of the skier passing 100 ml/kg/min at his absolute peak. Norwegian cyclist Oskar Svendsen is thought to have recorded the highest VO2 max of 97.5 ml/kg/min, a "sensational" value in itself, made more remarkable by his young age (18 years old at the time).[11] World class rowers are physically very large endurance athletes and typically do not score as high on a per weight basis, but often score exceptionally high in absolute terms. Male rowers typically score VO2 maxima over 6 litres/minute, and some exceptional individuals have exceeded 8 l/min.
To put this into perspective, thoroughbred horses have a VO2 max of around 180 ml/kg/min. Siberian dogs running in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race have VO2 values as high as 240 ml/kg/min.[12]

The ability to run is about having a better VO2.  Just reproducing
the article from Runners world for this:

Understanding how your body uses oxygen during exercise is the key to faster times - By Amby Burfoot Published 11/14/2001
 Oxygen is the key determinant in an endurance athelete's performance
All aerobic endurance activities, like running, bicycling, swimming, and cross-country skiing, are essentially contests to see how much oxygen your body can deliver to your exercising muscles. Increase the amount of oxygen, and you can run, bike, swim, or ski faster.
In their laboratory research, scientists frequently measure this delivery and use of oxygen, calling it maximum oxygen uptake or VO2 max. They consider maximum oxygen uptake to be the most basic measure of aerobic fitness, and they've shown that it increases as you train more and harder. I generally reverse the letter order, since max VO2 has a friendlier sound than VO2 max.

As your aerobic capacity increases, you can run farther and faster. All training improves your aerobic capacity, even slow, relaxed jogging. But some workouts improve it more than others.

The best and most efficient way to increase your aerobic capacity is to run slightly faster (10 to 30 seconds per mile) than your 5-K race pace. Faster runners should be closer to the 10-second figure, and slower runners closer to the 30-second figure. For example, if you can race a 5-K at 7:40 per mile, you should run your max VO2 workouts at 7:20 to 7:30 pace. This isn't a pace that you can maintain very long in training. You can run for distance (800 meters) or time (3 to 5 minutes).

After each repeat, jog for four to five minutes, and then do another. The workout is finished when you've completed three to four repeats (for beginning and intermediate runners) or six to eight repeats (for advanced runners).

Many runners do max VO2 workouts on the track as part of their interval training routines because they like to measure the lengths and times of the repeats exactly. That's fine, but it isn't necessary. You can also do max VO2 workouts on a good trail, a grassy field, or any other smooth surface that allows you to run at a fast clip without fear of ankle turns. Use your watch to time the four-minute repeats, and run at a strong and fast (but not all-out) effort.

Don't do these aerobic-capacity workouts more than once a week, and skip them on weeks when you have races. These workouts cover less distance than tempo workouts, but they're more taxing because the pace is considerably harder. If you were to do several max VO2 workouts a week or include one in your training program during the week of a race, you might soon find your race performances deteriorating because you'd be too fatigued to race at full strength.

In their laboratory research, scientists frequently measure this delivery and use of oxygen, calling it maximum oxygen uptake or VO2 max. They consider maximum oxygen uptake to be the most basic measure of aerobic fitness, and they've shown that it increases as you train more and harder. I generally reverse the letter order, since max VO2 has a friendlier sound than VO2 max.
As your aerobic capacity increases, you can run farther and faster. All training improves your aerobic capacity, even slow, relaxed jogging. But some workouts improve it more than others.

The best and most efficient way to increase your aerobic capacity is to run slightly faster (10 to 30 seconds per mile) than your 5-K race pace. Faster runners should be closer to the 10-second figure, and slower runners closer to the 30-second figure. For example, if you can race a 5-K at 7:40 per mile, you should run your max VO2 workouts at 7:20 to 7:30 pace. This isn't a pace that you can maintain very long in training. You can run for distance (800 meters) or time (3 to 5 minutes).

After each repeat, jog for four to five minutes, and then do another. The workout is finished when you've completed three to four repeats (for beginning and intermediate runners) or six to eight repeats (for advanced runners).

Many runners do max VO2 workouts on the track as part of their interval training routines because they like to measure the lengths and times of the repeats exactly. That's fine, but it isn't necessary. You can also do max VO2 workouts on a good trail, a grassy field, or any other smooth surface that allows you to run at a fast clip without fear of ankle turns. Use your watch to time the four-minute repeats, and run at a strong and fast (but not all-out) effort.

Don't do these aerobic-capacity workouts more than once a week, and skip them on weeks when you have races. These workouts cover less distance than tempo workouts, but they're more taxing because the pace is considerably harder. If you were to do several max VO2 workouts a week or include one in your training program during the week of a race, you might soon find your race performances deteriorating because you'd be too fatigued to race at full strength.

As your aerobic capacity increases, you can run farther and faster. All training improves your aerobic capacity, even slow, relaxed jogging. But some workouts improve it more than others.
The best and most efficient way to increase your aerobic capacity is to run slightly faster (10 to 30 seconds per mile) than your 5-K race pace. Faster runners should be closer to the 10-second figure, and slower runners closer to the 30-second figure. For example, if you can race a 5-K at 7:40 per mile, you should run your max VO2 workouts at 7:20 to 7:30 pace. This isn't a pace that you can maintain very long in training. You can run for distance (800 meters) or time (3 to 5 minutes).

After each repeat, jog for four to five minutes, and then do another. The workout is finished when you've completed three to four repeats (for beginning and intermediate runners) or six to eight repeats (for advanced runners).

Many runners do max VO2 workouts on the track as part of their interval training routines because they like to measure the lengths and times of the repeats exactly. That's fine, but it isn't necessary. You can also do max VO2 workouts on a good trail, a grassy field, or any other smooth surface that allows you to run at a fast clip without fear of ankle turns. Use your watch to time the four-minute repeats, and run at a strong and fast (but not all-out) effort.

 One sure way to improve VO2, is interval training!
Easy way to calculate your VO2 max with a guideline of the quality of your intake is here.
A simple form of evolution of the long distance runner, especially people who are constantly looking for PB or trying longer distances and steeper courses, the VO2 max improvement training plays a vital part.
Then the answer is intervals, intervals and intervals!!!  One such interval plan is given here.

Meanwhile another interesting topic is about Barefoot vs Shoes.  One surprising article, against all theorem is that Light Shoes are the best options, even better than barefoot.  I am a shoe-lover and hence may be biased. Barefoot lovers, please excuse, as I consider you more evolved than us, shoe-lovers.

## Sunday, September 23, 2012

### Long distance Running - the next form of evolution - Part 1

Today's run - with a niggle on the left foot was different.  A small thought inflated in size, like a balloon.  Below is the snippet:

Earlier human used to do everything, go everywhere with biological and  mechanical tools.  The advent of the fossil fuel, the steam engine and the automobile made human to travel long distances, without any challenge.   At the same time, there are certain achievements, mostly physical that has happened over the last few decades - which still makes one put the money on the theory that humans are still evolving.
 Human - born and evolved to run!

Everest has been conquered, the English Channel and other similar stretches conquered by swimmers more than once, Marathon records have been broken, and in fact nearing the 2 hour mark,  the 100 m sprint record, swimming records are still broken, and simply the homo sapien is becoming better, higher, faster and stronger every few years.

The thread meandered to how more humans run long distances these days - probably the greatest achievement, though largely understated of the 21st century.   This and the 2 hour time limit are two interesting topics that we would discuss subsequently.   Another area is the environmental impact of long distance running and allied sports - cycling and swimming.

But before that, I came across this most interesting piece, which I thought is best shared ad verbatim. As you read the article, you would realize that the greatest evolution since the brain is the butt - and it would be interesting to read the reasons that buttress this conclusion.  Hope you enjoy this, while I rest after this revealing run.

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## Born To Run

From the May 2006 issue; published online May 28, 2006 , part of Discover Magazine
Biomechanical research reveals a surprising key to the survival of our species: Humans are built to outrun nearly every other animal on the planet over long distances.

The traits appear to be specifically adapted for running—and for jogging for long distances. So Bramble and Lieberman were not at all surprised that a man won the Man Versus Horse Marathon. It fits their hypothesis. Unlike many mammals, not to mention primates, people are astonishingly successful endurance runners, "and I don't think it's just a fluke," Lieberman says. He and Bramble argue that not only can humans outlast horses, but over long distances and under the right conditions, they can also outrun just about any other animal on the planet—including dogs, wolves, hyenas, and antelope, the other great endurance runners. From our abundant sweat glands to our Achilles tendons, from our big knee joints to our muscular glutei maximi, human bodies are beautifully tuned running machines. "We're loaded top to bottom with all these features, many of which don't have any role in walking," Lieberman says. Our anatomy suggests that running down prey was once a way of life that ensured hominid survival millions of years ago on the African savanna.
Although Bramble has studied locomotion in animals ranging from tortoises to jackrabbits for 40 years, he was first tipped off to the hypothesis that humans were born to run by one of his students, David Carrier. In the 1970s, Carrier was assisting with Bramble's studies of how dogs, horses, and people regulate breathing while running. A marathoner himself, Carrier began to wonder about the role of endurance running in human evolution. People, he noted, can shed heat quickly—not by panting, like most animals, but by perspiring through millions of sweat glands. A lack of fur also helps dissipate heat more quickly.
Other researchers have proposed that such features emerged because our ancestors had to cope with the sun as they moved from a shady forest habitat to the scorching savanna. Carrier suspected that these traits were more relevant for handling physical exertion. The human body generates six times more heat when sprinting at top speed than when sitting in the sun. Most animals, humans included, must stop trotting when they overheat, or they die.
(In one legendary experiment, Harvard biologists stuck a rectal thermometer into a cheetah, put the cat on a treadmill, and found that it refused to move once its temperature hit 105 degrees Fahrenheit, even though it was loping well below its top speed.) Controlling body temperature, Carrier once wrote, "is critical for animals that run for extended periods." Given that humans excel at releasing heat and distance running, he speculated that we were built to run far and wide.
"I didn't buy it at all," Bramble says. Like most of his peers, Bramble's first reaction to Carrier's hypothesis was that "humans are pitifully slow." From the perspective of a vertebrate morphologist, humans lack one of the most obvious features of animals adapted for serious speed: a tail. In creatures that cover ground bipedally, such as kangaroos, kangaroo rats, and roadrunners, "the tail is the major balance organ," Bramble says. "In the whole history of vertebrates on Earth—the whole history—humans are the only striding biped that's a runner that's tailless."
Still, Bramble eventually came to realize that people turn in remarkable performances. He once filmed a horse cantering, with Carrier running alongside at the same pace. The movie showed that Carrier's legs were churning more slowly than the horse's, which meant that the student's strides had to be spanning more distance per step than the horse's.
Although Carrier moved on to other research, Bramble grew convinced that his student had discovered something. During a visit to Harvard in 1991, Bramble encountered Daniel Lieberman, then an anthropology Ph.D. student, making a pig trot on a treadmill. To glean insights into how bones grow—and thus to better interpret fossilized human jaws and skulls—the student wanted to see whether the repeated impact of running would spur a thickening of the pig's skull. "You know," Bramble said, "that pig's not holding its head still." He went on to explain that adept runners like horses, dogs, and rabbits keep their noggins remarkably steady as they lope, thanks to an obscure bit of anatomy called the nuchal ligament. It's a tendonlike band that links the head to the spine. People, he said, have a version of this band.
Rummaging through a collection of replicas of fossilized primate bones in a nearby lab, Bramble pointed out that the nuchal ligament leaves a trace—a delicate ridge—where it attaches at the base of the human skull. Then the scientists noticed the ridge in a pitted, yellowed skull of our 2-million-year-old relative Homo erectus—but not in older hominids known as australopithecines, who walked the earth as far back as 4.4 million years ago. "Holy moley!" Lieberman thought. "There's something going on here, and what's more, we might be able to study it in the fossil record."
"Once the idea is in your head, then you start thinking about things differently," Lieberman says. A short 41-year-old with a receding hairline, a slight paunch, and disarming dimples, Lieberman doesn't look athletic, but he has been a jogger since his teens. I joined him for his morning run with his dog, Vashti, a border collie mix, whom he easily proved he could outlast. Lieberman says it's wrong to assume, as many do, that running is like walking. The two motions are strikingly different. He demonstrates that during walking his heel hits the ground first, the leg straightens, and then the body vaults over it.
"Your center of gravity, which is basically near your belt buckle, r-i-i-i-ses"—he takes a slow-motion step forward with his right leg and pauses, now up on the ball of his right foot—"so that it's over your leg." The body has now stored potential energy. The arch of the foot stiffens, and Lieberman pushes off against it. As he tips forward, potential energy converts to kinetic energy, and he swings his left foot ahead to complete the stride.
But in running, he says, the legs become springs. You land on and squash the entire arch and bend your knee. So initially the body's center of gravity falls. "You go down—and then you go up," Lieberman says. Kinetic energy from the crash landing is stored in the many stretchy tendons of the arch and the leg, most notably the huge Achilles tendon connecting calf muscles to the heel bone. Like rubber bands, the tendons extend and then recoil—boing!—to launch you onto the next step.
"So why do we have all these tendons in our legs?" Lieberman asks. "You don't evolve big tendons unless you're a runner." Kangaroos, antelope, and other serious animal runners all have a great set of springs, which do nothing for walking. So our tendons can't be explained as being necessary for walking.
Part by part, Bramble and Lieberman have reinterpreted the hominid physique by juxtaposing bits of fossil evidence with what's known about the physiology and biomechanics of jogging. Although much of the anatomy that lets us lope is the same equipment that humans first evolved for walking, the researchers say many of our physical traits seem tailor-made for sustained running.
To test their ideas, they conduct biomechanical studies in Lieberman's lab—Room 53 in Harvard's small redbrick Peabody Museum. The space looks more like a meld between a sports medicine clinic and an untidy engineering workshop than an anthropologist's sanctum of precious old bones. In addition to a gray-and-black running treadmill, there are wall shelves and counters cluttered with boxes of cotton applicators and latex gloves, containers of antiseptic, a small toolbox, tangles of electric cords, and plastic models of human parts, including a gigantic ear.
In one recent experiment, a volunteer named Jeff, dressed only in dark Lycra shorts and white socks, looked like a guinea pig trapped in a bad sci-fi flick. To track the electrical activity of key muscles, Lieberman and a postdoc, David Raichlen, had taped circular force-detecting pads to the bottoms of Jeff's feet and carefully rigged other parts of him with electrodes. Wires from those sensors ran through a small preamplifier box strapped to his lower back and then to a nearby computer.
To capture an image of his movement, they attached little silvery gray reflective balls onto Jeff's shoulders, hips, knees, and other joints. Three infrared cameras would track the balls' motion and record a stick-figure animation of him as he moved. Finally, to measure forces acting on his skull, the researchers mounted an inch-long accelerometer and gyroscope onto a small round tin and tied it all on top of Jeff's head with a black mesh do-rag that knotted securely under his chin.
Then Lieberman and Raichlen put Jeff on the treadmill and started it up. "Focus on the gazelle on the savanna," Lieberman instructed over the hum of the machine, indicating a big black X on a sheet of paper taped to a shelf straight ahead. The researchers gradually cranked up the pace until Jeff was pounding along at a hard run, sweaty and breathless. "Your gluteus is getting a serious workout," Lieberman said cheerfully.
The goal of the exercise was to understand how joggers stabilize their heads and torsos—part of the distinctive human balancing act that puzzled Bramble years ago. Without the balancing help of a tail, how do we avoid falling over when we run? The butt, it turns out, is crucial—right up there with the chin among traits that make us uniquely human. Chimps and other primates have little buns. Our own rear ends are huge; the upper part of the gluteus maximus is greatly expanded. Although few scholars have studied its role in running, the butt is, according to Bramble, "basically a substitute for a tail."
Biomechanical research reveals a surprising key to the survival of our species: Humans are built to outrun nearly every other animal on the planet over long distances.The treadmill studies support that idea. A few months later, Lieberman showed the results from Jeff and 15 other joggers, partly summarized in a conference presentation ("Why Is Our Gluteus So Maximus?"). Sitting at his computer in shorts and flip-flops, Raich­len pulled up Jeff's data: a rainbow-colored series of 16 synchronized electrical recordings from all the sensors. Looking like an EKG signal, the electromyograph, or EMG, reading from the gluteus maximus, in red, showed little activity when Jeff strolled. But once he broke into a jog, boom!—the red line tightly zigzagged. The faster the pace, the bigger the spikes, like an earthquake signal on a seismograph.
What that shows, says Lieberman, is that the butt isn't much involved during walking. In running, however, the body leans forward so that each time the leading foot strikes the ground, the trunk wants to topple forward. The gluteus maximus prevents that: It fires just before the foot slams into the floor, creating a braking action that keeps the torso from falling down.
Meanwhile, the way we pump our arms back and forth in a trot helps steady us too. And based on their experiments, the researchers suspect that the motions of our shoulders and arms actually help counterbalance the head, preventing it from pitching forward on each landing. Simultaneously, with each heel strike, certain shoulder muscles contract and put tension on the nuchal ligament, pulling up the skull and keeping it level.
Our long neck is also important for running, Bramble says, because it allows the shoulders to twist freely of the head as we gaze forward. Chimps, in contrast, have hulking muscles anchoring the skull to the shoulders, which appear permanently shrugged—an orientation ideal for reaching overhead to dangle from tree branches. Controversial fossil evidence hints that australopithecines also had chimplike shoulders. But by the time of 2-million-year-old Homo erectus, says Bramble, hominids had lowered their shoulders, losing the thick, muscular connections to the head.
These running features, the researchers argue, are unmistakably obvious once you look for them. What's really hard to pin down, they admit, is when these adaptations emerged. How do you figure out when the first human butt appeared on the savanna? Muscles, tendons, and sweat glands don't fossilize, and old bones can't reveal precisely how their owners moved. Still, between biomechanical studies and bone analyses, it's possible for researchers to infer whether a fossil hominid was a jogger.
For example, most scientists reasoned that the 3.2-million-year-old hominid Lucy, with her chimplike build, couldn't have been a good endurance runner. She was squat, with short legs, a wide waist, long arms, and long, ­curving fingers and toes that suggest a tree-climbing lifestyle. Although researchers disagree on Lucy's gait while walking upright, nobody thinks she could have strolled like a human. Yet more than a million years later, Homo erectus roamed Africa with a much longer, leggier build, sporting a dramatically different set of physical changes that made it harder to climb trees but easier to jog, Bramble says. "All the running equipment's already there."
What biomechanics and paleontology studies cannot reveal is why these transitional hominid types forsook life among the boughs to become earthbound marathon runners. Archaeological studies at hominid sites offer one strong clue—animal bones. About 2.6 million years ago, our forebears started eating meat and marrow, rich sources of protein and fat that perhaps eventually fueled the growth of larger brains. Bramble and Lieberman find it conceivable that endurance running helped hunters pursue prey to exhaustion.
Back in the 1980s, Carrier had read ethnographers' accounts of indigenous peoples who chased deer, antelope, and kangaroos to exhaustion under the scorching sun. The Tarahumara of the mountainous desert of northwestern Mexico, for example, were legendary runners. But by modern times, their running tradition had turned to sport: Men wearing simple tire-tread sandals bound with leather thongs compete in a 24-hour footrace that involves kicking a ball over about 100 miles of mountainous road. So Carrier, a triathlete in college, took it upon himself to prove his case. He and his younger brother, Scott, went to the desert in Utah and Wyoming to chase pronghorn antelope. The beasts ditched them every time. The sleek, bouncy animals would join up with others, and soon the men would be huffing after a dozen of them. "You wouldn't know which were the animals you started with," Carrier says.
For direct evidence of endurance hunting, Bramble and Lieberman point to the observations of Louis Liebenberg, author of The Art of Tracking: The Origin of Science, who has spent time on the traditional hunts of the Bushmen hunter-gatherers in the central Kalahari Desert in Botswana. Liebenberg ran with them when they chased down kudu antelope on two occasions. For eight other hunts he trailed them in his Land Cruiser, sometimes with a GPS device. The men attempted to run prey to exhaustion only when temperatures neared 100 degrees F, says Liebenberg. Three men would gulp a lot of water and head out together. Two initially did the hard work of tracking and pursuing over the arid grassland and woodland terrain, while the other held back. Eventually, the leaders dropped behind, leaving the third man to hound and spear the antelope when it reached its limit. "The animal will either just completely collapse, or it will actually slow down to a point where it just stands there . . . with sort of glazed-over eyes," Liebenberg says. "Essentially, you're pushing the animal to overheat." The hunters would then walk home with the meat, enough to share—in small portions—with the tribe.
During a chase, Liebenberg noted that the men maintained speeds of around 4 to 6 miles per hour, for anywhere from two to six and a half hours, and traversed up to 22 miles of terrain. These stats fall well within the performance range of the world's fastest competitive marathoners, who set a pace of roughly 12 miles an hour to cover 26 miles, albeit under far less harsh conditions.
Although Liebenberg's observations support the runner-as-hunter hypothesis, Bramble and Lieberman think early Homo would more likely have first run to scavenge prey killed by other carnivores—a strategy the Hadza people of East Africa are known to use. When leopards or hyenas bring an animal down, the hunters "can spot these fresh kills at a distance from the vultures circling above," Bramble says. A carcass is an ephemeral treasure, picked clean within hours, so the Hadza quickly head off running, chase away the carnivores, and take what's left.
Of course, no one knows whether scavenging reaped enough caloric and nutritional returns to make it worthwhile for our forebears. But Bramble and Lieberman feel that the collective evidence, fielded from so many different angles, makes a compelling case for the running hypothesis. Even ordinary studies of human physiology, for example, suggest that humans are so adapted for intense physical activity that a sedentary lifestyle spawns modern-day scourges like diabetes and heart disease. Additional support could come from the chimpanzee genome, which may allow researchers to clock when the genes for slow-twitch muscle fibers—crucial for running long distances and plentiful in people but not chimps—diverged in the common evolutionary history of humans and apes. Other clues could come from tracing the genes involved in our abundant sweat glands and loss of body hair.
Meanwhile, other researchers are looking for holes in the argument. Functional morphologist Brigitte Demes, at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, notes that the gluteus maximus is absolutely essential for rising from a squatting posture at rest or during foraging, so it might not have evolved just for running. Stony Brook anatomist Jack Stern, famed for analyses of how Lucy walked, says it's a tough call to classify the Achilles tendon as an adaptation for jogging. Longer legs evolved in many animals through the extension of lightweight tendons rather than heavier muscle, thus producing a limb that took less effort to swing—a change that would save energy during walking, Stern says.
Nonetheless, Stern credits Bramble and Lieberman for a clever, coherent theory. "In essence, this is what Darwin did when he wrote On the Origin of Species: He took a series of facts and wove a beautiful, elegant story," Stern says. His own hunch is that the running hypothesis is correct, but it will take decades of scientific squabbling to confirm it. "This is just the beginning," he says. And even Demes, although skeptical of the running hypothesis, can't think of an alternative explanation. "That might actually be their strongest argument," she admits. "Why do we have this skill to go long distances for extended periods of time? Because you really don't see that in other primates." Bramble and Lieberman have received a flood of enthusiastic e-mail messages (and even poems) about their work, mostly from runners. "Sometimes you come across an idea that for some reason has been kind of overlooked. But it's just obvious. And those are the ideas, I think, that touch a nerve," Lieberman says. The evolution of walking was unquestionably fundamental to becoming human, he says, but running played a pivotal role too. "If we can get people to agree on that, I'll go to bed happy."

## Friday, September 7, 2012

### The twilight runs...

 The twilight - colorful blood on the sky's body
Twilight is the best possible cocktail that Nature can create.  The mixture of the dying daylight and the growing dark.   The wounds of the sky after its losing war with darkness, and the multi-color blood sprayed on its body - scaring the birds into their nests;   the kids moving towards home.   The street lights glowing announcing a new war against darkness.   The masons and workers returning home, exhausted after a day long work;  Office commuters returning with groceries and other purchases;   kids winding up their play and hopping their way for completing their homework,  the nocturnal animals and insects hiding behind the ever growing cover of darkness.   Such is the beauty of twilight.

 The amber lights join the war against darkness
And enter me - the runner.  Dressed in Chennai Runners' T's, and Nikes' - the good old Red Running Hood.   Mingling in this cocktail of life and colors, each step of this short run helps me participate in the short episode - as a voyeur.
 Cattle impervious to the rain!
And another day, you miss the entire show.   The curtains are on - grey in color.  The stage is being washed.     There is no usual audience.  But this no-show gives life to another set of characters.  Teens love to kick the ball with their tireless feet.  Cattle, impervious to rain, graze around.   And the colorful umbrellas come out.   And slowly the entire picture disappears fast, consumed by the dark sky.  The amber street lights slowly fix the problem - the road glows in their reflection.   Beautiful, ethereal.

 Only teens and no soul on the street - no show!
These days, my runs are short.  But they help me steal some time mixing with this real beauty of cocktail and colors.  The mind just switches off, leaving the hullabaloo and chaos of the daily chores behind.    A true tequila shot!!!

## Sunday, September 2, 2012

### Paralympics - Patronize our Parathletes!!!

The paralympics are on.  And nobody is turning towards the TV.  Does anybody know it is held in the same venues as the Olympics?  Is anybody aware that India has sent a 21 member contingent?  Which channel is telecasting it in India?  Where are the sponsors?

Paradox - we look for inspirations as examples of how somebody overcame difficulties to achieve something?  Are not the stories of Paralympics participants inspiring? Most of us would be watching an EPL or India vs New Zealand cricket match.   This is not wrong, but only to be expected.  Audience interest is paramount and every'body' goes after it - channels for TRP and others for other reasons.
 London Paralympics are on - are we hooked on?

Cricketers and the Usain Bolts make the stars.  Luckily for us, after the success in Olympics, this year, we had more medalists than ever before.  So some offbeat stars were born post this Olympics success.   Each story of success - how a mother of twins, how somebody broke the Chinese wall, how rural Haryanvi's won medals in wrestling, how a soldier and a civilian shot their way to glory - and the acceptance of them by this cricket crazy population was one stepin the right direction.

But Paralympics - may be still way off.   But the efforts to win a medal for the country and the pride thereof are the same.  Our discerning public, am sure would recognize this.  If you are looking for heroes beyond the above, it is here.

Fan support and awareness will bring the best from our parathletes, and encourage the differently-abled people to aspire for achievement in all forms of sports - especially in sports represented in the Paralympics.   If there are any differently abled people in your vicinity, please make them aware that this is one aim in life trying for.   Wear the Indian colours.   Lift the Indian Flag high.   Getting a shot at the medal.  In a field of fair play.

Below is the list of athletes who are right now in action -
http://www.indianewsbulletin.com/london-2012-paralympic-games-list-of-indian-contingent-members.

Telecast rights :  Channel 4
Indian contigent in the opening ceremony:

Please patronize our parathletes! Wishing our paralympic team all the best!   Please post snippets, video clips!   Glory to them, and Glory to Parathletes to all over the world!

- Ashok Speaks!

### LOL - Lil'ol'liability?

It is the adoration of the public that is the protection.  And the fear of the selectors.   But the need - the contracts that expire in 2014.  This article was pretty damning.  But this appeared in the pink newspaper - a business newspaper, which only a few elite business-mongers read.  That was saving grace.

 All of Sachin's contract are due to end in 2014, and no new contracts, so is that the answer?
The article explains when the little master willretire.  The first sign of his brand becoming stale - no new contract was endorsed after his hundredth hundred.  But the bigger fact - the necessity of him to play till 2014, when all the 17 contracts expire - which is 2 years from now, is the damning truth.  It is 120 crores too much for anybody - forget the little master - to refuse.   His new house in Bandra costs 30 crores after all!

That was on April 1st 2012.  Cut to September 1st - almost 6 months later.  Doug Bracewell castled Tendulkar, almost 22 years after his uncle John Bracewell did.  Well, 22 years, is one hell of time for longevity.   The little man has climbed many a summit between the two Bracewells.   Some of which, no other human will ever dream of achieving.   But what triggered a renewed discussion on the dismissal?   The eternal question - when should the little master go?

 Tendulkar castled by Doug Bracewell
Two masters of test cricket, Gavaskar and Manjrekar expressed concern about the way the little master was dismissed.  Bowled through the gates.  Full length delivery - a stroke against which requires the maximum hand-eye coordination for a batsman.  As the ball dips into one's blind spot, right below, the hands have to get the bat in the right position to block or whack the ball away.   And the little master missed - like the last test.   His furniture was rearranged.

Rustic?  5 months out of cricket, yes.   Out of form?  May be.  Others also go through it.  Technical deficiency?  After 22 years of cricket, if this is still a concern, then worries me.   The most plausible reason is - age and obstinacy.   The little man says that he knows when he will retire, and other people say - only the man can decide when he will.   Why?  The protection - the adoration of the public, and the fear of the selectors.  No one dare call the shots on this.   And the man will continue to play, as long as he says he wants to.

And what is the cost?  The number four slot in tests will be occupied for another two years at least.  Some talent youngster would have to wait forever - and few careers might be wrecked.  Opportunities lost!   The very reason some youngster might be inspired by the little master will fall victim to the extended longevity of the genius.

Finally, there is shelf life.  Everybody knows that the little master is a mortal, and at someday he has to hang his boots up.   It better be done when people ask 'why?', rather than 'when?'.  Perhaps the powers-that-are know the answer, as the economic times article explains.   Just pray that he does not become a 'LOL' - a Little Old Liability!!!

- Ashok Speaks!

## Wednesday, April 18, 2012

### Mumbai to Thane - Taking the bend...

Well, the Ghodbunder road was conquered last weekend.  This was my identity run, a defining and a cut off run in many ways   I will write about the Ghodbunder run in the next blog.

Sometimes, it is like that hard-cut off that we force - like ending a sentence with a full stop - capital, bold and italics.    Well, let me save my words for the upcoming - Ghodbunder road - the story of the runner, and the story of the road.   The story of the runner will be published in the forthcoming blog, and the story of the road will be published in Ashok speaks.   Now let us go back to the last two runs in Thane- short, but powerful ones.
 Running in Mumbai was a struggle - it was always an emotional catharsis

The city of Mumbai has taught me some hard lessons.  The city is like a deep ocean.   It can drown and choke the weak, who can feel out of depth.  So I felt, in the last 9 months.   This chaos hit my runs - as my earlier blogs would illustrate.   The Mumbai runs, were emotional catharsis to my mind - to sooth the failures and curse the frailties of life.  They were my emotional sink and guardian of my sanity.

For the weak and the wounded, it might sometimes be prudent to move from the depths and survive in the shallows.  You can sail in the deep sea everyday, but it is good to have a shore - shallow and safe.   Where time is more structured - even for running.

 Runs in Thane, have been more liberating - free mind, flying feet!
Some places carry such vibes - important for a runner.  Thane is very much like Velachery.   Velachery taught me to run almost 5 years ago.   The place, despite being chaotic, was a great inspiration.    The vibes, here in Thane too, are similar.   In this context, the last two short runs in the Hiranandani Estate - Brahmand routes gain significance.

Now, the difficult phase is over, and the mind is prepared to deal with matter.  With such preparation, the mind is free.  That makes the feet on the street happier.

My shoes have started talking to me and know that I am taking the bend.   The changes are positive and powerful, slow but sure.

The road called life is there to be taken.  And the two short runs signify that.  Patience and perseverance.  The strength of the human endeavor is unparalleled.   I am going through it right now.   And the shoes know that! They will help me do that.  Wont' they?

- The One

Pics courtesy The One

## Tuesday, March 27, 2012

### Eraser run...

Running has never felt so good.   Today, there was standing invites for some evening get-togethers.  But today also was one of those days - where you just want to tear off from the book titled 'My life'.   Multi-dimensional self-worthlessness sometimes makes one cringe.

Should one so openly talk about these feelings?  I had found a temporary solution for the past few days.   Watching Discovery and Natural Geographic - taking things away from this material, inhuman world and into the wild.

 Frustrated Leopard loses its prey to the Hyena
Watching the animals, struggle for food, mates, territory and life makes me feel better.   So, struggle is natural.   It sometimes does not matter what you think?  The leopard loses its prey to a hyena or a lion.  It does protest, growl and snarl, but end of the day, it knows that it does not stand a chance against the stronger predator.   So it quickly climbs the tree to save itself.

Should the leopard feel self-worthless?   Or should it feel that it is the law of nature, and so 'move on'.  I try to find any form of emotion on its face.  Apparently, leopards can't emote.  So no answers there.

 The hero runs in a lone beach to beat his frustration
Then I saw this move called 'Force'.   He is a cop without any connect - which is his strength.  He falls in love, but finally when his love is killed by a vindictive villain - he could only cry and grit his teeth in frustration.  Another form - which caught my eye - is a sprint by this hero in a lonely beach to vent his frustration.   Humans emote, and express.   So running is a form of expression.

Another movie called Eraser crossed my mind.  The hero has to protect the heroine, who the State has decided to erase.   No evidence.  No existence.   Kill them all.   The lead-actors run, hide and survive in the end.

 The leads run away survive and erase!
Today's run is a combination of all these.  From a feeling of self-worthlessness and frustration is washed away by the dripping sweat and the reality of all these tastes salty.   And finally a burst at the end, pumping the oxygen viciously into the lungs, erasing and burning all those who caused the feelings under the rubber of the shoe.

Again, it sounds too much of philosophical rambling around a simple run - but as I always say - running has many avatars.  This one was the 'Eraser run'.

-The One

(Pics courtesy Internet)

## Saturday, March 10, 2012

### NO-cotine run...

Friends,  today's run is a confession run.   I thought a lot, whether to share this.  Finally decided that I will.

One of these days in December,  it started with a small fag.   It is still a small fag, but the occasions increased.   With a cup of tea.  With sun-downers.   It always never felt like a habit.   I took the butt, when my butt was kicked.  The fascination towards the smouldering end of the brown tobacco turning black was interesting.   Felt that I was thinking better. Stress? I think so.

The runs were anyway drying up.  The forgotten february was the worst period in the last three years, as far as fitness was concerned.  But last week, the run finally came.

But suddenly, my voice became hoarse and there was this, a constant niggle in the throat.  I could feel that some sputum was forming.   Secondly,  early mornings, my lower back - below the rib cage, ached a lot. And finally - there was a tightness in my lungs - during the run last week.

Last two days, I kept away from both.   And this run - I ran like a creature possessed.  I was always afraid that the tightness would appear.   It did appear in the second kilometer, but with a deep breath, I pushed the tightness aside.   I paused for a moment and then started running faster, and faster.

The Kandivili crowd, usually accustomed to runners - was startled because of the speed in which I ran.   The sputum disappeared, the lungs are liberated.   I feel better.   The run was truly invigorating.

Been there, tried that.  My affair with the butt ends, period. December - March 10th, RIP. This was the NO-COTINE run.

-The One

( Pics Courtesy Internet)

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## Friday, March 2, 2012

### A run, finally done!

It is like being an alcoholic - should I say that getting back at running is good, therefore it is good to be a runaholic?   The feel good factor after a run is unbeatable.   The forgotten february, where no run took place was a nightmare best forgotten.  Is life any better?  Not sure.   The struggle continues elsewhere.   When I moved to Mumbai, I expected to adapt and fly high like an eagle.  But I was stuttering like a dodo.
Well, a runner does not give excuses.  So it did not happen.   Period.

 A run done!
Today I ran with confidence at the start.  The same breathing through the mouth technique worked well.   The run was short, but towards the fourth km, a small stitch around the rib told that the story.  The breathing was a little tighter and I slowed down further. The reason - a month of evening vagaries.   The lack of training was telling.

It was a 5.5 km run.  The mind suddenly found its feet.  This run may not be a worth a blog.  But it was a start, so a feat.   A run, finally done!

-The One

## Sunday, February 19, 2012

### The Forgotten February...

Now I know how good I am at keeping resolutions.   Very bad at it so far.  Today was a self-review day, and sad that the shoes have been untouched through February.  Worst, the full marathon never happened  - Auroville succumbed to lack of will.   Why?

7:00 am, daily, I wake up.  Morning chores and then drive to office.  The rigmarole of the daily life.  Finishwork.  Evening - mostly the inevitable sun-downers and reach home late.  Then while the whole world and my family embrace sleep - this lonely soul burning the midnight oil - mulling life and working.   Sending reminders.   The mind is occupied by a myriad thoughts.  The thoughts shift like the restless corpses in the graveyard.  Running is forgotten.
 Absent Apocalypse in the Forgotten February

Running was supposed to be an anti-dote for the pressure prone life.  It was to be the anchor of life.   The straw to clutch on a roller coaster ride.  This year - it seems going the same way as 2011.  If it is any indication it ain't good.

The thank you mail from Auroville  today hurt big time! The Old-man-blue, the Kid and the Apocalypse, all are lying in the shoe rack and car boot - like the trapped genie of the Aladdin fame.   It is time for them to come out and show their magic.   They will intervene strongly in The One's life.   Will they? Let us see, if we can recover the Forgotten February!

-The One

## Sunday, February 5, 2012

### An evening walk...

I walk slowly.   The road surface is undulating - ups, downs, potholes and patches.   I watch each step carefully - I grimace at the state of Mumbai roads.   Patch work.  No engineering.   The half-mindedness of the contractor in completing the job is very evident. Pathetic.

As I negotiate the uneven patches of bitumen, I remember the days when I used to run around in my village, down south in Kerala.   We used to run endlessly - before the morning sun rose and long after the lights died in our houses.

We used to run behind elephants and the Ambassador ( old sedans) that appeared at the end of our street.  We used to run in the paddy fields chasing the football.  We all loved soccer those days.   My two elder brothers and I kicked the heck out of those two balls.

Time passed, in the fight for the daily bread, I moved into a daily routine that consumed all gaiety.  I could only watch sports very occasionally.  My job literally consumed me - in the dust bowls of Coimbatore and then Madurai.   Sports was a forgotten aspect of my life.

Post retirement, I moved to Chennai to settle down with my two sons.   During the past three-four years, my sons, in their prime of life, fighting for their place under the sun - have started to run.  Running, to them is an identity, a bond and I am happy that they run.  The younger has run couple of marathons and the elder will run his full soon.

 My father, and I
They struggle to get their weekly run in.  I know, like me, their work and family pressures consume them.   In their 30's, it is a daily fight between finance, family and fitness.

I see me in them.   I see despair, hope and fight in their eyes.   The thirst to succeed and make their progeny successful.   I see the sparkle of love in them.

Like the undulating roads of Mumbai, I see life before me, the ups and downs - as I ride in my memory lane from Kerala to Kandivili.

My eyes move from the potholes to the person next to me.  I smile at my son, the elder one.  As we walk towards his car together, I know he has skipped his evening run - just to walk along side me.   He does not talk, just smiles back.  We both know it.

( This blog is dedicated to the MAN who is the author's mentor and the best friend he has, his father - and the evening walk together)

## Friday, January 27, 2012

### Republic day run : Another use of keeping your mouth shut...

Republic day.  62 years ago - this day, a new script was written.  Adopting the best out of the world's great democracies, a code of reference, the bible of democracy for the Indian republic was born.   The constitution since then has been amended more than 100 times.   Changing with times, adapting and flexible, but strong.

 The run like the Indian flag, and constitution was flexible, but strong
Through the day, the locality was all filled with the Indian tricolor.  Kids with tri-color balloons, elders with tri-colors pinned in their dresses - loud speakers blaring patriotic songs,  the mood reflected the happiness and gaiety of Indians feeling as a nation.   Or a simplistic point of view of a mid-week holiday for a workaholic.

Either way, people were happy and loud.  Earlier in the day, we lost our respective races held at our residential society.  I lost the slow cycle race, my kid lost a spoon-marble race and my wife lost a three legged race.  But it was fun.  Then, it was a great game of cricket with my son.

It was a slightly warmer evening.   The day was hot.  The death of winter told by the searing rays of the sun.

The evening run was to add mileage, but recover quickly.  So a mid distance - 12k was planned.

For the first 4 km, ran the usual style.  Dead slow, with occasional bursts of speed was the usual pattern. Whenever I accelerated,  I used to breath through my mouth - until this break.  After stretching and sipping some apple juice and water, I started running.

I decided to run through Damu Nagar - a busy downscale locality.  After the bustle of this noisy neighbourhood, it was sudden darkness and quiet.   The dark shadows of the leaves danced against the sudden burst of cool air.  Few men engaged in small talk and pouted smoke out of their lips.  Some suspicious dogs were marking their territories with their urine.

Suddenly, the focus was on myself.  Suddenly, I realized, my mouth was shut.  Pursed and locked, in fact.   The exhalation was in rhythm with three steps and then silent inhalation.  Against the cool and dark visuals, this was like music.  Hssh...hssh...hsssh...tak... silence... tak... and repeat.

The rhythm was so good.  The lungs started enjoying the chill.   Then it was a nice run downhill and then the flats.

Two kilometers later, the inside of the ear-lobes were chilled.   I swallowed my saliva and then locked my lips again.   The brain was floating - it was getting heady and my eyes blurred with the excess supply of oxygen.  But the rhythm was steady.   I increased the speed - longer strides, but the breathing was synchronized.   Hssh..hssssh...tak... silence... tak and repeat.

All along, I was watching my cadence ( step vs inhale-exhale cycle) and my heartbeat. Both were steady. Especially, the heartbeat rate was steady.  Surprise!   Steady breathing in harmony with the steps helps to keep the heartbeat rate low.

Around the 10th km, I increased the stride length and gained speed.   But the breathing, only through the nose, with lips locked, and steps being synchronized, the heart beat remained steady.

When I wound up after two further km,  my heart beat was slow and steady!   Voila!!!  My recovery was less than 10 minutes.   What magic oxygen can do!  And saving on hydration!   I ran for a full 45 minutes without a drop of water.

It was a strong and flexible run, like the Indian flag and the constitution.

Summarizing what I tried:
1. Breath through the nose
2. Keep the lips locked
5. Feel comfortable with your heart beat
6. The heart beat, the foot step and the breathing all should be in unison
7. Try increasing speed but no compromise on 1-6.
It was a different and interesting experiment.   One should surely try this during a day run.   If it works, it is another solid use of keeping one's mouth shut!

- The One

(Pic courtesy the One)

## Monday, January 16, 2012

### Jan 15 2012: Making of new heroes...

If you wake up at 8 am, switch to Star Plus HD instead of Star Cricket, does it not say many things? While Indian cricketers ran out of ideas in Perth, some Mumbaikars were running towards the finishing line in Mumbai .

 Indian legends ran out of ideas this day in Perth.  End of some heroes?
First, cricket, for many, is not an attractive sport any more - especially as a viewer.  In the 90's we used to get up early to watch the Srikanth's and Shastri's of the yore struggle against the brute and bouncing deliveries of Mc Dermott and Merv Hughes.   And some heroics of the 1984 and 2008.

Now, nobody sacrifices sleep for the fait accompli - a news which can be read a week later and would make no difference.

First cricket has become too much and boring, and secondly, we ourselves, ordinary mortals have become 'sportsmen'.  Haven't we?  LOL.   We got ourselves on High Definition Television, for the better part of 6 hours.  That is longer than two Hindi movies.  For the first time. So remember Jan 15, 2012.

I tried to be part of this show - in some form.  I could have run as a proxy.   First,  there was lot of tentativeness.  Second, laziness and bad planning.   A dear friend who did not run the half helped me with the details.   But I plead guilty for not registering and secondly, ending up doing something else during the weekends.

Today is also Pongal.  So, did the usual Pooja's.   Enjoyed the pot boil over.   Played with the kid.  Watched bits and pieces of Tam-English movies.
﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿
But the guilt was building up like a snowman.  Finally, it broke and let loose an Avalanche.   Ran a half today evening to fend off the snow ball in my throat.

And then Auroville is calling.  The memory of the course remains fresh.   I did a great half marathon ( 2:19) last year.

Only that another Mumbai namesake visited during 2011 year-end, causing havoc to the beautiful landscape of Auroville.   The Mumbai Marathon contingent would be strong, this year, I believe.   In some sense, it is destiny that I end my racing sabbatical here.
﻿
﻿Meanwhile, in SCMM12, new heroes have born.  Like Ram Singh Yadav who has qualified for the London Olympics, and Preethi Babbar - a first time FM-er, but a worthy winner.

And first time marathon finishes and personal bests for many of my friends.  Am feeling so happy for them.   Atleast they have achieved what they trained so hard for.

And ironically, some heroes became legends.  This day, an era is mostly over.  The stalwarts of the Indian cricket test team ran out of ideas, in Perth. Some of them will ride into the twilight.

But as always, new heroes will be born.  Like our finishers of the Mumbai Marathon.  My salute to the new heroes of Jan 15, 2012.

-The One

( Pic courtesy the One)

## Sunday, January 8, 2012

### The Strawberry run!

I missed the Powai Lake run this weekend!  Would have been my first competing run in Mumbai.   Sleepy eyes.  Sleepy eyes.

The weekend diary looks somewhat like this:

Saturday-
 Happy HE!
• Took HIM and HER to a colleague's birthday party in a large mall.
• HE got to make paint and custom-draft a cricket bat, all for HIMself.
• Some window shopping after that- SHE is happy
• Visit to the games parlour.   An hour of play, HE is happy
• Hindi movie with Pop-corn and Coke - SHE is happy and HE is excited﻿  The artful cricket bat!
﻿
• Some shopping to make HER happy
Sunday -
• Chores, chores, is SHE happy?
• Some cricket with HIM
• Watched Aladdin - the movie with HIM and HER
• Nice lunch and a cat nap - THE FAMILY purrs its happiness
• SHE goes to a spiritual discourse
• Cricket with HIM
• BLOG !
So what is so different?  Nothing, really.  But what a weekend!

Missed the SCMM expo and the Powai run.   But finally in the evening, ran in the nice cool Mumbai weather.

 The run was like a strawberry topping on a vanilla ice-cream
Such a complementing element that running can be!   It adds to the personal fulfillment so easily!  When one seeks to extend his happiness from other sources - born away from the pressures and pleasures of the material life.

As I run, I close my eyes.  The cool air enters my nostrils and fills the lungs.  The sweat makes the body chill and pleasant.   The feel of the coolness inside and out.  The mind is light and feeling ethereal.  It feels like chomping at the strawberry topping on a delightful yummy vanilla ice-cream!   Such a bliss, was this strawberry run!

- The One

Pics Courtesy Internet and The One